Ckss .— ^ : Boole ;r) g.:- G)pyrightN^_______ COHmiCiiT DEPOSED The Lives and Campaigns OK GRANT AND LRB A Comparison and Contrast of the Deeds and Characters of the Two Great Leaders in the Civil War. BY AUTHOR OF "SAMSON," "aTLANTEANS," ETC. WITH INTRODUCTORY REMINISCENCES BY MAJOR-GENERAL OLIVER O. HOWARD, U.S.A. AND BISHOP JOHN P. NEWMAN, D.D. II^LUSTRATEE>. STAR PUBLISHING COMPANY CHICAGO .895 Copyrighted, 1895, by SAMUEL W. ODELL. [ALL RIGHTS RESERVED] preface. Much has been written about both Grant and Lee and the parts that each bore in the bloody strife that so nearly wrecked the Union, but, we believe, there are elements of novelty and interest in taking these two great master-spirits of the war, and, in the same book, analyzing their careers ; comparing them step by step, to find what elements of similarity or dissimilarity existed between them, and wherein each succeeded or failed, and, if possible, to determine why. Such, at least, is the aim of the present work. The utmost care has been used to verify all facts and figures from the very highest authorities. No judgment has been passed on any person or event without weighing care- fully all the evidence, and with a desire to be entirely fair and impartial. Special pains have been taken to avoid stirnng up any spirit of controversy, and to judge each side in the great conflict only as the facts warrant. The publishers fully realize that in a narrative of so intense a struggle as the Civil War, where great bitterness was engendered, not only between the two opponents, but, also, even among some of the rival commanders on the same side, whose interests may have come in conflict, that any opinion that may be expressed about a leader, or his acts, is liable to be dissented from by those who may be his special friends or adherents. PREFACE. It is, therefore, but fair to say in behalf of those who have so kindly contributed the "Introductory Reminiscences," that their connection with the book in no way commits them to the endorsement, or approval, of any judgment that may be passed by the author on any person or event connected with the war. Contents* INTRODUCTION. Pages, Personal Recollections or Grant and Lee. Major-General O. O. Howard, U. S. A 7- 10 Reminiscences of General Grant. Bishop John P. Newman 11- 18 BOOK I. PREPARATION. The Birth and Parentage of Grant and Lee — Their Early Education and Surroundings — Traits of Character in each — Career at West Point — Life after Graduation — The Mexican War — Subsequent Events, etc., etc I9~ 73 BOOK II. THE RISE OF GRANT. Outbreak of the War — Re-enters the Army— First Command — Belmont — Donelson — Shiloh — Corinth — Vicksburg — Chattanooga, etc., etc. 74-260 BOOK III. THE RISE OF LEE. John Brown — Casts his lot with the South — The West Virginia Cam- paign — In Temporary Retirement — The Peninsula Campaign — Invasion of Maryland — Fredericksburg — Chancellorville — Gettys- burg, etc., etc 261-390 BOOK IV. THE CONFLICT. Grant and Lee as Opponents — Preparations for the Death Struggle — The Wilderness — Spottsylvania — North Anna — Cold Harbor — Siege of Petersburg — Five Forks — Fall of Richmond — Surrender of Lee, etc., etc 391-561 BOOK V. REST. After Life of Lee — President of Washington College — Lee's Death — Grant as President — Financial Reverses — Sickness and Death, etc., etc 562-584 Appendix 585-586 Index 587-602 irilustratfons anb fiftaps* Surrender of Lee Frontispiece Major General O. O. Howard 6 Bishop John P. Newman lo Birthplace of Grant, Point Pleasant, 30 General Robert E. Lee 37 General Winfield Scott 47 Map of Mexico City and Vicinity 61 Grant's home near St. Louis , . 70 General Ullysses S. Grant 74 Confederate Flag 76 Map of Battlefield near Belmont 89 Major General John A. McClernand 94 Admiral Andrew H. Foote 95 Map of Forts Henry and Donelson 97 Gunboats on the way to attack Fort Henry 99 Fort Donelson 100 River Battery at Fort Donelson loi Major General Lewis Wallace 103 Gunboats attacking Fort Donelson 105 Pittsburg Landing 118 Shiloh Meeting House 119 Map of the Field of Shiloh 123 General Albert Sidney Johnston 127 luka, Mississippi 143 Major General William S. Rosecrans 145 Map of Battles of luka and Corinth 147 Major General Henry W. Halleck 155 Map of Grant's Operations above Vicksburg 160 Cutting the Canal 162 Bayou Navigation 165 Through the Swamps 167 Map of Vicksburg Campaign 170 Running the Vicksburg Batteries 174 Fleet attacking Grand Gulf 176 Map of Battle of Port Gibson 180 Crossing Bayou Pierre 183 Crocker'^s Charge at Jackson 187 Map of Battle of Champion Hill 193 ILLUSTRATIONS Map of Battle of Big Black River Bridge 199 Sherman's Right at Haines' Bluff 205 Map of the Siege of Vicksburg 206 Blowing up a Fort at Vicksburg 214 Surrender of Pemberton 217 Chattanooga from Lookout Mountain 226 Lookout Mountain 229 Map of Battles about Chattanooga 231 Hooker Storming Lookout 243 General William T. Sherman 246 Storming Mission Ridge 25 1 Major General James Longstreet 259 John Brown ^ 262 Mountains of West Virginia 269 Map of Eastern Virginia 276 Birdseye View of Richmond and Vicinity 278 Major General George B. McClellan 280 Map of Region near Richmond 284 Charge at Gaines' Mill 287 Map of movements in Peninsula Campaign 288 White Oak Swamp 290 Battle of Frazier's Farm 292 Battle of Malvern Hill 294 Map of Campaign in Virginia 302 Map of Battles around Groveton 305 Thoroughfare Gap 3°/ Lee's Army Crossing the Potomac 311 Map of the Invasion of Maryland 313 Map, from Frederick to Antietam 314 Turner's Gap and Boonesboro 3^6 The Stone Bridge at Antietam 323 Major-General Ambrose E. Burnside 329 Fredericksburg 33° Map of Battle of Fredericksburg 332 Marye's Hill, Fredericksburg 335 Map of Region near Chancellorsville 344 Rout of the nth Corps near Chancellorsville 346 Map of Gettysburg Campaign 357 Map of Battle of Gettysburg 362 Meade's Headquarters, Gettysburg 364 Lee's Headquarters, Gettysburg 366 The Last Day at Gettysburg '. 372 Major-General George G. Meade 376 Abraham Lincoln 382 Winter Quarters— On Picket 388 General Ulysses S. Grant 397 General Robert E. Lee 400 Map of the Wilderness 411 ILLUSTRATIONS Crossing the Rapidan 413 Fighting in the Wilderness 419 Scene of Wadsworth's Death 428 Spottsylvania Court House 437 Map of Battle of Spottsylvania 443 Map of Battle of North Anna 461 Jericho Mills, North Anna 463 Quarle's Mill, North Anna 464 Rifle Pits, North Anna 466 Crossing the North Anna 468 Crossing the Pamunkey 47° Map of Battle of Cold Harbor 474 Battle of Cold Harbor 481 Birdseye View of Virginia Campaign 487 Petersburg 489 Map of Defences of Richmond and Petersburg 495 A Mortar Battery 499 Explosion of the Mine 5°^ Battle of Winchester 515 Grant's Headquarters at City Point 5^8 View of Works near Petersburg 5^2 General Philip H. Sheridan 5^9 Map of Battle of Five Forks 534 Union Army Entering Petersburg 541 Map of Lee's Retreat 543 McLean's Home 549 Facsimile of Grant's Letter 552 Lee's Army at Time of Surrender 555 The Surrender of Johnston $60 Grant's Tomb 57<5 MAJOR-GENERAL OLIVER O. HOWARD. Ifntrobuction. REMINISCENCES OF GENERALS GRANT AND LEE BY MAJOR-GENERAL O. O. HOWARD, U. S. A. My first remembrance of Robert E. Lee was when he was a captain of engineers and visited the Academy at West Point. His son Custis was a classmate of mine and so, naturally, all eyes turned upon the distinguished Captain Lee, at the visit of which I speak. He was then very young looking. He seemed about five feet-ten in height; of a figure without corpulency. He had on the uniform of Engineers, probably being upon inspection duty at the Academy at that time. His head seemed a little too large for his body, and he had an abundance of hair, some what curly, just sprinkled with gray. His eyes were large, clear and black. He looked you steadily in the face while in conversation. He appeared to be as fine a speci- men of manhood as I had ever seen. He had been breveted for his grand service in the Mexican War, and was called "Colonel." A little later he came to West Point as the Superintendent, and I remember a personal visit from him while I was in the hospital. I think I had received some injury from a fall, but at any rate, the kindness of Colonel Lee, the Superin- tendent, In visiting me, then a cadet, and inquiring after my health, impressed me greatly. I had an opportunity that day to study his face. The impression he made upon me was that of a man of much INTRODUCTION. personal dignity ; something after the fashion of Winfield Scott. While he was kind, he impressed me as condescend- ing, and I could not help feeling the wonderful distance be- tween myself and this celebrated Engineer and Superin- tendent. During my last year at the Academy I was very pleasantly received in his family and knew Mrs. Lee and the young gentlemen and ladies that made up his household. Had anybody asked me then my opinion of Lee as an officer and as a man, I should have said that as an officer he had few superiors, either in natural ability or attainment, and as a man he was one of whom the French phrase always obtained, "noblesse oblige." With regard to General Grant, I never knew him until his reputation had been firmly established ; never until after the surrender of General Pemberton and his army, which set him far ahead of our other generals in point of actual accomplishment. My first meeting was in a railway coach, at Stevenson, Alabama. I was presented to him by a brother officer. He looked me full in the face, smiled pleasantly, and said, "General Howard, I am glad to meet you." That day he declined all hospitalities offered him at Stevenson, and went on with me to Bridgeport, Alabama, and stayed in my tent over night. At that time he was very lame; suffering from an injury received by the fall of a horse, and too weak really to be campaigning. In those days Grant allowed no suf- fering to restrain him from active work. I had long conversations with him that night and next morning; he had stayed in my tent. He took dinner with me and also breakfasted early the next day, before starting upon his most perilous journey, by way of Jasper, to Chat- tanooga, some forty miles. INTRODUCTION. 9 I found him the opposite of Lee. He was firm and sufficiently dignified, but made you feel completely at home with him. You never were impressed with his greatness of acquirements, or family, or ability. He rather drew you out than allowed himself to be drawn out. He talked enough, but managed to introduce those subjects that would be especially interesting to both. One remark he made showea me that he aad implicit reliance upon what he called Providence. Another short sentence conveyed to me his distrust of ambition and selfish- ness. I did not, at the time, realize that Grant was a great man, but after-reflection brought to my mind those qualities which marked him — such as self-abnegation, suffering with- out complaint, unselfish patriotism, indomitable resolution. A little later I saw him in battle. There I found him absolutely undisturbed. His mind rested never upon him- self or upon danger. He hardly seemed to see at all his immediate surroundings. The army of his enemy appeared to fully occupy his mind, and the different portions of his own were as familiar to him as to a father are the different members of his family. He always seemed to be weighing in his mind the different things that could be done, and I think he invariably selected the best. He did not adhere rigidly and scrupulously to any original plan, but followed in his action, according to the apparent necessities of the hour. Grant's make-up was such that I did not wonder that he became distinguished before the other generals; for he was uniformly taking, against his enemy, " the offensive." If at any time one said to Grant, " Our men are worn out," " They are short of rations," " They need rest," he would answer, " Just so it is with the enemy ! ! " Speeches like this sometimes seemed, to sympathetic officers, al- 10 INTRODUCTION. most heartless; but this was not the proper interpretation. It simply meant "Go on, now, and make a little larger sacri^ fice and you will gain the victory; for the enemy is as weak as you are." Robert E. Lee, a southern man, educated to state suprem- acy, decided to link his fortunes with Virginia, and though he had always been trusted by everybody representing the United States Government, yet he concluded that it was his duty to strike for dismemberment of his country. His de- cision was, and still is, a mystery to me. Grant came back to the army from civil life and represented the humblest ; was a special friend to volunteers. He gave all his strength, all his acquirements, and all his magnificent ability to the defense of the American Union ; and he succeeded. Doubtless both Grant and Lee, behind all human thought and action, were instruments in the hand of the Almighty for the working out of the great problems of humanity, which, without them, or such instruments, could not have been solved. North and South, we are together again. The same flag waves over us. Just now the whole country is in a ferment from financial troubles, but we must trust the same Almighty power to give us leaders who shall bring us out of the valleys of humiliation and sorrow, and plant us upon the hill-tops of prosperity. Let nobody be discouraged. Whatever sacrifices may be necessary will be made by the followers of Grant and Lee, and their countrymen, to prevent the ills which ambition and greed have been introducing and im- bedding in our borders. BISHOP JOHN P. NEWMAN, D. D. PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS OF GENERAL GRANT BY BISHOP JOHN P. NEWMAN, D.D., LL. D., THE FRIEND AND PASTOR OF THE FAMOUS SOLDIER AND PRESIDENT. Through my long acquaintance with Grant I had oppor- tunities to judge of his moral character. After five years in camp and field he returned to his fire- side without a stain upon his character. Given to no excess himself, he sternly rebuked it in others. He never took the name of his Creator in vain, and an impure story never polluted his lips. Gratitude was one of the noblest emotions of his soul. His words were few, but pregnant with grateful recognition. When restored to the army as General, and retired on full pay, he was deeply touched, and, taking the wife of his youth by the hand, he read the telegram which announced the fact, while, more eloquent than words, tears of gratitude to the nation moistened those cheeks never blanched with fear. It is difficult to be victorious and not be proud. But read Grant's orders; read the reports of his victories; read the memoirs of his life; how he praised his great subordinates and the army and navy that did the fighting. And not once in all the four lustra since the strife was over, in the decade since he retired from his Chair of State with a name great in bofh liemispheres, was he ever heard to speak of his deeds of valor or the. success of his administrations. It was a mistake to suppose that Grant was a stoic, insensible alike to .f)ain and pleasure; indifferent to public opinion or 12 INTRODUCTION. careless about the honor of his rights. He loved the praise of men, when the reward of honorable action. He was a sensitive, high-spirited, manly man, who had the will and courage to contend to the last for what was his due. His self-control was a masterful characteristic. In all my intercourse with him I never knew him to lose himself but once, and that only for a moment. He was a man with all the passions and appetites of human nature; and to make him other than a well-poised, self-mastered man would be an injustice to his memory. He was a man of change- less sincerity. He abandoned himself to his life's mission with the hope of no other reward than the consciousness of duty done. With him true greatness was, that in great actions our only care should be to perform well our part and let glory follow virtue. As his friend and pastor through many years, I had the privilege to observe Grant in the quiet of his home, where he was the sweetest and happiest of men ; where mutual and reciprocal love of the wedded life was ever present. Husband and wife were the happy supplement of each other, their characters blending in the sweetest harmony, like the blended colors in the bow of promise. How tender was that scene in the early dawn of an April day when all thought the long expected end had come ; when he gave her his watch, and, tenderly caressing her hand, said, "This is all I have to give you." And the dying hero whispered: "I did not have you wait upon me because I knew it would distress you, but now the end draws nigh." When he was dead, there was found on his person a letter addressed to his wife. It came to her as a message from the spirit world. It was found secreted in his robe, en- veloped, sealed, and addressed to his wife. He had written INTRODUCTION. 13 it by times ; written it secretly, and carried the secret missive day after day during fourteen days, knowing that she would find it at last. In it he had poured forth his soul in love for her.and also for their children. "Look after our de'ar children, and direct them in the paths of rectitude. It would distress me far more to think that one of them could depart from an honorable, upright, and virtuous life, than it would to know that they were prostrated on a bed of sickness from which they were never to arise alive. They have never given us any cause for alarm on their account, and I earnestly pray they never will. With these few injunctions, and the knowledge that I have of your love and affection, and of the dutiful affection of all our children, I bid you a final farewell until we meet in another and, I trust, a better world. You will find this on my person after my demise." It fell to my lot to pass behnd the curtain of his domestic life, and often converse with him in the privacy of his quiet home. I was with him when the financial crash came. It seemed to crush his brave soul, which mighty armies could not daunt. When, on the morning or May 6, 1884, he left his home for his office on Broadway and Wall street, General Grant thought himself a millionaire, but in an hour thereafter he found that his fortune had been swept away, as it were in a night. His second son was a banker in New York, in company with Ward & Fish, and solicited his father to invest his for- tune and become a partner in the same firm. This proved the blunder of his life. He was nothing more than a silent partner. He loaned his name and invested his money, but others did the business. In reality. Ward 14 INTRODUCTION. acted for the firm; made all investments, drew all checks, received all deposits, and disposed of them. The General was assured that the investments were proper, and, unac- customed as he was to business, he inquired little further. The apparent returns from the business were enormous, but not larger than other bankers and brokers around him. He had put all available capital into the bank. One of his sons was a partner, another became an agent of the firm, and a third had entrusted $80,000 to the company for investment. When he arrived at his place of business, his son ap- proached him and said : " Father, return home, the bank has failed." He was silent, and, after a moment, calmly said to a friend : "We are all ruined here; the bank has failed. Ward cannot be found. The securities are locked up in the safe; he has the key; no one knows where he is." In a few moments the General entered his carriage and was driven home. He never returned to Wall street. But a greater evil was at hand. His bodily health gave signs of decay. A terrible cancer appeared. The most eminent physicians were in attendance, but gave no promise of recovery. His pains became excruciating; he could not swallow without torture, and his sufferings at the table were intense. Liquid food was a necessity. Death seemed pre- ferable, and for a time he desired to die. For hours he would sit alone, propped up in his chair, with hands clasped, looking at the blank wall before him, silent, contemplating the future. He seemed not alarmed, but solemn, as the end approached. But he revived ; his apathy disappeared ; his indifference was soon gone. He had another battle to fight. It was with poverty. His sword was sheathed, but his pen was ready, and was destined to be mighty. The proprietors of the Century Magazine solicited him to write four articles INTRODUCTION. 15 on the battles of Shiloh, Vicksburg, Chattanooga, and the Wilderness campaign. They assured him of an honorable compensation, not less than $2,000, and that the public would hail his productions with delight. He consented. Then dawned upon him the purpose to write his personal memoirs, the sale of which has brought the widow nearly half a million of dollars. At first he dictated to a stenog- rapher and corrected the notes thereof. When the pro- gress of the cancer had interrupted his speech, then with pad and pencil he would write many hours of the day. His intellect was clear, his memory suggestive. Facts and fig- ures of his great campaign came trooping through his mind. It was the mastery of mind over a suffering body. It was the greatest achievement of his time, intellect defying the pain of disease and the approach of death. His hold on life was strengthened by his determination to live until the work was done. But there was something higher that sustained his great soul in this final battle of his life. " Life to him was not a walking shadow; death was not an endless dream." His calmness in suffering was not stoical philosophy, but inspired by Christian fortitude. Reared in the Methodist Episcopal church, and baptized in his last illness, his religious nature was sincere, calm, and steadfast. The principles of Christi- anity were deeply engraved upon his spirit. Firm, but never demonstrative, he was not a man of religious pretense. 'His life was his profession. It was in the early part of April, 1885, when I gave him Chistian baptism. Death seemed imminent. Even his physicians had given up hope. I had watched with him all night. At five in the morning the baptism took place. All supposed that the General was dying. 16 INTRODUCTION. As I entered the sick room Mrs. Grant said to me, " Doc- tor, the General has not been baptized, and we wish you to baptize him now!" I consulted his sons; and to his wife and sons I replied, " I will baptize him if he is conscious; I cannot baptize an unconscious man!" We all knelt around his chair, and as I began to pray the General opened his eyes and looked steadily at rne. As his physicians thought that he could not live five minutes longer, I prayed that God would receive his departing soul. I then approached him, and spoke to him about his bap- tism, when he answed; "I am obliged to you doctor: I had intended to take that step myself." In the meantime his son had brought in a silver bowl full of water, and, by the General's expressed wish, I bap- tized him in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. He was fully conscious, and with his own hand wiped away the water that had run down upon his face. A few days after, I spent two hours with him in re- ligious conversation. I asked if he recalled the scenes of his baptism, to which he replied : "Yes, perfectly. And as you came into the room I wondered why they had called you at that hour of the night." To my remark, " All thought you had not five minutes to live," he gave his characteristic answer: "I knew I was very low, but I did not intend to die; my work is not done. Three times I have been raised from the valley and shadow of death." And during four months thereafter he lived and suffered, reviewed his first volume, and wrote the second. In that conversation he said to me: " I believe in the Holy Scriptures. Whoso lives by them will be benefited thereby. Men may differ as to the inter- pretation, which is human, but the Scriptures are man's best INTRODUCTION. 17 guide." He revered their source, recognizea their ini^uence, responded to their requisitions, trusted in their promises, found consolation in their hopes. His faith in God as the sovereign ruler and Almighty Father was simple as a child's and mighty as a prophet's. He was a man of prayer. It was on a Sabbath evening in March of that year when I called and found him alone with Mrs. Grant. I informed him that three hundred Meth- odist preachers, with their bishops, in Conference assembled had stood up and offered prayer for his recovery. His response was in accord therewith, and he informed me that a company of friends in Boston had leagued together to pray for him every day, and that the little children in the neighborhood had sent him word that they added his name in their little prayer when they prayed for "papa and mamma." I saw his great eye moisten, and, in answer to my sug- gestion that we should join in this universal prayer, he re- sponded, "Yes," with emphasis. The spirit of the Lord came upon us, and, as we prayed for his soul, for the recov- ery of his health, and that his life might be spared until his work was done, at each petition he responded " Amen." It was the hour of his surrender to God. That amen by that silent man was more significant than volumes by others. Thereafter it was his custom and habit to call to prayers. On one of those delusive April days, when hope re- vived in all our hearts, I said to him, " You are a man of Providence. God made you the instrument to save our nation, and he may have a great spiritual mission to accom- plish by you, and may raise you up." In the most solemn and impressive manner, with a mind clear and purpose dis- tinct, he replied : " I do not wish to proclaim it; but should 2 18 INTRODUCTION. He spare my life, it is my intention and resolve to throw all of my influence by my example in that direction." On one of those days when the treacherous disease seemed to gain the mastery, he said to me, " Doctor, I am going." I replied, " I hope the prospect of the future is clear and bright." His answer was: "Yes, oh, yes." Then followed a scene of infinite tenderness. The honored wife, the precious daughter, the devoted sons and their wives, each in turn approached, and he tenderly kissed them. "Do you know me, darling?" was the loving wife's inquiry, and he whispered back, "Certainly I do, and I bless you all in my heart." Such love melted the marble heart of death, and the king of terrors fled affrighted. The sufferer revived. Heaven added months to a life so dear to us all. When he recovered sufficiently I asked him, "What was the supreme thought in your mind when eter- nity seemed so near?" " The comfort of the consciousness that I had tried to live a good and honorable life," was the response which revealed the hidden life of his soul. Again the angel of death cast his shadow over the one we loved so well, and amid the gathering gloom I said: "You have many friends awaiting you on the other side." "I wish they would come, and not linger long," was the answer of his Christian faith and hope. They came at last. They came to greet him with the kiss of immorality. They came to escort the conqueror over the last enemy, and to a coronation never seen on thrones of earthly power. ^^ Book ®ne. PREPARATION. 'ARS and diplomatic conflicts have always occupied more space in history than the peaceful pursuits of ^;^) men; and the descriptive story of marches, battles, and sieges, than the study of motives, or the causes and effects of contests. The soul of man delights in being moved, thrilled, and exalted. The excitement of conflict, the shock of battle and the clever movement of armies, related in burning sentences, rouse his passions and claim his sympathies. He desires to be entertained rather than instructed. He does not generally delve deeply into rea- sons; he looks rather at the action and the result and judges one by the success or failure that may attend his efforts without considering, or giving due weight to, surrounding circumstances. External appearances, submitted to super- ficial observation, not to the test of reasoning thought, generally determine opinions. True genius has been thus often underrated, or good fortune mistaken as evidence of its presence. The passions of men, too, warp their judg- ments. Prejudice weighs heavily in the balance of Jus- tice. It is difficult, therefore, to render praise where praise is due, sometimes, or to abstain from too severe criticism. 20 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. Partizanship, that necessary evil in republics, often mis- taken for principle and as often set above principle, is fraught with virulent prejudice. It has not only been able to drive the sons of freedom into a rebellious defense of most degrading slavery, but it lives yet and keeps alive the hatred aroused in the war it caused long after the strife has been ended. All citizens are more or less infected with it. Hence it is difficult to see the truth concerning the men who took part in the great conflict through the mist thrown around them by this powerful agent, and more diffi- cult to make others see it when discerned. Men arose by the success that attended their efforts; they were dashed to earth again by some ill-fortune for which they, perhaps, were not to blame. Yet it is true in a certain measure that success marks the genius. Other circumstances being equal, it is a never failing evidence. Genius compels success to attend it. It snatches victory from the very jaws of defeat. It is much more difficult for a citizen of the Republic to write of the men who were engaged in the late civil war in the United States, called from its magnitude the Great Rebellion, than to write of men engaged in foreign wars. For so hot were the passions of men during this conflict, that, although a quarter of a century has passed since it closed, they have not yet cooled, they do not all sleep, but they exert a powerful influence still. If some boast of vic- tory, others curse the day of their defeat. The parties which arrayed themselves as parties on the opposing sides of the contest are still the chief parties among the people. Eighty years of contention, ending in four years of deadly combat, aroused such prejudice and tore asunder so widely the ties that bound the hearts of men to one common coun- try and to each other, that a century will not heal them. LEADERS OF GREAT MOVEMENTS. 21 Still progress has been made toward unity, and the intol- erance of the war is disappearing. The problems growing out of the great contest were many and intricate. Consum- mate statesmanship and wise counsel have not availed to solve them wholly. The negroes are free, nominally, but not practically. The former masters can not endure to share offices with, or acknowledge the equality of those, who were once their slaves. Nevertheless, these problems will be solved and in a more peaceable manner, every patriot trusts, than was the great problem out of which they sprang. The example of those great men who were chief leaders in the war is being followed. Their influence lives after them. First in war, when peace was established, they became first in peace. They deserve study and comparison. In all civil conflicts there have been leaders who have in themselves personified the spirits of the factions at war, and were true representatives, or genii of the times. Caesar led the Plebs against Pompey and the Aristocrats; Cromwell was the impersonation of the spirit that roused the semi-religious revolution against King Charles; Robes- pierre well represented the destructive genius of the French Revolution, which Napoleon with fierce energy turned against other nations than his own; George Washington was the very soul of that spirit of resistance to tyranny which animated the Colonies to resist the tyrannical meas- ures of England's rulers. In them, the elements of dispute found centres and channels of action. Imbued with the spirit of the times, they threw themselves into the rising tide of public opinion and were borne upward to heights which but few men are permitted to reach. Their lives have become special studies to men; for that they but reflected the thought and action of the times in which they lived. 22 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. So also, in Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee, the elements at war in the late Rebellion found impersonation. For while they were not the only great actors in the con- flict, yet they were chief actors, and became imbued with the opinions of their respective factions. They had little to do with the rousing up of strife; but they had much to do with the prosecution of the war when roused, one as the chief support of the Confederacy, the other as the power that crushed it to death. Grant, like the ruling party in the loyal states, was in favor of reconciliation as long as there was hope of keeping the peace. He hesitated to vote with the party that had the abolition of slavery for its ultimate object, though opposed to the system from princi- ple, because that party's success he feared meant civil war; but, when the gage of battle was thrown, he was then in favor of prosecuting the war to the bitter end, and was one of the first to approve of emancipation. He was one from the laboring class, a democratic citizen, one who recognized all men as equals and none as better than himself. He was practical, energetic, tenacious, inventive and sound in judg- ment. These words apply as well to the people of the states that remained loyal. A strong will, immense resour- ces, modest behavior — these marked the man. He was indeed the representative leader of his people. Lee, on the other hand, was an impersonation of the spirit which moved the seceding states to rebellion and to persist in that rebellion as long as their resources enabled them. He was aristocratic in birth and training. He was a slaveholder. He was honest, brave, ambitious, energetic and of good judgment. The contempt with which the aris- tocracy of the southern states regarded their neighbors of the northern was in him tempered, however, by a certain THE PEOPLE OF THE NORTH AND THE SOUTH, 23 gentility of manner, and he was not so rash and hot headed as the majority of his friends. He was well fitted to be a leader of men, who, though in error, won for themselves a great reputation for valor and dash. The Great Rebellion was, in many respects, a struggle between aristocratic and democratic institutions. The peo- ple who settled New England and the Middle States were for the most part common people, laborers, artisans, farm- ers, with a sprinkling of gentlemen of means and noble birth who soon lost these distinctions. All became equal, differ- ing only in natural ability. The leading people of the South Atlantic States, though by birth they were not of better families than their northern brethren, grew to be pseudo-aristocrats after the introduction of slavery. They were lords of manors, owners of lands and slaves, and rulers by virtue of their birth and riches. Like many unfor- tunate, rich, enervated manikins of to-day, they aped the customs of foreign lordlings. They became a slave-oligarcy, looking upon a poor white man, or one that labored for his daily bread, as little better than the blacks subject to their lashes. It was impossible that such an institution as that upon which their social system was founded should exist under this free government. The fundamental law of the American nation is that all men are free and equal. This law did not agree with the system of slavery. One was des- tined to destruction. The secession leaders saw the inevit- able result that would come; they sought, by separation from the power that threatened their riches and position, to perpetuate the system. It is not a matter for wonder that the rebellion broke forth, then, though it seems wonderful. For it is preposterous to state that the southern states were oppressed or that they had cause to fear the tyrannical rule of 24 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. Lincoln's government. The first ordinance of secession w^as passed while a president and his cabinet v^hich favored their views were in power; and it was the declared policy of Lincoln and his party to let slavery alone where it already existed. The rebellion was the result of a conspiracy among the aristocratic leaders of the southern people, having for its object the perpetuation of slavery, the establishment of a government whose offices might be filled with the leaders themselves, and the final destruction of the United States as a unit. It was very natural that Lee should become a leader among those leaders. It was, on the other hand, just as natural that Grant should become the leader of those democratic Unionists who placed their country's salvation above every other consideration. For Lee was one of the first among his people in birth and breeding; Grant was a commoner, possessing only his great genius. The sentiments leading to disunion and resistance to disunion differed in their origin, as did the sentiments of anti- slavery and pro-slavery. The doctrines of pro-slavery and disunion were formulated by the leaders of the people; the opposing doctrines arose from the masses of the people and spread to the leaders. In the one case, many years of false teaching, by speeches, pamphlets and newspapers, could not wholly mislead the southern people; in the other, the leaders did not utter a word in behalf of the truth, but temporized and conciliated, until the voice of their constituents com- pelled them. On the one hand, the leaders taught the people ; on the other, the people taught the leaders. The mass of the southern people was ignorant, or the Rebellion could never have happened. They believed all that scheming politicians told them and verily believed their northern brethren intended to subjugate them, to take away their THE PEOPLE OF 'THE SOUTH DECEIVED 25 rig-hts and property; and the most ignorant, it is said, were taught, and believed, that a Yankee w^as as malevolent as hib Satanic Majesty himself. It was policy on the part of the leaders to disseminate such false ideas. For should the rising tide of abolition sentiment be permitted to sweep away the institution which gave them wealth, leisure to act the gentleman, title of master of servants and lord of manors, they would be reduced, perhaps, to the necessity of depend- ing, like other plebians, upon their personal exertions for a livelihood, a result not at all desirable in their view. It was not the love of liberty that moved them to drag their states and the people thereof into disastrous rebellion; it was selfish interest to preserve the institution on which their wealth and social position were founded. The loyal people never could have been dragged thus into war by their leaders. Being educated very generally, they could not have been so de- ceived. No oligarchy of rulers could have ruled them. The war proved in the end, as the passing years show, to be a blessing to those who so valiantly maintained it. It tore aside the veil of ignorance from the people's eyes, and gave them a chance to improve; and it is pleasing to note that they are improving. Could the Confederacy have achieved its independence, its people in no longtime would have had cause to lament. All the elements of an oligarchy, a form of government worse than a despotic monarchy, were there — classes, the aristocracy, the common poor, and the slaves. From what depths of degradation and oppression the masses of these people were saved by a destructive war will never be known. Only the philosophic mind, by comparing the data of history, is able to perceive dimly the depths to which they might have sunk. The birth of those genii, the Spirit of Liberty and the 26 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. Spirit of Slavery, if we may be permitted to personify them, dates back to the earliest period of history, and further. In the beginning men were equal, but strength soon marked the master. To strength was added wisdom, and to wisdom the power of wealth. The prestige of the father, descend- ing upon the son, clothed him with a superior majesty and rendered him worshipful in the eyes of his fellows. Soon class-rule, king-rule, and despotisms, were established. So- ciety assumed the form that it held till the last century ushered in a new era. The love of liberty, however, being inherent in the hearts of men, was never totally lost. It lived here and there, and sprouted and blossomed forth gloriously whenever some superior agent succeeded in tear- ing away the bands that held it. The majority of civil wars have been conflicts between these opposite principles. Liberty came to America with the Colonial Fathers; it fought for independence and established the United States. But Slavery came also. Brave men, who stood nobly for their own political rights, were themselves slaveholders, and oppressors of the rights of others. Even Washington was not free from this reproach, though he was the kindest of masters to his people. But in accordance with his love of liberty, he, by will at his death, made freemen of his slaves. When the Colonies became independent States, the great men who had guided them to liberty perceived that, unless the newly acquired freedom was properly guarded, it would leave them. Union was their only safe-guard. The revolution against kingly rule had carried the colonies too far, however, for a close union, and at first only a con- federacy was formed. The experience of a few years proved how weak this loose union was; and the statesmen again consulted. This Union, under which the States THE CONSTITUTION AND SLAVERY. 27 flourish today, was the result of their deliberations. The Constitution became the supreme law of the land; it was the voice of the People. In its formation the interests of liberty and slavery clashed; and, for the sake of peace, nothing was said in it concerning the evil, it being left to the care of future generations. Majority rule was estab- lished. Parties were at once formed. Slavery, or some question arising out of it, became the bone of contention between them. The compact being made, the Constitution being ratified by the people, not by the states, even though the people's voice was expressed through the medium of the state, it became impossible for one or more states to recede from its power without the consent of a majority. A portion of the rights of the states was given up to the Cen- tral Government. The people, not the states, made the Constitution; only the people could annul it by their ma- jority vote. Not all the people assented to these views, however, and strong parties either supported or denied it. At last war was roused; and the people by force of arms settled the question forever. The underlying cause of all the questions, about which arose the disputes leading to the Rebellion, was slavery. From it arose the tariff, state-rights and other discussions upon which the parties were divided. Old parties were abandoned and merged into new. Gradually the different disputes assumed the character which they bore at the begin- ning of the war. During the half century preceding the war, the pro-slavery leaders were more often successful in their efforts than their opponents. Their demands were met with concession after concession; but instead of pacifying, these only seemed to make them more avaricious. Bold of speech and hot-headed, they did not hesitate to declare their in- 28 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. tention to dissolve the union if their demands were not granted. The greatest statesmen, the most eloquent orators and the wisest politicians sought to settle, by argument and concession, the vexed dispute, which, when partially quieted, was liable at any moment to break forth as fiercely as ever. Newspapers, books, pamphlets and tracts spread the dis- cussion, and demagogues found willing ears to listen to their tirades. Grant and Lee came under the influences of these con- flicting opinions before they had reached the age of reason. Born in the early part of the present century, they heard, while still at their mothers' breasts, the discussions of the day. Grant was nurtured in a free state among people who loved liberty; and he imbibed from them that love for his country which was so great in him. Some of his family were Whigs; others were Democrats. From the first, he learned to love and respect the Constitution and to oppose the ex- tension of slavery; from the second, he received opposite ideas, tempering and rendering his opinions conservative. He was thus fitted not only to become the Nation's strongest defender against treason, but to act as a pacificator. Lee, whose birth-place was in the state into which slavery was first introduced, was surrounded by influences of a different nature. The pernicious evil of the age was around him. His relatives and friends were slave-holders. The majority of those people, also, were strong advocates of the doctrine of state-rights. But prior to the war, he expressed himself as in sympathy with the Union and opposed to secession. Only great considerations could have moved him from his loyalty. It is a trite saying, that as the child is, so will the man be. It may be said with as much truth, that, as a man's surround- grant's birth. 