JL iWm ,*??>., ca ff'/TS r"^ Tr ' ■*"».-'■ ''S *^| 1 1 V^i 1 K-i #.'■■»'- ■'■ al \ LIBRARY OF THE COMMANDERY OF THE STATE OF MASSAC H US ETTS MILITARY ORDER OFTHE LOYALLEGION OF THE UN ITED STATES CADET ARMORY, BOSTON ~f5s« js.r.js tVCJ" ^- WftTDRA? 255 cJ- ,'/>"' V c - 03 - /y>> THE NEW YOUNG FOLKS' CYCLOPAEDIA OF GAMES AND SPORTS Being Volume III of CHAMPLIN'S YOUNG FOLKS' CYCLOPEDIAS, edited by John D. Champlin, Jr., and Arthur Bostwick, i2mo, 831 pp., $2.50. The Nation : ' ' Certainly no such collection has ever appeared before. . . A careful examination has failed to reveal any inaccu- racies. . . The records »f athletic contests are brought down to the present year. . . The illustrations are numerous, and, besides eluci- dating the text, add not a little to the attractiveness of the volume." Outing: "A perfect mine. . . From the game of A B C to the making of a zoetrope nothing seems omitted which can amuse and instruct in the parlor or the playground." N. Y. Tribune: "A mine of joy. . . A positive treasure to the game-loving boy and girl. One of the best features of the book is the careful presentation, for refer ence, of official rules and records." Chicago Inter-Ocean : " A game to be interesting must be played according to fixed rules. These are often in dispute and it is well to have authority for their correct interpretation. . . The instruc- tions are so clear and concise as to be easily understood. . .Moth- ers and fathers will find much of value and interest in the pages." Congregationalist : ' ' Although we have owned two or three such books, and have examined several others, we consider this as the most satisfactory of which we are aware." The Epoch: "Mr. Champlin unites with elaborate training and wide experience a natural ability for his work which amounts to genius, and a sympathy with boys which has given him peculiar success in his efforts in their be- half. . . Many who understand . games and sports can explain them only by appealing to the eye. The capacity to make them clear in writing is rare; and for this reason many so-called books of sports are failures. . . It is a purely American book, even the English games, as the editor announces in the pref- ace, being described as played in this country. Adults will find it as valuable as the young people, since it includes, word for word, the official rules of athletic sports and standard games and the offi- cial records of athletic meets and events. To insure accuracy, such articles as the editors deemed necessary have been submitted to the revision of competent experts. The illustrations are numerous and illuminative. For mothers taking their children into the country, where the absence of their regular school duties is soon painfully shown, especially on rainy days, by their cry of ' What shall we do?' and for those de- siring to give children's parties, as well as for the needs of every day among a family of growing children, this book is simply in- valuable. The young people themselves will appreciate it fully. A boy of fourteen, who received many valuable presents on Christ- mas Day, has been overheard to tell several people, ' The very nicest thing I had was Mr. Cham plin's Cyclopaedia of Games ana Sports.' " CHA MP LIN'S C YCL OPsEDIA S. — Continued. Toronto Week : " Would prove a useful book of reference in the libraries of adults as well as of juveniles." The Art Amateur : " An En- cyclopaedia Britannica for young- sters, a book to last not one sea- son alone but through all the periods of childhood to adoles- cence. . . So comprehensive that any sport not found herein is probably a game not worth the candle." Pittsburg Chronicle-Telegraph : " Of equal value to many adults. . . Includes the official rules of all athletic sports . . and official records of meets and events, . . all verified by special experts." Richmond Dispatch : " Deeply interesting to young people, and old people too, for that matter." Boston Journal: "A family possessing it . . will never be at loss for amusement." Providence Journal : " Perfect treasure. " Literary World : " Admirable. . . Destined to a wide sale. . . Would be a treasure in every household that believes in games or sports of any sort." Philadelphia Ledger : " Admi- rable. " The Book Buyer : " The boob swarms with illustrations of every grade that render clear descrip- tions of things and processes that would else remain somewhat vague." The Independent : " Should form a part of every juvenile library, whether public or private." Boston Post : " No better book can be found as a gift for a healthy boy." Chicago Advance : "A bonanza to wide-awake boys and girls." Boston Transcript : " Should find a welcome in every household where there are growing children. . . We most heartily commend it." Vol. I. COMMON THINGS. 6 9 o PP . $ 2 . 5 o. Vol. II. PERSONS AND PLACES. 95 6 PP . $ 2 . 5 o. By JOHN D. CHAMPLIN, Jr., Late Associate Editor of the American Cyclopaedia. From a Report of the Connecticut Board of Education: " ' The Young Folks' Cyclopaedia' should be in every juvenile library." The Independent: "The book will be as valuable as a small li- brary to any young person." Cincinnati Commercial : "Fam- ilies and students who cannot afford the expensive set of en- cyclopaedias will find in this a most excellent substitute in many things." The Nation: "We know copies of the work to which their younj ation upon every theme about which they have questions to ask. More than this, we know that some of these copies are read daily as well as consulted, that their owners turn the leaves as they might those of a fairy-book." St. Nicholas : ' ' All our boys and girJs who like to ask questions will be glad to hear of ' The Young Folks' Cyclopaedia. ' How many questions you young folks ask of older ones every day! Now, if you have one of these cyclopaedias, instead of asking questions, you look in your book and there is your answer" owners turn instantly for inform- HENRY HOLT & CO., Publishers, New York. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill http://www.archive.org/details/youngfolkshistorycham U. S. PENNANT. U. S. REVENUE PENNANT ARMS OP THE UNITED STATES. REVENUE JACK. REVENUE FLAG UNION JACK. ARMS AND FLAGS OF THE UNITED STATES. YOUNG FOLK'S HISTORY OF THE WAR FOR THE UNION JOHN D. CHAMPLIN, Jr. Editor of the Young Folks' Cyclopaedias, late Associate Editor of the American Cyclopedia. COPIOUSLY ILLUSTRATED NEW YORK HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY 1889. Copyright, 1881, BY HENRY HOLT & CO. PREFACE. THE writer has endeavored to give, in the following pages, an unprejudiced and impartial account of our great Civil War. The difficulty of such a task can scarcely be appreciated by one who has not himself made the attempt. The echoes of the contest have scarcely yet died away, and the bitter feelings born of it are still apt to warp the judgment and to unfit men of either part of our country to estimate calmly the motives and acts of their opponents. Yet he who would write a truth- ful history of those times must necessarily divest himself of partisanship and lift himself above the plane of local prejudice. If the writer has failed to do this, it is not because he has not made an honest effort to weigh carefully the facts as narrated by both Northern and Southern writers, and to give each side its just dues. As the work is intended primarily for young folks, the author has aimed to give, in chronological order, a plain and concise account of the most striking events of the war, enlivened by sketches of the prominent men engaged in it, and by inci- dents and anecdotes illustrative of it. Though some of the \ stories are possibly apocryphal, many of the characteristic ones which serve to throw light upon the period and its events have been retained without any attempt to prove their truth or l falsity. The writer has consulted the best available sources, and it is believed that the narrative is as nearly correct in its details as any previous work. The language used is simple, adapted to the understanding of the young, and technical words and expressions, when unavoidably used, are fully explained. The illustrations are intended to be equally trustworthy, having been selected not for mere picturesqueness, but for their value in elucidating the text. The larger part of them were drawn at the time and from the objects which they represent. V iv PREFACE. Maps of the principal battles and sieges are introduced wher- ever they are needed to make the narrative clearer and more intelligible. The flags of the Union and the several State and Confederate ensigns used in the war are shown in the two colored plates, and the principal songs which grew out of the struggle, with a brief account of their origin, are given in the Appendix. With the hope that this volume may be acceptable to those who participated in the contest, and may be deemed worthy to be put into the hands of their children as a trustworthy picture of the events in which they took a part, the author presents his work to the public with the consciousness that if it is not quite up to his own ideal, it is not because lie has not labored earnestly to make it so. J. D. 0., Jr. New York, October, 1881. CONTENTS. Chapter I. — Early Differences. The Thirteen Colonies.