29 ings are, so will he be. For while there may be certain natural qualities in every man which distinguish him from his fellows, and which may raise or lower him in their esti- mation, it is true that circumstances govern these in a great measure in bringing them out, or suppressing, elaborating or destroying, directing or frustrating them. Had Grant been bred with Lee's surroundings, he would likely have been a secessionist; had Lee occupied Grant's place, he would have been, perhaps, a strong supporter of the Union. Judgment on their respective courses in the war ought, therefore, to be tempered with excuse. Ambition both had, though of different strength. Genius both had, though exerted in. opposite lines. Grant was the son of a tanner who was also a farmer in a small way. He was born at Point Pleasant, Ohio, on the north bank of the Ohio river, not far from the city of Cin- cinnati (April 27, 1822). His parents were poor but respect- able — honesty and independence being their only distinc- tions. They could trace their ancestry back to a certain Mathew Grant who landed from a ship at Dorchester, Massachusetts, early in the seventeenth century. No aris- tocratic blood ran in their veins. They were of the com- mon people, the respectable middle class, who disdained any other title than that won by upright living. Nobility of character, not of birth, gave them the right to be held hon- orable citizens of the Republic. Yet the Clan Grant of Scotland claimed Grant as a descendant of their clan, when in after years he visited their country. Their battle-cry, "Stand fast, Craig Ellachie!" was certainly a fitting motto for him. Ohio State, which has produced many notable men, here produced one destined to be most notable of all. The clear sky, the pure air and the beautiful hills 30 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. and streams, all instill into the hearts of her youth a strong love for home and country. Grant, as he played by the blue waters of the Ohio, fished and bathed in the streams that were tributary thereto, hunted in the woods that cov- ered the hills, and wandered at will through the pastures and meadows, unrestrained by the bonds of elegant society, BIRTHPLACE OF GRANT, AT POINT PLEASANT, OHIO. became a lover of nature and a worshipper of Nature's God. The conventionalities of life were to him a tyrannical sys- tem of laws, and were observed by him later in life only because of necessity. And when he had grown to man's estate, and was occupying the highest offices in the gift of his grateful countrymen, his love of the pure country air, the beauty of rural scenery, and his fondness for animals and birds, served often to call him away from the oppressive cares of business to some peaceful retreat in the country. lee's birth. 31 Lee was born at Stratford, the ancient manor house of the Lee family in the State of Virginia (January 19, 1807). The house was built by a noted ancestor in the latter part of the seventeenth century, and several successive families of Lees had been reared there, thus giving it an air of re- spectability which always attaches to ancient places. Lee could trace his ancestry back to a certain Launcelot Lee, who left his home in Loudon, France, to accompany Wil- liam the Conqueror, across the English Channel. Some of his later ancestors were prominent men in the Colonies and became noted during the Revolution. Richard Henry Lee deserves special mention as one who signed the Declaration of Independence. The Lee family was, therefore, one of the first families of Virginia, a distinction of which those first families were inordinately proud. They were aristo- cratic and influential. The contrast between Lee's family and that of Grant was as great as the varied conditions of life in the Republic will permit. Lee's birth in such position gave him chances of rising and becoming noted that Grant never possessed. He was a great man among the people before he had accomplished anything to entitle him to that appellation. He felt himself a master; his teachings made him jealous of his rights as a gentleman of family, and he held intimate relations only with his equals socially. The childhood of Grant and Lee is not well known to history, little having been written of them by any that knew of their youthful days. Grant seldom spoke of himself, and, when in later life he wrote his own memoirs through pecuniary necessity, he wrote rather of his campaigns than of his personal history. Like all country lads, he enjoyed a freedom from restraint which city boys do not have. His father, a man of iron will, ruled him with a firmness that 32 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. would brook no misbehavior and allow no disobedience to the rules laid down for the son's guidance. Only a general supervision of his actions, however, was maintained. No special teachings or training were imposed. He was made self-reliant in this manner. He hated the tannery business, which his father pursued, but liked farming. His labor was, therefore, wisely directed to the care of the small farm which was owned in connection with the tannery. When he was one year old his parents removed from Point Pleasant to a farm near Georgetown, a place not far from his first home, and there he lived until he entered West Point sixteen years later. This farm was covered with primeval forest which had to be cleared away and the ground broken before it could be planted. The father gave little attention to farming; and, as soon as the son was strong enough, the whole care of the land was left to him. At the age of six he drove a team drawing cord- wood; at the age of eleven he followed the plow; and from that time on he performed a man's labor. He became a man while yet a boy. He was very fond of animals, especially of horses. It is said of Alexander the Great that he conquered a horse which no one else could subdue. A like story is told of Washington. Grant, also, won the reputation of having conquered more than one vicious beast. The gifts, which, in later years while he was traveling among foreign nations, were bestowed upon him, contained none more appreciated than some beautiful Arabian steeds presented to him by the Sultan of Turkey. His life on the farm was not without its pleasures and periods of relaxation. Parties, spelling-matches, singing- schools, and various other country amusements, served to break the monotony of work. Quiet, industrious, of good lee's youth. 33 habits, very unobtrusive and persistent in doing anything undertaken, he yet exhibited no special marks of genius or ability. No one prophesied that he would have a great future; few said that he would make his mark in the world; all said he was a good-enough boy. He was possessed of no remarkable personal beauty; but his clear, honest, blue eyes, his brown cheeks and strong limbs, were preposses- ing. Under all this plain exterior, however, there was a heroic soul capable of rising to any emergency. He was destined to become great, even against his own belief; but he did not then think of becoming anything but a farmer. Lee's childhood is even more obscure than Grant's. When he was eleven years old, his father's death placed him under the exclusive control of an invalid mother, to whom he proved a worthy son. Not allowed to work, since slaves did that, he was nurtured in gentility and refinement. He was a child of the home, a helper in the house, an attentive nurse to his mother, and of exceptionally good habits. He was handsome, a model of grace and good manners. If all is to be believed that is said of him, he was a model boy. His disposition was, however, subject to frequent changes. At times he was playful and teasing, but only to familiar friends; again he was reticent and severe. Being early recognized as the master of his mother's house, and having control of the family affairs almost exclusively on account of her ill-health, he became accustomed at an early age to act the master. While he loved horses and other animals, he had not the same fondness for them that Grant had. Books pleased him better. When he was four years old, his parents removed to Alexandria, which re- mained his home several years. He thus received the 34 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. benefits of city breeding without being harmed by its vices. While his friends hoped great things for him, they never dreamed, perhaps, of the important place he would fill in the world's history. Special genius he did not exhibit. Like many other aristocratic young Virginians, he was held in high esteem because of his high birth and manly beauty. Flattery, however, did not seem to make him vain. He had a pardonable pride in his position and influence his ancestry and his connections with the elite. He desired to emulate those illustrious men who had honored his name. His choice of a soldier's life cleared the way for achieve- ments even greater than they had performed. The rudimentary education of Grant was neglected; that of Lee was well finished. Grant was no lover of text- books, and had few opportunities for attending schools while a boy. For there were no public schools such as there are to day, and private schools were few and high priced. Three or four months during the winter, when farm work could not be done, and for few winters at that, constituted his schooling before he entered West Point. He was not a brilliant scholar, but rather ordinary. He never attained high grades, but never allowed himself to fail in his lessons. There was small encouragement to edu- cation among the people of his acquaintance. It was the prevailing opinion that education made a man too lazy for work. To know how to read, write and calculate the sim- plest sums, was held to be sufficient. People learned more from experience than from books; yet none were so illiter- ate as their neighbors further south. Grant was for the most part self-taught. He had little to say, but he thought much, and everything that came before his mind was retained. He learned from individual observation. His lee's early education. 35 judicial brain quickly formed an opinion, and that opinion once formed was rarely changed and more rarely wrong. He listened to the suggestions of others attentively, but he formed his own plans. The adage, "Still water runs deep," applied well to him. Lee's education was more thorough and perhaps more extensive. He was a student of high merit, noted for his close application, his neatness and his perfect recitations. His schools were the best of the day, and his time was not occupied with work of any kind that would hinder his attendance. Still he did not learn for the love of learning, but because it was necessary for a gentle- man of his station to be educated. His education was not the result of personal observation so much as Grant's, and therefore not so practical. Indeed, during his whole career, he did not show himself so practical. He weighed all prob- lems in the light of his acquired knowledge, rather than upon his own trained judgment. He gave much weight to the advice of others, sometimes to the detriment of the cause he represented. Experience did not prove to him as valuable a teacher as to Grant. The life of a soldier has a fascination for the majority of men. But Grant never dreamed of becoming a soldier until his father informed him one day that his appointment as a cadet to West Point was secured. The young man's wishes had not been consulted in the matter, and he answered that he would not go. But the father answered grimly, that he would go; and so the matter was settled. Young Grant bowed to the dictum of his superior, though much against his inclination. He knew how to obey as well as to com- mand. What his parents said to him was law to be obeyed. After thinking the matter over, he began to like the idea of going to West Point. He was passionately fond of travel- S6 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. ing and had a great desire to see the world that was beyond the very limited circle of his home. On his way to school, he would pass through the great cities of Philadelphia and New York, and the Allegheny Mountains, noted for their beautiful scenery. Assured that the matter of his going to West Point was settled, he applied himself diligently to pre- paratory studies necessary for the preliminary examination. When on his way to school he loitered so long at the cities above mentioned that his father sent him a letter of severe reprimand. But his dislike to the idea of attending the military course laid out for him was go great that he made no haste, and since has said that he then wished some acci- dent would happen to prevent him going further. Lucky was it for his fame, and for the nation of which he was a son, that his father's will prevailed in this matter. Seldom has the world presented so remarkable a case as this to the view of mankind. Great soldiers with scarce an exception have passionately desired to become soldiers from their ear- liest years; but Grant, possessed of military genius of the highest order, was a lover of peace and without desire for the field and camp. Lee chose for himself the life of a soldier. The influ- ence of the deeds of illustrious ancestors, some of whom had been noted warriors, urged him to win fame and for- tune by arms. He had heard and read of them from his earliest years. Powerful friends easily obtained for him an appointment to West Point Academy. The most honorable profession that could be chosen by the prominent families of Virginia was his choice. The rich found it a pleasant position, adding honor to their wealth. The poorer found it a support where pride was not compelled to stoop to manual labor for bread. To Lee, this life served a double purpose, GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE. 38 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. By some means, his family had become reduced in wealth till it was at times in sore straits. By becoming a soldier, he was able to support himself and keep up his honorable name. The national government bears the expenses of those it trains for use in the army, requiring only a few years of service from them in return. How well he after- wards repaid the beneficence of his country history has shown. But he was one of many, though the greatest per- haps, that made a like return. Grant and Lee were of nearly equal age when they « entered school at West Point, though Lee had graduated more than ten years, and was in active service before Grant began. There were striking contrasts between them; there were also many similar qualities. Lee was tall, handsome and graceful; Grant was of medium height, plain and awk- ward. Lee was among the foremost gallants, a good fellow whom every body sought in society; Grant was shy, retiring, but well respected and liked by all with whom he associated. Neither was profane or vulgar. Grant in particular being sensitively pure in this respect. Lee was a nominal member of the Episcopal church; Grant was a member of no church then, though he always held God in reverence, and after- wards became a member of the Methodist church. Both were temperate, Grant making little or no use of intox- icants, and Lee drinking nothing stronger than wines. Neither gambled or was extravagant. It would be hard to find two, rising from different circumstances, so unlike in training and composition, yet so pure morally and so well endowed with genius of the first order. Fresh from the country when he entered the Academy (1839), Grant was ignorant of polite manners and became an object of ridicule to his more polished companions. But GRANT AT WEST POINT. 39 he was not averse to using the weapons Nature had provided him, and his sturdy limbs, tough muscles and hard knuckles soon won for him peace and respect. Being utterly with- out fear, he could not be in the least intimidated. Position being established, he turned his attention to his duties. It soon became manifest wherein lay his power. He was not good at minute matters contained in his instruction, and did not learn readily that which required the special aid of memory; but those things which required deep thought and study and the scrutiny of a clear judgment were his best fields. He could not give attention to matters that did not interest his mind and call for thought and reasoning, though he could, if by exerting his will, he brought himself to the task, master any subject. He, therefore, became more pro- ficient in such branches as mathematics, strategy and tac- tics, than in others. He won good grades in all and excel- lent in those that interested him. In recitations he trusted as much to his reason and sense to frame answers to ques- tions as to the remembrance of his texts. Much of his time was spent in the library connected with the school. He enjoyed the company of a good author far more than that of sportive companions. History, biography and fic- tion were eagerly devoured by his mind until now never treated to the luxury of genuine books. He derived great benefit from this promiscuous reading. His views were widened, his ideas were fashioned, and he was taught by the experience of others. Thus two years passed. Then he became ambitious to be a teacher, and applied himself with great diligence to his studies, especially to mathematics. The time he had lost during the first years was hard to redeem; and, w^hen at the end he stood with the others for examination, he did not head his class. But during these 40 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. last two years of study, he became more interested in his work and more ambitious to win distinction in his profes- sion. Of the soldiers of that day he most admired Scott. From him he afterwards learned some valuable lessons. When Lee became a student at West Point (1825), he at once assumed a high place among his fellows. Zealous, quick to learn, possessed of a good memory and of a pleas- ing address, he soon stood near the head of his class and won favor with his teachers. He had not that backwoods awkwardness to overcome that attended Grant's entrance to school. He did not have to win peace and position by force of arms; they were his by birth. The four years he spent there were pleasantly and profitably employed. Unfortunately little is known of his life at that time beyond the general facts that he was a student of merit and was liked and respected by all that knew him. He gave special attention to the study of engineering, becoming quite pro- ficient in that line. In after years his knowledge of this branch made him one of the greatest generals to operate in the defensive that have ever lived. As there was a marked contrast between the zeal which each manifested in the work at West Point, so there was a contrast between the respective grades that Grant and Lee received at graduation. For Grant was numbered twenty- three, the middle of his class, while Lee won the second place, almost the head. These places were gained on gen- eral average of merit marks, though both would have stood better on special studies. There may have been favor- itism in the matter as some have suggested, since West Point was in those days not entirely free from that reproach; but, on the whole, one may judge fairly the interest that each took in his work from the results of this test. After grant's modesty. 41 the final examination came the choice of arms. Grant, because of his love for horses, desired to be enrolled in the cavalry; but that arm of the service was a favorite among the cadets, and more favored men filled the offices. He became a second lieutenant in the 4th infantry. Lee, fol- lowing his inclination, was given a second lieutenancy in the Engineer Corps. The novices were well started on their career. With their commissions the young soldiers received a furlough, and Grant availed himself of the opportunity to visit his parents. It would naturally be expected that he would be conceited and vain, as many graduates, even of civil colleges, are; but what conceit he had was soon lost. For the boys of his former acquaintance made such sport of him as he rode about for the first time in his uniform, with its showy stripes and buttons, that he entertained a sudden disgust to wearing it and at once donned citizen's clothes. Nor ever afterwards, unless necessity compelled him, would he wear a uniform, and he became noted for the extreme simplicity of his dress, wearing no better than the private soldiers he commanded. To pose before the public, to gain the admiration of the fair, and to be thought handsome and heroic — such it is said have always been the desires of the soldier, till a soldier's vanity has become a proverb. Grant had little of that vanity. He was, perhaps, too modest and sensitive for his own comfort. For on more than one occa- sion he was placed in a position where assertiveness would have closed the mouths of liars that defamed him. He was glad when his furlough came to an end. The old home and companions were not the same as before to him. He had become used to the army. Its surroundings were congenial to his nature. He rejoined his regiment, which was then 42 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. on garrison duty at St. Louis, Missouri, and remained there some months. Here, in the gay and dissipated life of a state metropolis, where many young soldiers contracted ruinous habits, he kept himself aloof from evil associations and immoral practices. His strict morality was known and respected by all. One hurtful habit alone he learned and retained — that of smoking tobacco. The cigar was his favorite companion, and its excessive use, it is thought, led to the disease from which he died. The soldier's life is one of danger and temptation; but Grant was fortunate in escap- ing without a wound and without a fall. Lee also availed himself of the customary furlough to visit his mother and friends. He was eager to enjoy the pleasures of rest and recreation. A round of fetes and parties was given him, at which, with natural vanity, he appeared in full uniform, and was lionized to an extent fully warranted by his position and personal beauty. The aristo- cratic circle in which he moved, far from ridiculing him, as did the democratic friends of Grant their hero, were proud of him and the excellent record he had made. Great things were said to be in store for him. It was with regret that he returned to the service at the end of his furlough. He was employed first upon the sea-coast defences and afterwards in surveying the channel and rapids of the Mississippi River. Later the works near Washington, the Capital, New York Harbor, and at Fortress Monroe, received his atten- tion. Many years of useful employment were in this way rendered the Government byliim before Grant had entered the academy. Courtship is the poetic period of man's life. The tender passion, the chief theme of poets and novelists, old, yet ever new, demands for itself everything or nothing. By its MARRIAGES OF GRANT AND LEE. 43 power men are mightily influenced either for good or for evil; it drags them down or it aids them to ascend the hill of fame. Felicitous marriages have made many great who would otherwise, perhaps, have remained obscure; infe- licitous marriages have often made the good bad and the bad worse. The constant association of two souls, each of which continually imbibes the spirit of the other, serves to strengthen or weaken both. Fortunately for them, Grant and Lee both made happy marriages, associating them- selves with refined, good women, who in no way proved drags to them, but in many ways aided them in their upward courses to the heights they attained. Their homes were happy, and their children proved an honor to them. Grant, while stationed at St. Louis, became acquainted with an excellent young lady, Julia Dent, daughter to a merchant of that city. He has written, very modestly and somewhat naively, of his quiet, pleasant courtship, leading to marriage a few years later. The marriage proved to be a very con- genial union, and several children sprang therefrom, some of whom have occupied honorable positions in the service of the Republic. Throughout his eventful life, Grant's home was a quiet retreat to which he could retire from the labors of the day. His wife often accompanied him with the army, and his eldest son, Frederick, shared some of his hardest marches. Lee married earlier in life than Grant. While yet a student at West Point he became acquainted with Mary Custis, granddaughter to the wife of Washington, an heiress of great wealth; and, though her parents thought she might marry a richer man, he won her promise. The marriage happened a short time after his graduation, and proved to be, in all respects, a happy one. Several children 44 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. were born to them, one of whom became quite prominent in the Rebellion, and afterwards in the politics of his native state. Lee was an affectionate husband and father. The marriage, a most brilliant affair, made him the manager of a large estate and the master of many slaves. It also very greatly increased his influence and importance, since the descendants of the family of Washington were looked upon with almost as much worship as the royalties of Europe receive. During the years between his graduation and the Mexican War, Grant saw no active service. Unlike Lee, who be- longed to an arm of the service that was used in peace as well as war, he had nothing to do beyond the duties of camp life. This life was monotonous in the extreme. He sought to lighten it by making excursions on horseback in the surrounding country, by studying, with a view to becoming a teacher of mathematics at West Point, a position which had been promised him, and by writing a sort of commentary of his daily life, of the times and the men of the day, and of those things which particularly impressed him. Unfor- tunately for those who study him, this composition has been lost; but. it indicates that he was of a contemplative nature and of a literary turn. The Mexican War interfered with his plan of becoming a teacher. Meanwhile Lee was engaged on the work heretofore mentioned, a work of great benefit to the people. There is but meager record of his actions up to the Mexican War, which called him, too, into active service; but it is enough to show that he became a practical engineer of great skill by reason of long experience. He kept no record of his life, having no love for the fine art of composition. His was a life of pleasant work, and having, by a fortunate CAUSES OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 45 marriage, placed himself beyond want, he had as yet no incentive to extraordinary exertions to support himself. He cared little for politics, preferring to be known only as a soldier. Now came a war which proved to Grant and Lee a better school for their professional education than was West Point. To the Mexican war perhaps, is due the fact that the Rebell- ion found an experienced soldier to lead its greatest army, and the Union found a finished general to lead its troops to continuous successes. It will be necessary, properly to un- derstand this war and its connection with the Rebellion, briefly to review its causes. Texas was formerly a part of Mexico. By a decree made during the early part of the present century, the Mexican Government offered great inducements and advantages to all immigrants who would settle in Texas and the adjoining territory. The purpose was to populate that extensive and fertile region with a vig- orous race which would improve its resources. The scheme was successful beyond the Government's hopes and wishes. Sturdy people from the United States flocked thither in great numbers, taking their ideas, which were not at all favorable to their adopted country, with them. They enter- tained a great contempt for the Mexicans, a mixed race of Spaniards and Indians who were yet bound down under the oppressive customs of Europe, and a greater contempt for the weak government of the country, torn and tossed about by factions, comparing it with the stable government of the United States. Contempt soon ripened into disobedience, and quarrels arose between the local and national authori- ties. The Texans rebelled; and, after a war noted for its ferocity and barbarism, having captured Santa Anna, the Mexican President, they compelled him to acknowledge, as 46 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. President, their independence. The Mexican Government did not accede with good grace to this arrangement. It was willing to recognize the independence of the new state, which took the euphonius title of "The Lone Star Repub- lic," but claimed that its boundary was marked on the south by the Nueces river, while the new nation claimed the Rio Grande river to be the boundary. The territory between those rivers, a part of the old State of Coahuila, was thus claimed by both, the one on the ground that it had seceded with Texas, the other, that it had not. Such was the situation when the Lone Star Republic petitioned the United States to be admitted to the Union as a state. Mexico was not at all willing that its larger neighbor should absorb territory which it was not able to retain and title to which it had not wholly relinquished, though Santa Anna, while a prisoner, had been compelled to grant the insurgents independence. Notice was given that the passage of the bill granting admission would be tantamount to a declaration of war. The great parties in the United States at that time, the Whig and the Demo- cratic, or, in other words, the Anti-Slavery and the Pro- Slavery parties, chose sides on the question of admission, the one against and the other for, and cast the solution into the election for President that was shortly to take place (1844). These parties were straining every nerve to increase their power by capturing, politically, new territory. Whether slavery should be restricted to the states which were now in its possession, or whether the territories from which new states were being constantly formed should remain free from the evil, was the question on either side of which the political forces were rallied. The people who had settled Texas were chiefly from the slave states and GENERAL WINFIELD SCOTT 48 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. had taken their slaves v^rith them. Indeed, their determin- ation to retain their slaves in defiance of the Mexican Government, which had not permitted slavery to exist within its jurisdiction, had been one of the causes of the Texan Rebellion. If the new state should be admitted to the Union, the Pro-Slavists, or Democrats, would have a vast advantage over their opponents. Consequently, the campaign carried on by the parties, with the admission as an issue, was very bitter. The Democrats, despite the fact that Mexico was threatening war, won the victory, and their nominee, James K. Polk, was elected. The annexation, or admission, bill was at once passed, and received the Presi- dent's signature. Texas became a member of the Union. The Mexican Legate at once demanded passports and left the country, thus closing all friendly relations between his Government and the United States. As one of the chief grievances of the Mexican Government was that the annex- ation of Texas embraced the territory between the Nueces and the Rio Grande rivers, the United States Executive, having gained the new state, offered to negotiate a settle- ment. But the haughty Mexicans refused to submit their claims to arbitration and made threats. Thereupon Presi- dent Polk ordered General Zachary Taylor to assemble an army in Texas to overawe them. The Mexicans also sent troops to their frontiers. Thus was a war roused, the first, if the least, that the evil of slavery brought upon the United States. It was an unjust war in many respects, and yet the Mexicans were to blame as well as the Americans. It was the beginning of the final conflict between the genii of liberty and slavery, the beginning of the end. General Winfield Scott was at this time the chief officer in the United States Army. He was a Whig, a prominent FIRST CONFLICT 49^ man and a probable candidate for the Presidency. It was the aim of the administration to guard against the possi- bility of his popularity increasing to an extent dangerous to its political existence. He was not allowed, therefore, to lead the Army of Occupation into Texas, lest success there would raise his fame. That honor was given to General Taylor, who, though a Whig, was not then a possible can- didate. He was ordered to assemble his command at Cor- pus Christi, a town near the mouth of the Nueces. Taylor at once issued the order and was engaged during the winter (1845-6) in gathering his forces. In January, by order, he advanced his troops to Point Isabel, a place on the gulf coast in the disputed territory, and there established a depot for supplies. He then advanced to the Rio Grande, and, at a point opposite Matamoras, erected a small earthen fort- ress, named afterwards Fort Brown. A few days later (April 26), Arista, the Mexican in command of the troops of his Government near by, notified Taylor that he might consider hostilities begun. On the same day, a force of Mexican troops attacked a scouting party of American dragoons, killed or wounded sixteen of them, and captured the remainder. This was the first blood shed, and was caused by the Mexicans. So began a conflict remarkable only for the uninterrupted series of successes that attended the American arms. Grant's regiment was one of those ordered to attend Taylor, and was first stationed at Camp Salubrity, so called from its healthful location, a place on the eastern border of Texas. When the order came to proceed to Corpus Christi, the regiment went by way of New Orleans on board ship to that point. As a Whig, Grant was opposed to the war, con- sidering it unjust and impolitic; as a soldier, he believed it, 4 50 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE, his duty to follow his leaders, and felt pride in the achieve- ments of the armies. His first duty in the field was to accompany a detachment of troops escorting an army pay- master to San Antonio, Texas, where a small force was stationed. He then became acquainted with a few of the hardships incident to a soldier's life in the field. Sleeping on the ground with no other covering than a blanket, eat- ing a soldier's hard but substantial fare, and taking his turn at the various duties, he began his practical training. Upon his return, he found himself promoted to the full rank of second lieutenant from the brevet, and that he had been assigned to the Seventh Regiment. He requested to be returned to the Fourth, however, and his wish was allowed. The first blood having been shed by the Mexicans, Tay- lor resolved to prosecute the war with vigor. Leaving three hundred men under Major Brown at the fortress he had built on the Rio Grande, he returned with the remainder of his army to Point Isabel, a distance of twenty-one miles, to bring up supplies sufficient to enable him to march into the enemy's country. The Mexicans at once took advantage of this movement and laid siege to the fort, at the same time putting their army between it and Taylor. The siege was vigorously pressed and as gallantly resisted. The heavy boom of the cannonade rolled across the plain and came to Taylor's ears. He hastened to return to the fort. His army numbered less than three thousand men, a small force to attempt the invasion of a large country; but it was well disciplined and commanded. Grant now for the first time heard the sound of hostile cannon, and felt that dread, for the first and only time, which the young soldier feels when in the presence of an enemy. He has said that he wished himself on the old farm whence his parents had sent him PALO ALTO 51 forth. Nevertheless, he was eager for the battle to come, and was as cool as any of his comrades. He had no fear. The bravest men are not the most insensible. The veteran only is able to face death in battle without a qualm. The Mexicans, six thousand strong, left Fort Brown, when they learned that Taylor was coming, advanced to a place called Palo Alto, and there drew up in battle array to inter- cept him (May 8) . Their position was quite strong. Tay- lor's army soon appeared with proud step and flying banners and drew up in battle line. It was a time for dread, a battle of great moment in the eyes of young, inexperienced soldiers like Grant, but only a skirmish compared with the battles that he should later see. The opponents were armed with flint-lock muskets and a few inferior cannon, and the Mexicans also had spears and lances. Only in number and valor did they differ. Their fighting qualities were displayed for the most part at a distance, artillery being used. In this kind of battle, the Americans had the advantage of better guns and artillerymen, and inflicted double the loss upon their opponents that they themselves sustained. After five hours of cannonading the Mexicans retreated, leaving Taylor's army in possession of the field. The latter did not pursue at once, its leader having no desire to bring his raw troops into too close quarters with an enemy at the begin- ning, — a wise precaution. The easy victory increased the ardor of the soldiers, while the loss of fifty men killed and wounded gave them a sight of the horrors of war. On the following day the Americans advanced, and soon came upon their enemy at a place named Resaca de la Palma, about three miles from Fort Brown. Here the Mexicans had intrenched themselves along the west side of a deserted river-bed where formerly the Rio Grande flowed, but which 52 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. was now thickly grown over with tall grass and underbrush. Their position was strong. The battle, as on the preceding day, began with an artillery duel, the Mexican guns being served with better effect than before, and galling the Ameri- cans severely. Taylor presently ordered his cavalry under Captain May to charge the enemy's batteries, and his army to follow with a charge along the whole line. The charge of the cavalry was brilliantly executed. The Mexican gun- ners were sabered, and La Vega, their commander, was captured. The Mexican army thereupon became demora- lized and fled, not waiting to cross bayonets with Taylor's infantry. Grant, in the absence of his superior officer, who had been detailed to lead a reconnoitering party, was in command of the company during the greater part of the battle, and led it in the final charge, capturing some pris- oners. His position during the day was on the right wing of the army, not exposed to the brunt of the battle, though the company was obliged to lie on the ground to escape the enemy's shot. The Mexicans retreated across the Rio Grande, leaving their artillery and many small arms in the hands of the victors. The latter encamped that night around Fort Brown. After these contests the Government of the United States declared war against Mexico, on the ground that the latter had shed American blood upon American soil. Three armies were then placed in the field to operate, one under Kearney in the west, another under Scott in the south, and a third, Taylor's army of occupation, in the center. While the two former were making ready and getting to their positions, the latter was actively invading the enemy's country, occupying Matamoras on the south side of the Rio Grande, and pushing on toward the strong city of Mon- MONTEREY. 53 terey, to which the opposing army had retired. Reinforce- ments swelled Taylor's army to the number of six thousand men. It was brought part by land and part by water to Camargo, thence by a slow march to Walnut Springs, three miles from Monterey where a camp was formed (19th Sept., 1845). Grant was detailed to act as Quartermaster at Camargo, and remained such during the campaign. His position was by no means a pleasant or inactive one, be- cause of the difficulty of handling the long trains of wagons and pack-mules which carried the army supplies. He proved however to be a valuable officer in this duty. The defences of Monterey consisted of a large fortress of stone called the Bishop's Palace, which stood on an eminence at the west side, a fort, called by some the Black Fort, in the plain at the north side, and various fortifications on the east, and also the houses on the city's outskirts were barricaded and occupied by troops. Taylor found himself confronted with a problem similar to that which Cortez had met several centuries before at Mexico, and the battle that was here fought was a street fight similar to some that the doughty warrior of old experienced. Ten thousand Mexi- cans commanded by General Ampudia, garrisoned the city, resolved to hold it against six thousand Americans. Tay- lor was not at all daunted by the strength of the place or the number of its defenders. He carefully studied the situation and decided to make the main assault against the west side defences, at the same time to attack on the north and east. The regiment to which Grant be- longed was placed at the north side to assault the Black Fort. Here during the night, a battery was established in the plain before the fort, supported by the regiment. Morning came and the thunder of cannon ushered in the 54 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEB. Strife. It was Grant's duty, as quartermaster, to stay with the trains, but the sound of battle aroused his mili- tary ardor so that he did not resist the impulse to go into the fight with his comrades. Mounted on a horse, he rode at the head of the regiment, when, at the order for a general assault, it moved out against the fort. The Ameri- can right wing fiercely assaulted the stone fortress at the west side, the Bishop's Palace, and captured it after a gallant struggle. It then swept into the city driving the enraged Mexicans before it. Then the centre and left wing also pressed forward. It was the object of all to reach the central square usually known as the Plaza, but it was no easy matter to do this, as every house was filled with ene- mies who used the roofs as parapets, from which only the most persistent efforts could force them. Grant joined in the rush across the plain toward the Black Fort, the only man on horseback, a conspicuous target for the enemies' bullets, but was not harmed. The regiment was not able to charge directly across the plain against the fire of the fort's cannon, but veered to the left to avoid it. Twiggs' Division had succeeded in effecting a lodgment within the defences at the northeast of the city, and the regiment joined him. When night came it found the Americans in possession of all the outworks of the defences. But the battle was not yet done. A desultory fire of skirmishers was kept up during the night. The troops slept on their arms. The Mexicans during the night strengthened their barricades. At daylight next morning the battle was resumed. The method of fighting was peculiar. The invaders pushed their way slowly along the streets converging to the Plaza, halt- ing at every house to break down the doors and barricades MONTEREY. 55 and to fight their way up narrow stairs to the roof and there to engage in a hand to hand struggle with the defenders. Piles of sand-bags' on the flat roofs served to screen the Mexicans, who from behind them poured a hail of bullets upon their enemies. Bayonets, swords, spears and stones, were freely used. The shouts of combatants, the intermit- tent rattle of small arms and the crash and roar of cannon- ade sounded throughout the devoted town, the advancing or retreating of either party known to the other only by the noise. A cloud of smoke floated up and lay like a pall over the city. The heroic assailants slowly but surely forced their way to the Plaza. The regiment with which Grant fought all day, discovered, after it had almost reached the objective point, that its ammunition was about to fail. Re- treat was not to be thought of, since, as the Mexicans had re-occupied the barricaded houses after the Americans had passed on it was almost as dangerous to retreat as to stand still and much more demoralizing. In the emergency, a vol- unteer was called for to hasten to General Twiggs and inform him of the danger. Grant promptly offered to go, and as he was well mounted he was ordered to undertake the task. He knew it would be a dangerous ride, but did not hesitate. His magnificent horsemanship stood him in good service. Clasping one arm around his horse's neck and clinging with one leg over its back, he threw his body on one side of the animal and protected in this manner, rode at full speed along the streets, while hundreds of bul- lets were fired at him from either side. He reached Twiggs in safety and delivered the message. Haste was made to collect ammunition and supports were hurried forward. These found the regiment retreating but quickly changed the movement, and presently the Plaza was reached. This 56 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. act of Grant was one of great bravery and was important to the success of the battle. The Americans fought their way to the Plaza, drove the Mexicans from the batteries placed there and turned the captured guns against the city. The Mexican Commander seeing that he was beaten and that the city was about to be destroyed, made haste to sur- render. The victory was won. General Scott, having at last been ordered to assume command in Mexico, hastened to gather an army to invade that country from a new point, yet not new, if it be remem- bered that Cortez attacked at the same point. Taylor's fame had grown too great for his welfare with his superiors whose political success was thereby endangered. He was already being pushed forward as Whig candidate for the presidency at the next general election. Scott, whose right to the command in the field was highest, was therefore now given command in order that Whig might oppose Whig in popularity, and neither grow too great. Scott at once ordered his troops to assemble near Vera Cruz and with- drew all Taylor's supports from Texas and a part of the troops from the Army of Occupation. Taylor was thus left with a small army to oppose any invasion that might be attempted toward Texas; but with this small force he won a hard-fought battle at Buena Vista. Grant was among those drawn from Taylor's army, and Lee was with General Wool, who, at San Antonio, Texas, had been engaged in forward- ing troops to Taylor, but who with others, was ordered to join Scott at Vera Cruz. Thus both came to be in the same army. This army, when finally concentrated before Vera Cruz, contained about twelve thousand troops. It was a small force for the great work laid out for it to perform, but all the men were brave and well disciplined, and the people VERA CRUZ. 57 to be attacked were without either competent leaders or warlike spirit. The city of Vera Cruz was protected by a wall, which, reaching from the shore of the sea above to the same below around on the land side, inclosed it. On the water side was an ancient castle, San Juan de Ulloa, armed with old- fashioned guns, and little able to resist the arts of modern warfare. Scott landed his army (gth March, 1847) south of the city, and marching up, spread his lines around the wall, at the distance of eight hundred yards from it, and in- trenched. The American fieet moved up, and closed the sea, and the doomed city was entirely surrounded. Scott placed his batteries and bombarded the town for three days, raining a terrible storm of shot and shell upon its defences. Grant's duties were not more special than the other officers of his rank, and consisted mainly in holding himself in readiness to act on an emergency. Lee, being an engineer, was very useful in placing batteries and marking out the lines of circumvallation, and was honorably mentioned later by General Scott, who was his personal friend. Stone walls and battlements, designed to protect combatants from arrows and other weapons of ancient warfare, could not long resist the blows of Scott's artillery. The city sur- rendered with five thousand prisoners and four hundred cannon. The first step in the march to Mexico was suc- cessful. This was Grant's second lesson in the art of attacking fortified cities; it was Lee's first lesson in real warfare. Grant, though younger than his competitor in years, had heretofore seen more field service in war and was already a veteran. Immediately upon receiving the surrender of Vera Cruz, Scott set out toward Jalapa, seventy miles inland, in order 58 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. that he might penetrate as far as possible into the interior before the Mexicans should be able to fortify strong points on the road. He left orders that the reinforcements, which he expected, should follow in his steps. The army was advanced in detachments, each being in supporting distance of the other. This was necessary on account of the difficult road and the need of making haste. But, in spite of his haste, the Mexican general, Santa Anna, reached Jalapa first, and took up a strong position at Cerro Gordo, about fifteen miles east of that city, in a spur of the Sierra Madre mountains, where the road passed through, and threw up works. Santa Anna exhibited superior energy in this move- ment. Only a few days before he had sustained a severe defeat at the hands of Taylor in the battle of Buena Vista, but at once, thereafter, accomplished a march of several hundred miles to throw himself between Scott and the Capital. One almost regrets that he had not the genius or the quality of troops to enable him to profit by his celerity. His army numbered twenty thousand men, but they had been hastily raised and were poorly disciplined. The position he had chosen, however, made up for the disparity in the quality of the troops. Scott was not daunted either by the array of troops, far outnumbering his, or the posi- tion that his enemy had taken. He brought his army near to the works and halted to reconnoitre. His engi- neer corps, an extraordinarily efficient one, was called into action. It contained such men as Lee, McClellan and Beauregard, who afterwards became famous in the Re- bellion. It was ordered to find, or make, a path around the right wing of the Mexican position, where the broken nature of the hills made it possible to pass. Lee had direction of the force that cut a path along which, with JALAPA. 59 great difficulty, several cannon were dragged and a body of troops was led. This movement was made unperceived by the enemy, who supposed that the rugged nature of the mountain was a sufficient guard, and had omitted to watch in that direction. Therefore, when (i8th April, 1847) Scott ordered a general assault along the front of the Mexican position, this body of troops, appearing suddenly in the rear, threw the Mexicans into such disorder that they could not be re-formed, but fled wdth great haste from the field. Three thousand prisoners, forty-three bronze cannon and many small arms fell into the hands of the victors. So per- fectly had Scott's orders been carried out by his lieutenants that not one mistake was made, and the result came just as it was expected. This battle was an excellent illustration of the power of disciplined troops in the hands of a competent officer. In its effects, if not in its heroic deeds, this was a second Thermopylae, in that it opened to the invaders the interior of Mexico. It disheartened the natives and em- boldened the Americans. It gave the soldiers with Scott a belief that they were invincible. It was to Grant a lesson that he never forgot, and he afterwards applied the same tactics in more than one battle. To Lee much of the credit of the successful execution of the flank movement, which really won the day, was due. He, too, did not forget the lesson here illustrated. Scott did not delay a moment after his victory, but sent Worth's division in rapid pursuit of the flying enemy In order that he might seize the mountain passes before they could be fortified. Worth marched with little opposition to Perote and occupied that city without trouble. The Mexi- cans were too demoralized to offer resistance. Here the army was concentrated, and thence it descended into the 60 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. plain. Puebla was found evacuated. Scott halted at this great city and awaited reinforcements. His army was much reduced by casualties and the expiration of the term of ser- vice of many of his troops, who, when they were thus free, did not desire to re-enlist but returned home. He found himself thus left in the midst of a hostile nation with barely five thousand effective men, and had the Mexicans taken spirit and fallen upon him like soldiers he could have been annihilated. The government at home did not, for politi- cal reasons, support him as it should have done. But, for- tunately, the Mexicans entertained a wholesome terror of meeting the Americans in battle. Two months passed, during which the army lived off the country, which being as productive as a garden, afforded an excellent subsistence to the small force. Grant, as quartermaster, was actively engaged in the collection of provisions and often went out with large parties. At length five thousand reinforcements came and the advance upon Mexico was resumed. The capital city contained at least one hundred thousand inhabi- tants, besides an army of thirty thousand men. It seemed a rash enterprise to lead ten thousand men against such multitudes; but the Mexicans were more enervated and undisciplined than the Persians of old whom the ten thousand Greeks met and conquered. The Americans marched in four divisions, with reconnoitreing parties in advance and on either side to prevent surprises. The Rio Frio mountains were found unguarded. Emerging from the pass through them, the army uttered a shout of surprise and delight at the beautiful scene which burst upon its view. The Mexican valley, with its white city and glassy lakes in the midst and its mountain boundaries on every side, was as fair as the fabled garden of the gods. It seemed sacri- MAP or MEXICO CITY AHD VIClhlTY — ROUTE or u a.AHnv f» BATTLES 1 62 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. legious to carry war into the peaceful scene. So felt Grant and other young and impressible soldiers; but General Scott could only turn his lip in contempt for the people who had not spirit to defend such a home with their lives, and contest every step that invaders took toward it. Hav- ing reached Ayotla, on the direct road to the city, Scott halted to study the approaches. Mexico, the ancient city and the once proud capital of the Montezumas, was not so well defended as of old by its lake, the waters of which had receded and left it surrounded only by marshes. In those ancient days it could only be approached by causeways, but at this time, being on the western shore of Lake Texcoco, it could be approached by land from the south and on that side Scott determined to attack. The Mexican General, supposing the invaders would attack along the direct road to the city, had strongly fortified that, road and guarded it with his best troops. But Scott chose to take a different route, and passed around to the southwest of Lake Chalco, coming up toward San Augustin, ten miles south of Mexico and halted here at the ancient Tlalpam. Santa Anna, thus out-flanked, made haste to abandon his works on the direct road, and changed front so as to meet his enemy at this point. This movement of Scott's was brilliant, and Grant in later years executed similar movements at Vicksburg and Petersburg, profiting perhaps from the lesson. Between the invading army and the city were the strong fortifications of Contreros, San Antonio and Churubusco, and the Castle of Chapultepec on a rocky height. The three first named were at the apices of a natural triangle, and within the triangle was the Pedregal, a space of volcanic tumuli, covered with rocks and rent into deep chasms and gullies. A horse could not pass over it, much less an army CONTREROS. 63 with its impediments. Contreros was at the southwest apex of the triangle, a strategic point, which, if taken, would com- pel the evacuation of San Antonio. Roads and paths con- nected both it and San Antonio with Churubusco. It was a position of great strength, being almost unapproachable by an army. A precipitous mountain guarded the rear, and as it was on a table land rising abruptly from the plain of the Pedregal, the volcanic field guarded it in front. General Valencia with six thousand men held the position. Scott determined to reach this place at all hazards, believing that, on account of its secure situation, it would not be guarded as closely as was San Antonio in his immediate front. The aid of his engineers was called for, and they were directed to find, if possible, a way across the Pedregal. The attempt was at once made, and though the natural difficulties of the field were increased by the darkness of night, it being necessary to operate there by night to succeed in the under- taking, a way was found, and an assaulting column was led across and ranged in front of the works, ready to assault at daybreak ( igth Aug.) The column arrived at its position about midnight, and Lee undertook to carry ^back word to Scott that the movement was successful. The night was rainy and intensely dark, and it required no small courage in one to accomplish the task, but he arrived safely at Scott's head-quarters and reported. A simultaneous assault was therefore made upon Contreros and San Antonio. At day- light, before the Mexicans were aware of their danger, Smith's gallant men burst over the fortifications at Con- treros, and in seventeen minutes captured the works with their guns, scattering Valencia's terrified men like chaff. Worth, at San Antonio, found more difficulty, as the enemy were alert and ready to resist his attack; but when the 64 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. Mexican general heard of the disaster at Contreros he ordered a retreat upon Churubusco. The garrison did not retire, however, without being sharply assaulted, and finally routed, by the Americans. Grant was with Worth on this day, and had his part in the battles. Lee was occupied as one of Scott's staff. No delay was allowed. The two divisions of Scott's army, from San Antonio and Contreros, were directed by converging roads upon Churubusco, where the whole Mexican army was drawn up in array prepared for a general battle. The two columns of Americans had some difficulty to form a junction in the face of the enemy, but finally accomplished this, and a bloody battle was fought. The Mexican troops redeemed themselves on this field from the imputation of cowardice which their easy defeats had formerly brought upon them. Having twice as many men as their assailants, they might have won the victory if Santa Anna had properly directed them. As it was, they stub- bornly held every position for hours, and resisted the fierce onslaught of Scott's maddened troops. But the steady valor and persistent assaults of the latter finally won. Pillow's division of the Americans, though with great loss, broke the right wing of the Mexican army, and drove it in confusion from the field. At the same time Twiggs' division stormed the heights in its front, and the field was won. Santa Anna hurried up reinforcements and sought to drive back the victors, but these were quickly broken and forced to retreat. Santa Anna then hurriedly fell back, and gathered the con- fused masses of his army around the stronghold of Chapul- tepec and its outwork, Molino del Rey, the sole defensive work -between the enemy and his capital. Thirty thousand men had been defeated on this fatal day by ten thousand; but, except in the last and chief battle, that great body, in MOLINO DEL REY 65 its separate parts, had suffered defeat in detail. The blows struck by Scott were so rapid that no time was given his opponent for concentration. Grant and Lee, at Vicksburg and Cliancellorsville, profited by the example here set before them. Three battles won in a day could the old general in command boast. Santa Anna was wily, if not a genius. He now demanded and obtained a truce, with the object, apparently, of nego- tiating a peace, but in reality to gain time to get his troops in fighting order and strengthen his defences. He demanded terms due only to a victor as a condition of granting peace. Scott contemptuously rejected his offers, and, perceiving his purpose, abruptly broke off the truce by giving notice that hostilities would be resumed. Chapultepec Fortress was a precipitous hill, which rose one hundred and fifty feet above the surrounding plain. It was fortified at every available point of its rock}' sides, and was crowned by an ancient castle. Heavy batteries had been placed so that their guns guarded ever^^ approach. Near it was a large stone struc- ture which had been used as a mill, but which now, with fortifications on either side, was a strong fort. Scott, in order that he might assault the heights of Chapultepec with greater ease, resolved to attack Alolino del Rey, as this mill was named, first, and ordered Worth's division to do this work. Grant was thus given an opportunity to participate in the bloodiest struggle of the war. The troops were moved into position at night (8th September) , and early next morning rushed to the assault. At once the batteries at the mill and the guns from the heights above poured upon the assailants a storm of shot, and ere they touched the works one-fourth of their number were stricken to the earth. But they reached the mill, poured over the works, 5 66 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. and, after a short, sharp fight, drove the defenders headlong out. Grant was one among the first to face the hail of death and to enter the mill. He received the surrender of a part of the Mexicans that could not escape. Scott turned the guns of the captured works towards the heights, and having established other batteries, bombarded Chapultepec four days. But the bombardment had little effect on the rock-bound hill. An assault was ordered and brilliantly executed. The Americans were irresistible. The Mexicans fled hastily into the city, leaving parties at various points to retard their pursuers. Lee was wounded at the storming of the heights, and was not able to take part in the closing operations. Grant had no part in that struggle other than supporting the storming party. Scott made no delay, but pressed relentlessly toward the city gates. The batteries placed along the causeways were carried successively; the various detachments supporting them were either captured or driven in haste to the gates, and night saw a part of the invading force established in the suburbs of the capital. Grant distinguished himself in a remarkable manner dur- ing this pursuit. At one point, by an adroit movement, he led a small company of men to the rear of a battery and cap- tured it. At another point he noticed that a certain work near the San Cosme gate was galling the Americans con- siderably, and taking a small cannon, with a few men to aid, into the belfry of a church near by, from that commanding position directed such effectual fire upon the force in the work that it fled. The cannon was then turned upon the San Cosme gate, and aided materially in driving its de- fenders back into the city. General Worth, perceiving the remarkable effect produced by this airy battery, was well pleased, and having sent for the young officer, complimented THE TERMS OF PEACE. 67 him, and placed an entire company, with its captain, under his command. Within the five days after the fight at Molino del Rey, Grant was twice breveted for gallantry. During the night Santa Anna and the Mexican Govern- ment fled from the city. Scott took possession next day and established martial law. Thus ended a war notable only for the constant success that attended the arms of the one side and the reverses that as constantly befell the other. After some time spent in negotiations, a treaty of peace, honorable to both nations, was concluded. The United States obtained possession of the territory in dispute, and acquired by cession an immense territory further west, reaching to the Pacific Ocean and along its shores northward, establishing the present boundaries. In consideration of this loss Mexico received a large sum of money and the permission of the victor to retain the rest of her territory. Thus the pro- slavists triumphed, and rejoiced in the fact that they had acquired an immense tract from which to carve out many future slave states. Yet a result not calculated upon came from the war. Taylor, by his victories, had won himself so much renown, and in the midst of his victorious career had been stopped so unjustly, that he had become an idol to the people. He was nominated for president at the next general election and easily elected. No better school could have been found for young soldiers than the Mexican war. Grant, especially, seems to have derived great benefit from this experience. He served under two generals, each of a different temperament. Taylor was a man of great simplicity, and in this respect was well liked by the young soldier. Scott was a man of more pompous manners, yet possessed of great military knowledge. Taylor passed over the small details of army 68 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. command, looking only at the essential things. Scott was exact in every detail, and demanded of his subordinates that they be as exact as himself. Both were good com- manders and never at loss on the field. Grant preferred Taylor as a commander, perhaps, because he was much like him in disposition. Lee was a friend of Scott, and his ardent admirer. Through him the young soldier's qualities were duly rewarded, both by praise and promotion. Both Grant and Lee profited by the practical lessons received from Scott. The maxims they had learned from text-books were here illustrated as in no other way could they have been. Grant was promoted to a first-lieutenancy at the City of Mexico. He was then but twenty-five years old. He had taken part in all but one of the great battles of the war, and deserved a higher grade; but, as the casualties had been few among the officers of the army, there were few openings for promotion. Nor did he have any influential friends near the commander, much less a friend in the commander him- self, to obtain promotion for him. He rose on his own merits exclusively. No one can ever say of him that powerful friends won for him his advancement. Lee, on the other hand, while he deserved all the promotion he received, was especially fortunate in having the chief commander for a friend. At Cerro Gordo he was breveted major, at Churu- busco, lieutenant-colonel, and at Chapultepec he was brev- eted colonel. He was justly recognized as one of the most promising officers in the army. In the prime of life, hand- some and dignified, he was a favorite with his comrades. While peace was being discussed between the commis- sioners appointed to negotiate by the belligerent powers, and the army occupied the capital city, the officers availed RAMBLES NEAR MEXICO. 69 themselves of the opportunity to explore the surrounding country, so celebrated in history. So strong was the hand of military government established by Scott, that it was said the country was never in better order, and robbers were never better suppressed. Scott's example in this respect was excellent for the instruction of his subordinates. Grant and Lee both made wide excursions to celebrated points. To Grant's contemplative nature it was a never failing source of pleasure to wander alone amongst the ruins of a prehistoric civilization. He visited Popocatepetl, and ascended its steep sides to some distance. He witnessed a bull-fight, and true to his nature which was always sympa- thetic toward animals, was so disgusted that he would never see another; and, when, many years after, he was visiting Mexico, those who would entertain him suggested such an exhibition, he refused to allow it. Unnecessary pain, whether to beast or man, was never willingly given by him. He could see thousands die doing their duty, and not flinch from causing their death, however much he felt for them; but he could not witness unnecessary slaughter. Lee, too, because of his scholarly instincts, enjoyed visiting the noted places in this country. He, too, witnessed the barbaric sports denominated the national pleasures of Mexicans and Span- iards, and, doubtless, he too was disgusted with the cruel exhibition. For it is a trait of all truly great men that they can not tolerate the infliction of unnecessary pain, or the indulgence of brutal instincts. The war ended, peace concluded and its mission done, the army returned home covered with glory in the eyes of the people. The Fourth Infantry, of which Grant was an officer, was sent into camp at Pascagoula in the state of Mississippi. Grant at once obtained a leave of absence for 70 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. four months, hastened to St. Louis, and, though he was possessed of no other fortune than his commission, married the lady of his choice. After his leave had expired he returned to the service, and for several years was employed doing garrison duty. One year at Sackett's Harbor, New York; two years at Detroit, Michigan, and then came a grant's home near ST. LOUIS. transfer to the Pacific Coast. The regiment went to this last named field by the way of the Isthmus of Panama, and in crossing the Isthmus suffered much from cholera. Grant, as quartermaster, had the brunt of the work to obtain transportation across the narrow neck of land separating GRANT RESIGNS FROM THE ARMY. 71 the oceans. He was also left to care for the sick, and for a week was so constantly employed that he found no time to rest or sleep. This arduous task would have broken the health of a less rugged man; but his farm-nurtured body withstood the strain. The dread disease did not touch him. He was reserved for a nobler fate. He was stationed at Fort Vancouver for a time, having no more important duties to perform than to watch the neighboring Indian tribes. The garrison amused itself with gardening, its work being no more exciting. Later (5th July, 1853), Grant was promoted to a captaincy and stationed at Humbolt, California. He was not satisfied, however, to remain inactive. He now had two children. His family, owing to the remoteness of his post of duty, had been com- pelled to remain at St. Louis. It did not seem that any further chances for promotion, or an increase of pay, would present themselves. His family could not live fairly on the slender salary that he was receiving. His country did not specially need his services. Other considerations, also, induced him to resign his commission and return to civil life. He did so (1854) and returned to St. Louis. His means were very small to begin the battle for bread in a new field; but he went to work earnestly. His wife was possessed of a small farm near St. Louis. This he undertook to cultivate; but it was no easy task to provide implements and stock for this purpose. Fever and ague, a disease very common to the Mississippi Valley in those days, laid hold upon him and rendered life miserable. He felt the crush- ing effects of poverty, but did not despair. The farm not being remunerative he turned his attention to real estate and collections, and for a time was thus occupied. Then his father offered him the position of clerk in his leather 72 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE, Store at Galena, Illinois, upon accepting which he removed his family to that city (i860). In this humble occupation he remained until the need of his country called him to resume the uniform and bear arms in her defence. Lee, after the close of the Mexican War, was employed, as formerly, in his capacity of engineer. He had charge of the defensive works which were being raised at Baltimore, Maryland. While there, it is said, he was offered the com- mand of an expedition organized by the Cuban League, a conspiracy, having for its object the liberation of the Island of Cuba from the rule of Spain, to be sent from the United States by private parties; but he refused such invidious honor. He was appointed Superintendent of West Point Academy (Sept., 1852), and remained such three years, doing very efficient work. Relieved of his command there, he was sent to the frontier in Texas, as brevet colonel of the Second Regiment of Cavalry. The Indians were troublesome in that section, and he engaged in several com- bats with them. His life on the plains was enjoyable, mingled excitement and rest. Some of the time he spent in surveying and mapping the country. He was in this field when the Rebellion called him to other scenes. Such was the early training of Grant and Lee. Thus were they prepared for the high positions they were des- tined to fill. Such were the schools which fashioned their genius and characters. Each had seen service enough to fit him for a commander of armies. The skill they displayed at once, when placed in command of independent bodies, demonstrated how well they had profited from experience and observation. Other generals were participants in similar advantages and passed through the same schools and wars; but none others seem to have so well profited thereby. GRANT AND LEE MOULDED BY CIRCUMSTANCES. 73 We have followed their training thus far from the beginning in order that we might judge them in the light of all those matters that had influence upon them, that they might be judged on their merits which were based on characters, original in genius, yet trained and fashioned by the circum- stances of birth and education. The characteristics which they displayed in youth remained with them in age. GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. Book Z\Qo. RISE OF GRANT. IVIL WAR is generally the most deplorable evil that Iji can befall a nation. It hinders progress, destroys internal resources, and creates sectional prejudices, ^ even if it do not lead to destruction of the body politic. But often good results flow from it. Evils that, perhaps, hamper a nation's growth are eliminated by it, and the efforts made to recuperate almost exhausted resources produce advancement in all the lines of civilization. Evils cherished by a great people, as well as those held by indi- viduals, are subject to the eternal laws of justice; they bring punishment sooner or later, and often a bloody expiation. The French Revolution, at the beginning of this century, the English Revolution, in the time of Cromwell, and the great Rebellion in America are sufficient testimony in sup- port of this assertion. The evils of the slave trade, of the system of slavery, which, beginning with the ruthless slaughter of natives, the ravishing of their homes, and the transportation of the people to strange climes, and con- tinuing in their subjection to the whips of masters, were preserved in these states for two hundred years, could only be properly expiated by the bloodshed incident to the 76 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. lamentable Civil War lately closed. The United States, claiming to be a leader in progressive liberty, professing to hate tyranny of every kind, glorying in the fact that the original states had fought for and obtained liberty from King George, inconsistently kept millions of men in much worse slavery than their forefathers ever suffered. And when a sense of justice moved a portion of the people to remonstrate in behalf of the slaves, the other portion re- volted with greater inconsistency to preserve their liberties. History records nothing of like nature in all its pages. CONFEDERATE FLAG. The conditions existing at the inception of the Rebellion were peculiar. The party about to revolt was in power; the government was in the hands of the conspirators. But public sentiment was rising, and from it was the revolt. There was no oppression, no tyranny; the conspirators revolted from what they feared would happen. Buchanan was not, perhaps, a Confederate, but his sympathies were with them, and some of his cabinet officers were openly partisans. The secretaries of war and navy purposely scat- tered the army and navy, and transported the munitions of THE ELECTION OF LINCOLN. 77 war to southern cities in order that they might be easily seized when hostilities should begin. It made no difference in the status of the case that the party coming into power proclaimed that its mission was not to abolish slavery, but to restrict It to the states where it already existed, and that Lincoln gave out this to be his future policy. There were several parties, but none, save the Abolitionists, threatened extreme measures. Sentiment had not risen to that height which would warrant a party, hoping to win, taking such extreme grounds. The Presidential Campaign arrived (i860) whose issue was to finally determine the great dispute. The contest for election was preceded by a bitter contest for nomination, at least in the Democratic party. This party contained many who were staunch Unionists, as well as many who were Secessionists. The Unionists followed the leadership of Stephen A. Douglass, though advocating the doctrine of States Sovereignty. They were conservative and did not at all please the slavists of the same party. A dissension arose, resulting in a separation of the party into two wings. Douglass was nominated by the conservative Union ele- ment; Breckenridge by the radicals. This division made it possible for the Republicans to elect their candidate, Abra- ham Lincoln. Other minor parties made nominations which figured little in the contest for election. The chief struggle lay between Lincoln and Douglass. The radical Democrats who followed Breckenridge and some of Doug- lass' followers boldly declared that Lincoln's election would be the signal for secession. The loyal people were in a measure influenced by this threat, and many of them voted for Douglass simply as a measure of pacification; but enough votes were cast for Lincoln to elect him. The conspirators 78 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. at once proceeded to carry out their threat. The order passed among them (Dec. i860), and South Carolina seceded. Buchanan took no steps to prevent this action, and his ministry, or cabinet, actively aided the insur- gents. Other states followed and (Feb. 1861) the revolted states formed a new^ government. Jefferson Davis was elected President of the Confederacy, as it was called. Forts, arsenals, munitions of war and other government property, were seized and converted to the use of the con- spirators. Active preparations were begun for war. So rapidly was the work done that when Lincoln was inaugu- rated (Mch. 4, 1861), he found an organized foe ready to dispute with him the rights he was sworn to exercise and preserve. This rapidity conclusively proves that the plans of secession were well laid long before they were set in operation. The leaders planned; the people blindly fol- lowed. Grant was no politician. He kept himself wed inrormed upon the events and movements of politics, but rarely dis- cussed them. He desired no office and never applied for one. Having the good fortune not to have attained sud- denly to distinction, he was in a position to profit by study- ing others and the thoughts of the leaders. When the Whig party was disrupted, he found himself without a party. He loved the Union above all other things. He believed that the National Government ought not to inter- fere with the existing order of society with reference to slavery, because he feared such interference would lead to war, and, perhaps, to the destruction of the Union. For this reason, and because the radical Democrats threatened a rebellion if Lincoln were elected, he hoped that Douglass would succeed. He could not vote for him, however, THE CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS. 79 because he had not resided in Illinois long enough before election day to entitle him to vote. Conservative in his creeds, he was not easily induced to change them. But when he saw that the war was inevitable, he did not hesi- tate an instant to declare for the Union, and to offer his services to the National Government. His patriotism, joined with his conservatism, fitted him well to become the chief leader in the defence of his country. Loth to see war come, he was, when it came, determined that it should not cease as long as resistance should be made to the National power. The war was come. The first gun was fired; it was the death knell of slavery. The nation was surprised. It had not heeded the mutterings of war so long continued and was unprepared; but it shortly awakened, threw aside all temporizing expedients and prepared for the struggle. Many believed ninety days would compass the end of the conflict. Grant, at first, shared in this belief; but, when he saw the gigantic proportions the struggle soon assumed, he changed his opinion. Lincoln's call for seventy-five thousand men came to the loyal states. Mass meetings were held in every school-house, and patriotism found vent and increase in discussions. Volunteers rushed to enlist; many thousands more than were demanded came forward. A large meeting was held at Galena, where Grant resided, and he was made chairman of it, though a stranger to most of the people. He had little to say, but what he said was forcible and patriotic. He was for imme- diate action ; he was a man of action, not of words. Under his instructions and guidance a company of troops was raised, forwarded to Springfield, the State Capital, and offered to Governor Yates for service, — one of the first to 80 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. respond to the call. The company desired to elect him Captain, but he would not allow it, believing himself fitted for a higher position, and desiring an assignment to regular duty. He accompanied his recruits to Springfield, however, and being offered a place in the Adjutant-General's office by Governor Yates, he accepted the position. Here he ren- dered efficient service in the matter of recruiting and equip- ing troops, his methodical mind being well suited to the duty. Meanwhile, he wrote the Adjutant-General of the National Army, offering his services and desiring an assign- ment. He received no answer to his application. Later, he went to Cincinnati, Ohio, to see General McClellan, thinking he might receive an appointment on that rising young officer's staff. He called twice at McClellan's head- quarters, was not able to see the General, and went home disgusted. He desired much to be taken into the regular service, but was not mean-spirited enough to fawn upon the great. When he arrived at Springfield, on his return, Gov. Yates handed him a commission as Colonel, appointing him to command the 21st Regiment of Illinois Volunteers (June, 1861). Not to the regular army was to be the honor of producing the chief soldier of the age, but to those who voluntarily gave themselves to the service of their country. The regiment now under his orders was one that he him- self, while acting in the Adjutant-General's office, had raised in Central and Southern Illinois. It had elected a colonel, according to custom, when it organized, but, as he did not understand the first principles of military science, it had become demoralized and mutinous. In Grant the men found a different commander, a will of iron that would be obeyed, and, withal, a kindly spirit. In a short time the regiment was under control, and soon reached a high state grant's first command. 