— Differences between Northern and Southern Colonies.— Slavery.— The Confederation of the Colonies.— One Nation To-day and Thir- teen To-morrow.— The Constitution and the Union.— Federalists and Democratic- Republicans.— Alexander Hamilton.— Thomas Jefferson.— Washington a Peace- maker.— France or England.— A Bitter Struggle.— Success of the Federal- ists.— Millions for Defence, not One Cent for Tribute.— Alien and Sedition Laws.— State Rights.— The Virginia and the Kentucky Resolutions.— War with England.— The Hartford Convention.— Slave States and Free States.— The Mis- souri Compromise.— The Democratic Party.— Free Trade or Protection.— John C. Calhoun.— Nullification.— Webster and Hayne.— Andrew Jackson.— By the Eternal, the Union shall be Preserved.— The Compromise Tariff. Page 1 Chapter II. — Slavery. Slavery and Emancipation.— John Randolph's Opinion.— Benjamin Lundy.— William Lloyd Garrison.— The Anti-Slavery Society.— The Abolitionists.— Change of Opinion in the South.— Texas.— The Whig Party.— The Liberty Party.— War with Mexico.— The Wilmot Proviso.— Slave States and Free States.— The Free- Soil Party.— Henry Clay and the Compromises of 1850.— The Fugitive Slave Law.— Personal Liberty Laws.— The Kansas and Nebraska Bill.— Squatter Sovereignty.— Kansas a Battle-ground.— Assault upon Senator Sumner.— The Republican Party.— The Dred Scott Case.— Filibustering Expeditions.— John Brown's Raid.— Capture of Harper's Ferry.— John Brown's Execution.— His Soul is Marching on rf 17 Chapter III. — Secession. Division of the Democratic Party.— Stephen A. Douglas.— John C. Breckinridge.— Election of Lincoln.— The News in South Carolina.— President Buchanan.— The Crittenden Compromise.— Secession of South Carolina.— Scenes in Charleston. —The Tomb of Calhoun.— Secession Bonnets.— Foreign News.— Forts Moultrie and Sumter.— Major Anderson.— Removal to Sumter.— Raising the Flag.— United States Buildings Seized,— Major Anderson and State Rights.— The Star of the West.— Secession of other States.— John A. Dix and the Flag.— The Confederate States.— Jefferson Davis.— Alexander H. Stephens.— The Peace Congress.— Twiggs's Surrender.— Fort Pickens Saved 32 Chapter IV. — Sumter. Inauguration of Lincoln.— His Early Life.— Lincoln and Douglas.— Peace or War ?— The Cabinet.— The Stars and Bars.— The Confederate Commissioners.— Secretary Blair's Opinion.— Secretary Seward and the Wayward States.— Captain Fox.— The Attempt to Provision Sumter.— General Beauregard.— The First Shot against Sumter.— The Civil War Begun.— Anderson and his Men.— The Barracks on Fire.— Making Cartridges.— Knocked Down Temporarily.— Flames and Smoke. —The Flag Hit,— The Surrender.— Salute to the Flag.— Yankee Doodle 50 Vi CONTENTS. Chapter V. — Uprising of the North. Rejoicing ra the South.— Washington' Threatened.— Lincoln Calls for Troops.— Enthusiasm in the North. — 75,000 Coffins Wanted. — Secession of Virginia.— Help for Washington.— Massachusetts Troops Mobbed in Baltimore.— Washington in a State of Siege.— The New York Seventh and the Massachusetts Eighth.— Ben. Butler.— Old Ironsides.— Railway Repairing.— Room Enough to Bury Seventy- five Thousand. — I must have Troops.— Baltimore Overawed.— Harper's Ferry- Burned. — Destruction of the Gosport Navy Yard. — The Blockade Proclaimed. — Confederate Privateers.— North Carolina Secedes —More Volunteers Wanted. —Capture of Camp Jackson, St. Louis.— Union Feelin g ln Kentucky 63 Chapter VI. — March lnto Virginia. Confederate Congress at Montgomery.— King Cotton.— Removal to Richmond.— Manassas Junction.— Washington a Camp. — Secessionists in Washington. — Seces- sion Lady's Costume.— A Heavy Petticoat.— Mary's Caps.— Buttons for Lunch. — Brave Miss Webster.— A Suspicious Funeral.— A Kite with a Valuable Tail.— The Union Troops in Virginia.— Arlington Heights.— Fort-Building.— Death of Ellsworth. — Fortress Monroe. — Contrabands.— Little Bethel.— Big Bethel.— Death of Theodore Winthrop.— Lieutenant Greble.— McClellan in Western- Virginia. — Philippl— Rich Mountain.— Death of General Garnett.— Patterson Crosses the Potomac— Patterson and Johnston 77 Chapter VII. — Bull Run. Ftve Hundred Thousand more Volunteers.— General McDowell.— On to Richmond.— The March Begun.— Beauregard's Position.— Battle of Bull Run.— Stonewall Jackson.— Johnston aids Beauregard.— Death of General Bee.— Mrs. Henry's House.— A Disgusted Irishman.— The Stars and Stripes or the Stars and Bars.— Kirby Smith and Early to the Rescue.— The Union Rout.— Davis Visits the Battle-Ground.— The Cextreville Picnic— Confederate Exaggerations.— A Long Retreat.— Den I Got Off.— Confederate Hopes.— The North Prepares for War in Earnest.— McClellan in Command of the Army of the Potosiac— The Bull Run Monument 92 Chapter VIII. — Boonyille. — Wilson's Creek. Military Importance of Cairo.— Bird's Point.— Lyon in Command in Missouri- Governor Jackson Calls for Volunteers against the Union.— Battle of Boon- yille.— Fight near Carthage.— Franz Sigel's Retreat.— Fremont in Command in the West.— Ben McCulloch.— Battle at Dug Spring.— Wilson's Creek.— The Confederates Surprised.— A False Flag.— Where is Sigel '—Death of Lyon.— Retreat to Sprlngfield.— Story of Eddy, the Drummer-Boy 104 Chapter IX. — Lexington. — Belmont. General Bishop Polk.— Fremont's Proclamation.— A Politic Contraband.— Price Attacks Lexington.— Mulligan's Brave Defence.— Precious Water.— Surrender of Lexington.— No Ammunition left.— General Pillow at New Madrid.— The Con- federates Seize Columbus.— Island Number Ten.— Zollicoffer and Buckner In- vade Kentucky.— Confederate Camp at Bowling Green.— Fremont Marches to Springfield.— Zagonyi's Charge.— Major White's adventure.— Fremont Super- seded.— General Halleck in Command in Missouri. — Sterling Price and his Men.— Jeff. Thompson.— General Grant at Cairo.— Battle of Belmont.— General Cheat- ham's Escape 113 CONTENTS. yji Chapter X. — Western Virginia. General Rosecrans in West Virginia.— Robert E. Lee.— Battle of Carnifex Ferry. —Escape of Floyd.— Reynolds and Lee.— Death of Colonel Washington.— Trav- ellers' Repose.— Milroy and Johnston.— Munson's Hill, Virginia.— The Potomac closed by Confederate Batteries.— Acquia Creek.— Torpedoes.— Army of the Potomac— Quaker Guns.— Lewinsville and Darnestown.— Disaster at Ball's Bluff.— Death of Colonel Baker.— False Reports of Battles.— General Stone in Fort Lafayette.— Fault-finding.— Soldiers' Jokes.— Hard-Tack.— Foraging.— Drawing Potatoes.— Soldiers' Slang.— General Scott resigns.— McClellan Gen- eral-in-Chief.— Dranesville.— Winter Quarters 126 Chapter XI. — The Atlantic Coast. Secretary Welles and the Navy.— Confederate Privateers.— The Lady Davis.— The Savannah's Crew treated as Pirates.— The Petrel Sunk.— The Sumter.— Raphael Semmes.— The Laws about Prizes.— The Nashville.— Blockade-running. —Expedition against Hatteras.— The Forts Captured.— A Union Expedition Spoiled.— Fort Pickens —Wilson's Zouaves.— The Boys have got the Money. — Night Attack on the Zouaves' Camp.— Bombardment of Forts McRee and Bar- rancas.— The Manassas Ram.— Fight with the Union Fleet in the Mississippi.— Fire-Ships 140 Chapter XII. — Deeds of the Navy. The Port Royal Expedition.— Hilton Head.— The Mosquito Fleet.— Port Royal.— Beaufort.— French Colony of 1562.— Capture of the Forts.— Cotton-burning.— Massa Bobolition.— Big Tybee Island.— Martello Tower.— Sinking of the Stone Fleet at Charleston.— Mason and Slidell.— The Trent and the San Jacinto.— Lieutenant Fairfax and Miss Slidell.