81 of discipline. When orders came to move to the front (July 3, 1861), they found Grant and his command ready and eager to go. Independence Day, a day to be later celebrated with his greatest success, saw the regiment on the march to Quincy, Illinois, starting out with light step to fields where many of its members were about to fall in death. Grant left his family at Galena, there, like thousands of others, to wait and watch, to daily scan the columns of newspapers and to look for letters, telling of the loved one on the field where death lurked. Further orders directed the regiment toward fronton, Missouri, and later to Palmyra, to relieve a small Union force, said to be sur- rounded by Confederates. Having found the beleagured force freed from its unpleasant situation, he was next employed in building bridges over Salt River. Then he was sent against a camp of Confederates at Florida, with orders to drive it from that region. He at once set out at the head of his regiment, about one thousand strong. It was his first experience as an independent commander in the field. He nas said that he dreaded the meeting he thought was about to take place between his troops and the hostile forces more than ever he dreaded to direct the shock of battle when a hundred times as many men as were in his force rushed to battle. Nevertheless, he advanced boldly, kept strict order in his ranks, and was ready for a fight. He was relieved to find the enemy had fled when he arrived at Florida. He never again felt the dread of battle so keenly. Some time after this expedition he was given the com mand of a small sub-district under General Pope, with head- quarters at Mexico, Missouri. He had three raw regiments under his command, which called forth all his powers as a drill-master. Thus, in minor, bloodless campaigns, he learned 82 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. how to handle troops as an independent commander. When his army swelled to hundreds of thousands, the lessons served him well. Meanwhile the severe battle of Bull Run, so disastrous to the Union cause, had been fought; the campaign in West Virginia by McClellan and Rosecrans against Lee, disas- trous to the latter, had been prosecuted, and there had come a pause in the operations of war while both sides prepared for greater exertions. As an evil fortune, or bad generalship, would have it, the Federal arms had been decidedly worsted. But they were not discouraged. It was a time of organization, when the armies were being constructed for war. Soldiers by profession were advanced to higher positions and commands; but there were not enough trained men to supply the urgent demand. Citi- zens who had never dreamed of being soldiers, much less of wearing officer's epaulettes, suddenly appeared with swords and high-sounding titles, often by reason of political influ- ence, overshadowing trained officers who possessed far greater ability. Among the officers rightly promoted was Grant. He had not asked for promotion. He knew noth- ing of the means that raised him. Washburn, a member of Congress from Illinois, having the privilege of proposing men for promotion, gave the name of Grant; the recom- mendation was adopted, and the silent soldier received his first advancement since rejoining the army, being made a Brigadier General (17th May, 1861). He was sent to Southern Missouri, where, having made Ironton his headquarters, he at once prepared to attack the Confederates under Hardee. In ten days he had made ready and had issued marching orders, when General B. M. Prentiss came with orders and relieved him of AT JEFFERSON CITY. 88 command. Grant was much displeased with this treat- ment until he learned the reason therefor, which was that he had been appointed to command at Jefferson, supposed to be in great danger of attack. The succes- sive changes were due to the frequent shifting of the departmental commanders, changes which were a pos- itive detriment to the service. They created no little con- fusion. Pope, Fremont, Hunter and Halleck commanded the district of Missouri in quick succession; and each, hav- ing his favorites, his own plans and ideas, upon assuming office made extensive changes among his subordinates. Grant felt the evil effects of this practice even after he had grown beyond the departmental commanders. He often saw well laid plans frustrated, his ideas ridiculed, and his reputation injured, by men who could not or would not understand them, because they were not on the field. At Jefferson City, Grant found no easy task. Soldiers were without dicipline and people without order, and all were terror-stricken with the idea that they were about to be taken by the enemy. The iron will of the new com- mander soon brought peace and order. He brought together the scattered detachments of troops, camped here and there or straggling about; he made a compact army; he inspired the people with a sense of security, and soon was ready to take the offensive against the enemy. He was about to begin an advance, when an order came command- ing him to report at St. Louis, the departmental headquar- ters. Vexed and displeased, he hastened to headquarters and asked the reasons for his summary removal from a field where he had made ready to meet the enemy. For answer he received an order appointing him to a command includ- ing portions of Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee, 84 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. with directions to drive out or destroy a notorious Guerilla leader, Jeff. Thompson, who had carried terror and destruc- tion to the Union people of those parts. Troops had already been ordered to concentrate at Jackson, Missouri, for the proposed expedition. Grant desired to take or defeat Thompson, and for that purpose demanded the great- est speed possible to be made in the concentration of troops. But General Prentiss, who was in command of a part of the troops, believed himself equal in rank with Grant, and would neither make haste nor submit to the order. Grant thereupon imperatively commanded Prentiss to make all haste, using forcible language. Prentiss took offence, and, after bringing his troops to Jackson, left the command, went to St. Louis, and complained to the depart- mental commander. His dallying gave Thompson time to escape, much to Grant's displeasure. The fates seemed, fighting against the young Brigadier; but perhaps they were fortunate fates. For the practice which these fruit- less expeditions gave him was invaluable. Cairo was next chosen as his base of operations. Situ- ated at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, and near the mouths of the Tennessee and Cumberland, it was an excellent point from which to move against the enemy. For several months, his principal duties were to receive and organize the new troops recently recruited in the northern states. He, meanwhile, laid various plans for an advance movement, and gave material aid to operations of other generals by holding the enemy's attention in his front. Hearing that a hostile force was about to occupy Paducah, Kentucky, he hastily led a body of troops, without waiting for orders, there being no time to wait, and seized that town just before the enemy appeared in force near it. OCCUPYING PADUCAH. 85 The latter fell back at once, without attacking. Before starting, he had telegraphed to his departmental com- mander his purpose. After he had seized the place, he received a reply authorizing him to take the place if he felt strong enough. Thus by exercising judgment, he saved a very important point for the Union, one from which later expeditions could start. The State of Kentucky, or its government, remonstrated, however, against this aggressive action. Claiming to be neutral, an extraordinary position, this state was bold enough to exclaim against the action of the National troops. Grant replied in a respectful manner, but did not abandon his prize. He left a garrison in Paducah and returned to Cairo. He cared little for the opinions of politicians, who howled because he had violated neutral soil; he only replied that he who was not for the government was against it. By this rapid expedition he not only demonstrated his powers of executing a necessary movement at the proper time, but showed that keenness of perception in recognizing the strategic importance of places which ever afterwards distinguished him. After this several months of inactivity passed. Grant being occupied in organizing and training newly-raised troops. There was not a professional soldier under his command some of the time. His duties were, therefore, exceedingly laborious. He was at once commander, drill- master and quartermaster. Recognizing the great value of discipline, he exerted all his powers to teach the men, many of whom had never before seen a line of troops, the arts of war. And that his teaching was not in vain, was well demonstrated at Donelson and Shiloh. The army num- bered (October-November, 1861), more than twenty thou- sand men. They were eager for action, tired of staying in Ob THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. camp and drilling. Their commander was no less eager. Shortly after taking Paducah, he had asked the privi- lege of occupying the city of Columbus, a place of great natural strength in Kentucky, situated upon and command- ing the Mississippi River. His request was refused. The enemy soon occupied and strongly fortified it, making it one of the strongest fortresses in the country. It was seen, then, but too late, how unfortunate was the refusal of Grant's request. For, from this point, the Confederates not only stopped the navigation of the river, but had a depot from which to launch out expeditions to threaten the Federals in Missouri, while protecting their lines in the middle and eastern parts of Kentucky. Fremont, departmental commander, after much prepara- tion, set out to drive Price out of Missouri (October, 1861). He ordered Grant to send a force against a body of the enemy, said to be on the banks of the St. Francis river, about fifty miles southwest of Cairo. Grant sent Colonel Oglesby with three thousand men, as ordered. Later, Fremont learned that troops were about to come out of Columbus to aid Price, thus demonstrating the wisdom of Grant's request to be allowed to take that point. Now the latter was directed to prevent the troops leaving that stronghold. He requested Smith, at Paducah, to make demonstrations from that point against the rear of Columbus; he directed Colonel Oglesby to abandon his march against the force at the St. Francis river, and to turn against New Madrid, several miles below Colum- bus, and he himself led a force down the Mississippi to threaten the stronghold from the north. All these orders were executed with the greatest dispatch. General Polk, at Columbus, found troops coming against him from three sides at once, and prepared to defend himself desperately. The ADVANCE AGAINST BELMONT. 87 reinforcements that he was about to send to Price were halted, and part of them formed a camp at Belmont, just opposite Columbus, with others that had previously occu- pied that place. Grant learned about the camp at Belmont, and resolved to break it up and to strike a blow which should be as stunning as it was sudden. Several reasons urged him to this purpose. He wished to test his troops and give them actual practice in war; he wished to prevent a large force from moving out against Oglesby from Columbus, and, finally, to give Polk such a blow that he would not dare again divide his troops and send a small portion across a great river to harass Fremont. The troops were eager for a fight, eager to serve their country in the only effective way they could, and eager to show their prowess. His deter- mination was no sooner formed than he began to move. The troops were embarked at their camp, a few miles above Columbus, on the Kentucky shore, and in transports were conveyed to a point where a bend in the river, four miles above Columbus, would conceal them from the garrison at that place, and there disembarked on the Missouri shore. Two gunboats accompanied him, and their commanders had taken upon themselves the task of preventing rein- forcements from crossing to aid the enemy at Belmont, a task which proved too great for them. General Polk, was at a loss to understand his antagonist's movements. Having left the crozier and the spiritual sword behind him in Louisiana, when he had joined the army to fight against his country, he had not assumed much of the soldier's proper astuteness. And even after hours of hard conflict, the sound of which came to his ears from beyond the river, he was slow to send aid to his hard-pressed troops. Grant knew how to profit well from an enemy's 00 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. dullness. He landed his troops rapidly, deployed them in battle array, placed one regiment to guard the transport till he should return, and gave the word to advance. The first battle of a general is an interesting subject for study. One seeks in it something indicating the special qualities of the man and the soldier, something indicating the methods of the commander. Belmont was the first battle of Grant in which he exercised an independent com- mand on the field. In it we are able to discern plainly the traits that distinguished him as a general. There was the same calm confidence in himself, the quiet determination, the excellent dispositions of forces, the rapid movement and the tactics. It was a field requiring genius to overcome its natural strength. The Confederate camp was situated on the summit of an eminence, which rose gradually from the river shore and the surrounding country. The land through which Grant must march to reach the camp was for the most part timbered, with cleared farms interspersed, and with marshy tracts here and there, around which the troops were compelled to move. The heavy woods did not permit the men to keep their line formation intact. The roads and paths were narrow and intricate. The camp itself had been hastily fortified with rifle-pits and a few large guns, and an abattis of trees, felled with their tops outward, had been made around the front and flanks of the position. Near by was the hamlet of Belmont, a collection of half a dozen houses and shops. The enemy did not, however, confine themselves to their fortified camp, but moved out into the woods and disputed his advance. Grant moved by the right flank along roads leading southwestward around and be- tween sloughs till he met the enemy's skirmishers, when he MAP Of BATTLEFJELD /SEAR BELMmT nissouRi M I5&0URI 90 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. set the faces of his men toward the camp and fought his way slowly forward, meanwhile extending his right wing so as to pass around the Confederate left flank. When the Federals arrived within about a mile of the camp, skirmish- ing began. Soon the battle became general. It was fierce and bloody. The soldiers of both sides screened them- selves as much as possible behind trees and fences. The Con- federates fought well, but were driven steadily back. The rattle of musketry was incessant, the shouts of the combat- ants mingled with the noise, and the roar of cannon soon added its deep thunder to the turmoil. Then the great guns in the fortifications at Columbus began to throw shells into the woods, endangering friend as well as foe. The gun- boats replied to the city batteries, and war raged on the river and on both its banks. No such battle had ever been fought before on the upper Mississippi. Grant was ever where danger threatened, calm, watchful and confident. By degrees he extended his right wing until it was beyond the Confederate left. Then he directed a flank attack, and ordered a general assault along the whole line. McClernand, Logan, Buford, and other gallant officers led, with Grant in their midst. One horse was killed under the commander, but he leaped upon another and continued with his men. The assault was delivered with great power, the enemy being pressed back on all sides, and the assailed and assailants rushed through the abattis of trees almost to- gether. The Confederates made a stubborn halt in their rifle-pits, for a short time, when from the Federal right a strong body of troops fell upon and crushed their left, caus- ing a panic to seize their whole force. They fled headlong down the hill to the river-shore, leaving the camp with its tents, guns and other equipage in the hands of the victors. BATTLE OF BELMONT. 91 Until then the Federals had observed discipline, and fought like veterans, and had carried all before them. But they were excited by their success and carried away from reason. Disregarding the commands of Grant they fell to pil- laging the tents, making speeches glorifying their actions and fruitlessly bombarding the opposing fortifications of Columbus with the captured field guns. Grant, who knew that Polk would send over reinforcements from the garri- son, and indeed perceiving several steamers starting thence covered with men, sought a means to bring the soldiers to their senses, and ordered the tents fired. The roused Con- federates had, meanwhile, been able to rally, and had pro- ceeded a short distance up the shore, where, with the rein- forcements sent over to them, they formed a new battle line, and attempted to cut off the Federals from their transports. This action was reported to Grant and to his troops at the same time. The latter suddenly gave over glorying and looked apprehensively to their leader. An officer expressed his fear that they were in great peril. Grant answered grimly: "We cut our way in; we can cut our way out!" He directed the battle line drawn up, facing the point where his transports lay, and gave the order to move. In a few moments the new Confederate line was encountered, but a sharp assault caused it to reel back again to the river shore, and the Federals passed rapidly by to their boats. At the same time, stronger reinforcements arrived to the aid of the vanquished, who re-formed and pressed cautiously after the victors. Grant found that the regiment which he had left to guard the landing had retired to the boats as soon as its returning brethren had come in sight. He at once ordered it to form again to cover the embarkation while he himself went back a short distance to watch the advancing enemy. 92 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. He found that the latter was following in a line almost parallel with the river. He was so near them that they could easily have shot him. Satisfied as to their proximity, he put spurs to his horse and hurried to the landing. All his men had embarked, and already the bullets of skirmishers were pattering around them. They had almost left their commander behind. A plank was put out to the shore; he spurred his horse across it and was safe. The transports pro- ceeded up stream, the troops on board replying as best they could to the enemy who hurried along the shore and fired upon them, and all were presently out of danger. The expedition then returned to Cairo and the forces that had moved in unison with it presently returned also. The objects of the short campaign had been well accom- plished. Polk refrained from sending troops to reinforce Price and did not attempt to move against Oglesby. Besides, a stinging defeat had been inflicted upon the enemy, causing the Union troops to be so confident of their own prowess, that never upon any field did the army there forming under Grant acknowledge defeat or show coward- ice. It was the first decided success of western troops. Viewing the battle as to its purpose, some have said it was not necessary, since Grant could not hope to hold Bel- mont against the overwhelming force in Columbus. But when one remembers that it was this General's policy ever to aim at destroying an enemy's army rather than at capturing cities or playing at strategy, this battle was necessary. For the rapid, effective blow here inflicted, gave the Confed- erates a wholesome fear of their opponents, which they had not hitherto felt, and was the beginning of the demoraliza- tion which led to the fall of Donelson. That it was a vic- tory is not doubtful. The enemy were first routed, their THE RESULTS OF THE BATTLE. 93 camp stormed and burned, and later they were met when reinforced and driven from the line of retreat. It is true the Federals returned in haste to their boats, but it was sensible that they should, since there was no reason why they should remain at the destroyed camp and there was danger that they would be overwhelmed. It was a daring exploit, of which history shows few parallels and none more successful or better conducted. The results of the battle other than heretofore named, being considered, were found to be — that the hostile camp at Belmont was burned, the can- non spiked or captured, seven hundred killed or wounded and several flags captured. The Federals lost about five hundred men. In the first, or chief battle, the enemy had thirty-five hundred men engaged, and Polk sent over as many more to take part in the final contest. From this time. Grant's star was in the ascendant. This was the first of that unbroken series of victories that have marked him one of the world's greatest soldiers, the greatest soldier of the age. In it one may perceive some of the characteristics that were always his. In the movement, was energy; in the battle, was a flank attack, and an attack along the whole line, the immediate cause of victory; and the expedition was aimed at the Confederate army, or a portion of it, with design to destroy. Had the Union troops remained under control, had they not exercised their rights as freemen to stop and glorify themselves over success, but had pursued the fleeing foe down the hill to the river, none of the fugi- tives could well have escaped. It was their first battle; and, though well disciplined in the art of obeying in battle, they forgot order when they believed there was no longer need of it, but readily resumed order when danger compelled them. Veterans could not have done better. Their ene- 94 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. mies were not cowards by any means, their stubborn defence of their position showing this; but they were out- fought and out-generaled. Such was Grant's first battle and victory. It was indicative of his mode of procedure. During several weeks after the battle of Belmont, Grant remained quiet at Cairo, disciplining and forwarding troops. Though eager for further action, he was not per- mitted to go southward. The attention of the depart- mental commander was drawn toward Missouri and eastern MAJOR GENERAL JOHN A. MCCLERNAND. Kentucky. General Buell was operating near Bowling Green in the latter state, and was confronted by a large Confederate force. Other hostile forces occupied Forts Henry and Donelson and other points in the general line of strongholds reaching westward to Columbus. In order to prevent troops from proceeding out of these places to aid Buell's antagonist, Grant was ordered to make demonstra- tions toward Donelson and Columbus. He sent out forces IMPORTANCE OF FORTS HENRY AND DONELSON 95 under command of Generals McClernand and Smith, who accomplished the order, and the various garrisons were held from proceeding against Buell. About this time (Jan. 1862), his district was enlarged by the addition of a portion of Kentucky, including the forts just mentioned. He at once applied for permission to proceed against them. With unerring judgment, he had early perceived the importance of these strongholds. They stood guard over the two waterways, which led in almost parallel lines southward to the center of the Confederacy — the Cumberland and the ADMIRAL ANDREW H. FOOTE. Tennessee rivers. Their capture would cut in twain the advance line from Bowling Green to Columbus, and by enabling the Federals to take Bowling Green and Colum- bus in the rear, would insure the evacuation of those posts. Halleck, whose attention was then occupied in other direc- tions, refused his young Brigadier's request, leaving the lat- ter to chafe in his camp. But presently Smith, an officer of 96 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. merit, and Foote, Commodore of the Mississippi river flotilla of gun-boats, added their influence to that of Grant, and Halleck was at length persuaded to consent to an expedition against Fort Henry (Feb. i, 1862). On the day after he received the coveted order. Grant had his troops on transports steaming up the Ohio to the mouth of the Tennessee. Foote accompanied him to co-operate in the reduction of the stronghold. The scope of Grant's plan included the reduction of three forts, though his orders from Halleck contemplated the reduction of but two. Forts Henry and Heiman, the one on the east bank, the other on the west bank, of the Tennessee river, opposite each other. Fort Donelson, on the west bank of the Cumberland river, connected with Henry by a road eleven miles long, was the ultimate object of Grant's movements. Fort Henry was a strong earth- work, an irregular, bastioned pentagon, with an armament of seventeen heavy guns, and contained a garrison of three thousand men. A camp, large enough to hold fifteen thou- sand men, fortified with rifle pits and breastworks, was con- nected with the fort. The fort proper was situated on a slight elevation, but had a battery of guns on the lower shore of the river. At this time, heavy rains had swollen the river so much that the fort was practically surrounded by water, and the roads about it were almost impassable. Fort Heiman, on the opposite shore was a small earth- work, not yet completed. Both it and Fort Henry were practically abandoned by the garrisons at Grant's approach, only about one hundred men remaining in Henry to operate the guns and hold the Federals in check until the main body should make good its escape to Fort Donelson. Grant, however, was not aware of this fact, and laid his plans as if ^ Q H Q «o O t=^ a tiu uJ FT MtiriAn I 98 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. there would be a strong garrison to overcome at both posts. Part of his troops marched by land, the gunboats accommo- dating their speed to keep abreast of them, as soon as the expedition came into the Tennessee river. Several miles below the forts, a halt was made, and the troops on the steamers disembarked upon the east shore of the river. Great difficulties were at once encountered. Rain poured down without intermission. The low, marshy shores of the streams were overflowed. Roads were almost impassa- ble. The soldiers, who had not yet learned how to endure a campaign, and who had thrown away much of their clothing and blankets on the march, and having no tents, since it was thought best to leave all impediments behind so that haste might be made, suffered from the inclement weather. But cheerfulness prevailed, the knowledge that they were about to come to blows with the enemy inspiring them with a power to endure. Grant laid his plan of attack as follows: Smith was directed to cross the river with one brigade to assault Fort Heiman; the remainder of the land forces, under the commander himself, were to move up to the rear of Henry, while the gunboats, by agreement with Foote, were to move up and assail the forts by water. The attacks were to be made simultaneously, so that forces being brought to bear at one time on all sides, the strongholds would be overpowered more easily. The plan was well laid, but owing to the bad roads, the infantry was not able to take part in the battle that ensued. Foote moved his boats up close to the forts and opened a rapid and well directed fire against Henry. The heroic little garrison withstood the bombardment more than an hour, and replied with spirit till their guns were nearly all dismounted. Then the flag was hauled down and a white flag raised. When Grant's mud- bespattered troops approached, the fort was already in pos- 100 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. session of the fleet. Seventeen heavy guns and ninety pris- oners were captured, at the expense, however, of a loss to the fleet of about fifty, caused by the explosion of an engine boiler which was perforated by one of the enemy's shots. Grant had expected that the garrison would retreat from the fort, and had designed to prevent it, but the im- passable roads had hindered him. He had learned of the comparative strength of Henry and Donelson and be- lieved that the enemy would concentrate their forces at the FORT DONELSON. latter, a higher and stronger post. He had now fulfilled the extent of Halleck's direct orders, and halted to commu- nicate with him and to await reinforcements before proceed- ing against Donelson. Grant's orders did not limit his operations to the taking of Fort Henry, and as the stronger fort was clearly within his jurisdiction, he resolved to exercise his own discretion and move against it. He so informed General Halleck, and stated his needs. THE ADVANCE ON DONELSON. 101 Halleck did not reply, either consenting or de- nying, but did write Buell that Grant would move quickly upon Donelson, thus approving the course of his energetic subordi- nate. Haste was neces- sary, because the enemy were hurrying reinforce- ments into the fort. Buckner, from Bowling Green, and Floyd, from Russelville, were hasten- ing to it. Had he been able, Grant would have at once set out to the attack. But he needed the co- operation of the fleet, and he anxiously waited for the reinforcements that were coming. The fleet had to pass down the Tennessee and around by way of the Ohio into and up the Cumberland, a voyage that required some days. Also, the rains continued, making it impossible to transport the heavy guns and am- '^^j 102 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEB. munition necessary for a battle or siege. Halleck instruc- ted him, meanwhile, to make Fort Henry safe. Grant believed that the best way to make Fort Henry safe was to capture Fort Donelson. At length the rains partially ceased, and, because he feared that longer delay would enable the enemy to gather an overwhelming force, he resolved to proceed forthwith against their stronghold. Leaving twenty-five hundred men to garrison Fort Henry, he marched the remainder of his intrepid forces, amounting to a few more than fifteen thousand men, directly across the country to Fort Donelson. Fort Donelson was situated on a bluff, or, rather, a series of bluffs, which rose at points more than one hundred feet above the Cumberland's waters. It embraced within its outer defences about one hundred acres of land. Somewhat less than three miles apart, one above and one below the fort, two small streams enter the river, and at this time were deep, because of the back water from the overflowing river. These streams were a natural protection to the fortress. The works, which consisted of redans and demi-lunes, con- nected by breastworks, with batteries and rifle-pits, reached from stream to stream, in a large semi-circle. Along the front of the lines the forest, which covered the hills, had been felled, the trees drawn into line, their branches sharp- ened and projecting outward, and the whole thus formed into an abatis of great strength. A deep ravine, opening in the stream on the north side, traversed half the length of the line in its front. This abatis, the open space a hundred yards wide in its front, and the ravine, made the camp exceedingly strong. Charging columns would be compelled to face the unobstructed sweep of shot while striving to pass these. Gullies and ravines rendered the ground so uneven that moving battle-lines could not well be kept in order. FORT DONELSON. 103 On the other hand, the opposing hills afforded protec- tion to besiegers, who could make an opposing line quite as strong as that of Donelson if they chose. The works embraced the little village of Dover. The main fort was much smaller and was elaborately built. Its heavily armored parapets commanded the surrounding fields, while two batteries near the water had been so sunk into the hill that, while they were well protected from the guns of any fleet, they could, at the same time, direct a plung- ing fire UDon it. It was thought to be impregnable to MAJOR GENERAL LEWIS WALLACE. attack of any kind. Had it been provisioned and its gar- rison properly commanded it would, no doubt, have given the Union General much trouble to take it. But his rapid movements, while they did not prevent large rein- forcements from entering the fort, did prevent any large quantity of provisions from being gathered there. About twenty thousand men garrisoned the works, more by five 104 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. thousand than Grant first brought before them. But the Confederates imagined that their assailants had many more troops than themselves, and lay quietly in their lines v\rhile Grant's reinforcements hurried to the field. The siege began (12th Feb., 1862) with the appearance of the Union troops before the fort. They at once spread themselves from the creek below to the creek above it. It was an act of great daring on the part of Grant to attempt the siege of a very strong place with an infe- rior force, but his very boldness caused the enemy to be- lieve his army much stronger than it was. Nor did he know what numbers were opposed to him. He relied in some measure upon the incompetency of the com- mander, Floyd, a civilian, who had been raised by political influence to a high command. The Federal lines occupied a succession of ridges almost parallel to the enemy's works. McClernand's men held the right; Smith's the left. When General Lew Wallace, who had been left in command at Fort Henry, and whom Grant ordered up when he perceived the danger he had incurred, came, he was placed with his troops, and with the reinforcements as fast as they arrived, in the centre. The line thus assumed the form of a crescent. Bat- teries were placed at the best points for annoying the besieged, and the men lay quietly on their arms to await further reinforcements. So great had been the haste of the expedition thus far, that no tents and few other necessaries had been brought with it, and no tools suitable for fortify- ing. Therefore no intrenchments were made; but the ridges of the hills afforded protection in a measure. Grant hoped that, with the aid of his gunboats and the reinforce- ments that were coming, he might be able to take the for- AWAITING REINFORCEMENTS. 105 tress by storm, thus obvi- ating the necessity of for- tifying. It was, perhaps, not prudent to trust so much to the prowess of his troops to resist a sortie, if one should be attempted, but it was not his policy to lay siege without first striving to obtain immediate posses- sion by assault. Time enough to fortify when it should be demonstrated that the besieged place was too strong for direct assault. If he should be able to hold his ground, prevent escape of the enemy, and keep rein- forcements from them, he would be satisfied till help should come. To the danger of his position was added the discomforts of the incle- ment weather. It was bitterly cold; snow and sleet fell, covering the earth with ice; the wind, laden with piercing frost, swept the hills, and the 106 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. Storms of winter muttered about the camp. Without tents and heavy clothing, the soldiers suffered much. Cold, v^et, frozen almost, and suffering, yet they never murmured, know- ing that soon they would be relieved. Grant sought in every way possible to hurry forward his supplies. Foote steamed swiftly up the Cumberland, followed by a fleet of transports laden with troops and materials of war. It was the Commander's policy to avoid a battle till they should arrive. No fighting occurred of importance, except on the right, where McClernand, irritated by the fire of a battery in his front ordered an assault upon it. (13th Feb.) The assault was made with spirit, but was repulsed. Grant was displeased with the action of McClernand, since a general battle might have been precipitated with disastrous results. The attack had, perhaps, one good effect; its very bold- ness deceived the enemy as to the force in their front. The troops on the transports arrived (14th Feb.), and the army was swelled to the number of twenty-seven thous- and men. There seemed to be no danger of defeat, and an assault was resolved upon between Grant and Foote. The latter was to silence the batteries of the fort, while the troops stood to arms; then the land forces were to storm the works. Commodore Foote moved slowly against the enemy with his gunboats (r. m., 14th Feb.) on the day after his arrival at the front. At the same time, the long lines of infantry stood to arms and awaited the sound of battle with bated breath. Upon nearing the batteries, Foote increased the speed of the boats until he came within short range. At once the guns of the water batteries of the fort opened with tremendous power. The heavy guns of the fleet replied with energy. A terrific battle ensued. Every gun that THE REPULSE OF THE FLEET. 107 could be brought to bear on the assailants vomited forth solid shot and shell, and with effect. The boats suffered greatly; but were unable to inflict much damage on the fort owing to its elevation and the manner in which the batteries were protected. The leading boat approached within two hundred yards of the hostile guns, but was there disabled. A second boat was perforated and so disabled that it had to withdraw. The commodore was injured and many of the sailors were killed and wounded. All of the boats were harmed. After an hour of turmoil, the fleet retreated, and the Confederates raised a yell of triumph. Only the lower batteries of the fort had been injured. The assault was a failure and the land troops refrained from attacking. The ill success of this first attempt, while it did not abate the courage of the troops, threw a shade of gloom upon their spirits, already depressed by the severe weather. Some of the offtcers were discouraged, but they were few. Some talked of retreating; but they had no influence. Grant was resolved to succeed. Seeing that it would be folly to assault the lines of de- fence, he resolved to fortify his position and hold the garrison in regular siege. He knew that so large a body of troops could not long endure a siege; but he had no idea that it was already the Confederate commander's intention to escape if possible. And when a messenger came from Foote requesting him to come down to the flagship, he did not hesitate to comply. Leaving instructions to his subordi- nates to keep watch against surprises, he rode down the river shore to see the Commodore. It was daylight ( 15th) when he started; he remained with Foote several hours discussing the plans best to be followed. Although victorious in the first conflict, the Confederate 108 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. commander was convinced that he could not withstand a siege, because of the scarcity of provisions and the isolated position he occupied. He saw his enemies constantly increasing in numbers. Their cannon were so placed that they annoyed him continually. It was resolved to make a sally, with the purpose of defeating and driving back the Federal right, or of cutting a way through, and escap- ing. It was ordered that General Pillow should lead the assaulting column and attempt to break through at the point where McClernand's right wing rested upon the creek, and that General Buckner with the Confederate right should engage the Union left to prevent it from rein- forcing the endangered point, until Pillow should clear the way, when he was to follow him. The soldiers' haversacks were ordered filled for a march. Pillow's force was seven thousand strong. The Federals at the point where his attack fell could not muster half that number. Buckner led out a strong body against the left of McClernand as soon as Pillow was well under way. A heavy artillery fire pre- ceded the assault, Avhich was made at five o'clock in the morning (15th). The Federals replied with great spirit, rendering it difficult for Pillow to form his lines. When the attack came, however, the overwhelming num- bers of the assaulting column compelled the Federals to give way; and when Buckner fell upon the remainder of McCler- nand's lines, the latter were forced slowly back, though con- testing every foot of the ground with the most obstinate bravery and prolonging the combat for hours. The Wynn's Ferry road, the only one b}- which the Confederates could escape, was at last won and the way seemed open, when General Wallace, commanding the centre of the Union army, sent a brigade by the right flank to McClernand's aid, GRANT ARRIVES ON THE FIELD. 109 threw it directly across the enemy's path and restored the battle. McClernand's men were by no means conquered. Their ammunition had failed, so hot had been the fight, and they only retired behind Wallace's men to replenish their pouches. It was now the critical moment of the contest. The Confederates were much broken by their efforts and there came a lull in the battle while they reformed for the final effort to sweep away their enemies. Meanwhile, the Federal Commander had been absent. Messengers had been sent to him when the first roar of battle rolled over the fields. Fear lent wings to the messenger's haste and he soon reached the point where Foote's ship lay. He told the Commander that the army was being routed. Grant leaped upon his horse and rode with desperate energy to the scene of conflict. The sullen roar of the guns told him while yet afar off that his soldiers were still fighting. The roads were very bad, but he did not heed them. He arrived at the critical moment. He rode swiftly past the left, where Smith stood patiently awaiting orders with his fine troops ready. Grant hurriedly cautioned him to be in readiness to move at an instant's warning, and rode on to where McCler- nand's lines were standing in disordered array. The troops uttered a shout when he appeared, and demanded ammuni- tion. He directed them to the train immediately in the rear, and they supplied themselves quickly. He ordered the commanders to reform their men and advance at once, so they might in the coming contest have the advantage of an initiative. He rode through the lines, and noted, where some prisoners had been captured, that their haversacks were stored as for a march. He then knew that the purpose of the attack was escape. He resolved to prevent it. He saw that to make this great effort, the Confederate gen- 110 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. erals had weakened their right wing. His left opposed to the enemy's right was still fresh. He rode to Smith and ordered him to assault with all power the works in his front. Smith promptly obeyed. His gallant men went over the lines with a shout, easily drove the defenders out and planted themselves firmly within the fort. The Con- federate Commander was dismayed. He had not thought of such disaster. He hurriedly drew troops from his left to meet the victors, weakening it so much that the troops under McClernand and Wallace were able, with reformed lines, to drive it back to its intrenchments, and to capture a part of the outworks. Defeat was turned into victory by the genius and magnetic influence of one man. Smith's position inside the fort was so commanding that it would compel the fall of the stronghold. When night came, the Confederates who had gone forth so hopefully saw nothing but surrender or annihilation before them. Grant ordered all his troops to be advanced as soon as the light of the next morning should come. Grant was well pleased with the day's work, disastrous in the beginning, but successful in the ending. He knew the enemy would be compelled to surrender or be annihi- lated on the morrow. He carefully arranged his forces both to prevent surprises and to be ready for an early advance. The army was exultant; the inspiration of vic- tory aided them to endure the inclemencies of the weather. Quite another feeling reigned in the Confederate camp. The leaders were discouraged; the soldiers were disheart- ened, and the terror of defeat sat upon all. General Floyd was nothing as a soldier; he was cowardly as well as crafty. His terrors forced him to believe that the army must inevitably surrender. He believed that the North THE FLIGHT OF FLOYD AND PILLOW. Ill particularly desired his capture, because of his activity in bringing about the Rebellion and in scattering the national army and navy at its inception, when he held the office of Secretary of War under Buchanan. Without attempting to form his lines to oppose the enemy in their new position, he determined to flee. He therefore turned over his com- mand to Pillow, the second in rank. Pillow, thinking lib- erty better than captivity, though of doubtful honor, imitated his superior, and turned the command over to Buckner, a real soldier. The latter accepted the respon- sibility, openly cursing his recreant superiors as poltroons and cowards, and at once began to negotiate for surrender. Floyd and Pillow, with about three thousand men, boarded some transports and fled up the Cumberland. Nearly a thousand cavalry forded the creek on the southern side of the camp and also made good their escape. Many of the soldiers who were left behind, crowded the river shore, while their whilom commanders were going away, and heaped curses and reproaches upon them. Buckner, recog- nizing the situation as hopeless, caused white flags to be raised along his lines, and sent" a flag of truce to Grant ask- ing terms of surrender. When the morning dawned and the sight of the flags came to the Union troops already in line of battle, a great shout of victory went up making joyful the otherwise calm Sabbath morning, (Feb. i6). Grant's reply to Buckner was short, laconic, and to become historical: "No terms except unconditional surren- der. I propose to move immediately upon your works." This answer shows the spirit of the man who gave it. It was decisive, could not be misunderstood nor misconstrued, and was expressive of the knowledge that his enemy was within his power. Buckner accepted the terms with bad grace; 112 LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. his men stacked their arms, and Fort Donelson had fallen. Over fourteen thousand men, sixty-five cannon, seven- teen thousand muskets and many other supplies fell into the hands of the victors. Two thousand Confederates had been killed or wounded during the siege. Four hundred killed and sixteen hundred wounded of the Federal troops testified to the severity of the contest. But it was the greatest victory yet obtained; it resulted in the capture of the largest body of troops ever surrendered on American soil up to that time. It was one of Grant's victories, in that it resulted in the destruction of an opposing army. It repaid him and his brave soldiers for the hardships they had endured. It placed Grant at once among the first generals of the army, and gave his troops good cause to have boundless confi- dence in him. And confidence in a commander renders troops trebly effective. The advantages arising from the fall of Donelson were immediate and far reaching. The long Confederate line was severed in twain; Columbus, Bowling Green and Nashville fell, with all the points dependent upon them. Bull Run's disgrace w^as counterbalanced in effect by the disgraceful flight of Floyd and Pillow, and the total destruction of the army left by them, and patriotic hearts were greatly encouraged. To Grant was due the first bright ray that pierced the gloom of Federal disaster, as to him would be due also the final dispersal of the war- clouds. But, although much praise was heaped upon Grant; although his terse answer to Buckner had become a com- mon saying, and generally he was lauded sufficiently to have made a vain man puffed up, there came a cloud over his sky. It is unfortunately true that greatness breeds enmity. Grant met trouble in an unexpected place. GRANT RELIEVED OF COMMAND. 