— Honors to Captain Wilkes.— The British Lion Growls and Gets Ready for War.— I'm Off to Charleston.— Mr. Lincoln's Story of the Two Dogs.— Mr, Seward's Joke.— Mason and Slidell Delivered up. 152 Chapter XIII.— Mill Spring.— Fort Henry. zollicoffer in kentucky.— camp wildcat.— general schoepf.— sham secession of Kentucky.— General Buell — Colonel Garfield.— Battle of Mill Spring.— Death of Zollicoffer. — The Yankees will Cotch us.— Contraband Fun.— Schnapps! Schnapps!— Albert Sidney Johnston.— Forts Henry and Donelson.— Commodore Foote.— Torpedoes.— Capture of Fort Henry.— General Tilghman. —A Brave Boy 160 Chapter XIV. — Fort Donelson. — Nashville. The Tennessee River Opened.— General Grant.— Commodore Foote as a Preacher. —Siege of Fort Donelson.— Sharpshooters.— A Gallant Boy.— Sleet and Snow.— Foote and his Gunboats.— The Commodore Wounded.— a Bold Sortie.— The Con- federates Checked.— Escape of Floyd and Pillow.— Forest and his Cavalry.— Unconditional Surrender Grant.— Triumphal Entry.— Clarksville and Nash- ville Occupied.— Andrew Johnson.— A Sharp Newsboy.— The Confederates Abandon Columbus.— John Morgan— The Disobedient Soldier.— An Unfortunate Gatekeeper.— A Costly Load of Meal.— Morgan and the Telegraph Operator.. 171 Chapter XV. — Roanoke. — New Berne. — Pulaski. Expedition against Roanoke Island.— A Gunboat Fight.— Fort Bartow.— A Gallant Attack.— Zou! Zou! Zou!— Capture of Roanoke Island.— Elizabeth City.— Gallant John Davis.— Attack on New Berne.— News from Manassas.— Fall of New Berne. —The Daily Progress.— De Rotten Balls.— The Child of The Regiment.— Bom- bardment of Fort Macon.— A Patched Flag.— Battle of South Mills.— Siege of Fort Pulaski.— Mortars and how to Fire Them.— All's Well!— A Regiment of Whittlers.— Pulaski Surrenders.— Fort Clinch.— An Old Newspaper.— Hold on, Mars' Yankee!... , , , 184 viii CONTENTS. Chapter XYI. — Pea Ridge. — Island Number Ten. Price in Springfield.— Retreats before Curtis.— Sugar Creek. — Curtis Falls back to Pea Ridge.— Albert Pike and his Indians.— Earl Van Dorn.— Battle of Pea Ridge.— Elkhorn Tavern.— A Night of Anxiety.— Death of Ben. McCulloch.— The Confederates Retreat. — Indian Atrocities.— Beauregard in the Mississippi Valley.— A New Line of Defence.— Island Number Ten.— General Pope Attacks New Madrid.— The Confederates Abandon the Forts.— Commodore Foote and his Fleet.— Bombardment of Island Number Ten.— Digging a Canal. — Gunboats ■ Running the Batteries.— The Little Gibraltar Surrenders 197 Chapter XYII. — Shiloh. — Memphis. Beauregard at Corinth.— Grant and Halleck.— Pittsburg Landing.— Albert Sydney Johnston Jolns Beauregard.— Marches against Grant— Shiloh Church.— An Uncomfortable Night.— We Shall Sleep in the Enemy's Camp.— The Union Army Surprised.— Sherman and his Men.— Skulkers.— Death of Johnston.— Grant at Bay.— Beauregard Keeps his Promise.— Buell to the Rescue.— The Gunboats do Good Service.— A Dreadful Retreat.— Boats Enough.— Kentuckians at Shiloh. —Hold, Bill ! That's Father '.— Schpike Dem Guns !— Mitchell in Huntsville.— Halleck Relieves Grant of Command.— Corinth.— Quaker Guns.— Fort Pillow.— Battle of Gunboats.— Memphis Taken 207 Chapter XYIII. — New Orleans. Expedition against New Orleans.— Ship Island.— Farragut and his Fleet.— Defences of the City.— Mortar Vessels Disguised.— Fire-Rafts.— a Furious Bombard- ment.— Farragut Passes the Forts.— The Varuna Sunk.— A Brave Boy.— An Awful Sight.— The Hartford in Flames.— Sinking of the Gunboats.— The Manassas Explodes.— New Orleans Amazed.— Ships and Cotton Burned.— Gen- eral Lovell.— Mumford and the Flag.— The Forts Surrender to Porter.— A Fat Man Grows Lean.— Butler in New Orleans.— hanging of Mumford.— But- ler's Accusers.— Farragut Passes the Vicksburg Batteries.— Battle at Baton Rouge.— The Arkansas Destroyed.— Capture of Galveston 218 Chapter XIX. — Merrlmack and Monitor. Iron-Clads.— The Merrimack.— She Steams to Hampton Roads.— An Iron Storm.— Sinking of the Cumberland.— The Congress Surrenders.— The Minnesota in Danger.— The Merrimack Leaves her Prey.— A Dismal Night. — Arrival of the Monitor.— A Cheese-Box on a Plank.— Explosion of the Congress.— A Sunday Visit.— The Monitor in Waiting.— The Cheese-Box is Made of Iron !— Lieutenant Worden Wounded.— The Merrimack Retreats.— The Minnesota Saved.— Honors to Ericsson.— Joe's Dead 231 Chapter XX. —Peninsula Campaign. The Grand Army of the Potomac— Washington and Richmond.— McClellan III.— Edwin M. Stanton— Plans for Taking Richmond.— President Lincoln's Order.— Opposition to McClellan.— The Confederates Leave Manassas.— McClellan's Command Changed.— Stonewall Jackson in the Shenandoah Valley.— General Banks Opposes him.— The Potomac free.— The Army Goes to the Peninsula. — The French Princes. — Mr. Lincoln and the Politicians. — Siege of Yorktown. — Big Nigger, Come Down ! — Old Seth.— Joseph E. Johnston.— Torpedoes.— Battle of Wtlllamsburg.— The Chick a hominy.— Norfolk.— Drury's Bluff.— Panic in Rich- mond 240 Chapter XXI. — Shenandoah Valley. — Chickahomxny. McDowell at Fredericksburg.— Porter at Hanover Court-House.— McDowell Or- dered to Washington. — Stonewall Jackson.— Jackson or a Rabbit.— Jackson's Prayers.— Banks Driven into Maryland.— Jackson Repulses Fremont.— Defeats Shields.— Turner Ashby.— A Gallant Deed.— Floods in the Chickahominy.— The CONTENTS. IX Union Army Divided.— Seven Pines and Fair Oaks.— General Johnston Wounded. —Robert E. Lee in Command of the Confederates.— The Swamps of the Chicka- hominy. — Balloons in war.— How are yees, byes ?— Jeb Stuart. —The Ride Around McClellan.— White House.— Washington's Marriage.— Stonewall Jack- son and the Farmer 252 Chapter XXII. — Seven Days' Fight. Lee Attacks McClellan. — Beaver Dam Creek.— Battle of Mechanicsville.— A Change of Base. — Battle of Gaines's Mills.— General McCall's Escape. — McClellan's Retreat to the James River.— The White Oak Swamp.— Battle of Savage's Station.— Battle of Frazier's Farm.— McCall a Prisoner.— Battle of Malvern Hill.— McClellan at Harrison's Landing. — End of the Seven Days' Fight.— Departure of the French Princes.— President Lincoln Visits McClel- lan.— Three Hundred Thousand More Volunteers 264 Chapter XXIII. — Pope's Campaign. General Pope and the Army of Virginia.— Pope's Address to his Soldiers.— Hal- leck as General-in-Chief.— Lee's Strategy.— Battle of Cedar Mountain. — Stuart's Ride around Pope.— Pope's Uniform. — Stonewall Jackson behind Pope.— Fight at Bristow Station. — The Second Battle of Bull Run. —Pope Deceived. — Battle of Chantilly. — Pope Shows his Back. — Death of Phil Kearny. — Pope Resigns and Goes West. — McClellan again. — Pope's Charges against Porter.— Lee's Successful Campaign.— The Confederates Cross the Potomac— Cool Reception in Maryland.— Barbara Frietchie and Stonewall Jackson 271 Chapter XXIV. — South Mountain. — Antietam. McClellan Marches against Lee. — Welcome in Frederick. — A Fortunate Dis- covert. —Stonewall Jackson goes to Harper's Ferry. — Battles of South Mountain and Crampton's Gap.— Fall of Harper's Ferry.— Lee Hard Pressed.— His Position near Sharpsburg.— The Battle of Antietam.— Death of General Mansfield.— Hooker Wounded.— Sumner Holds his Ground.— Burnside Attacks on the Left. — Lee Recrosses the Potomac. — A Drawn Battle. — Good-by, Sammy — I'm a Bold Sojer Boy.— Jeb Stuart in Pennsylvania.— McClellan Fol- lows Lee.— Superseded by Burnside.— McClellan's Farewell.— A Question for General Halleck 280 Chapter XXV . — Fredericksburg. Burnside's New Plan.— The March to Fredericksburg.— Lee Holds the Hills.— Pon- toon Bridge-building. — Sharpshooters. — The Town Shelled. — A Dangerous Crossing.— The Graybacks Hunted out of their Holes.— A Brave Drummer- Boy.— The Army Crosses the River.— Battle of Fredericksburg.— Hooker's Gal- lant Assault. — Burnside Retreats. — Confederate Hopes. — Burnside Resigns, and Hooker Takes Command of the Army.— Winter Quarters. — Sad Condition of the Confederates.— The Ladies at Work.— Confederate Manufactures. — Wooden Shoes.— Southern Books.— A Home-made Christmas.— Picket Talks.— My Mother! my Mother !— Jackson's Resigned ! 292 Chapter XXVI. — Bragg in Kentucky. — Murfreesboro. Grant and Sherman.— Grant again in Command.— Sherman's Cotton Money.— General Bragg Succeeds Beauregard.— Morgan's Raid into Kentucky.— Forest in Tennes- see.— Kirby Smith Enters Kentucky.— Battle of Richmond.— Bragg Captures Union Troops at Mumfordsville.