113 Halleck had allowed him to take Fort Doneison, and ought to have rejoiced at the success of his talented subordi- nate. But, though an earnest patriot and an excellent soldier, how^ever lacking in the qualities of a commander, he allowed trivial matters to stir up his wrath against Grant, and became hostile. Instead, therefore, in his report to the President, of eulogizing the successful General, he praised Gen. Smith, who at Grant's command had led the charge which broke the Confederate right wing, as the one to whom the victory was due, and recommended him for promotion. Grant was unconscious of any offense to his superior, and did not know of the intentional slight and insult that had been put upon him. He was accused of insubordination and disobedience for not reporting frequently the number of troops under his command; he was accused of allov/ing his troops to disregard discipline after the surrender of the fort, and of permitting great irregularities. All these re- ports were false, though Halleck might have had a shadow of foundation for the first mentioned. Reports did arrive to Halleck irregularly; but the cause lay with the defective service of the telegraph and a traitorous operator. Storms had broken the wires and the lines could not be used at times. This defect was seen later by Halleck and he made amends. Grant, soon after the fall of Doneison, went to Nashville to communicate with Buell and to study the situation. He sent a dispatch, as in other cases, to Halleck's chief of staff, that, unless he should receive adverse orders, he would go to Nashville. Either Halleck did not receive this mes- sage, or he sought occasion against his subordinate. He complained bitterly of the latter's insubordination, and re- lieved him of his command, appointing Smith in his stead. Smith, who was an excellent soldier, was indignant at the 8 114 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE ill usage of his superior, but assumed the command. He had deserved the honor no more than had General McCler- nand, whose troops had suffered most at Donelson, or Gen- eral Wallace, whose foresight had saved the right wing from total destruction; but his age and ability made him the only one that Halleck could with reason appoint to supersede Grant. In his disgrace, Grant bore himself with great equanimity. No complaints fell from his lips. He simply demanded as his right that the charges should be thoroughly investigated, confident that he would be vindi- cated. To Smith he gave his hearty support and assist- ance. Thus, within little more than a fortnight after his great victory, Grant found himself without command, virtually under arrest, and with the odium of disgrace heaped upon him, a fact that reflected no credit upon either Halleck or upon the Government of the United States. At Fort Henry, where Halleck had ordered the army to be encamped. Grant handed over the command to Smith. The system of military departments, into which the Fed- eral Government had divided the States, was pernicious in its effects. It bound a commander to operate within pre- scribed limits; to report, if a field commander, to a testy superior, watchful to claim all the glory of any success and to lay all the blame of a disaster upon his subordinate, and who perhaps had no idea what was needed at the front, but from a safe place far in the rear, presumed to direct the operations of an army, giving forth orders that very often led to disaster. The Departmental Commander report- ed to the Commander-in-Chief, and he to the President or to the War Department, and the process was so slow that swift movements, necessary often to success, could not be THE ARMY DIVIDED. 115 made unless some energetic chief, like Grant, should move without orders as he saw fit, and trust to success to vindicate his action. If the plan that was adopted later had been pursued from the first, and the armies moved under one Commander-in-Chief, to whom all field commanders should have reported alone, and who would have assumed the gen- eral direction of the whole, without confining his subordi- nates to a particular territory, the war would have ended two years sooner. Could Grant, heavily reinforced, have moved without delay up the Tennessee river, after having captured the forts, he would doubtless have marched through to the Gulf without fighting more than one battle. For the Southern forces were so demoralized, their defensive line had been so rudely broken, and their plans so overturned, that he could have crushed and scattered any force which would have been brought against him. Smith, soon after being given the command, moved the army up the Tennessee, from Fort Henry toward Pittsburg Landing, a point on the west bank of the river, which, it was thought, would be a good base from which to prosecute operations against Corinth, twenty miles to the southwest. With singular imprudence, he, with the appro- bation of Halleck, distributed his army at three different points along the river, placing a part at Savannah, another part at Crump's Landing, and still a third part at Pittsburg Landing, the most advanced point. This was done, too, in the face of a gathering enemy, but with the idea that this enemy was too demoralized to be able soon to show a threatening front. Grant observed this arrangement with some impatience, but was unable to oppose it. Meanwhile, the Commander's star was again in the ascendent. The loud clamor of indignation that went up 116 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE from patriotic men because of the injustice done him, and his own demands for a thorough investigation of his con- duct, had great influence upon Halleck. No doubt a natural sense of justice and the investigation of facts connected with Grant's behavior removed Halleck's preju- dice. However that may be, he suddenly changed his tactics, and began to act as a mediator between Grant and the government. He wrote a letter stating that he was convinced that Grant had acted from purely patriotic motives in going to Nashville, and had not intended any disobedience to his superiors, and asking that the victor be reinstated in command. Then, anxious to regain the confi- dence of the Commander, he sent the latter a copy of his let- ter of intercession, together with an order reinstating him, and bidding him go on to greater victories. Grant ac- cepted the issue with the same equanimity with which he had received the order of removal, and believed that Halleck had been his friend in the whole matter. Nor was he unde- ceived until, long years afterwards, active historians found Halleck's correspondence in the war records. With the magnanimity of a great mind, he put aside his trouble, and forgot it in his efforts to accomplish something for the Federal cause. He proceeded at once to the front, issued orders for the immediate concentration of the army at Pittsburg Landing, and prepared for an early advance upon Corinth. One small division only was left at Crump's Landing as a guard to his supply line and base now at Savannah; it was com- manded by Gen. Lew Wallace, who had shown himself competent to act in an emergency, and his orders were to hold himself in readiness to move at a moment's notice to Pittsburg Landing, two hours march away. Grant's plan WAITING FOR BUELL. 117 was to march without delay upon Corinth, where the enemy were rapidly concentrating an army, in order to take it before too strong a force could gather within its fortifica- tions. But here Halleck interfered. His plan was to unite the army of the Ohio with that of the Tennessee, the former under Buell being directed to march from Bowling Green to form a junction with Grant at Pittsburg Landing. Buell had forty thousand men; Grant as many more. With these two strong bodies united, Halleck designed driving all before him. Perforce, therefore, Grant had to lie in idle- ness at his camp and await Buell's movements. Meanwhile, great numbers of new recruits were for- warded to him, keeping him busy receiving and distributing them. Here was another unfortunate blunder of his superi- ors. Raw troops have seldom proven fit to meet an enemy at once upon arriving on the field. One third of the sol- diers with Grant at the time of the great conflict, shortl}^ to take place, had never been in battle. The Commander placed his headquarters at Savannah for the purpose of receiving and forwarding these recruits, and because that was the point from which he could communicate most readily with Halleck. But he visited the camp daily, and saw that it was properly guarded. He fretted at the delay; but was unable to do more until Buell should arrive. And though every day added to the strength of the army at Corinth, Buell marched leisurely, excusing his slowness by reason of the bad state of the roads. Had he reached the point of junction two days sooner than he did, there would never have been a battle at Pittsburg Landing. Pittsburg Landing, so named from a boat-landing near, was a small hamlet, situated on the hills rising from the west shore of the Tennessee river, a score of miles, as aforesaid. 118 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE north-east of Corinth, and near the boundary line separa- ting the States of Tennessee and Mississippi. A succession of hills and hollows lay out toward the south-west as far as, and beyond, Shiloh Church, three miles from the river. Scattered groves and masses of undergrowth covered these hills, interspersed with fields partly under cultivation. As at Fort Donelson, deep creeks above and below the camp, emptying into the Tennessee, were natural protections to PITTSBURG LANDING. the flanks of an army lying between them. On the north, Snake Creek, with wide marshes on either side, and its trib- utary, Owl Creek, bending far around to the south-west, precluded an enemy from attempting attack. On the south, Lick Creek, a sluggish bayou protected the left flank. The mouths of the two streams were three miles apart, and as their courses were generally parallel, the tract which became the battle field was thus from three to four miles wide by THE SHILOH BATTLEFIELD. 119 about the same length. The hollows and ravines, dividing at the middle of this field, opened generally north and south toward the creeks, though several deep gullies opened directly to the Tennessee. Roads led from the Landing, one north across Snake Creek, and one or more west and south-west toward Corinth, branching before they reached Shiloh Church, the minor branch turning to the north-west across Snake Creek and its tributaries. The field was well chosen for a camp, being i //A^. SHILOH MEETING HOUSE. so well protected on the flanks as to compel an enemy to attack in front, and having the river at the rear, by which to draw supplies, and along which, in case of disaster, the army could retreat with the aid of the gun-boats. Only in case of extreme disaster would it be a dangerous position, since rapid retreat would be dif^cult. While it precluded the enemy from obstructing the river, it also afforded a good base from which to march suddenly upon Corinth. 120 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE It was not rashness, nor a mistake, on the part of Grant, that he allowed the troops to remain on the ground where Smith, an excellent engineer, and Halleck, the departmental commander, had caused them to be stationed. His troops were thought to be equal in numbers, if not greater, than the force gathering at Corinth. The divisions of the army were placed at once for protection and comfort. It was not thought that the Confederates intended to take the initia- tive and to attack this army; hence there was not that stiff regularity necessary to be observed in the presence of an enemy, nor were fortifications thrown up along the lines, a fault perhaps, but a very common fault with western leaders at this time. The line of encampment stretched irregularly across from Owl Creek, past Shiloh Church, to Lick Creek. Sherman's division held the right wing, guarding the Owl Creek crossing and the road to Purdy, and stretching out southward across the main road to Corinth. At his left, somewhat in advance, and separated from him by a space of several hundred yards, was Prentiss' division facing south-west, and still further to the left, near Lick Creek, and at some distance, was Stuart with a brigade of Sher- man's Division. At Sherman's left and rear, closing the space between him and Prentiss, was the division of McCler- nand. These formed the advance line. In the rear of Sherman and McClernand, on a second ridge of hills, Hurlbut's division had its camp. To the right and rear of Hurlbut, was Smith's division, under command of W. H. L. Wallace, the gallant Smith being ill. Buell consumed two weeks instead of the one that had been thought sufficient to make the march to Savannah. Grant became so anxious, because of the threatening demon- strations at the camp, that he determined to change his ) THE BEGINNING OF THE BATTLE. 121 i headquarters to Pittsburg Landing; but a letter arrived from iBuell stating that he would be at Savannah on the 5th of lApril, and he desired to meet Grant there. Grant remained, but Buell did not appear until the next day, and on that next day the mighty roar of conflict could be heard even further than Savannah. On the 4th, the Commander, accompanied by Sherman and others, rode out in front of his camp to observe the field and the demonstrations made by scouting parties of the enemy; they could not see or hear sufficient evidence that the enemy were near in force enough to cause them to think that an attack was imminent. Grant's horse fell at this time, hurting the Commander's leg severely. On this day, also. General Lew Wallace reported the Con- federates in force near Purdy, and Grant, thinking the enemy had designs against Wallace, ordered General W. H. L. Wallace to hold himself in readiness to go at once to the former's assistance. Leaving directions to his generals to watch closely the enemy, and filled with impatience and anxiety. Grant then went down to Savannah to meet Buell. Sunday morning (6th April), at the first gray light of dawn. Colonel Peabody sent out several companies of troops to reconnoitre and to drive off some troublesome bands of skirmishers that had been seen on the preceding day close in front. These troops went forth more than a mile, and met the Confederate army moving against them in long, solid lines. Immediately they opened fire, but the oncoming wave of men did not halt. It was led by one of their best generals, Albert Sidney Johnston, with Beauregard second in command, and numbered over forty-one thousand effect- ive soldiers. Fate seemed to have decreed that this assault should be made before Buell should arrive, since for several days the Confederate general had hesitated to attack. And 122 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE during the preceding night, in one of the dark hollows a few miles from the Federal army, a gloomy, earnest council of war had been held over the question whether there should be an assault in the morning. It was resolved to attack. Beauregard boastfully said that his horse would drink at the Tennessee before the sun should again go down. The Union pickets retired slowly, firing at every step. The noise aroused the soldiers in camp. General Prentiss learned the truth, and swiftly drew out his troops into battle line several hundred yards in front of his camp. Sherman also roused his men and hurried them into position. McClernand also formed, ready to go where needed. Had Grant at this time not been away from the field, he, no doubt, would have so quickly moved up McClernand, Hurlbut and W. H. L. Wallace, that he could have opposed to the terrible force of the first assault a power that would have withstood and hurled it back. But he was not there, and the generals had to act for a time without orders. The blow fell first upon Prentiss' division, which was composed, for the most part, of raw troops. It reeled before the impetus, but retired slowly to its camp, fighting every step. Almost immediately Sherman's division became engaged, but stubbornly held its ground. Beau- regard, who led the assault, saw his lines break by reason of the rough ground and the vigorous resistance they met. Bragg, who led the second line, swept up and renewed the battle, his line becoming amalgamated with that of Beauregard. The engagement became general along the whole front, even Stuart, at the extreme left, being attacked. For a short time Prentiss held his camp, but the enemy pressed in between his right and Sherman's left, where, as before mentioned, there were no troops. Taken MAP or ncLO or OR P0TT3BURC LAMDJ^S CO/irtDJ^BATt APPBOACrt CAfl 12;^ 124 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE in the flank, he was compelled to retire to a new position further back. Sherman's left was also broken and bent backward. At this time, opportunely, McClernand hurried his men forward and filled the ever-widening breach; Hurlbut moved up to strengthen Prentiss, and W. H. L. Wallace moved up to their support. The combat was fierce, stubborn and exceedingly bloody. The lines swayed back and forth like two gigantic wrestlers, giving and receiving deadly blows. The Federal troops, though many had never faced a foe, stood like veterans to their fearful work. Nine o'clock came, and with the hour came the Commander. Grant had heard the first rumble of the heavy guns, when the battle commenced. He had waited too long for Buell, and Buell had not come. At first he thought Wallace at Crump's Landing had been attacked; but soon realized that the battle was at his main camp. Leaving word for Buell to come up with all haste, he boarded a transport and ordered the swiftest speed possible to be made to the scene of battle. Stopping a moment at Crump's Landing, he or- dered Wallace to have his troops under arms ready to come when sent for, not ordering an immediate advance till he should know the necessity for it. Having arrived at the field of battle, he mounted his horse, though in pain from the fall two days before, and rode to the front, first leaving orders for the ammunition wagons to go at once to the front. The gravity of the situation soon appeared to him. He saw the divisions of his army acting separately, some being driven by the assaults of the enemy, some holding their own stubbornly. Sherman's division had held its ground with its right wing, but had refused its left at a sharp angle to connect with McClernand. The Commander gave the necessary orders to make the line continuous, sending a THE CONFEDERATE ADVANCE CHECKED. 125 regiment here, another there, and striving to make one body of his forces. He had few reserves. Only thirty-three thousand men, effective for service, had been in the camp when the struggle began, and already thousands had fallen dead or disabled. Nearly his whole force present was now engaged. The arrangement which he then made was pre- served throughout the battle. Sherman on the right; next to him, McClernand; then Wallace, Prentiss, Hurlbut, and at the extreme left, Stuart; and, when Prentiss was captured later in the day, the lines of Wallace and Hurlbut were drawn together and the break filled with regiments from various divisions. Grant immediately sent orders to Gen- eral Lew Wallace to come with all speed by the shortest route from Crump's Landing. Having done all that ingen- uity could suggest to obtain a strong formation, the Com- mander fought his army well. He was continually near the front, watching every move, providing for every emergency, encouraging by calm example his generals and captains, and endeavoring to stem the torrent of stragglers that flowed to the rear. The tactics of Johnston resembled, as one has said, those of a battering ram, giving heavy continuous blows, direct- ing the blows during the earlier part of the day against the centre and right, and during the latter part, against the left and centre; but much of the time the fight was continuous along the whole front. In order to meet these rapid, concentrated blows, the Commander was compelled to shorten his line to render it heavier at the point of attack. To do this necessitated a series of retrograde movements toward the river, since as the troops drew near to the Tennessee, the length of the line necessary to span the distance between the two flank- 123 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE ing streams became less. The troops fought desperately. The enemy assaulted with the greatest fury and most deter- mined bravery. Blood flowed as never on this continent had it flowed before. Bodies lay in heaps and rows; they were scattered over the fields so thickly at places that one might walk upon them for hundreds of yards without hav- ing to step to the earth. Noon came and passed, and the sun could hardly pierce the battle clouds rolling up over the fields. The Confeder- ates aimed their blows now principally at the left wing^ striving to break it and to interpose between it and the Landing. Grant looked anxiously for the head of Wallace's columns to come in sight. With the five thousand fresh troops that he would bring, the Commander believed him- self able to break the enemy's line, become the assailant, and yet grasp the victory, now apparently about to be taken from him. He looked in vain. General Wallace mis- understood his orders, and acted as he thought would be best in the emergency. Instead of taking the road to the rear of the Union army, the road along the river bank, he followed one leading out into the country towards Corinth, designing to come in on the Purdy road, where Sherman's right wing had rested at the beginning of the battle; but the road was long and difficult, and Sherman was no longer at that position. Grant dispatched other messages after him, which, finally overtaking him, turned him back, and brought him upon the field at sun-down, when the first day's battle was already closed. Nelson, also with the advance division of Buell's army, had been at Savannah early in the morning, and had received orders to come up with all speed; but did not arrive until after sun-down. A laggard fate seemed fighting against the SHERMAN S DIVISION" RETIRES. 127 Commander. While these much needed forces were com- ing the battle continued with unabated vigor. The Confederate Commander, believing that the battle could not be won unless the Union line should be pierced, massed heavily in front of Sherman's extreme left, where there had been a break early in the day. Grant perceived the design, hurried up a part of Hurlbut's comparatively GENERAL ALBERT SIDNEY JOHNSTON. fresh division, and placed it in the rear of Sherman's tired troops. The latter, slowly retiring before the oncoming rush, passed through Hurlbut's ranks, and reformed immed- iately in the rear. The position was well chosen for defence, the troops being drawn out along a ridge from which in front sloped gradually down an open field, over which the assailants were compelled to pass. Several batteries and 128 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. parts of batteries were placed here along the Federal line. Thus massed, they hurled back the assaults with terrible loss to the assailants. Johnston, rashly leading the Confed- erate charge, was slain. The command devolved upon Beauregard, who continued the battle with vigor. One has said that at this point the Federal fire was so fierce and deadly that it seemed that the very gates of hell had opened to vomit forth fire and destruction. The massed charges were thereafter directed against the Union left more particularly. At four o'clock the retrograde movement occurred which Grant was determined should be the last; but it was unfortunate. Prentiss stubbornly held his position, while W. H. L. Wallace's division, its leader hav- ing been killed, retired from the one flank and Hurlbut's division from the other, and Prentiss, with three thousand of his men, was captured. This made a wide gap in the line. The battle seemed lost; but Grant had been watching for any such emergency; and, urging his horse over brush and fallen trees at full speed, he brought up reinforcements, filled the gap and saved the army. The enemy had been somewhat delayed in sending Prentiss and his unfortunates to the rear, or this would have been a very difficult task. But the battle was restored, the assaults were repulsed with great vigor, and presently there came a lull in the contest. Buell, riding on in advance of his army, had arrived upon the field shortly before this lull. He saw the strag- glers, remnants of broken regiments, gathered at the river bank, several thousand of them, frantic with terror. He looked at the hard pressed lines standing doggedly to their deadly work. He concluded that the army was defeated, and said to Grant, who sat calmly on his horse watching every movement of his troops: "What preparations have THE FINAL STAND. 129 you made for retreating?" Grant replied, "I haven't des- paired of whipping them yet." Buell asked: "But if you should be defeated, how will you get across the river? These transports will carry no more than ten thousand men." The answer to this was grim, showing the spirit of the Commander: "If I have to cross the river, ten thousand men will be all that I shall need transports for." Buell now saw the need of more haste than had been hitherto shown, and rode back to his army to hurry it forward, stopping, however, long enough at the Landing to bitterly curse the thronging crowd of terrorized stragglers. Many of these men, though now frightened, afterwards regained their courage with experience and became excellent soldiers. They were as yet new to war, and when they saw the Union lines broken they naturally thought all was lost. Grant had already adopted the expedient of placing a line of cavalry in the rear to turn and bring back the strag- glers. About one hour before sunset, the Commander had brought the army back to a position which he was resolved should be the last place of retreat. There the tide of defeat should turn, or destruction should fall upon the army. The line was fully a mile in the rear of the first position from which they had been driven. Every step of that mile had been sorely contested; it had been won by the enemy at a terrible cost. It was thickly strewn with corpses and with the wounded. Its surface was ploughed with shot and trampled by feet. Grant saw that the confederates were in as much disorder as his own men; he believed that they would make one more great effort, and then be compelled to retire. To meet this effort he made hasty arrangements. It would, he saw, be directed against his extreme left, in pursuance of Beauregard's plan of trying to cut his opponent off from the 9 130 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. river. The Federal left rested on the Tennessee a short dis- tance south of the Landing, with a deep ravine along its front, so deep that the gun-boats on the river could drive their shells along the bottom of it. The ravine extended along the front of the line more than half a mile. Near the river, Colonel Webster, of the artillery, collected a heavy battery of guns, or rather a mingling of batteries and pieces of batteries, and, to support them, a number of broken regi- ments and companies were hurried forward. Also the gun- boats moved up and trained their guns up the ravine. Next to this battery was Hurlbut's unbroken division; then McClernand's, and lastly Sherman's, with its left resting near the bank of Snake Creek. The other divisions, Prentiss' and Wallace's, had lost their officers and great numbers of their men, and the various brigades and regiments compos- ing them had been distributed by the Commander wherever they were most needed. Upon the maintenance of this line unbroken depended the issue of the battle. Both sides nerved themselves for the struggle. Beauregard directed the weight of the attack towards the battery at the ravine, though an assault was attempted along the whole line. Generals Polk, Hardee and Bragg, led the forlorn hope, as it may well have been named. Heavy woods covered their lines while forming, where already the shades of night were creeping. Opposed to these woods, so full of power and life, were the grim batter- ies, the frowning gunboats, the Union army stripped for the fray, and at a short distance in the rear the silent Comman- der sitting on his horse calmly waiting the issue, and watch- ing the opposite shore of the river for a sight of Nelson's tired veterans. Presently the heavy rush of feet was heard in the woods, and masses of troops appeared on the crest THE FINAL REPULSE. 131 of the ravine, coming at a run. The batteries opened with a mighty crash, a blinding flash of musketry mfles in length burst forth from the Federal ranks, and in a moment the terrific boom of the great guns on the boats joined in, while the huge shells from the latter tore up the ravine, enfi- lading the Confederate line and mowing down men in long swaths. Never were guns worked with greater energy, nor did musketry pour its missiles with more rapidity. The advancing line was smitten as with hail; it halted, it wav- ered, it broke, it fled, and the dark woods swallowed it up within its gloomy depths. Again it was rallied, reformed and led forth, and again it was driven back by the pitiless shot. A third time it was driven forth to the assault; but it had been hard work to rally the men for this last attempt, and night had almost come. Meanwhile Grant saw the troops of Neison come up to the opposite bank of the river. It was a most welcome sight. The transports were ready, and at once brought over a strong body of the advance division. But before it could land the third assault came with intense fury, the frantic assailants charging blindly almost up to the Union line. It was hurled back broken and defeated. It was the final effort. A part of Nelson's men came into line with the Federal battery, fired a volley into the woods where the en- emy had disappeared, and thus laid a foundation for the claim that Buell's troops arrived just in the nick of time to save the army from annihilation. Beauregard's horse did not drink of the Tennessee that night, but it was prevented so doing by the sacrifice of twenty thousand killed and wounded men, half of whom were his own troops. The Federals bivouacked on the line then last held; the Con- federates retreated half a mile and there halted. 132 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. So the first day ended, and neither side could claim the victory. But the Confederates rejoiced that they had driven their enemy back more than a mile, though at a ter- rible cost and only by the most heroic exertions. The Fed- erals strengthened themselves with the thought that they had so well resisted what they believed to be overwhelming numbers, and rejoiced in the knowledge that on the morrow, with Lew Wallace's fresh troops and Buell's reinforcements, they would win back what they had lost. And even before Nelson was within sight. Grant had issued instructions to his generals to hold themselves in readiness to take the initiative in the morning. He believed that even should Buell not arrive, he could, during the night — having reor- ganized his divisions, and with the five thousand men that Wallace had — drive the enemy before him, or at least beat him off in every attempt. He had perceived that the Southern army was almost as much disorganized as his own; he had been able to judge somewhat as to his enemy's strength; he knew the latter's losses were at least equal to his own; he did not think Beauregard had any reserves. From all that he could hear or see, he had come to the con- clusion that he would be equal in strength to his opponents in the morning, and the victory would be to him that should first assault. Of course the issue would depend much upon the fortunes of war; but the Commander, as he had told Buell, was not by any means conquered. But when Buell came he was certain of victory. The tired troops obtained little rest during the night. Their indefatigable leader, though suffering much with his bruised leg, transferred his left wing to the rear and right, leaving a space to be filled by the eighteen thousand men that Buell succeeded in bringing upon the field. Nor did AN ANXIOUS NIGHT. 133 the enemy rest well; for the Union gunboats threw shells at (regular intervals during the night into their camp, giving them much discomfort, and compelling them at some points to retreat still further from their advanced position. Mid- night saw the arrangements completed, and the troops rested. But now a heavy storm of rain, accompanied with thunder and lightning, burst over them, brought on by the terrific concussions the atmosphere had received during the day. To the thirsty wounded scattered over the fields, the rain was as God-sent; they held their parched mouths open to receive the drops of water. Grant, tired, suffering from his injury, but hopeful and courageous, lay down on the earth beneath a tree with his soldiers and sought to rest. But the storm became so furious, and the pain rendered him so restless, that he could not sleep, and presently, accompanied by a part of his staff, he went to an old log hut near the landing, seeking shelter. The hut had been turned into a hospital, and, though the chief of the army, he would not take possession of it while the wounded needed it, so he went back to his tree and stayed there. It was a gloomy night; it would have been gloomier had not the reinforcements arrived. With the coming of daylight (7th Apr.) the Union lines advanced. As yet Beauregard was not aware of the rein- forcements his enemy had received; yet he was in no haste to attack. His forces were so badly shattered that several hours of daylight would have been necessary to have put them in shape for battle. General Lew Wallace, with his five thousand fresh troops, was placed in the fore, along the centre and right of the united armies, and was supported by the remainder of Grant's original force. Buell, under Grant's general direction, commanded the eighteen thousand men composing the left wing, and swung out toward the 134 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. southwest, extending his left flank as the nature of the field demanded. The Federals advanced half a mile before finding their enemy. Wallace's troops opened the battle by shelling and driving off an advanced battery. The heavy skirmish lines of both armies were soon engaged. Because the troops advanced very slowly, feeling their way, it was full ten o'clock before the battle became general. The Confederates had improved the time by re-forming, and were ready to give a hard fight. The battle became desperate. From right to left, a distance of three miles, the roll of musketry, with the boom of cannon, was con- tinuous. The Union right and centre advanced steadily, driving the foe step by step from every position, storming batteries, assaulting with the bayonet, and cheering as they went forward. Buell did not fare so well. Beaure- gard had kept his order of battle of the preceding day, and the bulk of his forces was yet on his right and centre. Repeating his tactics, he hurled his troops in heavy masses upon Buell, overwhelmed the line at several points, captured some heavy guns, and pushed the enemy back sev- eral hundred yards. Only by the greatest exertions could Buell recover his advantage. At the same time. Grant, who was watching his opportunity, ordered an impetuous assault on the right, himself personally directing it, and crushed the Confederate left wing, driving it in confusion from the field. Beauregard was compelled to draw off a part of the masses on his right to strengthen the left, leav- ing Buell the advantage of numbers. The latter improved the occasion, and again drove all before him. Beaten at all points, Beauregard at length gave up the contest. He had lost a full fourth of his soldiers in killed and wounded, and nearly as many more in stragglers, while his army was so THE RESULTS OF THE BATTLE. 185 broken and demoralized that his retreat resembled a rout. The tactics had been turned on him. On this day he could not muster more than thirty thousand fighting men; the Fed- erals could put into line more than forty thousand. His defeat came unexpectedly. The sun had hardly passed the meridian before the retreat began; the battle had ended ere the sun had descended half way to the western horizon. Short pursuit was made. Grant asked Buell to send his comparatively fresh troops in pursuit; but Buell refused. In the delay that ensued upon this refusal, and before Grant could direct his own tired troops to take up the pur- suit, the enem}' were well off the field. Sherman followed a short distance, but soon rested. So ended the battle of Shiloh, sometimes denominated the battle of Pittsburg Landing. The bad roads, caused b}' the heav}' rain of the preceding night, and the exhausted condition of the Fed- erals, saved Beauregard from complete rout. Upon the issue of this battle hung man}- interests. Had Grant been defeated, not only would he have been immedi- ately relegated to the ranks of the unsuccessful generals, and remanded to insignificance, but Buell's arm}' might have been crushed in turn and the Federals driven back to the Ohio river. Even though the battle ended in victory. Grant suffered unjustly. The battle was so terrible, so bloody, so destructive, that the nation was maddened. Twelve thousand men, three-fourths of whom were killed and wounded, had each side lost. Men shuddered at the magnitude of the struggle; the}' thought blame ought to attach somewhere; the}- let it fall upon him whose success had made him clamorous enemies, and whose supreme con- tempt for slander, and whose silence, gave play to bitter tongues. Buell's soldiers naturally claimed the meed of vie- 136 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE, tory. False reports were sent out, from which it appeared that Grant had been personally responsible for the first day's losses, that he had been drunk when the battle was in its hottest hours, that he had been surprised by the enemy and taken unawares, and that Prentiss and his gallant troops had been captured in their beds. Whereas, the truth was, that the errors of others placed the army in several separate divisions along the river, where they might have been beaten in detail, and Grant's foresight concentrated them at Pittsburg Landing, from which, on account of Halleck's orders, he could not move; that Grant made little use of intoxicants, though President Lincoln did say that he wished more generals would "drink some of Grant's whisky, if it resulted in such victories;" and that the division commanders were not surprised, but were ready to fight when the enemy appeared, though sep- arately and without much cooperation; and further that Prentiss was not captured till late in the afternoon of that bloody first day. The mists of these preposterous errors have not yet entirely blown away; but through them appears the star of the silent Commander's genius, testifying that, had he been present, and not called away to meet Buell at Savannah, and could he have commanded at the beginn- ing so as to have opposed a firm front at the first shot, and before his troops had become somewhat demoralized, the Confederate host would have been terribly defeated be- fore the hour of noon had passed of the first day. As it was, an army was never fought better and with more dogged determination, than this army, after it felt the di- recting hand of the commander. The wonder is that it had not been swept off the field in detail. The fault that he did HALLECK ASSUMES COMMAND. 137 not know such forces lay in his front sooner, lies not with the chief Commander, but with those to whom picket and scouting duty belonged. Superiors were at fault; Buell was slow; the pickets were at fault; but, in studying the bat- tle, it is not possible to see how Grant was at fault. For- tuitous circumstances had much to do with the battle. Had Buell not been delayed; had Grant not been called to Sav- annoh; had a better watch been kept; had Lew Wallace arrived sooner on the field, another story would have been told of the first day's battle. But whatever may have been said about it, the battle ended in a decisive victory for the Union. To the South it was a most stunning defeat. One- fourth and more of their army, their Commander, second, as some maintain, to Lee only, as a soldier, and later, as a direct result, Corinth, were lost to the Confederate cause. Halleck came to the field four days after the conflict, and assumed command of the united armies. He issued orders to every part of his department for the concentration of troops at Pittsburg Landing; and the remainder of Buell's army, and Pope's army from its victory at Island Ten, were hurried up, and the combined force soon num- bered one hundred and twenty thousand men. Detach- ments were sent out in various directions to seize what Halleck thought strategical points, leaving the effective force to advance against Corinth about seventy thousand strong. Halleck, now having apparent cause to disgrace Grant, did so. Had not Lincoln preserved so great confi- dence in Grant, "A man whom he rather liked," no doubt the Commander would have been relieved. He was re- lieved in fact, though not in form. Halleck distributed the various divisions of troops to please himself, and gave them orders direct from himself, not deigning to send the 138 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. orders tnrough Grant, the proper cnannel. He permitted reports of the late battle to pass up to the War Department without Grant's approval; he was not careful that the reports should state facts. Hence many errors, falsities, and slanders went out, that should not have been permitted, and the effects of which have lasted longer than did the life of the illustrious Commander. Halleck did not treat him even with the courtesy due a soldier in honorable standing. He never asked Grant his opinion in any matter, though the latter was second in rank to him only. Nor did Grant offer his opinions more than once, and at that time was coldly ignored. The Commander was under a cloud. Many who had been his warm admirers, who had seen in his great vic- tory at Donelson the presage of a great career, forsook him and joined their voices in the false clamor against him. Newspaper correspondents, catering to Halleck's pleas- ure, wrote lurid articles in reproach of the victor. But under all this load of odium, Grant, though suffering keenly the injustice, remained calm and unmoved. Serene in uncon- cious magnanimity, he held his peace. Knowing that the facts would presently come to light, and that then he would be vindicated, he did not raise his voice in protest as others would have clone. But once did he allow himself to break silence, when a newspaper correspondent, truculent and virulent, sent a defamatory article to the press; and then he said simply, that he was sorry that a man could stoop to writing such falsehoods, and that time would vindicate his own actions. So Halleck, with one hundred and twenty thousand men, having an army opposed to him less than half that number, and that, too, broken and dispirited with defeat, armed THE ADVANCE ON CORINTH. 