— A Long Wagon Train.— Buell Marches against Bragg. Battle of Perryville.— Bragg Retreats into Tennessee.— Rosecrans Succeeds Buell.— Battle of Iuka.— Van Dorn Attacks Corinth.— Defeated by Rosecrans.— Pemberton Succeeds Van Dorn.— Bragg at Murfreesboro. —Presi- dent Davis's Visit. — Cowardly Soldiers. — The Battle of Murfreesboro. — Bragg's Retreat 305 fe CONTENTS. Chapter XXVII. — Emancipation. — Conscription. The Union and Slavery. — The Abolitionists. — New Ideas about Slavery.— Massa Linkum's Sojers.— Butler and Contrabands.— Fremont's Proclamation.— Hunter's Order.— President Lincoln Proposes to Buy the Slaves.— His Letter on the Subject.— Lincoln Changes his Views about Slavery.— His First Emancipation Proclamation.— His Vow.— The Second Emancipation Proclamation.— Its Effect in the South and in the North.— Arbitrary arrests.— Spies.— Colored Soldiers. —The Conscription Bill.— Drafting.— Riots in New York 315 Chapter XXVIII. — Vicksburg. Vicksburg.— Its Great Importance.— Grant's Plans.— Capture of Holly Springs.— Sherman Defeated.— Fort Hindman Taken.— Arrival of Grant.— Canal Digging. — Joseph E. Johnston.— Running the Batteries.— Grierson's Raid.— Grant Lands at Bruinsburg.— Battle of Port Gibson.— Grand Gulf Evacuated.— Sherman Joins Grant.— Taking a Rest.— Battle of Raymond.— Capture of Jackson.— A Good Union Man.— Jeff Davis's Book.— Battle of Champion Hills.— Battle of Big Black River. — Bridge Building. — Vicksburg Surrounded. — Two Repulses. — Calibre 54. — Cave Life.— Mines and Countermines.— Scarcity of Food. — Grant and Pemberton. — The Surrender. — Effects of the Bombardment. — The Hotel de Vicksburg.— The Vicksburg Citizen. — What was Gained at Vicksburg. — Grakt and the Steamboat Men 333 Chapter XXIX. — Port Hudson. — Chancellorsville. Sherman pursues Johnston.— Jackson Burned.— Siege of Port Hudson.— Whistling Dick.— A Bloody Repulse.— Mules and Rats.— The Surrender.— The Mississippi Opened.— Brashear City.— On de Lord's Side, Massa.— The Army of the Potomac. —Corps Badges— Mosby.— Capture of General Stoughton.— I Can't Make Horses. —Hooker's Advance.— Chancellorsville.— The Wilderness.— Frightened Deer and Rabbits.— Rout of the Eleventh Corps.— Death of Stonewall Jackson.— Remember Jackson. — Hooker Stunned. — Lee between Two Fires.— Sedgwick Driven Back.— Hooker's Retreat— Stoneman's Raid.— A Gallant Deed 342 Chapter XXX. — Gettysburg. Confederate Hopes.— Napoleon and Mexico. — Another Invasion' of the North.— The Two Armies.— Stuart's Review.— Ewell Surprises Milroy— The Potomac Crossed.— Pennsylvania in a Panic— Hooker Follows Lee.— Meade in Command.— The Eyes of an Army.— Gettysburg— The First Day's Fight— Death of Reynolds. —Hancock to the Front.— The Second Day's Fight.— Little Round Top.— Ewell on CuLr's Hill.— The Third Day's Fight.— A Grand Bombardment.— Pickett and his Virginians.— A Dreadful Struggle.— Victory for the Union.— A Terrible Retreat.— Wasted Ammunition.— Old John Burns.— Jenny Wade.— The News in Richmond.— Meade Follows Lee— Winter Quarters 354 Chapter XXXI. — Chick amaug a. —Chattanooga. — Knoxyille . Rosecrans Moves against Bragg.— Cavalry Fights.— Van Dorn Attacks Franklin.— Streight's Raid.— John Morgan Across the Ohio.— Indiana and Ohio Aroused — Morgan Defeated.— His Capture.— The Raiders' Plunder.— An Old Hero.— Chat- tanooga.— Bragg Falls Back.— Battle of Chickamauga.— Thomas's Bravery.— Rosecrans Retreats to Chattanooga.— Johnny Clem.— Half Rations.— Grant in Command.— He Opens Communications.— Burnside in East Tennessee.— Arrival of Sherman.— The Battle above the Clouds.— Pulpit Rock.— Storming of Missionary- Ridge.— Here is your Mule. — Bragg's Retreat. —Longstreet's Defeat.— Sher- man's March to Knoxville.— Starving on Roast Turkey 372 CONTENTS. xi Chapter XXXII. — The Monitors. Loss of the Monitor.— The Montauk and the Nashville.— Fort McAllister.— The Confederates Attack the Fleet off Charleston. — The Monitors Attack Charleston.— The New Ironsides.— Cables and Torpedoes.— A Terrible Bombard- ment.— Loss of the Keokuk.— Capture of the Atlanta.— New Confederate Flag. —I Don't Care About Your Torpedoes.- Gillmore at Charleston.— Fort Wag- ner.— Men Eighteen Feet High Wanted.— The Swamp Angel.— Sumter in Ruins.— Taking of Morris Island.— Assault on Sumter.— Loss of the Weehawken.— New Berne Attacked.— Little Washington.— Raids and Contrabands.— I'se Just Sam.. 387 Chapter XXXIII. — Privateers. — Mobile Bay. Expedition to Florida.— Battle of Olustee.— Loss of Plymouth.— Raid of the Albe- marle.— Her Destruction by Cushing.— The Confederate Privateers.— The Ala- bama.— Captain Semmes.— The Fight with the Kearsarge.— Rescue of Semmes.— The Florida and the Wachusett.— The Shenandoah.— Whalers Burned.— The Last Hostile Act.— Rams for the Emperor of China.— The Stonewall.— The Ala- bama Claims.— Mobile Bay.— Farragut Passes the Forts.— The Admiral in the Shrouds.— Sinking of the Tecumseh.— Torpedoes.— Four Bells.— The Ram is Com- ing.— Fight with the Tennessee.— Ramming the Ram.— Save the Admiral.— Sur- render of the Forts 400 Chapter XXXIV. — The South and West. Sherman's Meridian Expedition.— Jeff Davis's Neckties.— Sherman's Danger.— De Day ob Jubilee.— Smith Defeated by Forrest.— Paduc ah Attacked.— Massacre at Fort Pillow.— Forrest Defeats Sturgis.— A Ride into Memphis.— Sherman and Banks.— The Anvil Chorus.— The Red River Expedition.— Fort DeRussey.— Kirby Smith and Dick Taylor.— Natchitoches.— Battle of Mansfield.— A Skedad- dle.— Battle of Pleasant Hill.— Loss of the Eastport.— The Dam at Alexandria. — Saving the Fleet.— Cotton Stealing.— Canby Succeeds Banks.— Steele's Defeat in Arkansas.— The Last Invasion of Missouri.— Pleasonton and Curtis.— Price's Flight.— John Morgan in Kentucky Again.— Burbridge Defeats Him.— Morgan's Death 415 Chapter XXXV. — Grant in Virginia. The Confederacy in 1863.— Poverty and Paper Money.— Christmas in Richmond.— Treatment of Union Prisoners.— Exchanges.— Negro Soldiers.— Prison Camps.— Libby Prison.— Belle Isle.— Efforts to Free Prisoners.— Ulric Dahlgren.— A Mine under Libby.— Grant made Lieutenant-General.— His Commission.— Grant with the Army of the Potomac— His Plan.— The Rapidan Crossed.— Battle of the Wilderness.— Lee in Danger.— Longstreet Wounded.— Fire in the Woods.— The March to Spottsylvania.— Sharpshooters.— Death of Sedgwick.— Battle of Spottsylvania.— I Propose to Fight it Out on this Line.— Hancock and Stewart. —Danger of the Confederate Army.— Terrible Musketry Fire.— Grant again Marches Southward 428 Chapter XXXVI. — Grant and Lee. Butler at Bermuda Hundred.— Beauregard Attacks Him.— Bottled Up.— Crook's Raid.— Morgan Defeats Averill.— Breckinridge Defeats Sigel,— Battle of Pied- mont.— Hunter in West Virginia.— Sheridan and Stuart.— Battle at Yellow Tavern.— Death of Stuart.— Lee at Cold Harbor.— Cavalry Fight.— Battle of Cold Harbor. — Grant's Change of Base. — Terrible Slaughter. — The Army Crosses the James.— Petersburg Attacked.— Early Crosses the Potomac. — Battle of the Monocacy.— Baltimore Excited.— Capture of General Franklin. —His Escape.— Early Attacks Washington.— He is Driven Back to Virginia. - Defeat of Crook. — Confederate Cavalry in Pennsylvania. — Chambersburg Burned.— Sheridan in Command.— Battle of Opequan Creek.— Fisher's Hill.— Cedar Creek.— Sheridan's Ride.— The Petersburg Mine— Hancock's Fight.- Thb Weldon Railroad.— Dutch Gap Canal , 442 xii CONTENTS. Chapter XXXVII. — Atlanta Campaign. Johnston and Sherman. — The Two Armies. — Cars and Locomotives Wanted.— Thomas's Circus. — Dalton to Resaca. — Dallas.— New Hope Chdrch. — Rome Taken.— Kenesaw Mountain.— Brave Engineer.— Death of General Polk.— Bad Weather.— Wood Ticks.— Sherman Repulsed.— Johnston Crosses the Chatta- hoochee. — Rousseau's Raid. — Are these Yanks? — Hood Succeeds Johnston. — Atlanta.— Hood's Sally.— He Fights Again.— Death of McPherson.— Raids on the Railroads.— Hood Strikes a Third Time.— Siege of Atlanta.— Hood Cut Off.— Evacuation of Atlanta.— Honors to Sherman.— Atlanta Desolated.— Davis Visits Hood. — Hood Marches Northward.— Allatoon a. — Signalling. — A Dupli- cate Tunnel.— Atlanta in Ashes.— Glory, Hallelujah !— Grant is Waiting for Us! 458 Chapter XXXVIII. — March to the Sea. Anxiety in 1864.— Grant and Lee.— Secretary Chase and the Finances.— Greenbacks. —Gold.— Presidential Election.— News from Atlanta.— Copperheads.— Re-elec- tion of Lincoln. — Abolition of Slavery.— Hood Marches Northward.— Battle of Franklin.— Siege of Nashville.— Thomas's Victory.— Flight of Hood.— Sher- man's Army. — Orders for Foraging.— Jeff. Davis's Neckties.— Contrabands.— Dey say you's Massa Sherman.— Bummers.— Marching and Camping. — Soldiers' Pets.— Pet Pigeon. — Old Abe, the War Eagle.— Milled geville.— Beauregard Again. — Soldiers' Fun.— Cavalry Skirmishes.— Prison Pen.— Andersonvtlle.— Torpedoes. — Defences of Savannah.— Storming of Fort McAllister.— Savannah as a Christ- mas Gift 475 Chapter XXXIX. — Savannah to Goldsboro. Secretary Stanton in Savannah.— Politics.— Sherman Disgusted.— Expedition against Fort Fisher.— Butler's Powder-Boat.— Heavy Bombardment.— General Terry suc- ceeds Butler.— Bragg again. — Good-by, Wilmington [—Capture of Fort Fisher.— General Schofield. — Wilmington Taken.— Goldsboro Entered.— Sherman's March from Savannah.— Wheeler and Hampton.— Floods.— The Salkehatchie.— Horrors of War.— South Carolina Punished.— Cotton Burning.— Columbia Surrendered — Burning of the City. — Confederate Money. — Hardee Evacuates Charleston.— The City in Flames.— Desolation. — Sumter and the Flag.— Jus' look at his Hoss. — Cheraw— Johnston again in Command.— Hampton and Kilpatrick.— Fayettevtlle. — A verysboro.— Battle of Bentonsville.— Goldsboro.— Sherman Visits Grant.— President Lincoln.— Sherman Returns to Goldsboro 492 Chapter XL. — Mobile. Stoneman's Raid.— Salisbury.— Mobile.— Wilson's Raid.— Fight with Forrest.— Tak- ing of Selma.— Cotton Burning. — Surrender of Montgomery. — Capture of Colum- bus.— Iron-clad Rams.— Macon.— Joyful News.— Defences of Mobile.— Canby's Plan. — Spanish Fort. — Storming of Blakely.— Surrender of Mobile 507 Chapter XLI. — Petersburg. The Confederacy in 1865.— Conscription and Desertion.— Negro Soldiers.— Confed- erate Money.— Lee's Army.— Dissatisfaction with Davis.— Lee Commander in- Chief.— Mrs. Davis.— Foreign Aid Expected.— Peace Efforts.— War Meetings in Richmond.— Desolation in Virginia.— Christmas in 1864.— War Prices.— Dinner- party. — Southside Railroad.— Dinwiddie Court-House.— Army Telegraph. — Sheridan's Raid — Early Defeated.— Charlottesville.— Lee's Last Attack. — Fort Steedman.— Sheridan again in the Saddle.— FrvE Forks. — Grand Assault on Petersburg.— Fort Alexander.— Fort Gregg. — Death of A. P. Hill.— Lee's Telegram.— Petersburg at Last ! 513 Chapter XLII. — Richmond. Sunday in Richmond.— Rumors of Victory. — Gayety of the City.— Prayer-Meetings. — Davis Receives Lee's Telegram.— The News Kept Secret.— Evacuation.— Confu- CONTENTS. xiii sion.— The City in the Hands of the Mob.— Pillaging the Stores.— The Tobacco Warehouses Fired.— Rams Blown Up.— Bridges Burned.— The Fire Spreads.— a Dreadful Scene.— Capitol Square.— The Yankees ! The Yankees ! — Burning Rich- mond Seen from the Signal-Tower.— General Weitzel Enters the City.— The Flag on the Capitol.— An African City.— Bress de Lord ! No mo' Work !— Black Cavalry.— Martial Law.— The Ruins.— The Dream Ended 523 Chapter XLIII. — Surrender op Lee. Lee's Misfortune.— Davis at Danville.— A Fatal Delay.— Grant in Pursuit.— Sheri- dan.— A Starving Army.— Sailor's Creek.— Capture of Ewell.— Across the Appo- mattox.— A Hopeless Struggle. — Grant's Letter. — Lee asks for Terms. — Appomattox Court-House. — Sheridan in Front.— A Surprise.— Flag of Truce.— The McLean House.— Grant and Lee.— Grant's Magnanimity.— Painful Scene.— Lee in Richmond.— Last Parade of the Army of Northern Virginia.— Joy in the North.— Stanton's Order 533 Chapter XLIV. — Death of Lincoln. President Lincoln in Richmond.— His Last Speech.— Threats of Assassination.— Grant in Washington.— Robert Lincoln.— Lee's Surrender.— At the Theatre. —John Wilkes Booth.— The Fatal Shot.— Sic Semper Tyrannis !— The Assassin's Escape.— Death of Lincoln.— Powell Attacks Secretary Seward.— Reward for Jefferson Davis.— Death of Booth.— Universal Sorrow.— With Malice toward None.— Funeral Honors.— At Rest.— President Johnson 541 Chapter XLV. — Johnston. — Davis. Sherman Marches against Johnston.— Joy at Lee's Surrender.— Johnston's Letter. —An Important Message.— Bad News.— Meeting with Johnston.— Second Inter- view.— Breckinridge.— The Terms Rejected.— Grant in Raleigh.— Surrender of Johnston. — Stanton's Insults. — Halleck and Sherman. — Surrender of Kirby Smith.— President Davis's Flight.— Danville.— Pleasing Dreams.— A Last Proc- lamation.— Lee Anxiously Looked For.— Hope Crushed.— Davis, Johnston, and Beauregard. — Charlotte. — Reports of Treasure. — Scramble for Money. — Cavalry on the Trail. — Confederate Plunderers. — Irwinsville. — The Camp Surprised.— Fatal Mistake.— Ha ! Federals !— The Story of the Disguise.— The Capture.— Fortress Monroe.— Pardon 545 Chapter XL VI. — Peace. Grave Fears.— The Soldiers Welcome Peace.— Drafting Stopped.— Disbanding the Armies.— Stanton.— Welles.— The Last Review.— Grand Reception in Washing- ton. — The Soldiers at Home.— Honors to the Dead. — Confederate Armies. — Summary of Losses.— The Cost of the War.— Political Questions.— Causes and Results of the War.— The Union Perpetual 554 THE WAR FOR THE UNION. CHAPTER I. EARLY DIFFERENCES. The Thirteen Colonies.— Differences between Northern and Southern Colonies.— Slavery.— The Confederation of the Colonies.— One Nation To-day and Thirteen To-morrow.— The Constitution and the Union.— Federalists and Democratic-Repub- licans.— Alexander Hamilton.— Thomas Jefferson.— Washington a Peacemaker.— France or England.— A Bitter Struggle.— Success of the Federalists.— Millions for Defence, not One Cent for Tribute.— Alien and Sedition Laws.— State Rights.— The Virginia and the Kentucky Resolutions.— War with England.— The Hartford Convention.— Slave States and Free States.— The Missouri Compromise.— The Demo- cratic Party.— Free Trade or Protection.— John C. Calhoun.— Nullification.— Webster and Hayne.— Andkew Jackson.— By the Eternal, the Union shall bb Preserved.— The Compromise Tariff. THE Civil War of 1861-1865 in the United States, like all civil wars, was about questions of government; therefore, to understand well the causes which led to it, it is necessary to learn first something of the nature of the government and of the way in which it began. When the War of the Revolution broke out in 1775, the English settlements which afterward became the thirteen original States of the Union were thirteen colonies belonging to Great Britain. These were, beginning with the northernmost, New Hampshire, Massa- chusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. All of these colonies were alike in many things. Though some of them had been settled by other nations than the English, most of the people were at that time Englishmen in feelings and in language, and all owned the rule of the sovereign of Great Britain. Their governments differed in some respects: some Avere ruled by governors and other officers sent from England; some had charter govern- 2 MARLY DIFFERENCES. [1775. ments — that is, they had charters or written papers signed by the King of Great Britain giving them the right to choose their own rulers; and others had proprietary governments — that is, they were ruled by the proprietors or owners of the soil or by officers chosen by them, as in Pennsylvania, where the whole land occupied by the colony was owned by William Penn; but, notwithstanding these differences, the governments of the colo- nies were in general much like that of Great Britain. There were, however, some other differences which in time caused a division among them and separated the colonies into two parts or groups, northern and southern, the Northern Colonies including all those north of Maryland, and the South- ern Colonies all those south of and including it. These differ- ences were due partly to the character of the people and partly to that of the climate and soil of the parts in which they lived. Though the settlers in both parts were from all classes of Eng- lish society, they differed in one respect: those who settled in the South were chiefly made up of the followers of King Charles I. in the civil war in England, while those in the North were mostly the followers of the Parliament, who were opposed to the King. The two classes of settlers brought with them to the New World the political prejudices which had made them enemies in the Old World; they also brought some religious prejudices, which were another cause of separation. Both were Protestant Christians, but the larger part of those who went to the South belonged to the Church of England, which they made the established religion in their colonies as in England. Those who settled in the North, on the contrary, belonged mostly to sects opposed to the Church of England, which therefore never became established among them as a state religion. The people who settled in the North went there not so much to better their worldly condition as to secure for themselves freedom of thought and of action; those who settled in the South went there chiefly to make money by speculating in land and by farming. The differences in the climate and soil of the two parts caused other differences in the people. In the South, the cli- mate and soil being well adapted for raising tobacco, rice, and other large crops, the people settled on isolated tracts of land along the rivers, and built few towns. In the North, where the climate was less genial and ' 1 unfit for raising the great sta- 1775.] THE THIRTEEN COLONIES. 