139 his men with spades and proceeded to dig his way into Corinth. A day's march would have put him into posses- sion of the city and compelled the enemy to flee without battle. Yet he consumed six weeks in digging and man- euvering, covering a mile some days, sometimes more and sometimes less, of the twenty-five miles between Shiloh and his objective point. He kept scouts well out, often drew up his army for battle when rumors came of a skirmish, and fortified every camp and position. Having arrived before the city, he halted several days to reconnoitre. He erected elaborate works before his lines, and kept his army in constant commotion over false alarms. Grant, after studying the defences of the city carefully, made the only suggestion he attempted to make during the cam- paign, stating that the defences were weak in front of the Federal right and might be easily carried by assault. Hal- leck replied that when he needed advice he would ask for it. Grant retorted in strong language to the insult, the first and last time that he ever spoke disrespectfully to a superior. Then he held his peace, though believing that the enemy was about to escape. Demonstrations being made by the enemy along their works, Halleck drew up his army for battle, certain that he was about to be attacked. No attack was made. An officer at the head of a small body of men, becom- ing suspicious of the truth, advanced to the defences and found them deserted. The Confederate army had evac- uated the city, taking with it all its equipments and sup- plies, leaving only a number of dummy cannon made of logs mounted on wheels. Corinth had fallen; but a shout of laughter went up from the army and was echoed back from the people of the North. Even Grant was 140 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE, compelled to smile. Upon examination, it was found that, as he had suggested, the city might have fallen easily by an assault of the Federal right wing. Nevertheless, Halleck prided himself on a bloodless victory, and continued his coolness toward Grant, who now again demanded to be transferred to another depart- ment. His request would have been complied with had he insisted, but Sherman, whose love for his former com- mander and confidence in him were very great, persuaded him not to insist. Yet he obtained leave to retire from the army to Memphis, Tennessee, and, narrowly escaping cap- ture on the way by hostile scouting parties, he rode to that city and established his headquarters there. Halleck, relieved of the presence of his disgraced subordinate, con- tinued slowly to follow the enemy. Not more than forty thousand men were in his front; he cautiously advanced with three times that number. Buell, in command of seventy thousand men, came to Booneville, heard that the enemy was in his front, and halted to await attack from not more than twenty thousand of them, but he was not attacked. About the middle of June the pursuit was stopped, having accomplished nothing; and the great army, which under a competent leader, could have crushed all opposition, was broken up, one part under Buell being sent towards Chattanooga, the other part under Halleck remain- ing at and near Corinth. Grant determined to abide, if possible, at Memphis until the cloud that obscured his star should pass. He had a chance to display his governing powers here, and exercised them with firmness and moderation. He established martial law throughout the city, heard all complaints of citizens, and redressed grievances as needed. He also HALLECK RAISED TO CHIEF COMMAND. 141 adopted measures for the protection and employment of fugitive slaves, great numbers of whom came into his juris- diction. He promptly suppressed a newspaper for publish- ing articles of a treasonable nature. He issued an order banishing all citizens who should be proven to have acted as spies for the enemy, appointing a certain day by the which they should leave. This aroused a storm of indig- nant protest among the disloyal north and south. He was called a tyrant, a bloody monster, and was threatened with assassination; but he quietly and fearlessly caused his orders to be executed. As a military governor he achieved great success. Good order was maintained, the people lived in peace and security. The loyal rejoiced in his protection; the disloyal found no sympathy, but stern repression. Meanwhile, the course of events was running in his favor again. Lincoln had never lost sight of him, though a cloud was over him; he studied how to place him again at the head of the army, so that some energy might be infused into western operations. The great President was a true judge of human nature, and a fair judge of the abilities of his various generals. It seemed to him, as was the truth, that Halleck would make a better military counselor than leader. He solved the puzzling complication which the battle of Shiloh and Halleck's jealousy of Grant had raised, by appointing the former Commander-in-Chief of all the armies, with headquarters at Washington, and thus opening the way for the latter to return to the command of the army in the field. He thus removed all cause of jealousy in Halleck, who was raised at once to the object of his highest ambition, and in part, at least, gave Grant a chance to further prove himself. When this change was announced (nth July, 1862), Halleck, it is said, offered the command of 142 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. the Army of the Tennessee to one Colonel Allen, a quarter- master, who promptly refused the responsibility. This was intended as a direct affront to Grant. It may be said that Halleck owed his elevation to the man whom he so spite- fully used. For, upon the victories of Forts Henry and Donelson, and of Shiloh, Halleck's reputation as a depart- mental chief was built. He had, in reality, not only done no fighting, but could not truthfully claim the honor of having planned the campaign. Grant had suggested and carried out the Fort Don- elson campaign; he had also saved the army at Shiloh out of the very jaws of defeat into which others had thrust it. Time, to which the silent general trusted, was slow, but sure to vindicate him. It seemed at this time, however, that Lincoln was the only man who, through all the clouds of falsehood, partisanship and prejudice, could recognize the genius in him. Called to Corinth by a dis- patch, he obeyed, appeared quietly before Halleck, and was briefly and coldly informed that he should again assume command. The Commander-in-Chief did not even explain to him his plan with reference to this army, nor the situation in the field, but departed at once to Washington. But the army and its generals hailed the change with delight; they now believed that something would be done for the country. Grant found only a remnant of the army which had moved upon Corinth. More than two-thirds of the great force had been sent to far-off fields, and that which was left was scattered at various strategical points, according to Halleck's ideas. It was in no condition to resist an attack, being separated in a similar manner to that before the battle of Shiloh. Corinth was occupied by the principal body, less than twenty thousand strong. Various points along the THE POSITION AT CORINTH. 143 railroads which centered at Corinth were occupied by bodies of unequal strength. Grant at once requested permission to concentrate the army and make ready for aggressive operations. But Halleck replied that it was not designed at present for this army to assume the aggressive, but that it should hold Corinth and the railroads, while Buell should fight a battle near Chattanooga. He was thus compelled to stand on the defensive and guard a long supply line, subject at all times to be broken by bands of the enemy, a state lUKA, MISSISSIPPI of affairs that galled him more than did his unmerited disgrace. He was inactive several months. Price and Van Dorn, two sly, energetic leaders, were laying plots to attack the Federal detachments in detail. He suffered more from anxiety during these months of idleness than in any campaign before or afterward. His whole army, garrisons and field forces, did not amount to more than fifty thousand men, and of this number he could not, on emer- gency, concentrate more than thirty thousand. Price's and Van Dorn's combined army outnumbered this force, and 144 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. thousands of guerilla partisans, efficient to harass his com- munications, hovered around him. Sleepless vigilance was necessary. In order to comply with Halleck's directions, he stationed McPherson at Jackson, Hurlbut at Bolivar, and Rosecrans at Corinth, the latter having the main body of troops. Smaller detachments were at luka and Rienzi. Corinth he caused to be very elaborately fortified, its defences being shortened and strengthened until it became in fact a fort. All these points were connected, more or less, by railroads, so that with a day's warning a large part of the army could be concentrated at one point. This was the best arrangement that could be made under the circum- stances. Grant had his headquarters at Jackson. luka was a station on the railroad running southeast from Corinth, and about twenty miles from that city. The Federal force occupying it was small. Price formed the de- sign of capturing it, and did so (September 13, '62), after a slight contest. Here he waited for Van Dorn to join him with the main force. Grant resolved to turn the game on his crafty enemies, as a defensive movement, so as to comply with Halleck's orders, and to defeat or capture Price before his coadjutor could arrive. Having beaten Price, he could turn on Van Dorn, and it would go hard with the latter to escape. His plan was to place the Confeder- ates at luka between two fires, at the same time interposing a force between it and Van Dorn's army. Rosecrans was ordered to concentrate a force of nine thousand men at Rienzi, southwest of luka, and from that point to come against Price, swinging around southward as much as possi- ble so as to take the enemy in the rear and to interpose between him and Van Dorn. In concert with him, and moving so as to arrive before luka simultaneously with him. PL\NS TO ATTACK PRICE AND VAN DORN, 145 MAJOR GENERAL WILLIAM S ROSECRANS. Ord, with eight thousand men was sent from Corinth direct to a point north of the enemy. Ord was directed to wait till Rosecrans should inform him of his approach, and the attack was to be made in front and rear at the same moment ( i8th and 19th Sept.) 10 146 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. Had the plan been as well carried out as it was con- ceived, Price's army would have been annihilated. The only mistake that Grant made here was that he entrusted the execution of his plan to subordinates, remaining himself with the main army so as to be able at once to direct it against Van Dorn. Upon Rosecrans especially did the v»reight of duty fall, as he led the force designed to be inter- posed between the two Confederate armies. He was an energetic officer, but unfortunately was too liable to put his own judgment over that of his superiors, and to act as he thought proper despite orders. Instead of swinging around further south and closing the road south of luka, he marched direct from Rienzi upon that place. Ord moved promptly, assumed his station as directed, and there stopped to wait for Rosecrans. Rosecrans marched slowly and cautiously, stopping to reconnoitre, though his orders were to march at once upon luka, and attack. He was also greatly impeded in his movements by the nature of the country, the narrow and winding ways, and the bad state of the roads. Price discovered his danger in time to escape. He seized the southern road and hurried his trains away, at the same time sending a heavy force to attack Rosecrans and hold him in check. Ord knew nothing of this. A sharp battle, exceed- ingly fierce and bloody, ensued. Rosecrans' van was driven back, but his main force repelled the assault. The battle lasted from four o'clock in the afternoon until darkness caused it to cease. Batteries were taken and lost. The musketry fire was close and deadly. Price, however, made good his escape. Grant was greatly disappointed. He had felt sure that Price could not escape. But he did not visit his displeasure upon Rosecrans, only pointing out to him where he had failed. 148 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. The commander at once placed nim with the garrison at Corinth, determined not to send him again to the field. This small campaign well exhibited the genius of combination of which Grant was so efficient a master. He aimed at nothing less than the destruction of an opposing army; it might well be said that he never aimed at less. Grant's available force was further weakened about this time by the withdrawal of General Thomas with a division, he being sent to Buell, who was racing with Bragg across Tennessee, and maneuvering with him for strategic advan- tages. This compelled Grant to further contract his lines around Corinth. The two Confederate leaders now saw a chance of victory, and having formed a junction, laid plans to capture Corinth. They had thirty-eight thousand men. In order to throw Grant off guard they marched first toward Memphis as if they would attack that city, but when they had reached a point northwest of Corinth, they turned suddenly and bore down upon the latter city. Grant pene- trated the design, and issued hurried orders to Hurlbut, at Bolivar, and McPherson, at Jackson, to move up at once. Rosecrans was instructed to hold his fortifications and detain the enemy before them until the other divisions could come up on the assailants' rear, when the latter would be placed between two fires. He hoped that the enemy could be held twelve hours. If they could be thus held he was confident he could destroy their army. But Rosecrans gave battle with his nineteen thousand men in the field before Corinth, protected but little by works. The Confederate leaders at once attacked, hoping to crush him before assistance could come (3d October). The Federals were unable to withstand the weight of the assaults, and took refuge in the stronger works. Now BATTLE OF CORINTH 149 appeared the excellence of Grant's engineering. Rosecrans handled the garrison well, repulsing the assaults with terri- ble slaughter. Like storm-clouds against a mountain top the masses of Confederate soldiers surged up against the works, only to be cut down, hurled back and broken. Their shattered columns fled just as McPherson's gal- lant men leaped from the cars that brought them swiftly to the field, and drew up in battle array. Grant had ordered Rosecrans to pursue at once in case the assailants were beaten off before the reinforcements should arrive. But Rosecrans exercised his own discretion, and stayed in camp till the next day. This permitted the enemy to escape. The latter had retreated toward the Hatchie River. Ord and Hurlbut, with a Federal division, as had been directed, were coming to the field from that direction, and had already seized the fords and bridges. The Confederates were caught as in a trap. Swamps lay far out along the roads, and the Federal division, though small, stoutly held the bridges, compelling the enemy to take a backward course and to march to crossings higher up the river. Now had Rosecrans been close in their rear, it is not to be seen how they could have escaped total destruc- tion. Ord was wounded at the combat for the bridge. The enemy escaped, though badly demoralized, after losing seven thousand men. The Union loss was about two thousand. Grant blamed Rosecrans severely for letting the enemy escape so easily. Rosecrans conducted himself with so much haughtiness that it almost approached insubordination. The Commander became convinced that he could not depend upon him to accomplish his orders as given, and was tempted to relieve him from command, but did not. He was soon relieved of embarrassment on this score, however, for 150 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. Rosecrans, to whom alone was attributed the glory of the victory of Corinth, was transferred to an independent command over the army which Buell had led. The battle of Corinth was decisive in its effects. The Federals were not further molested in force. Grant had no. further anxiety. But still he was not permitted to make an aggressive campaign. Lincoln sent a letter of congratu- lation to the army, and promoted Grant to the command of a Department, that of the Tennessee (25th Oct., '62). So grateful was the President, that Grant and his army were said by him to be the only commander and army that had as yet given him victory instead of complaints and demands. It was a relief to the great President to turn from the gloomy scenes in other fields to the brighter west. But Halleck, pursuing his own plans, chose to hold Grant in idleness and to give others chances to win laurels. The result appeared later. Meanwhile, .during those long months of idleness, Grant had industriously worked to solve a great problem, that of caring for the hordes of fugitive slaves that poured into his camp. They came expecting deliverance and protec- tion, and without money or food; and it was an immense burden for the government to feed so many thousands of useless people. He solved the problem in a practical way. He employed as many as were needed for cooks, ser- vants to the officers, wagon-drivers, and laborers around camp, paying them for their work, and thus supporting them. Their labor supplied that of the white men who were placed in the ranks as fighting men, an expedient which brought good results. Thus, in an indirect way, he reinforced tne army, even before the Emancipation Proclamation and the orders fol- EMPLOYING THE NEGROES 151 lowing it made the negroes subject to military service. His plan was later adopted by all Union generals. Had he been permitted he would have straightway enlisted the negroes. But the scheme of employment could by no means suffice for the great numbers of fugitives. He determined to make them self-sustaining. He saw all around him immense deserted plantations, fruitful if cultivated, but neg- lected and deserted. He detailed officers who organized squads of workmen and took temporary possession of the plantations; and, as the army was composed of farmers as well as of all kinds of mechanics and laborers, he set work before them and commanded them to direct the negroes to perform it. The immense crops of corn and cotton, and of other fruits of husbandry, were gathered, used or sold, and the surplus money turned over to the government to aid in supporting the fugitives. Thus the cotton, much needed at the northern mills, was furnished, and corn and vegetables of other descriptions were brought in for the support of the army. Grant's army was no burden to the government during those months, but rather a profitable servant. The Freedman's Bureau, of later date, had its origin here. After the decisive victories of Donelson and Shiloh, the Mississippi was free, from its source to the stronghold of Vicksburg, in northern Mississippi. Columbus, Island Ten, Memphis and Fort Pillow, and other points, had fallen successively. But Vicksburg had withstood a bombardment, lasting more than two months, from a fleet of gunboats (Summer, 1862), and had defied all attempts at reduction. Grant had begun to urge upon his superiors the desirability of marching a combined land and naval force against the city soon after he was restored to command at Corinth, 152 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. but Halleck did not approve. The army was too small to attempt the task then. After Van Dorn and Price were so badly used at Corinth, however, Grant urged a forward movement by land. Halleck approved, and promised all assistance possible. It was now planned at Washington, that Grant himself should lead an army by land against Pemberton, who had succeeded Van Dorn and Price in command of the opposing forces, and hold him from retreating to aid the garrison in Vicksburg, while a combined expedition of troops and gun- boats should proceed to a point above Vicksburg, and from that direction attack it. It was hoped in this way to beat the enemy in detail, and thus cause the fall of the city. It was a well-laid scheme, if forces adequate to the under- taking had been furnished. But Grant, who knew nothing about the proposed river expedition at first, and had made several marches before it was definitely resolved upon, did not have troops enough to guard his long supply line and make head against a strong enemy at the same time. The people of the country through which he was compelled to advance were hostile. A small body of troops, or even the guerrilla bands, could interrupt his communications with impunity. When he learned that the river expedition must go, however, he chose General Sherman, already proven to be a competent and energetic soldier, to command it, though great influence was exerted to have McClernand appointed to that command. Halleck, however, did not have a great liking for politicians as soldiers, and finally resolved to ac- commodate Grant as against McClernand, and Sherman was confirmed in the command. How excellent was the Com- mander's judgment in appointing him later history has shown; for, next to Grant, Sherman stands preeminent THE LOCATION OF VICKSBURG. 153 among the Federals as a commander and a natural leader of armies. Unfortunate in his first expedition, he won success afterwards. Vicksburg and Port Hudson were the northern and southern points of that part of the Mississippi river still held by the South, the Federals having pushed their way north from the Gulf as far as the latter city, and, as aforesaid, south as far as the former. The eastern and western por- tions of the so-called Confederacy, naturally separated by the great river, were held together, as it were, by this band between the two cities. It was Grant's purpose to cut the band, and to separate the eastern part from the great store- houses of the western. The city of Vicksburg, called " The Gibraltar of the West" because of its strong situation and great fortifi- cations, stood on the eastern shore of the river. It was important, for if it should fall. Port Hudson could be easily captured, all the intermediate points would be taken, and the connecting belt of two hundred miles of river would be cut through. The South saw its importance, and strove with all the arts of war to render it^impregnable. They made its capture the mightiest task that any western general should ever undertake. The strong current of the Mississippi flows in a general southerly course toward the Gulf, but at a point about five miles above Vicksburg it turns sharply to the northeast, as if to meet the stream of the Yazoo river, which flows into it from the northeast here; after forming a junction with the Yazoo, just above the city, it turns again and flows to the southwest till it reaches the line of its general course when it turns southward. Thus, a long slender tongue of land, from a half to two miles wide, was formed 154 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. by the bend, whose surface was but a few feet above the level of the river. On the hills along the southeastern side of this bend was Vicksburg. North of it the flat lands between the Yazoo and the Mississippi stretched away for hundreds of miles; east and south of it the hilly lands of northern Miss- issippi stretched away to the Big Black river, which emptied into the Mississippi a score of miles south of the city. The bluffs rising from the Yazoo to this high land were very steep and rugged, and capable of easy defence. To the north and west the city looked out upon and was protected by immense tracts of river and swamp, while in its rear were hills and rivers capable of being turned into strong defences. Its batteries swept the rivers, its lines of intrenchment and forts covered the interior. It was impossible for gunboats from the river to elevate their guns so as to harm the city, on account of its height above the stream; it was equally hard to erect effective bat- teries on the land side, because of protecting hills. At Haines Bluff, north of the city, and along the Yazoo, the engineers had erected batteries, whose plunging fire could demolish any craft that should attempt to ascend that river, and the stream had been obstructed. From this point an extensive line of works inclosed the city — trenches, lunettes, forts, and various batteries — to the Mississippi, several miles below; and these were placed on the brows of deep gullies and ravines in most commanding situations. There were batteries along the shore, also, whose great guns threatened destruction to any craft that should attempt to pass. A garrison of several thousand men held the works, and it was Pemberton's duty to fall back to the city's support whenever necessary. Railroads connected it with Jackson, VICKSBURG CONSIDERED IMPREGNABLE. 155 MAJOR-GENERAL HENRV W. HALLECK. the State Capital, and other points in the interior. Such was Vicksburg, which the South boasted could not be taken In pursuance of the plan approved by Halleck, and with the meao-er forces under his command, Grant prepared the expedition against Vicksburg. He himself marched upon Holly Springs and La Grange (2nd Nov. '62), des.gnmg to 156 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. attack Pemberton, who held his army in a strong position on the Tallahatchie river, and Sherman, after much unavoid- able delay, placed his troops on transports and descended the Mississippi to the mouth of the Yazoo. By a sudden flank movement the Federal commander forced the enemy from his position and compelled him to retreat. Grant pursued as far as Oxford. Pemberton would not accept battle, preferring to remain on the defen- sive, and knowing that his opponent's fighting power was growing less as his line of communication grew longer; for the Union army had not yet learned to move without a base from which to draw supplies, and to keep up its com- munications with its base strong bodies of troops had to be stationed at the chief points along the line, and other strong bodies to convoy the trains bringing supplies. So that, as Grant advanced southward he found the striking force of his army steadily diminishing, and soon his forces were inferior in numbers to those of his antagonist, who, being in a friendly country, was able to place all his troops in battle line. It was in vain that he called upon Halleck for reinforce- ments — all the troops which could have been sent him were sent elsewhere. Van Dorn, with several thousand men, was operating east of him and laying plots to break through his supply line. Pemberton had about thirty thousand men. The numbers of the enemy and their activity made Grant's position extremely perilous as he penetrated deeper and deeper into the hostile country. Pemberton's Fabian pol- icy was a good defence; but Grant's weakness in numbers alone saved him at this time from losing Vicksburg. And while Sherman was yet on the way down the river, (20th December) that happened which Grant had feared. THE SURRENDER OF HOLLY SPRINGS. 157 Van Dorn suddenly appeared before Holly Springs, a chief depot of the Federal supplies, and demanded and received its surrender from Colonel Murphy, who com- manded the garrison and who was either a coward or a traitor. This same Murphy had abandoned luka to Price when that general appeared before it, as noted before; he had force enough at Holly Springs to have held it from Van Dorn for several days, had he attempted, and Grant could easily have rescued him. But his fatal action severed the Federal supply line, and Grant was compelled to retrace his steps and reconquer the place Pemberton seized the opportunity to hurry into Vicks- burg with a small force, just as Sherman hurled his army across the marshy fields at Chickasaw Bayou against the heights of Haines' Bluff. Sherman could not use more than half his troops; the hills were exceedingly strong both by nature and art; Pemberton's approach gave spirit to the garrison, and the result of the conflict was a severe repulse. The arrival of the bulk of Pemberton's troops a little later made the place impregnable to Sherman's assault. But, though a very small part of Pemberton's forces had arrived at Vicksburg, before the assault, the works were strong enough at the point of attack to have withstood Sher- man without any aid from those forces. The cutting of Giant's supply line had little if any, influence in defeating the assault; Haines' Bluff was impregnable. Sherman was not to blame; he could not test the works before the assault. McClernand arrived shortly after the repulse, and, being the ranking officer, assumed command of the troops. Sherman readily accepted the situation, though a soldier by education and experience, while McClernand had been a civilian until the war begun. 158 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. McClernand and Sherman led the defeated army against Arkansas post, in Arkansas, and succeeded in capturing it and five thousand prisoners. Having performed this exploit, they led the army back to Napoleon, and thence, in accordance with Grant's imperative orders, to Young's Point, on the Mississippi river, a short distance above Vicksburg. McClernand was elated by his success, and because of this, and on account of his political friends who stood in the high places of the Government, he carried matters with a high hand, much to Sherman's dis- gust. He arrogated to himself powers alr^ost equal to those of the Commander himself, going even so far as to dispute with him as to the limit of authority of each, and laying himself liable to a court-martial for insubordination. Grant was a very patient man. He believed McClernand to be a brave, even if an ignorant soldier. He was tempted to relieve him, but he forebore, and solved all disputes by going to Young's Point in person and assuming command. He had resolved himself to lead the army down the river against Vicksburg, and this procedure was in consonance with his design. He soon reduced McClernand to his place. The following winter (1862-63) was, perhaps, the darkest period of the Rebellion to the Union cause. The Federal loss at Stone River, without proportionate success else- where, the terrible repulse at Fredericksburg, and the disas- trous battle of Chancellorsville, gave courage to the South and disheartened the North. Those of the Democratic Party in the northern states who were so rabid that they were denominated, expressively, "Copperheads," became bolder and more rampant, and the elections in the loyal states did not result so favorably for the Union cause as they should have. Secret societies of traitorous men, such DARK DAYS FOR THE UNION. 159 as "The Knights of the Golden Circle," plotted and planned to overturn the National Government, strove to hamper the authorities in control of the enlistment of troops, and raised riots in various places. Men who, at this day, are prom- inent politicians, and whose loud boast is their eagerness to serve their country, were then cowardly and sneaking, afraid to join their nobler brethren of the South, who were bearing arms, but were content to enjoy the protection of the government which secretly they strove to harm. Dis- couragement, foreboding, distrust and anxiety, filled the hearts of loyal people; but, with all this, there was a dogged determination to fight till victory should come. Grant was one of those who believed that victory could be won only by long, hard fighting, but that it should be won at all costs and hazards. He never for a moment doubted the ability of the loyal soldiers to make head against the disloyal, when properly officered and combined in sufficient numbers to occupy the country they should be able to win. He recognized the fact that the present enemies, against whom he was directing his arms, were soldiers of the same race, equal in courage and ability; against them it would be folly to lead inferior forces, even under competent leaders. An army of fifty thousand men was gradually collected at Young's Point, and at other places north along the river. Continuous rains flooded the flat countries, causing the rivers to overflow their banks and rendering the roads impassable. The army, being encamped along the river banks on the levees, was thus placed as if upon islands, and its communi- cations were wholly by steamer with the surrounding coun- try. Grant studied the situation carefully. How to come at the city with reasonable chances of succeeding, was the question which he set himself to solve. 160 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. GRANTS OPERATIOMS ABOVE cVlCKSBURG In order to move infantry and cavalry, it was necessary to get upon dry land. The only dry land that seemed availa- ble and by which an approach could be made, was in the rear of Vicksburg. He had tried to come southward along the high ridges and hills east of the Ya- zoo and its trib- utaries, and had found it impos- sible with his small army. It would be mad- ness to attempt Haines' Bluff, as Sherman's dis- aster witnessed. He cast his eye to the high ground in the rear of the PLAN FOR CAPTURING VICKSBURG. ' 161 Stronghold, allowed it to wander southward to the Missis- sippi at the mouth of Black river, saw that there the high lands touched the river, and, in his own mind, began to shape a plan. If he could but cross the river below the city, attain the high land and get around to the rear, then the city would fall. But the inclemencies of the weather, the overflow of the river, and the opposition he would be sure to meet, if he should leave other plans, already suggested or ordered from, higher authorities, without attempt to follow them, induced him to wait patiently. Meanwhile one of these suggested plans might succeed; and, if not, the army would be occupied, and the people of the north would be satisfied that idleness was not being indulged. He himself had little faith in the ultimate success of these plans; he saw truly that Vicksburg would not fall without stern fighting. The first of these plans, or schemes, was to dig a canal across the base of the narrow peninsula before Vicksburg, thus to create a new channel for the river, and cause it to leave the city inland and approachable by land from the west as well as from the east. This seemed no hard task. Indeed, the river has since changed its course, but not at man's behest. It was Halleck's idea; and some time pre- viously a ditch had been commenced. Grant did not believe the river would change its course, though he hoped to dig a canal large enough to float his transports through to the high ground below the city. Cyrus could turn the course of the Euphrates and enter Babylon, but the conditions were, doubtless, more favorable to his scheme than to this of Halleck's, though learned men said the idea was good. Again, the engineers who had control of the work had begun the northern end of the canal, at a point where the 11 162 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. >-i^+,.^^^-%^^v CUTTING THE CANAL. current whirled away in a great eddy; and if the ditch could have been completed, it is very doubtful whether the stream would have had force enough to have cut its way through even the loose soil of the new channel. But the work was begun, and prosecuted with great vigor until Pemberton, learning the Federal design, planted a CUTTING THE CANAL ABANDONED. 168 battery on the south side of the bend in such a position that its shot enfiladed the ditch and drove out the workmen. Then the river rose, broke over its bank, and flooded the work, making it impossible to do further excavating. The scheme was then abandoned, it having been plainly demon- strated that no canal could be made here. But Grant did not cease effort. The first idea suggested another. At one time, no doubt, the Mississippi, or a large branch of it, had its course through Lake Providence and several long winding bayous and deep streams into the Red river, and thence back to its present course, a channel more than four hundred miles long. It may seem strange to many that the water-surface of the Mississippi is, at some points, higher than the surrounding country, it having, during a long course of years, by deposits of sand and mud brought down from the rich northern valleys through which it f^ows, slowly raised itself and its bed; but such is the fact. During the winter and spring rains it was accustomed to overflow its banks, and convert the surrounding country into lakes. But the people who inhabited the valley were not long in discovering the value of the rich deposits of loam left by the receding waters when the rains ceased, and they constructed great levees along the low banks, and sought to hold in the stream to its channel. In all ordinary seasons they were able to accomplish this, and only when there was an extra- ordinary flood did the great waters break loose. The river was high at the time Grant conceived the design of opening the levees, and letting the turgid waters into Lake Providence, hoping thereby to obtain a channel deep enough to float his vessels to the Red river. He set a part of McPherson's corps to the work of cutting the levee, but, having gone to explore a part of the proposed 164 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. route in person, he became satisfied that a sufficient channel could not be made, and ordered the work to cease. Leaving the western side for the time, he next turned his attention to the eastern side, and studied the bottom-lands between the Mississippi and the Yazoo, hoping to find a practicable route to the high lands east of the last-mentioned river. Numerous bayous, creeks, and devious channels intersected this low land, some of them almost connecting the two rivers. It was thought that by cutting the levees at a point opposite Helena, Arkansas, a sufficient volume of water might be diverted from the great river into the swamps and bayous to deepen and connect them sufficiently to enable steamers of light draft to pass to the Yazoo. The cut was made (2nd Feb., 1863), and a mighty tor- rent rushed through into the swamps, submerging hundreds of miles of land, and forming a great shallow lake. It seemed that some success would follow, A small force of troops and several of the lighter gunboats and transports passed through and slowly felt their way to the junction of the Yalobusha and Tallahatchie rivers, which by their junction form the Yazoo; but here their progress was stopped by a small fort, erected by the enemy on an island in such a position that the fleet could not assail it with effect, and could not pass. The channel was so narrow that the boats could not turn so as to bring their guns to bear upon the fort, nor could a storming party be landed and advanced on account of the surrounding swamps. The fort was not more than a foot above the water's level, and, when news of this had been sent back to Grant, he ordered a new cut to be made in the levee, hoping thereby to raise the streams and flood the fort. But this effort was unavailing; and, as the Confederates were fortifying various points along the OPERATIONS UP THE YAZOO. 165 Yazoo and further obstructing its course, the attempt along this line was reluctantly abandoned. Still determined to try every plan that ojffered any hope of success during the winter, Grant next turned his atten- tion to the mouth of the Yazoo and Steele's Bayou. Haines' Bluff is on the bend of the Yazoo several miles above the mouth of the stream. Steele's Bayou entered BAYOU NAVIGATION. the Yazoo from the north at some distance below this bluff. One passing up the bayou would, after an exceedingly tor- tuous course, come to within one mile of the Mississippi, at a point about forty miles above the mouth of the bayou, then would turn off in an easterly direction to the Sun- flower river, with which it was connected by various sloughs. The Sunflower river flowed into the Yazoo. Admiral 166 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. Porter readily co-operated with him in all these attempts, and with part of his fleet ascended the Yazoo to the point where Steele's Bayou entered, thence passed up the bayou to the point where it approached the Mississippi, where he was joined by a small land force which had mat-ched across from the Mississippi. He succeeded in reaching a point about half a mile from the Sunflower river with his gun- boats; but was there stopped by obstructions in the bayou, and was exceedingly annoyed by the harassing fire of hun- dreds of sharpshooters, against whom his great guns were useless. He fell into such straits finally, that he was com- pelled to send back to Grant for help, saying that unless it came soon he would have to destroy his boats to prevent them falling into the hands of the enemy. Sherman, who was in command of the forces designed to co-operate with him, hurried forward by forced marches, and rescued the boats from their great peril. Attempts on the east side of the river were then abandoned, and Grant turned his attention once more to the west, seeking a channel by which to convey his army to a point south of the city. He resolved to open a channel from a point near Milliken's Bend through bayous and con- necting creeks to Carthage, Louisiana. The work was begun and promised greater success than any of his previ- ous attempts, when a sudden fall of the Mississippi lowered the waters in all the bayous and rendered all efforts fruit- less. So ended the preliminary operations, undertaken with the three-fold purpose of convincing the army and the peo- ple that such efforts could not succeed, of employing and keeping up the spirit of the army, and of passing the time until the subsiding of the floods would open a way to the THE CARE OF THE ARMY. 167 accomplishing of his ultimate plan. The rainy season passed. The great floods of water from the northern val- leys and hills went by, and the country along the river reappeared. The army, despite the fact that it had been surrounded for so long by water, and had been encamped on damp, low ground, was in reasonably good condition when the time came for operations in the field. Grant had carefully THROUGH THE SWAMPS. watched over the health of his troops. Charitable and patriotic organizations supplied the soldiers with many of the luxuries of life, and made them donations of all kinds of supplies necessary to supplement hard army fare and make it endurable. The Commander gave these organizations every aid in his power, placing at their disposal all his 168 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. transports and railroads. He is reported to have remarked to a certain lady who said that she had observed evidences of scurvy among the troops, that it seemed that "Onions and potatoes were indispensable to the taking of Vicksburg." He established rigid rules of cleanliness and order among the troops, but was not, in matters of discipline, at any time, a martinet. His plain habits of dress, his unassuming appearance, his readiness to recognize a private as well as an officer, and his care for their welfare, endeared him to the rank and file. They recognized in him a man to be respected for his worth, not for his office. He was a man from among the people; as such, he gave himself no airs of superiority. The troops cheerfully undertook all that he appointed to be done, confident that success and safety lay in obedience to his commands. But, though the troops retained unbounded confidence in their commander, not all the people did. The news- papers inimical to the progress of the Federal arms were joined by many that supported those arms in throwing jibes and taunts at Grant, because, forsooth the hairbrained schemes of political generals could not be carried out, and Vicksburg taken, despite lakes, swamps, guns and brave enemies. They knew nothing of the plan which he was maturing all the time of this delay, the grandeur of which was to startle the nation. For Grant did not, till the time for action came, intimate his plans to any one, not even to Sherman, his friend and adviser. The people at large became restive. Even his most powerful friends in govern- ment and elsewhere became despondent. Loud-voiced enemies clamored for his removal. Men seemed to forget his victories at Donelson and Shiloh, and the great defence MURMURS AGAINST GRANT. 