3 pies of the South, there were few large estates, and most of the inhabitants settled in towns or villages, which were within easy reach of each other. Thus while the Southern Colonies were made up for the most part of scattered plantations, the North- ern Colonies were composed largely of townships closely con- nected. In the early days slaves were held in all the colonies, and some were kept even in New England until after the War of the Revolution; but it was only in the Southern Colonies that slave labor was found very profitable. Thus it happened that a great many slaves were kept in the Southern Colonies and very few in the Northern Colonies. When the troubles began with Great Britain, the New England Colonies had only one slave to every fifty white people, while Virginia had two to every three white persons, and in South Carolina the slaves and the free people were about ecmal in number. The slaves were treated alike in both parts of the country, and were looked upon as an inferior race by almost all the whites; but there were so many more of them in the Southern Colonies than in the Northern Colonies that they were the cause of a great differ- ence in the life and character of the two peoples. In the Southern Colonies the planters lived on great plantations, surrounded by slaves, who did all the work. Labor came to be looked upon as a mark of inferiority, fit only for slaves; so there could be no middle class of respectable laborers, and the people were made up almost entirely of masters and of slaves. In the Northern Colonies were a few large land-holders, but most of the land was divided into small farms, worked by the owners themselves, or by laborers, who were paid for their work, and were free to go and come as tbey pleased. Labor therefore came to be looked upon as honorable, and the people were hugely made up of respectable free laborers. While the colonies were under the rule of Great Britain these differences were not of much consecprence. All their inhabitants felt that their interests were the same, and when the mother country began her oppressions all joined to oppose them and to aid each other. When Massachusetts proposed that a general congress of all the colonies should meet in New York to consult what was best to be done in the crisis, and other colonies were afraid to take openly so important a step, South Carolina was the first to declare for union, and to stretch 4 EARLY DIFFERENCES. [1776-87. out her hand to aid her Northern brethren; and in that Congress it was a South Carolinian (Christopher Gadsden) who said: " There ought to be no New England man, no New Yorker, known on the continent, but all of us Americans." Thus all the colonies, both Northern and Southern, were united in a common bond of sympathy, and the} 7 all joined as against a common enemy when Great Britain tried to govern them without their consent. But when, after the Declaration of Independence, it was attempted to form a union of all the colonies under one government, many difficulties arose. As there were no railroads, steamboats, nor telegraphs in those days, the people of the different colonies did not see or hear from each other very often, and the inhabitants of each colony had come to look upon the others as foreigners, or in much the same light as we regard the Canadians. When a union was talked about they grew jealous of each other and afraid of los- ing some of their rights; the smaller colonies in particular being fearful of being swallowed up by the larger ones. But as it was found that the struggle against Great Britain could not be car- ried on unless there was some controlling power which had legal authority over all, articles of confederation or alliance were agreed upon (1778), and a government called the United States of America was formed. In this confederation the States were equal in power, each having only one vote. There was no Presi- dent, the duties of that officer being performed by committees of Congress; and Congress had no power except what was granted it by the States in the articles of confederation. In all other things the States claimed to be independent of each other. The Federal government — that is, the government of the whole body together — was thus very weak, and even during the War of the Revolution the tie which bound the States seemed almost ready to break asunder. After the Avar it was still worse. The United States had no credit at home or abroad, and foreign nations refused to make treaties with them for fear they would fall to pieces into several states, and be unable to pay the debts or do other things they might agree to do as one people. Wash- ington saw how feeble the new government was, and said: " We are one nation to-day and thirteen to-morrow. Who will treat with us on these terms?" And this soon became so evident to all that it was decided that some change must be made. Finally 1787.] THE CONSTITUTION AND THE UNION. 5 (1787) a convention was called to meet in Philadelphia to make needed changes in the government, so as to make the States keep together and thus form a strong nation. The difficulties with which the convention had to deal were very great. The different States had different interests, as has been shown before: some depended on trade, some on agriculture, some on slave and some on free labor; and some were large, while others were small. The laws and the ways of voting differed, too, in almost all the States. The principal men of the different States had different opinions in regard to the kind of government needed for the good of all. Some wished to make the Federal gov- ernment so strong as to do away entirely with the sovereign power — that is, the power to rule — of the State governments, while others were unwilling to give any power to the Federal government which would tend to weaken the State governments. There were also some important sectional or local questions — that is, questions affecting some parts of the country and not others — which had to be settled. The principal of these were the question of slavery and the making of rules for commerce. The extreme Southern States were in favor of having commerce free, but wanted slavery, while the Eastern States, which owned many ships, wanted such navigation laws passed as would keep out foreign ships, and thus enable them to carry on all the commerce. The Middle States favored neither slavery nor navigation laws. The Eastern States were also largely inter- ested in the slave-trade, and when the Southern States asked to have the slave-trade continued, they agreed to vote that it should not be prohibited until 1808 on condition that the Southern States should vote navigation laws for their benefit. Thus New England, for the sake of gain, joined with the extreme Southern States in defence of slavery, while Virginia and Delaware voted with the Middle States against it. At last the difficulties were settled, and in September, 1787, was completed the Constitution, which, excepting a few changes since made, is the one we now live under. Neither the North- ern nor the Southern States were wholly pleased with it, for the views of neither had prevailed; each had had to yield in some things, so that the Constitution was founded on a compromise. It was accepted only because it was believed to be the best that could be made under the circumstances. 6 EARLY DIFFERENCES. [1787-'90. It was decided that if nine of the thirteen States should accept the Constitution it should go into force and become the law of the land. It was finally adopted by all the States in the following order : Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Virginia, New York, North Carolina, Khode Island. But it was not accepted by all at once. The first three States ratified — that is, agreed to — the Constitution in the same year that it was made (1787); the next eight States during the next year (1788); but North Carolina did not ratify until 1789, and Rhode Island until 1790. So, although the treaty of peace with Great Britain had been signed in 1783, it was not until 1790 that all the States joined the Union, thus showing that there was a considerable differ- ence of opinion in regard to it. Even after the Constitu- tion had been adopted by all the States, disputes arose as to its real meaning — that is, as to the amount of power which it gave to the Federal Govern- ment; and out of this question grew two great political par- ties, called at first Federal- ists and Anti-Federalists. The Federalists claimed that the States in adopting the Constitution had given up all their sovereign rights, or rights of ruling, to the Federal or general government, and that the union of States thus formed Avas a nation, and not merely a league of States — that is, a body of States bound by an agreement to hold together as long as they pleased. The Anti-Federalists, or Democratic- Republicans, as they called themselves, claimed that the Federal Government had not succeeded to all the sovereign rights of the States, but only to such powers as were expressly granted to it by the Constitution; and that the union formed under the Constitution was only a league between States and not a nation. The extreme men of each party tried to stretch the meaning of the Constitution to suit their own views, the Federalists Alexander Hamilton. 1790-'93.] FEDERALISTS AND REPUBLICANS. seeking to strengthen the central government at the expense of the States, and the Democratic-Republicans trying to restrict the central government so as to give the States as much power as possible. The Democratic-Republicans, therefore, are some- times called the State Rights party. It is important to understand the difference between the two parties, becaase, though they have sometimes changed their name and their form, they have remained essentially the same throughout our whole history. The Federalists and their suc- cessors, who have sometimes borne one name and sometimes another, have held that the Constitution is not to be un- derstood strictly, but loosely and broadly, so as to give the Federal government increased power in all matters of nation- al importance — that is, in all things affecting the general good of the States. The Dem- ocratic-Republican or Demo- cratic party, as it soon came to be called, on the contrary have always held that the Con- stitution is to be understood strictly according to its lan- guage, and that the Federal Government has under it only such rights or powers as are expressly specified in it. The Federal Party in the begin- ning of the government was led by Alexander Hamilton of New York, and, though there were some of both parties in all the States, most of its supporters belonged in the North- ern and Eastern States, where the people lived chiefly by trade. The Republican Party was led, in the beginning, by Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, and most of its strength was in the South- ern States, where the people lived principally by planting. Washington, though a Southerner and a planter, favored the Federal Party, but did not join it openly; he took a neutral or middle position, and this is the reason why men of all parties put so much trust in him. When he became President he made up his cabinet of men of both parties, and it was largely through his influence in keeping down the passions of ex- Thomas Jefferson. 8 EARLY DIFFERENCES. [1793-98. treme men of both sides that the new government became a success. Daring Washington's presidency took place the great revo- lution in France, by which the royal government was overthrown and a republic set up in its stead. As France had been our ally in our Revolution and had aided us in winning our indepen- dence from Great Britain, there was a very strong sympathy felt in the United States for her people, and when she declared war (1793) against Great Britain and Holland, many thought that the United States ought to side with her against their old enemy. This ground was taken openly by the Democratic-Republicans, while the Federalists, who admired England, believed that the government ought to remain neutral — that is, should take neither side — in the struggle. Washington favored neutrality and friendship with England, and signed a treaty with that country which was much criticised. Washington had received the votes of both parties in both of the elections in which he had been chosen President, but during his second administration party feeling was so bitter that he was accused by the extreme Republicans of being an enemy to his country, of usurping powers which did not be- long to him, and even of treason. When he declined to be a candidate for a third term, the two parties had a hard struggle for power. The French Republic took great interest in this election, and the French Minister even went so far as to issue an address to the American people threatening that if the Re- publicans were not successful, France would have no further intercourse with the United States. But notwithstanding this the Federalists wou, and elected for President John Adams of Massachusetts. Party spirit at that time ran so high that the country seemed to be divided into two bitter factions — the friends of France and the friends of England; a foreign traveller then visiting the United States said there seemed to be in America many English and many French, but few Americans. The troubles with France went on increasing, and President Adams made a last effort to secure peace by sending three envoys there to try to arrange matters. The French govern- ment would not receive them, but finally hinted that a payment of money to France would end the trouble. Mr. Pinckney, of South Carolina, one of the envoys, answered indignantly, " Mil- 1798.] ALIEN AND SEDITION LA WS. 9 lions for defence, not one cent for tribute." The envoys were then ordered to leave France, and it looked as i'f there would be war between the two countries. The French captured our ships on the high-seas, and there were some fights between French and American men-of-war; but Napoleon Bonaparte soon got into power, and made peace with the United States. During these troubles with France the Federalists had grad- ually grown in power, and the watchword, "Millions for defence, not one cent for tribute," had become very popular. They began to think that the government belonged to them, and that the people would not object to any of their acts. But they soon found out their mistake. Among the laws passed during President Adams's administration were two called the "Alien Law" and the "Sedition Law." The Alien Law empowered the President to arrest and send out of the United States any alien whom he might think dangerous to the peace and liberties of the country; and the Sedi-tion Law imposed a heavy fine and imprisonment on any persons who should con- spire against the government, or should publish any false or malicious writing against the Government, Congress, or Presi- dent of the United States. The Federalists claimed that these laws were proper under the circumstances; that the Alien Law was made necessary by the acts of foreigners in this country, who had tried to stir up the passions of the people against their own government, and the Sedition Law was needed to ciu*b the publication of malicious slanders against the President and Congress. The Republicans, 0:1 the contrary, claimed that they were meant to injure them as a party, and that they were contrary to the Constitution, which declares that Congress shall make no law "abridging the freedom of speech or of the press." As both Houses of Congress were then controlled by the Federalists, the Republicans tried to get the State Legisla- tures to protest