169 of Corinth. But Lincoln, the President, judged him cor- rectly, knowing the immense difficulties of the campaign he was prosecuting, and stood by him despite the clamor. To some of those who officiously advised the silent command- er's removal, he replied, "I rather like the man. I think I'll try him a little longer." Halleck, too, having m the height of his power forgotten his fear of rivalry, and with true soldierly instinct, having recognized the difficulties surrounding Vicksburg, and not finding any man fitter to trust with the undertaking, sup- ported Grant during these days. Grant himself apparently paid no attention to the assaults of critics and politicians; knowing his own purpose, he believed himself right, and calmly allowed the clamor against him to rise without protest. He had not sought high commands; he had not sought honors; he could have relinquished his command with the same equanimity with which he had assumed it. He owed his place to no favor- itism; he was not obliged, therefore, to consult the wishes of any supporters. He stood alone on his merits; they sup- ported him. It was a belief, amounting almost to supersti- tion, with him, that one ought not to seek responsible positions, but ought to leave to Providence the choice of those to fill such positions. And when one studies the rise of Grant to the supreme power in the nation, it becomes apparent that he acted on this faith, that his ambition was to do his duty leaving the results to themselves. One sees, upon examining the map of Vicksburg and surroundings, a triangular space, with the city at the north- western apex, and with the cities of Jackson and Grand Gulf at the eastern and southwestern apices respectively. The Mississippi river bounds the western side of this triangle. 170 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. and the Big Black river runs diagonally from the north side through to the vicinity of Grand Gulf, where it empties into the former river. Grant's plan, simply stated, was to gain a footing on the high ground at or near Grand Gulf, and from that point to fight his way northward to the rear of Vicksburg, and endeavor to connect at Haines' Bluff with the Union fleet CALHpUN BRd-WNSVIUCy-'" i "'""(^ »» -Q., v^bP'. .^..j,.;^^ .^J( TUQALO" ■ MAP OF VICKSBURG CAMPAIGN. above the city on the Yazoo, and lay siege to the stronghold from that side. In his mind he had laid out a number of possible ways to gain that point, the choice of a final route to be determined by the circumstances of the field and the movements of the enemy. There was an alternative plan, the one which he imparted to Halleck, which embraced the seizure of Grand Gulf, and cooperation with General Banks, who was ascending the GRANT S PLANS. 172 Mississippi, to attack Port Hudson. His ultimate design of fighting his way northward to the rear of Vicksburg, he imparted to no one. His best officers did not approve the alternative plan, because it was, in effect, placing the enemy's stronghold between the army and its connections with the loyal states, hitherto an unheard of idea. Sherman wrote his commander a long letter, giving his views ad- versely to the plan, but without effect. Grant's first step would be the most critical. The first march would be down the river, along the levees and roads, to a point opposite Grand Gulf. But it would be useless to march troops to that point unless transportation could be provided to ferry them across the river. He designed to have as many vessels as possible run by the batteries of Vicksburg, and to act both as ferries and blockaders. In order to distract the enemy's attention Grant inten- ded that Colonel Grierson with a strong cavalry force, should march from La Grange, Tennessee, southward in the rear of Vicksburg, and destroy railroads and confederate property as much as possible The field into which Grant would move after crossing was broken, and better for defensive than for offensive oper- ations, it being a hilly country, with deep ravines, opening into deeper creeks and rivers, with heavy forests and under- brush here and there, without good roads, and with many other natural obstructions to an invasion. But it was, never- theless, a rich country, its farms bearing great quantities of grain, hay, and other produce, besides being filled with herds of cattle and swine. He noted all of these matters, and conceived the idea of making the country feed the army, so that the latter would not be compelled to depend upon its connections. 172 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. Having formulated his plans, and having Halleck's con- sent to the movement on Grand Gulf, Grant collected his army at Milliken's Bend, and thoroughly organized it for the expedition. Provisions M^ere gathered, ammunition was carefully prepared, the troops w^ere brought into a high state of discipline, and, in fact, all that a careful soldier could pro- vide was provided. The winter rains ceased; the turgid river subsided; its banks reappeared from the flood. The earth resumed its ordinary appearance as in summer. The time was come for the beginning of the great expedition. Admiral Porter readily entered into Grant's plans, and prepared his fleet with great vigor for undertaking the pass- age of the Confederate batteries. A call was made for volunteers to man the transports designed for carrying sup- plies, and for ferrying troops across the river below the city. Great numbers responded, familiar, by reason of their pro- fessions, with machinery and navigation. Meanwhile (29th March, 1863), McClernand was directed to move by any practicable route to a point opposite Grand Gulf, so that he might be ready, as soon as the boats should pass the city, to cross over and assail Grand Gulf. As he found the roads in an almost impassable condition, it was a fortnight before he could arrive at the designated point. Roads had to be explored, creeks and bayous had to be bridged, swamps had to be filled, and roads made across them; ways had to be cut through dense forest and canebrake, and many other great impediments had to be overcome. But, with immense labor, this corps finally appeared on the river at the point indicated. Porter's task was the most perilous. His ships would be exposed to the enemy's batteries for several miles of the proposed run; but he trusted that, with the aid of darkness RUNNING THE BATTERIES. 173 and a swift current, he would be able to go by without much harm. He designed with his gun-boats to engage the bat- teries while the transports fled swiftly by in the darkness. The unarmored steamers, or transports, were piled high on the decks with cotton bales, grain and hay, while to them and in tow large barges of provisions and supplies were fastened. Eight gun-boats and three steamers, with several barges, were selected for the attempt. The distance to be traveled from the starting point to a point out of reach of the enemy's guns below, was about fourteen miles. Pemberton was watchful and suspicious. Fearing that a night attack might be attempted from the river, or that the Federals would attempt some scheme to cross the peninsula before the city, he had caused several huge piles of debris to be made ready upon the river shore for firing at a moment's notice. As the time for opening the campaign approached and signs of increased activity were seen in the Union camp, he caused greater vigilance to be observed, and projected several schemes for ascertaining his enemy's in- tention. There came a night (i6th April) , dark, gloomy and damp; and, all things being ready, the order was given for move- ment. Grant accompanied the vessels to a point from which he might obtain a view of the lights of the city, and on a transport anchored in mid-river, watched the splendid scene that followed. The devoted vessels moved away into the darkness, silently hugging the western shore of the river. For an hour all was silent. Then the watchful sentinels perceived the dark bodies of the vessels and gave the alarm. At once the gunners in the city sprang to their bat- teries and opened fire. The torch was applied to the piles 174 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. of debris on the shores, and the ruddy flames threw a weird glare over the scene, lighting up the clouds of smoke bursting from the batteries, showing the dim out- lines of the swift steamers and the heavy bodies of the gun- boats. The thunder of the great guns was incessant. Showers of shot were poured upon the vessels. The gun- boats replied warmly, and the thunder from the hills was rolled back by the thunder from the waters. For two hours Copyright 1868, Harper & Bro3. From Harper's nistorr of Civil War RUNNING THE VICKSBURG BATTERIES and a half did the weird battle continue, the thunder mov- ing steadily down the river as the fleet passed down. The gun-boats were but little injured. The transports were all more or less disabled and one of them was abandoned. Some had their machinery broken. But the greater num- ber escaped with injuries that could be easily repaired. The fleet passed beyond the reach of the batteries; the mighty roar of the cannonade ceased; the bonfires burned out and darkness fell upon the scene. Grant returned to his Sherman's movements. 175 tent, satisfied lhat the passage had been a complete success. McPherson's corps had been advanced on the track of McClernand's, and Grant, whose presence was urgently requested by several officers who were not at all satisfied that McClernand should lead, started also for the front as soon as he could arrange matters In the camp. Sherman's corps was left for the present at Young's Point, and Its com- mander had orders to lead it up the Yazoo and make heavy demonstrations against Haines' Bluff, so as to call Pember- ton's attention to that point and away from Grand Gulf. As soon as the first two corps should cross below, Sherman was to follow their path with all haste. This plan was carried out to the letter. Pember- ton was so deceived that he believed at one time that Grant's movements down the river were but a ruse to draw him from Haines' Bluff, which would be the chief point of assault. Nor was he undeceived until the Federal cannon were making merry music before Grand Gulf. Grant found that McClernand had consulted his own wishes, and, though iVdmlral Porter had offered the immediate use of his boats, had hesitated to cross over to attack Grand Gulf, and the garrison had Improved the time to prepare for a stout resist- ance. It was at Porter's earnest solicitation that Grant came at once to the front, riding forty miles on horseback without alighting, though he was not at all physically well. He found that McClernand had driven the enemy out of the hamlet of Richmond, and had occupied New Carthage. This point was several miles above Grand Gulf. Grant eagerly exam- ined the opposite shore for a suitable place to cross, but the high ground was so far from the river, and swamps Inter- vened to such an extent, that he concluded to pass further 176 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. down and seek a landing nearer the city. He then led the army to Hard Times, a village opposite Grand Gulf. Here he prepared to attack, while at Chickasaw Bayou Sherman was threatening an assault. The expedition was well under way and now approaching its most critical point. The plan of reduction of Grand Gulf was simple. Porter deemed himself able with his gunboats to reduce the bat- teries to silence, though Grant doubted his ability to do so; and, when the batteries should be silenced, Grant, with ten thousand picked men ready on transports, designed to cross FLEET ATTACKING GRAND GULF. over and storm the works. Porter overrated the strength of his fleet and underrated the strength of the batteries. Grand Gulf was situated somewhat similarly to Vicksburg. There was a similar bend in the river, a stream emptying into it north of the city, and a peninsula in front of it. But its batteries were not so well protected and did not have as sweeping range. Another fleet of transports and barges had succeeded in passing Vicksburg (22nd April) , thus furnish- ing supplies and means for ferrying a large force across at one voyage. THE FLEET PASSES GRAND GULF. 177 All being arranged, Porter gallantly led his gunboats against the batteries (29th April) , and for six hours poured a tempest of shot and shell upon them. The enemy replied with spirit. Little impression could be made by the bom- bardment, owing to the height of the position of the city batteries. It became evident that on the river side, Grand Gulf was not inferior to Vicksburg in strength. At mid- day Porter gave up the attempt, and withdrew. Grant at once went on board the flag-ship and conferred with the Admiral. Several of the sailors and marines had been killed and a number wounded. The Admiral was satisfied that he could not reduce the city. Grant suggested that he run the batteries with the whole fleet during the coming night, while he himself should lead the army several miles further down by land to a point opposite Bruinsburg, Mississippi, from which place, a slave had informed him, a good road led out to the high ground which he was striving to reach. The Admiral assented. The ten thousand troops were landed and the army was ordered to march. At night the fleet passed the city with- out notice, and met the army at the point indicated. Immed- iately as many of the troops as possible were embarked, and the fleet stood away swiftly to the landing at Bruinsburg, where it arrived before the surprised Confederates could guess the intention of their foe. Disembarkation was easily effected and Grant soon trod the high ground which he had so long attempted to win (30th April). He felt that half of the campaign was successfully accomplished. All haste was made at the landing. The troops were formed into column and hurried to the hills two miles from the river, it being the design to seize the roads through them and get a position at least equal to any that an opposing 12 178 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. force could secure. The transports were sent back in haste after the remainder of the army, and swift messengers were dispatched to Sherman ordering him to come with all speed. Grant personally superintended the debarkation. There was no confusion. The Commander here displayed the intense energy that was in him, but which was generally well concealed under a calm exterior. He was determined that no delay should destroy the effect of his ruse. He had outwitted the Con- federate general; he would retain his advantage. He caused two days rations to be issued to the troops as they marched out of the boats and towards the hills. No time was allowed to take account. Within two hours after the first transport touched the Mississippi shore, the feet of the foremost regiment were treading the roads through the hills on their way toward Port Gibson. Grant was nov/, one might say, in the enemy's coun- try. The strength of the army, when the three corps should be united, would somewhat exceed thirty-three thousand men. The active forces opposed to him, though scattered, amounted to nearly double that number. His immediate task was the reduction of Grand Gulf; and as Port Gibson occupied a flanking position on the roads leading into that city, it was to be the first object of attack. Ten thousand men composed the garrison of these two points, and more than half of this force was already hastily advancing from Port Gibson to intercept the Federal march. The hostile forces met about five miles from the town, McClernand commanding the Federals, and Gen. Bowen the Confederates. A sharp collision occurred, but the night was so dark that both parties abstained from a general battle until the daylight of the next morning should aid them. BATTLE OF PORT GIBSON. 179 During the night, the Commander completed his duty of transferring McPherson's corps from the west side of the river, and sending it after McClernand's corps. A small force was left at Hard Times on the western shore to guard it until Sherman should come, thus preserving connection between the corps. Grant passed the night, or rather a small part of it, reclining on the ground with the troops; but, early in the morning he hurried out to the battle field, where already the boom of heavy guns told that the cam- paign had opened in earnest. As it happened, the enemy had obtained a good defen- sive position. The ground was very rough, the hills and deep ravines being covered densely with trees and under- growth. The road forked just before reaching the field of battle, the forks continuing along two almost parallel ridges, about a mile apart, and with a deep ravine between, grown full of a matted jungle of vines, creepers, bushes and trees, almost impenetrable to man. Across these two roads and the ravine, and into the woods on either side, the Confeder- ate line was drawn. The only points of attack that McCler- nand could perceive were where the roads intersected the enemy's line; and, dividing his forces, he sent a part along each road to the assault. But the Confederates, though numerically inferior, were able to concentrate their troops along the roads so that they opposed a strong front to the attacks, and successfully held their ground. The battle raged fiercely. Grant presently arrived on the field and for a moment studied the situation. McPherson's advance also came up, and part was sent to reinforce the troops on each road. Grant now assumed personally the direction of the battle. Knowing that he had the largest force, he sent a 1^0 CAPTURE OF PORT GIBSON. 181 brigade to the left so far that it extended beyond the Con- federate right. This was then faced to the right, and directed to attack the enemy's flank. A deep ravine protected their right, but the Federals struggled through the undergrowth in it, ascended the hill and turned the position. At once, Grant ordered a general assault along the road at the left. It was gallantly made and the enemy was driven in haste from the field. Meanwhile McClernand, believing that numbers alone would win, although only a part of his force could be engaged, owing to the nature of the ground, was demanding reinforcements, and declaring that without them he could not hope to succeed. But when the Confederate right was driven from the field, the left also gave way and hastily retired toward Port Gibson. Pursuit was made to a short distance from the town, but was stopped by the approach of night. The first victory of the famous campaign was won. The forces on the field were unequal, the enemy having not more than six thousand men. Grant having nineteen thou- sand; but not more than half of this force was engaged. The losses were heavy compared with the numbers fighting; the Confederates losing fourteen hundred men, the Fed- erals eight hundred and fifty. Grant was well pleased. Success imparted a fine morale to his troops. Port Gibson was evacuated during the night, and the bridge across the south fork of Bayou Pierre destroyed. The Federals at once seized and occupied the town, and began quickly to rebuild the bridge. This was completed during the day, and pursuit was made to the bridges of the north fork of the bayou, which were also found destroyed. Grant believed that the easiest way to reduce Grand Gulf was to threaten its communications with Vicksburg. He 182 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. set his men to work rebuilding the bridges over the north fork. These were soon finished and the troops crossed (2d May), and pushed on to Hankinson's Ferry on the Big Black River. Several lively skirmishes were had, the enemy seeking to delay the bridge building and the crossing of the streams; but it was obvious to Grant that they were only seeking to cover the retreat of the garrison of Grand Gulf. He then sent a strong force from the neighborhood of Willow Springs directly toward Grand Gulf, and found it deserted (3d May) . He at once entered the city. It was the third day after the crossing of the Mississippi. He had not occupied a tent since the crossing, but had slept on the ground at night, and had been in the saddle almost constantly during the day. He had personally directed the movement of the various divisions, and had superintended the building of bridges and the movement of the trains. He found the city deserted. The enemy had gone, leaving only a few guns. Porter's ves- sels, which had moved up to Grand Gulf, were at the quay. Here he received a letter from General Banks, stating that the latter would not be able to move, as contemplated, against Port Hudson for at least -ten days, and then only with an inferior force. This, in Grant's opinion, would be a delay fatal to both expeditions, and really forced him to accept the alternative plan that he had already formed of moving against the rear of Vicksburg. He knew that the Confederates were gathering in force at Jackson, and that if Pemberton should be allowed to concentrate his forces, the combined army would far outnumber his own. To thrust himself between the hostile detachments, to strike each in detail, was the plan that now possessed him. He had thought long over such possibilities. 184 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. He did not hesitate a moment what course to pursue. He was busy several hours writing dispatches and orders to Banks, to Sherman and to his other corps commanders. He wrote also a dispatch to Halleck relating his actions and his proposed undertaking. His design was neither more nor less than to cut off his own communications with the rear, to hurry Sherman up to the fore, and to march with all his troops in a compact army, first, against Jackson, and, second, against Pemberton or Vicksburg. He allowed himself no rest; but, as soon as he had finished his writing, he started, though it was midnight, for Hankinson's Ferry, turning his back to the Mississippi and to his communications with friends, and his face toward the enemy and the country through which he should lead the expedition. He imme- diately issued orders for distributing three days' rations to the troops. Foragers were sent out into the surrounding country to collect provisions, horses, mules and all kinds of vehicles, and presently the camp was filled with every des- cription of country produce and supplies. Sherman came down in three days and crossed at Grand Gulf. He had left Blair with a division to guard Milliken's Bend depot; but Grant sent for this division, at the same time directing troops from farther up the river to take Blair's place. Blair was further directed to bring with him the army train, consisting of more than two hundred wagons. Meanwhile the troops in the field were kept busy foraging and making demonstrations across the Big Black towards Vicksburg, in order to deceive Pemberton and cause him to remain at or near his stronghold. Sherman having arrived, the order to march was given, and the corps were set in motion on parallel roads towards the northeast, the imme- diate design of the Commander being to interpose his army FORAGING. 185 between Jackson and Vicksburg. In the marches that ended only with the position behind Vicksburg, the stu- dent of wars finds the greatest regularity and precision. The Federal army moved like a machine, guided by the hand of a master mechanic. Grant issued orders for and directed every step of the troops. His mind grasped the whole situation; it acted with perfect confidence and readi- ness. So exact were the directions given, and so true obedience did they receive, except in one instance, that Grant knew at all times the exact position of every division. The train on which the army depended for its supplies was a heterogenous collection of horses, mules, cattle, wagons, carriages, carts and other vehicles found on the farms through which they were passing. It was divided into sections, a part following each corps. Regular foraging parties swept the country along the route of all the live stock, good for provisions or for beasts of burden, and of grain, hay and other articles that an army could use. Far out to the left and right scouts rode and watched, while strong parties explored the roads in the front and reported the best routes. The army was facing the northeast, with its left wing resting for the first few days on the Big Black, while its right diverged towards Jackson. On the fourth day Sherman and McClernand were at Fourteen Mile Creek, and McPherson was approaching Raymond on the direct road to Jackson, (12th May). Before Raymond, the Confederates under General Gregg, advancing from the Capital, were encountered. The enemy numbered five thousand men. McPherson at once attacked with General Logan's Division, and after a sharp engagement drove Gregg from the field. Gregg lost more than eight hundred men in this battle; McPherson, 136 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. half as many. The latter immediately occupied Raymond and notified Grant of his victory. The Commander at once directed the heads of his corps towards Jackson, drawing his left wing under McCIernand rapidly in upon the center, directing his center under Sherman to proceed to Raymond and thence upon the Capital, and the left under the victor- ious McPherson to a point northwest of Jackson to intercept the enemy, should they try to form a junction from the city with Pemberton in that direction. McPherson was directed to this point because he was the nearest to it of all the corps commanders, and haste was desirable. Thus the left wing became the right, the right wing became the center, and the center became the left, and all, if they should arrive at their destination, would form a semicircle on the north, west and south of the doomed city. McCIernand, however, was not required to make haste, his duty being to keep within supporting distance of the other corps, and to watch Pemberton that he should not attack the Federal rear. Grant judged that two corps could easily reduce the city. It was also the Commander's design to have McCIernand about a day's march in the rear, in order that, when the city should fall, he could be counter-marched towards Vicksburg, thus becoming the van, and be able to seize in advance of the enemy, any advantages that should present themselves. The plan was perfect from a mili- tary point of view. At the same time. Grant wholly cut his communications with Grand Gulf, and began to live entirely off the country. Jackson, the State Capital, is situated on the west side of Pearl river, and in a hilly region. Extensive fortifications had been thrown up, extending in a semi-circle, at a distance of about two miles from the city, from the river on the north THE ADVANXE ON JACKSON. 187 around westward to the river on the south. A second line, nearer the city, had also been erected. The position was not naturally of great strength, but it was capable of defence with a sufficient garrison. Eleven thousand troops occupied the place, under command of General Joseph E. Johnston, who had very lately been transferred from the east to chief command in the Mississippi Valley. Being new in the com- mand, and being surprised at the rapid and unexpected movements of his foe, he was not prepared for a stout tA\,.^ \ Crocker's charge at jackson. resistance. He ordered all his troops to.^e concentrated as rapidly as possible at Jackson, but not all could come up, and Grant had already interposed between him and Pemberton. McPherson's column had quickly reached and taken pos- session of the railroad leading to Vicksburg, and had made connections on his right with Sherman (13th May), and the Union troops were already skirmishing with the Confederate outposts. 188 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. A simultaneous attack of the two corps was arranged. Grant was with Sherman, and directed the operations. Both corps moved promptly, but, as a heavy rain was falling, (a.m., May 14), their progress was slow. Shortly before noon they came within striking distance. The sun came out from the clouds just as the word was given to attack, throw- ing his beams cheerily on the bright bayonets — a happy presage, as it were, of the issue of battle. McPherson's corps struck the outer line of works first, and his line of gleaming bayonets went over them like an avalanche, carry- ing all before them. The Confederate left fled to its second line of works. Sherman found a more difficult task. A small stream and a guarded bridge stopped him for some time, but he was able, finally, to cross, and, by alternate right and left flank attacks, to drive the enemy to the second line of defence. Soon the several divisions formed a continuous line from north to south of the city. As the works before Sherman did not seem weak enough to warrant an assault Grant sent a body of troops to feel the enemy towards the Pearl river on the south side. But Johnston was already evacuating his entrenchments, leaving only a few hundred gunners to man the cannon, and keep the Federals in check while he made good his retreat; so that, when this body arrived near the river, it found the enemy leaving, and at once entered the lines, taking the gunners in the rear, and compelling their surrender. Seventeen heavy guns were captured, with some prisoners and supplies. Johnston, however, had placed the river between himself and his foe, and was rapidly retreating towards the northeast, designing to pass northward around the Union right, and form a junction with Pemberton. He had sent orders to the latter to move northeastward, so as GRANT ENTERS JACKSON. 189 to meet him at some point north of Clinton, a town a few miles northeast of Jackson. Grant, however, was persuaded that such would be the plan, and was already issuing orders for a retrograde move- ment upon Vicksburg, along the railroad, designing to cut off Pemberton's march, and keep between him and Johnston. The Commander entered the capital amidst the smoke of burning stores, which the retiring army had fired, and made his headquarters in the Capitol building. His army had lost only three hundred men before the city, while the enemy had lost nearly nine hundred, besides guns and sup- plies. Jackson was well known as a depot of supplies for the Confederate government, and contained several factories, which manufactured cloth and other supplies for the use of their armies. As the Commander did not design keeping the city, but desired to cripple the enemy's resources as much as possible, he ordered these factories to be burned, and Sherman w^as designated to attend to the work of destruction. Grant slept that night in the same quarters that Johnston had occupied the previous night. General Pemberton, who had been deceived by Grierson's cavalry raid until too late to prevent a landing by Grant, had crossed the Big Black river, and moved southward, to- wards Grant's supply line, believing that should he cut this, the Federals would be compelled to retrace their steps; but, as Grant had severed his supply line of his own volition, Pemberton could not find it. He hesitated about obeying Johnston's order to move toward Clinton, and by his hesita- tion gave the daring Union Commander time to move in between him and Johnston. He then received a more per- emptory command to move northward, and turned his col- umns toward Edward's Station, on the Vicksburg and Jackson 190 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. Railroad, designing to move thence through Bolton. One of Johnston's dispatches to Pemberton was brought to Grant on the same afternoon that he occupied Jackson, and his orders were issued at once for the intercepting movement. A courier was dispatched with all speed to McClernand, with orders to turn the head of his corps upon Bolton, and to move with all speed. Also Blair, who was coming rapidly up from Grand Gulf with the trains, and who had arrived near the rear of McClernand's corps, was directed with his division toward Bolton. Also McPherson was directed to turn his corps toward the same point as early as possible on the following morning, and Sherman was directed to follow McPherson as soon as he should have completed the destruc- tion of the factories, the roads and bridges leading out of Jackson, and the work of rendering the city totally useless to the enemy as a depot. Haste was the watchword of the hour. And there was need of haste. Pemberton and lohnston, with combined armies, would number nearly fifty thousand men to oppose his small, but intrepid band; odds that he did not desire to face in one battle. He was not, indeed, aware of the true numbers of his enemies, supposing them to be much less; but this made him none the less desirous of keeping them separated. And now appeared the wisdom of having McClernand's corps one day's march nearer Vicksburg than the others, for one division of it marched into Bolton just as the enemy's cavalry was about to take possession of the town (May 15). The third side of the triangle was now being traversed, and the Federals were well on their way. The night of this day saw all the corps rapidly approaching one and the same point, while the Confederate columns were BOLTON. 191 also moving upon that point. A collision was inevitable. Grant himself moved toward Bolton during the day, but did not reach the front till next morning (i6th). This place being occupied, he directed the foremost divisions to march slowly towards Edward's Station, but to avoid a battle unless certain of success. Pemberton had not supposed that Grant was so near him, and was astounded when his vanguard of cavalry met a decided check at Bolton. A portion of his troops was several miles south of Edward's Station, and he was com- pelled to march them a part of the night so as to concentrate them at a point known as Champion Hill, an elevation between Edward's Station and Bolton, where he determined to abide the issue of a battle. Thus the main hostile armies were brought face to face. From some workmen on the railroad, who had seen Pemberton's army on the march. Grant learned that the force before him numbered between twenty and thirty thousand men. The Union force near Bolton numbered not more than half that many. Grant, therefore, dispatched orders to Sherman to come up from Jackson with all speed, not desiring to risk battle with so small a force, unless under favorable circumstances. The position occupied by the op- posing armies was, however, so close that a battle was al- most unavoidable. General Hovey, with one of McClern- and's corps, was, at the right, advanced from Bolton, with McPherson supporting him, while the rest of McClernand's corps occupied the roads further south leading up from Raymond toward Edward's Station, and was not connected with the right wing, even by a skirmish line. Grant's orders contemplated an immediate junction of the two wings in the morning; but as his orders were not obeyed, the 192 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. junction was not effected. Pemberton had chosen an advantageous position. His left wing occupied the high ridge of Champion Hill, which comes to an abrupt terminus at the north where the road from Bolton Station toEdward's Station touches it, and which is skirted on the north and east by a deep ravine. The top of the ridge was thickly wooded, but the sides were open and partly under culti- vation. The western side sloped down gradually to the small valley along Baker's Creek. The centre of the Con- federate line extended southward along the ridge and across the road to Edward's Station, and the right occu- pied a position still further south in heavy woods. The bat- tle occurred along the face of and around the northern end of the hill, the chief struggle being at the north east angle where the Bolton road ascended. This road had been cut deep into the face of the hills by continuous use and work, and thus had become a natural ditch which the enemy utilized to good advantage. Heavy batteries were placed so that they commanded all open approaches. Support- ing them, long lines of infantry lay in the woods along the ridge, facing north and east. Grant's plan contemplated an advance along the Bolton road with heavy force, and later developed into a flank movement against Pemberton's extreme left. He believed that time would be the chief factor in the contest before him; delay would allow Johnston time to come up to Pem- berton's aid. By night Sherman would be on the field to reinforce him, if the battle should prove too strong for the force with him. He did not believe that all of Pemberton's force was on the field. Boldness was the best policy; the advantage of momen- tum would lie with the assailant. Therefore, Hovey was TlIM 194 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. advanced slowly in the morning (i6th May), with McPher- son supporting him, the slowness of the advance being for the purpose of allowing McClernand to close up from left to right. Hovey's men, drawn across the road at right angles, slowly moved up to the base of the hill, driving the oppos- ing skirmishers before them. McPherson deployed to the right and left, extending the line southward so as to meet McClernand's right when he should appear, and northwest- ward so as to flank the enemy's position. But McClernand did not appear. Having moved up to within two miles of the ridge he was halted and held at bay by a line of skir- mishers, and there he frittered away many precious hours studying the position and seeking a point of attack. The orders of the Commander remained unheeded, while the sullen roar of guns further north told of the heavy struggle in progress there. Eleven o'clock came, and Hovey had passed the ditch at the base of the hill, and was permitted by the Commander to try for the batteries above him. The scattering, intermittent fire of skirmishers deepened into the din and roar of a battle, and the fight was soon general along the north and east faces of the hill. Grant had now grasped the situation, He saw that the Confederate left, occupying the spur of the hill, had a val- ley both in front and rear, as well as at the north. He extended his right around the north end of the hill, pushed a force south along the west side, and thus was about to take the enemy in flank and rear. It was the simplest plan that could suggest itself. Only McClernand's lack of energy, or heedlessness of orders, prevented the total destruction of Pemberton's army. For, while Hovey was pressing hard along the Bolton road and up the face of the hill, Logan, of McPherson's corps, passed far around to the rear, and actu- CHAMPION HILL 195 ally was in possession of that road between Pemberton and Edward's Station. But Hovey was not strong enough to hold his own before the overwhelming forces which Pem- berton brought up from his right and center, and massed to oppose him. He was driven back several times, and finally forced to the ditch at the base. Grant was reluctantly compelled to reinforce him from McPherson's corps, and to withdraw Logan so as to shorten and strengthen his battle line. He was not aware how far Logan had really proceeded southward, or he might have risked Hovey's success to have brought Logan against the Confederate rear. Yet the withdrawal directly brought the victory. For Hovey and Logan, with massed regiments, went up the hill, since called the "Hill of Death" because of the slaughter then made, in the face of a terrific storm of bullets that struck every third man. They reached the bat- teries, struggled hand-to-hand with the gunners, and rushed upon the infantry and drove it from the field in utter rout. The Commander stood watching this grand charge of his troops with a feeling of awe and exultation, that for a time threatened to break his usual calmness, and render him one of the most excited of all who saw it. At once the order went forth for a general advance of the whole army, and with shouts of victor}^ the lines swept up and over the hill. A panic seized the enemy. It melted away from left to right and fled into the woods southward and westward, and along the road to Edward's Station, in worse panic than had seized the Federals at famous Bull Run. The victors pressed after, capturing many prisoners. Grant himself led the pursuit, determined, if possible, to make the battle decisive in effect, and night found him six miles or more beyond the field. 196 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. With about fifteen thousand men engaged he had driven nearly twice as many enemies from the field, — a field very strong for defence by natural advantage. It had been won by ceaselessly assaulting the salient point, the north-eastern spur of the hill, in effect bringing the whole weight of attack upon the Confederate extreme left. In its results, it was perhaps the most important and decisive action of the war thus far, because it destroyed the possibility of Johnston and Pemberton forming a union, broke the spirit of the lat- er's army, and led to the downfall of Vicksburg and the opening of the Mississippi river. The immediate results were as great. The enemy lost six thousand men; the Federals only two thousand four hundred. A part of Pemberton's army was cut off from the main body by the rapidity of pursuit and flight. It fled southward through the woods, and after making a wide circuit succeeded later in joining Johnston. Thirty cannon, a large number of small arms and quantities of supplies of various kinds, fell into the victor's hands. The victory was complete. The destruction of Pem- berton's army would have been total had McClernand obeyed orders, engaged the force in his front so as to have held them from reinforcing their left wing with troops from right, and center, and thus made it possible for Logan to have held the road by which Pemberton finally retreated, and which was once in his grasp. It is not easy to see how any part of the defeated army could then have escaped in a body. Vicksburg would have fallen there; and long months of labor, much outpouring of blood and treasure, and further battles would have been prevented. Grant was greatly tempted to relieve McClernand at once, but refrained, because he did not thoroughly understand THE PURSUIT OF PEMBERTON. 197 why the general had delayed, and because he believed him to be a brave soldier, whose place would not at once be easily filled. The Commander was also a patient man, slow to anger and willing to overlook mistakes. He attributed his subordinate's fault to a too great caution in performing orders, and a too great reliance upon his own judgment, which was not the best. For the time, therefore, he refrained from summary proceedings; but he remembered this fault later when a day of reckoning came. The victory was so great, the occasion one for so general a rejoicing, that he forebore to mar its completeness by letting his anger fall upon one of his chief captains. That night the Com- mander reposed on the damp earth among his tired troopers, conscious that the third step in the capture of the strong- hold was well taken, and determined that on the morrow he would burst over the last barrier between him and the goal. Pursuit was resumed next morning (17th May), before daylight. Grant directed Sherman, who had arrived at Bolton during the preceding evening, to turn the head of his column northward towards Bridgeport on the Big Black, to seize that point and cross the river there. Blair, with the train and with a pontoon bridge, was directed to join Sherman there, and aid him in crossing. This movement was ordered with a double purpose. First, if Pemberton should bar the way immediately before the main Federal force, Sherman could, b}^ crossing above, be brought down upon the Confederate flank and rear, thus forcing the latter to retreat. Second, it was in pursuance of his plan of con- tinually thrusting a force between the two opposing armies and preventing a junction, and also, the Commander desired to prevent the escape of the force from Vicksburg by a route northeastward. 198 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. Grant did not desire the city so much as he did the total destruction of its garrison. It was not at all a dangerous plan to divide his forces in view of the fact that he had vanquished the foe immediately in his front with a half of his own army. As he had expected, the enemy was found guarding the approaches to the bridges over the Big Black, not more than six miles from the point where pursuit had ceased on the preceding night. Between four and five thousand of them were on the east side, occupying a fortifi- cation of trees, cut so as to form an abattis, and breast- works of cotton bales and earth. The river just above their position made a sudden turn to the west and south, forming a shallow peninsula by returning, further down, to its general course. Across the peninsula was a swale, or shallow bayou, once the bed of the stream but now a wide ditch filled with reeds and undergrowth, while along its banks some large trees had stood. Two or three feet of water was in the deserted bed along its middle course, but the water was deeper where it opened into the river. The greater part of fortifications were on the west side of and along this swale. The whole peninsula was very low and commanded by the heights on the west side of the Big Black, where some batteries had been placed. Grant, as he critically surveyed the position, was reminded of its similarity to that of the Mexicans at Resaca de la Palma, or of the Americans under Jackson at New Orleans in the war of 1812, who behind cotton bales met and turned back an invader. The Confederate line was strong; but, unfortunately for it, a space at the north end of the deserted bed, where it entered the river, had been left without fortifications, the enemy trusting much to the depth of water that was thought to be there. HAP or BATTLEriELD Of BG BLACK mVER BRJOGS ni2Sl55IPPI 199 200 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. Grant observed the oversight, and proceeded to take advantage of it. He massed a force and sent it against the unprotected place, vi^ith Lawler, a brave young officer, as its leader. He then deployed a strong line of infantry before the works and placed batteries as if he meant to attack along the whole front. McClernand's corps, except Hovey's division, was given the task of dislodging the enemy, and the remainder of the troops were massed in a thin wood at the rear in such position that they could be sent forward to aid if necessary. Thus, each part of the the army was made to do its share of the fighting, and the part that had fought on the preceding day rested on this day. Grant had completed his dispositions, and had given the word to General Carr, who commanded the right of the battle line, to advance Lawler to the assault, when an orderly rode up and placed a dispatch in his hand. It was from General Halleck, the first orders he had received since leaving Grand Gulf, and it directed him to return with all haste to the Mississippi and to co-operate with General Banks down that river. Grant signified his intention of reaching the river at another point than Grand Gulf, and when the messenger urged him to obey the order, replied that Halleck would not have issued that order if he had known the condition of affairs. Hearing shouts he turned away, and saw Lawler with his coat off, leading his brigade gallantly across the bayou; and a little later saw the enemy flying to the river. At the same time, those of the Confed- erates who had been left to guard the bridge, set fire to it and retreated. As it had been prepared for burning the bridge blazed up at once, and a part of the fugitives on the east side who could not cross, were captured, or were THE ARMY ARRIVES BEFORE VICKSBURG. 201 drowned as they attempted to swim the stream. About two thousand of the Confederates were killed, wounded or captured. The remainder fied towards Vicksburg in hot haste. The Federals lost not more than three hundred men. Luckily for those who escaped from the battle of Black River Bridge, the river was not fordable; and, the bridge having been destroyed, they found time to escape before the Federals could cross. But Grant was not to be stopped by this river, having passed a greater. Like Caesar of old, but in less time, he caused his troops to build three bridges by which to cross. One was constructed of trees felled and floated together like a raft, over which branches and other materials were piled until a smooth surface was formed. Another was made by felling trees so that they would fall out into the stream, their branches supporting others laid across them and all forming a tottering bridge for the pass- age of troops. A third was of cotton-bales. The various divisions of men to whom the work of building was intrusted, emulated each other, and by nightfall were on the western shore ready to take up the final march upon the city. Grant dispatched an order to Sherman, who had reached Bridgeport, to advance directly from that point towards Vicksburg. So that on the following day (i8th May), all the corps were bearing down upon the doomed stronghold, and the grand combination of movement through which they had so rapidly passed, was closing successfully. Soon they arrived in sight of the fortifications in the outskirts; soon from the hills a view of the Mississippi, the Yazoo, and the flats where they had worked so many weary months, burst upon their view, and a mighty shout went up, as of old when Xenophon's ten thousand Greeks feasted their eyes with sight of the longed-for sea. 202 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. The Commander, as he stood on the heights of Haines' Bluff, where he had longed to stand, the heights which had hitherto resisted all efforts to capture them, and as he gazed silently out upon the wide panorama spread out to the northward and westward, and the city on his left, realized the joys of fulfilled anticipations, the rewards of victory wrested from an unwilling fate. And Sherman, more dem- onstrative than his friend and commander, as he gazed down from heights before which he had seen so many brave men die in vain, impulsively exclaimed: "General,! did not believe you could make the expedition a success; but it is a success! It is one of the grandest campaigns that shall ever be told in history!" Sherman was right in his judgment. His opposition to the plan had been open and frankly expressed, before the expedition started; now, his approba- tion was just as frank. Sherman was a soldier whose opinion carried with it the weight of scholarly authority. To his death, a very recent affliction to this nation, he retained his expressed opinion of this campaign. Thus, we have seen the army start out on the expedition one month only before, cross at Bruinsburg, march nearly two hundred miles, fight five battles, and gain as many vic- tories, conquer armies twice as numerous, if combined, defeat, rout, and shut up one army larger in numbers, and all with a dash and a faultless movement that won the admiration of the world. The triangle had been bounded, the foothold in the rear of Vicksburg was assured, and the heroic army, triumphing over odds and natural difficulties, emerged from the mystery that had surrounded it for more than a fortnight, and flaunted its torn banners from the heights of Haines' Bluff, the longed-for goal. And while to the valor of the troops and the efficiency of the officers TO GRANT BELONGS THE CREDIT. 203 much of the glory for the success must be allowed, to Grant belongs the major share; in hun was success made possi- ble and real. For he, against the advice of such soldiers as Sherman and Halleck, undertook the task, assumed the whole responsibility, personally directed the field move- ments of the army corps, as well as laid out the grand plans, conceived the ideas, and executed them, invented the expedients, unerringly calculated times, distances, and effects, and, by infusing a spirit of supreme energy into all, made possible to accomplish what to able soldiers seemed rash and impossible. Perhaps the success of no campaign of this whole war was due so much to the efforts of one man as this to Grant. The clearness of his judgment, the originality of his methods of campaigning, the systematic movements of his corps, the swiftness of his marches, the ability he exhibited of striking in detail the enemy, and the masterly skill he displayed in fighting the battles of this campaign, mark him the equal of any soldier that has ever lived. Alexander, Ccesar, Han- nibal, Bonaparte, Wellington, Moltke, Grant, all exhibited the same qualities of generalship, and the last-mentioned won his right by this campaign to be counted one of this list of the great in arms. Nor did his latter campaigns detract any from his glory. This campaign has been likened by some to Napoleon's Italian campaign, but Napoleon's battles were fought against troops inferior to his own, while Grant had to contend with men of like metal with his own. Moltke won his battles because of the overwhelming num- bers he was able'to concentrate upon the enemy, and the machine-like movements which his disciplined armies exe- cuted. Grant won here with an army, good in discipline, to be sure, but raw in campaigning, and only a part of it 204 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. ever in battle. This was, possibly, his greatest campaign. Thus far, the Union losses had been comparatively small, not more than seven hundred having been killed, and about three thousand five hundred otherwise disabled or lost. The army was in excellent spirits, though very worn and exhausted. The enemy had lost four times as many men, besides their arsenals of supplies and mills at Jackson, and were much demoralized. Grant supposed that but a small body of troops had been left in Vicksburg when Pemberton had come out to meet him in the field, but he was deceived. So that when (iQth May) his lines were being drawn close around the defenses, a sharp conflict sprang up, and he ordered a strong assault to be made, hoping to break through Pemberton's lines before his troops should recover courage, he met a stout resistance, and was able only to secure an advance position. But still determined, if pos- sible, to win by a general conflict, he prepared for a sterner assault, and spent two days refitting, resting, placing bat- teries, laying plans, and generally making ready. Several reasons urged him to a general assault. First, he supposed that Pemberton's forces were inferior and demoralized, when, in fact, they were equal in number, and a part of them had not yet met him in the field, having performed garrison duty while their comrades were enduring defeat after defeat. Second, and, perhaps, the chief reason, Johnston, with a constantly increasing force, was moving up from the east, and might at any moment attempt to raise the siege by attacking him in the rear, thus placing him between two fires. Third, the troops were confident in their ability to carry the works by storm, and their officers were as eager, and if not allowed to try, they would not endure the labors of a regular siege with patience. Fourth, 206 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. warm weather was coming on rapidly, and it might cause a greater mortahty than a battle would. Fifth, large rein- forcements would be absolutely necessary to the prosecution of a successful siege, and these would be slow in coming. There were many cogent reasons to warrant an assault of great vigor. But Grant was not confident that it would succeed, his forces being too small to cover the front of so From Harper's Hiatory of Civil War THE SIEGE OF VICKSBURG. Copyright ISS5, H»r;er & Bm. extensive works, and at the same time concentrate sufficient striking force at salient points though his generals were. Having decided that an assault was advisable, he laid his plans accordingly. His corps were now in the following order: Sherman at the right, resting his right flank on Haines' Bluff with the extremity of his right wing further down on the heights of the Yazoo towards the Mississippi; McPherson's corps at the centre, covering the roads from REASONS FOR AN ASSAULT. 207 the Big Black to the city; McClernand's corps occupying the left, and attempting to guard the south and south-eastern out- lets. The Federal line was nearly fifteen miles long, the defence line not more than seven. Consequently it was an exceedingly hard matter to mass enough force at any one point on the Union side, to insure power to break through the defences, especially when it is also remembered that the garrison was at this time as large if not larger than the besieging army. Grant hoped that by massing a part of each corps on the weakest points that could be found in the defences, and making a general assault along the whole line to prevent the enemy from massing to resist, breaches might be made, a part of his troops introduced within the Confederate lines, and the city compelled to surrender. In order to weaken the fortifications as much as possible, he directed his batteries t-o bombard them, and obtained Porter to assist with his gunboats in the bombardment. In order that the assault might be made with uniformity, he appointed the hour of ten o'clock {226. May) for it and caused all the generals to set their watches with his own so that no mis- take could happen. The corps commanders were directed to have their troops advance in columns of platoons wherever the ground would permit. The lines of defence were exceedingly strong. Begin- ning at the north side of the city at the shore of the Missis- sippi, they ascended the bluff eastward then turned south- east and curved in a wide arc to the southwestward again, touching the river about three miles below the city. The outer line was about seven miles long. Several inner lines and parts of lines had been erected to which the enemy ulti- mately retired, shortening the length to three miles. The 208 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. fortifications followed as far as possible the crests of ridges, the brows of deep rain-washed ravines, and the steep sides of deep hollows, and the various sections were so arranged that concentric fires from several portions of the lines at once could be brought to bear on one approach. Upon the summits of knolls and knobs had been erected earthworks — bastions, redoubts, lunettes and breast-works. Two hun- dred heavy guns were mounted along the lines, and thirty- five thousand men lay behind them. During the night preceding the assault Porter's gunboats rained shot and shell upon the city and its fortifications, compelling the inhabitants to seek shelter in cellars and caves, and when morning dawned the Federal land-batteries joined in the bombardment. The rattling fire of sharp- shooters also arose, and the fire was so hot that the Confed- erate batteries made little response, their gunners lying under shelter. Some of the Federals supposed that the opposing batteries were silenced, but, with some exceptions, they were not harmed. Ten o'clock came. The batteries ceased firing, the long lines of troops leaped from their trenches and dashed towards the opposing fortifications. Their formation was preserved but a short time, owing to the nature of the ground over which they had to pass. Brush, trees, ditches and ravines lay in their way, but they gallantly pushed up to the hostile lines. The Confederates then arose from their concealment and poured a withering fire upon them. The carnage was terrible. The assailants, exasperated by their punishment, struggled up to the very muzzles of the guns, and, at some places, broke over the lines; but they were not strong enough to make good their advantage. The enemy fought gallantly, hurried reinforcements to the most THE ASSAULT A FAILURE. 209 threatened places, and repulsed the Federals with vigor. An diour of battle passed. Grant became convinced that the task was too great for his small army and ordered the retreat to be sounded. But now McClernand from the left reported that he had won a decided advantage, and said that with reinforcements he could break through into Vicks- burg. He repeated his statement a little later and asked for aid. Grant, thinking there might be a chance of success, sent all the reinforcements at his command and in aid ordered the assault to be renewed along the whole line. But McClernand was mistaken and overrated his success. The renewed assault brought no other result than a greater loss of men. The army retired slowly to its entrench- ments, though at some points retaining advanced positions which they were presently able to use to advantage. Three thousand men had been lost, and little had been gained, except the knowledge that the garrison of Vicksburg was very strong and capable of making a long resistance. It can not be ascertained what Pemberton's loss was, but it was large. Grant was convinced that it would be necessary to undertake a regular siege. The position of the Union army was peculiar, in this war heretofore without a parallel, and almost without par- allel in all history. It was besieging an army in a city while another hostile force threatened its rear. Julius Caesar was in a like position at one time, but his enemies were bar- barians. Grant at once asked for and obtained large rein- forcements. During the month following his appearance on the bluffs in the rear of the stronghold, his army was in- creased to seventy thousand men. The Government was not slow to recognize the necessity of holding his position at all hazards; the people of the loyal states were sounding his 14 210 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE praises from one land's end to another, and to the successful all things work well. Immense quantities of supplies were poured into the camp, and the soldiers who had lived a fort- night or more off the country now received their regular provisions. It is related by Grant himself, that on one occasion as he was riding through a portion of the camp, a soldier shouted "Hard Tack!" The cry was at once taken up by the soldiers near by, but was changed to cheers when the Commander told them that a supply line was then nearly completed across the Yazoo flats and Chickasaw Bayou, where transports with provisions were already stationed. The cheering alarmed the enemy who supposed an assault was contemplated, and they opened fire, adding the roar of guns to the rejoicing. Within a very few days after the investment began, the camp was plentifully supplied with victuals necessary for the subsistence of a large army. The matter of obtaining sufficient supplies being satis- factorily settled, Grant bent all his energies to the raising of sufficient fortifications to envelope the city and its garri- son. It was necessary to provide a double line, one facing Vicksburg and the other towards the east, whence John- ston might come. A strong camp was formed at Haines' Bluff. There was no regular engineer corps with the army and few men who understood engineering. Grant himself was therefore compelled to take personal direction of the raising of works, while all his educated officers worked cheerfully with their troops at the trenches. In a remarkably short space of time, miles of frown- ing embankments sprang up around the doomed city. Siege giins were lacking. Porter loaned Grant the use of a battery of heavy guns from the fleet. The latter did THE CAMP FORTIFIED. 2ll not lack inventive genius. He caused the boles of large, tough trees to be hollowed out and around them heavy iron bands to be placed, and these rude mortars were used to throw shells into the enemy's camp. Various other methods, first used perhaps in this war, and possible only with an inventive race like Americans, were tried with good effect. The works, day by day, were pushed gradually nearer to the lines of defence by mines, ditches, covered ways, approaches, and by every means suggested by ancient or modern warfare, that could be applied. The camp around Haines' Bluff was made almost impregnable and large enough to hold forty thousand men For here, In case of disaster, Grant was determined to rally his forces and hold at all hazards a footing on the bluffs. Another strong line of works was erected from Haines' Bluff southeastward to the Big Black river, and when sufficient reinforcements had arrived, this line was placed under command of Sherman with a strong force, who had orders to send out scouting parties as far as Bolton to watch Johnston, and, If a favorable chance should offer, to attack him. Strong guards were placed at the fords and bridges across the river, and every other precaution that genius could suggest was adopted. It soon became Impossible, from a military point of view, for Johnston to materially injure the Union army. While the fortifications were being raised, constant skir- mishing was maintained between the hostile parties, some- times approaching the proportions of a battle. By constant practice, the riflemen became so expert that should the handsbreadth of an enemy's body appear for an Instant over the works. It would receive a dozen bullets. The breast- works were rude In construction. A ditch, with the earth 212 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE from it thrown out on the enemy's side, a log or two, and some sand bags piled on top of the embankment, with small openings between for loop-holes, afforded protection. These were works peculiar to American warfare. The fleet and the land batteries kept up an almost con- stant bombardment. The miners and sappers, by traverses, tunnels and ditches, approached to within two hundred yards of the defences at various points. At one or two places, during the last da^^s of the siege, the lines were scarcely thirty yards apart. Pemberton countermined, with the purpose of discovering the Federal approaches. In a short time. Grant was able to advance his left wing from the vicinity of Warrenton where it had first rested; the line was thus shortened several miles, and all communication, which had heretofore been kept up by spies who had passed through the marshes along the banks of the Mississippi at night, was closed. Presently (i6th June) the army had increased to the number of seventy thousand men. Grant now contem- plated sending out Sherman with an independent army to attack and destroy Johnston's army, but a suitable op- portunity did not occur. His orders to all officers were, that they should attack in force whenever opportunity offered, to accept battle as often as it should be offered by the enemy, and to press forward against the defences with- out relaxing effort for a moment. Thus with the city closely beleagured, with his scouts and foragers ranging the country scores of miles around, the chances of success were growing daily. The national government now approved his every sug- gestion. To Banks writing for help from Port Hudson, which he had at last besieged, he replied that the fall of m'clernand relieved of command. 213 Vicksburg must first occur. For with its fall, that of Port Hudson would surely follow. An incident occurred during the early part of the siege that well illustrated the firmness of the commander. A body of colored troops guarding Milliken's Bend depot, being among the first colored troops enlisted and not acknowledged as combatants as yet by the Confederates, was attacked by a force of the latter, and though they gallantly repulsed the assailants, some of them were captured. The captors ordered the prisoners to be shot. Grant sent word to the captors, that for every colored soldier slain by them, he should order one Confederate prisoner killed. They knew he would keep his word, and no negroes were executed. Strict discipline was maintained among the besiegers. The regulations were laid upon officer and private alike. The day of reckoning came with General McClernand, against whom in the commander's mind the remembrance of various insubordinate and unsoldierly actions remained. McCler- nand committed an unpardonable sin in military ethics. He issued an address full of flattery to his corps, arrogating to himself and it the chief glory of the campaign just past, and caused the address to be published throughout the country for political purposes. This was contrary to the regulations, as Grant had not seen the address before it was issued and had not approved it. The other corps commanders were naturally indignant and complained to Grant, who at once relieved McClernand of command. General Ord (i6thjune) was placed in command of the corps. At several points near the Jackson road, the besiegers had pushed their sappers up to within a few yards of the enemy's lines. Nothing better illustrates the nature of this war than the conduct of the combatants toward each 214 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGiNS OF GRANT AND LEt?. Other. At one moment, meeting between the lines, they were chatting, laughing and joking, as neighbors and friends, a mutual understanding being had between them that war should be waived for the time; at the next moment, due warning having been given by either side, they became enemies again, and with all the keenness of hunters sought to take each other's lives. Nor were these ,^^ >- .^t: BLOWING UP A FORT AT VICKSBURG breaches of discipline ever reported by the minor officers > and we have no record that evil came to either army, or that important plans miscarried because of these friendly conversations. The Federals at one point mined under a knoll upon which was a small earthwork, charged the mine heavily with powder, and literally blew the top off the knoll. A HUNGER PREVAILS IN THE CITY. 215 charging party rushed Into the breach and sought to break through a second Hne of works which the wary Pemberton had caused to be raised, but could not. A bloody contest with hand-grenades, lighted shells and musketry occurred. The assailants could not remain in the breach without ter- rible loss and soon withdrew. But this .failure did not pre-* vent them from continuing their mining operations. They projected a system of covered ways, designed to run under the enemy's lines and to be opened later simultaneously, through which a column of troops four abreast might rush and gain a footing inside the defences. Another mine was exploded, destroying a redan and killing a number of its garrison. Had not the city surrendered when it did, the assault through the covered ways would have been attempted. But a mightier enemy than powder and shot had long since attacked the beleaguered host. Hunger began to weaken the devoted thousands. All communication with the outside world having been cut off, no supplies either of food or of ammunition could be sent into the city. The only hope of relief lay in the army under Johnston, and Grant's industry, in bringing up troops and raising fortifica- tions, lessened that hope day by day. First, all the meat and bread gave out; then the short rations failed. Horse, and mule meat, and even cat and dog meat were used; but these also gave out and, when surrender happened, the men were starving. Discouragement added to the weakness of bodies enfeebled by hunger. Pemberton proposed to cut his way out, but the soldiers could not be persuaded to try so des- perate an expedient. They had tested the powers of the Northern army in more than one battle and had no desire 216 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. to test It again in the open field. Their courage was kept up for a time with promises that Johnston would soon fall upon Grant's rear and compel him to raise the siege. But after they were cut off from all communication with the out- side world, this hope faded away. A design was formed of constructing a number of boats by means of which to escape across the river into Arkansas, and some rude craft were made; but Grant suspected such designs and provided an obstruction to that line of escape by sending a strong body of troops to fortify a series of works across the neck of the peninsula, while on either side of it the sombre gunboats patrolled and watched. Meanwhile the inhabitants of the unfortunate city suf- fered much. The constant dropping of shot and shell upon and among the houses drove them into caves and cellars dug in the hill-sides. Without provisions, without sup- plies of ammunition sufficient to have resisted a prolonged battle, and without hope of relief, the garrison, though strong numerically, trembled and murmured when it was rumored that Grant would order a strong assault to be made on the approaching Independence Day. The mur- murs reached the ears of the subordinate officers and spread through them to the head of the garrison. Pemberton at once addressed a note to his chief officers asking their advice in the emergency. It was advised that surrender was inevitable. Accordingly, he resolved to treat with the victor for terms. A flag of truce, with a message, then came to Grant from the Confederate Chieftain, demanding the terms which would be given his army should he surrender Vicks- burg (3d July). Grant replied that he would treat the captives as prisoners of war and allow them to parole. CONFERENCE OF THE COMMANDERS. 217 General Bowen, the bearer of tne message, believing that Pemberton would not accept these terms unconditionally, and desiring greatly that the surrender should be consum- mated, suggested that an interview between the command- ers might lead to an understanding. Grant consented to the idea und Pemberton came out of the city to a confer- ence. They met beneath a tree, afterwards famous because of the meeting, and discussed the conditions. The tall form THE SURRENDER OF PEMBERTON. of the Southerner and his dark gloomy face contrasted strongly with the medium form and open countenance of the Northerner. Pemberton was in full dress; Grant was very plainly clad in a soldier's uniform with only his sword to mark his rank. The soldiers of both armies stood upon their works and breathlessly watched their chieftains' move- ments. Pemberton inquired what terms would be granted. The victor said the terms had been mentioned in his former message. Pemberton thereupon, turned away, saying it was 218 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE no use to talk longer. Grant said, laconically, "Very well" and turned to his army. But the officers who had accom- panied Pemberton were eager to bring about the capitula- Uon, and suggested that they hold a conference as to terms with the officers accompanying Grant. Grant assented, saying he would not, however, be bound by any agreements they might make. The terms that were then suggested were at once disap- proved by him and the conference came to an end, he stating that he would, later, send Pemberton his ultimatum. In the afternoon he sent a note containing the following terms: The garrison to become prisoners of war; the pri- vates to retain only their clothing, the officers their side arms in addition and one horse each, and all to be paroled until exchanged. Pemberton accepted the terms, obtaining a modification, however, that the troops should be allowed to march out of their trenches and stack arms in front of them. White flags were displayed in token of submission and the Union troops fell to rejoicing that their trials were rewarded by the greatest success during the war. On the next day (4th July, 1863) the capitulation was consummated, and an army of prisoners bowed to the flag of the Republic. It was the magnificent ending of a mag- nificent campaign, which placed the silent Commander among the first captains of the world. But the troops, at the suggestion of their humane general, forbore to rejoice openly before their captive brethern. It was a solemn, silent scene, this act of surrender. The long lines of blue- coated men stood before their trenches in silence, while the garrison marched out of their works, stacked arms before them and marched back again. Then a division marched into and took possession of the city, and the Stars and THE TROPHIES OF VICTORY. 219 Stripes were soon floating over the public buildings. In this forbearance, one sees the tenderness and gentility of Grant's heart, novv^ to the conquered showing the feeling of a father, which at other times to the hostile was as hard as flint, and as unyielding in battle as though of steel. Thirty-one thousand prisoners, one hundred and seventy cannon, sixty thousand small arms, and a large quantity of ammunition were surrendered. This was the largest num- ber of prisoners taken at one time in any war, up to that time. Napoleon at Ulm captured a less number. Grant entered the city quietly, saluted Pemberton whom he saw seated on the piazza of a dwelling-house and who returned the salute stiflly, but did not deign to exercise the courtesy of rising to his feet, and went on to meet Porter and his gallant sailors, who, not knowing the injunction of silence imposed, greeted him with salvos of artillery. The Commanders of the land and the water forces might well shake hands heartily, for never had two worked together better for a common end than they. Admiral Por- ter deserves much of the glory of bringing this campaign to a successful issue. One bright page in the dark record of this fraternal strife remains to mark the knightly deeds of true soldiers and men. For, instead of exulting over their captives and using them harshly, the troops imitated the gentle example of their Commander and shared their rations with the half- starved men, using them as brothers and fraternizing with them. But if the victors on the field refrained from openly rejoicing, the people of the northern states did not, but rang all the bells, held mass-meetings, and lauded the hero and his gallant soldiers to the skies. Enmity was silenced and 220 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. treason was abashed and disheartened. Those first days of July were unfortunate days for the Southern cause. The fall of Vicksburg was only equalled in this war in its decisive effect by the defeat of Lee and his army on the bloody field of Gettysburg. And while Grant was entering in triumph the captured city, Lee, disheartened and leading a shattered army, was rapidly retreating from the field where lay all his supreme hopes. So striking was the con- trast, that perhaps it will never be again repeated. The sky of the Union, so long darkened, was gaining light; that of the Confederacy was darkening. Grant, in the midst of all this praise heaped upon him, did not forget his usual calmness, did not glory in suc- cess, but turned his thoughts to further campaigns. The following brief message acquainted Halleck with the official news of success: "The enemy surrendered this morning. The only terms allowed are their parole as pris- oners of war. This I regard as a great advantage to us. It saves several days in the capture and leaves troops and transports ready for immediate service. Sherman with a large force moves immedig.tely upon Johnston, to drive him out of the state." Here is no boasting, no rhetorical flourishes, no long list of glories won — only the simple fact of surrender, the terms given and the rea- sons for them, and the statement of the immediate, ener- getic movement of Sherman about to be made. It was a model report. Grant seldom, if ever, gave his reasons for an action, unless the same were officially demanded; but, in this case, he knew Halleck would blame him, and he antici- pated censure before it could be given. Halleck replied to the dispatch, blaming him for allowing parolment, because he said the prisoners would at once rejoin the other South- SHERMAN ADVANCES AGAINST JOHNSTON. 221 ern armies despite their paroles. Grant had no fear that such would be the result generally. For so eager were the Confederate soldiery to return home, that they would have deserted in large numbers before being paroled, could they have escaped through the Union lines, and Pemberton even asked Grant for a guard after the parolment was concluded to compel the captives to go to the exchange camp, a request which was not granted. After the long lines of cap- tives had passed out of the city, between double cordons of troops, and after they were beyond the reach of Federal guns, great numbers did leave and go home, and Pember- ton arrived at the exchange camp with the mere remnants of his once fine army. As indicated in his despatch to Halleck, Grant had at once issued the order to Sherman to proceed against Johnston. Sherman immediately crossed the Big Black, concentrated his forces upon Bolton, and rapidly approached the enemy's position. But Johnston, having not more than twenty-four thousand men, was not in a condition to oppose him, and fell back rapidly to Jackson, where he attempted to make a stand. Here Sherman closed in upon him, be- sieged him five days, and compelled him to evacuate the city a second time. Pursuit was not made to any great dis- tance, but the troops leisurely completed the work of destruction which they had begun when formerly here, and also destroyed the railroads and bridges for many miles east- ward and southward of the city. Sherman then leisurely led his force back to Vicksburg, and the operations in and around that city were ended. The total Federal loss, from the start at Milliken's Bend to the return of Sherman from this expedition, was about nine thousand men. The Confederates lost during the same 222 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE, campaign about fifty thousand, an army of no mean pro- portions — greater than that with which Grant started — besides the control of the Mississippi river. Five victories, thirty-seven thousand prisoners, seventy-five thousand stand of small arms, two hundred cannon, and all the numerous supplies accompanying, were taken, and ten thousand of the enemy were killed or wounded. Besides all these. Port Hudson surrendered to General Banks, together with six thousand prisoners, when news of the surrender of Vicks- burg was received, a second victory due to Grant's work. Now the Confederacy was cut in twain. The supplies of beef and corn, that came up from Texas and the western states, were cut off from the eastern armies. The South was divided ; each portion could now be crushed in detail. The suppression of the Rebellion was assured. Grant was eager to undertake further labors for his country, and, while the head of the government was seriously debating where to place him, he turned his thoughts toward Mobile, the strongest Confederate city on the Gulf of Mexico, and suggested that he and Porter should be sent to reduce it. With his magnificent army of seventy thousand men, fresh from victory and excellent in discipline, he was confident that nothing could oppose, successfully, his pro- jected march through the heart of the Confederacy. But Halleck disapproved the plan, at the same time taking a part of the army and sending it to Rosecrans in Tennessee, and directing Grant to cooperate with General Banks in a minor expedition up Red River, in Louisiana. Grant, without uttering a word of protest, obeyed, and went to New Orleans, in order that he might confer with Banks. Here, while he was reviewing troops, his horse un- fortunately fell, crushing and bruising the general's leg CHICKAMAUGA. 223 severely. For twenty days he was bedfast, and at the end of that time, having to return to Vicksburg, he caused himself to be conveyed on board a steamer and taken there. He slowly recovered, and was presently able to move around camp with the aid of crutches. During this enforced idleness, no greater cares than the control of an army in camp, and the civil administration of the affairs of a city, so far as military rule extended, troubled him. He gave his attention, as ever, to the small troubles of the soldiery, and various stories are related of him, illus- trating how he became dear to the rank and file of the army. He had ordered that a nominal charge be made for passage on the river steamers and railroads, to all sick or other men allowed to go home on furlough. A certain captain of a steamer insisted on charging a higher rate, and the matter coming to the ear of the commander, he ordered the offender placed under arrest until he should obey his injunction. The soldiery, who were about to raise a riot against the captain, raised a cheer for their general and peaceably dispersed. This is but one instance of many showing his care over the smallest matters. Meanwhile, as if Providence had caused the accident which prevented the commander from going with Banks on the fruitless Red River expedition, events were happening that were surely paving the way for him to the supreme command of all the armies. Rosecrans had been out- generaled, caught in a precarious position by the fierce and astute General Bragg, and in the disastrous battle of Chicka- mauga, defeated and driven into Chattanooga. The enemy had then drawn their battle lines around him, hemmed him in, almost as in a cul de sac, and were threatening momen- tarily to pounce down upon him and capture, or annihilate, 224 THE LIVES AND CAMPAIGNS OF GRANT AND LEE. his army. From Lookout Mountain on the west, around southward in a wide arc to the northern extremity of Mission Ridge on the east, Bragg's troopers watched and waited, while the Federals, having no close connection with a railroad, and compelled to bring provisions and other sup- plies by a long, difficult mountain road, were slowly, but surely starving, and were, indeed, in great danger. The government was frantic with fear. Halleck saw the inevitable must happen. In the emergency but one name was on every man's lips, but one man could save the army, and Grant was called to the task. He obeyed the order calling him to Cairo (3d October, 1863), there to receive further orders, and, though still quite lame, he was on his way within a day after receiving the dispatch. At Cairo an order awaited him to proceed to Louisville. He continued his journey, and was joined on the way by the Secretary of War, Stanton, who bore an order consti- tuting him commander-in-chief of all the forces west of the Allegheny Mountains and east of the Mississippi river, ex- cepting the troops with Banks in Louisiana. It consolidated the various departments into one district, and gave him power to appoint his lieutenants; in fact, for the time being, giving him almost the power of a dictator in the district. He was directed to save the army at Chattanooga at any cost. He accepted the trust with confidence, and, being already familiar with the conditions before him, began to write and dispatch orders while the train carried him to the field. It had been his own idea to have these departments consolidated; perhaps it had been his dream to command the district thus formed; certain it was now that his idea and dream were realized. One order went to Rosecrans, at Chattanooga, relieving GRANT GOES TO CHATTANOOGA. 225 him of his command, and directing his ablest lieutenant, General Thomas, to assume command, and to hold the place at all hazards. Thomas, the steadfast captain, replied lacon- ically, " We will hold Chattanooga till we starve ! " Another dispatch went to General Burnside, who, with a small army in East Tennessee, was thought to be in danger, to fall back into Knoxville, if necessary, supply himself with provisions and munitions, and, having fortified a strong position, to hold out till he should be relieved. To Sherman, at Vicks- burg, and Porter, commander of the fleet of gunboats, he directed an order to come with all speed and force available to the field, the one across country, the other up the Ten- nessee river. The commissary depot at Nashville was directed to forward to Chattanooga, by every means pos- sible, all the provisions it could gather. These were a few of the important orders that were sent out by him as he traveled to the scene of future operations. Having arrived at the end of railroad travel, he set out without delay on horseback across the hills to the city, and so difficult were the roads, that at places his escort was com- pelled to carry him in their arms, his lameness not permit- ting him to walk where his steed could not go. There is something strangely inspiring, deeply heroic, in the example of the silent commander; suffering intense pain, caused by the roughness of the way, borne upon the shoulders of his men at times, with his mind occupied with plans and schemes, and his soul weighted with the responsibility of saving a starving army, thus pushing on untiringly, and almost alone, to bring safety to the cause he so much loved, and to rescue, if possible, his comrades and his former veterans from im- minent danger. He arrived in Chattanooga v;et with rain and amidst a gloom, made deeper by the knowledge pervad- 15 226 ■ ---■»■ —»— — j