against these unpopular laws, which, if uncon- stitutional, were against the rights of the States; and the States of Virginia and Kentucky, which had been settled largely from Virginia, both passed resolutions asserting the rights of the States. As these afterward became very famous, and are really the beginning of what led in the end to secession, we must state briefly what they were. The Virginia Resolutions, which were drawn up by James 10 EARLY DIFFERENCES. [1798-1814. Madison, and passed in 1798, declared that the Constitution was a compact by which the States had given up only a part of their powers; that whenever the Federal Government tried to go beyond the authority given it by the States, it was the duty of the States to interfere and to maintain their rights; that the Alien and Sedition Laws were a usurpation by the Federal Gov- ernment of powers not given to it; and that the State of Vir- ginia declared those laws unconstitutional and asked the other States to join her in that declaration. The other States did not reply favorably, and Virginia passed the resolutions again the next year. The Kentucky Resolutions, which were drawn up by Thomas Jefferson, were nearly the same as those of Virginia. They received no more attention than the others, and the next year (1799) Kentucky passed them again, and declared in addition that a State had the right to nullify and declare void any Act of Congress which it might consider unconstitutional. We shall see by and by how this last declaration, which was further than Jefferson intended to go, was used afterward by the nullifiers and secessionists. The Alien and Sedition Laws and other unpopular party acts brought the Federalists into disrepute, and at the next election Thomas Jefferson was chosen President, and the Dem- ocratic-Republicans came into power; and from that time (1801) onward until the outbreak of the Civil War, with the exception of a few years, they ruled the country. It will be remembered that the Republicans favored France, while the Federalists liked England better. There had been much trouble with Great Britain during Jefferson's Presidency, and in 1812, when James Madison was President, war was declared against that nation. This was strongly opposed by New England, where the Feder- alists were still in power, and the Governors of Massachusetts and of Connecticut refused to allow their militia to leave their States, claiming that the Federal Government had no right, under the Constitution, to call them out except to repel actual invasion. As the war went on there was much distress in the New England States on account of the stopping of their trade, and the discontent went so far that threats of secession were made by prominent Federalists. In 1814 a convention of dele- gates from Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, who 18l4-'20.] SLAVE STATES AND FREE STATER. H were opposed to the acts of the government, met in Hartford, Connecticut, and discussed, it is said, the question of secession; but it is not now believed that its members had any treasonable designs. The meeting, however, which is known as the Hart- ford Convention, made a great stir at the time, and many thought it was the plan of New England to form a new king- dom with the Duke of Kent as its sovereign. It brought the Federal party into disrepute, and after the war the name Feder- alist gradually fell into disuse. The United States continued to grow and to prosper. When the Constitution was adopted the population of the thirteen original States was less than three millions. In 1820 this had increased to nearly ten millions (9,638,453). Many people meanwhile had gone from the seaboard to what was then the far West, and new States and Territories had been formed. The new States which had been admitted into the Union were, in the order of their admission, Kentucky, Vermont, Tennes- see, Ohio, Louisiana, Indiana, Mississippi, Illinois, and Alabama, so that in 1820 the whole number was twenty-two. It will be seen that in these admissions a free State was taken in after each slave State — that is, a State where it was not lawful to hold slaves, after each State where slaveholding was lawful. Thus, Kentucky was a slave State and Vermont a free State, Tennessee a slave State and Ohio a free State, and so on through the list. The balance of power was thus kept even, and so much good feeling existed between the two great divisions of the country that party divisions almost disappeared. The same differences of opinion existed, but the country had done so well under President Monroe, who succeeded President Madison, that there was little opposition to him and his administration. But the good feeling soon came to an end. In 1819 Mis- souri asked to be admitted as a State. The Southern members of Congress wanted it admitted as a slave State, but the North- ern members opposed this, and thus the great cpiestion of slavery came up. Slavery had once been common in all the colonies, as has been shown before; but in the Northern colo- nies it had existed only in a mild form, and as slave labor proved unprofitable it was soon abolished in all the States north of Maryland. In the Southern States, on the contrary, it had be- come the settled system of labor; the invention of the cotton- 12 EARLY DIFFERENCES. [1820-27. gin (1793) had made it very profitable, and the Southerners had come to look upon slavery as an institution to be defended. They saw that if more free States than slave States were ad- mitted, that the States not holding slaves would soon get mot* political power than the States holding them, and would makja laws unfavorable to slaves. They therefore struggled hard to have Missouri admitted as a slave State, but the North opposed the bill and it was defeated. During the next Congress Mis- souri again asked to be admitted as a State, and Maine, which was then a part of Massachusetts, made the same request. After a hard struggle both were admitted, Maine as a free State and Missouri as a slave State; it was also agreed that slavery should be forever prohibited in all other territory of the United States north of 36° 30' north latitude, this being the southern boundary line of Missouri. All States formed in ter- ritory south of that line might have slavery or not, as they preferred. This bargain, which is called the Missouri Com- promise of 1820, was supposed at the time to have settled the question of slavery, and other questions became after that of more importance. In the next Presidential election all the candidates called themselves Republicans, and it was really a personal and not a party election. But the Republican party had gradually divided into two wings, one of which still kept to the old prin- ciples of the party and believed in following the Constitution strictly or in doing only things it expressly permitted, while the other took the loose or broad view of the Constitution, as it is called — that is, they believed the government at Washington had a right to do almost everything that the Constitution did not prohibit, much the same as the Federal party had done. John Q.uincy Adams was chosen President by the latter wing, which soon became known as the National Republican party, while the other wing took the name of Democratic party. Under the administration of President Adams a new trouble arose between the North and South — the question of the tariff. A tariff is a list of rates or duties to be paid on goods brought from a foreign country. The duties, or moneys paid on the goods, are collected at custom-houses established by the government at the ports of entry, or ports into which foreign vessels are allowed to enter, and go toward paying the expenses 1828.] FREE TRADE OR PROTECTION. 13 of the government. There have always been differences of opinion about a tariff. Some people believe in free trade — that is, in having no tariff or custom-houses at all, but in making trade almost entirely free; while others believe in protection — that is, they think that foreign goods should be made to j3ay high duties, in order to keep them out of the country, so that native manufacturers can make everything and charge what they please. In the beginning the Northern States had favored free trade, because they thought that the shipping business, then their principal source of wealth, would gain by it; while the Southern States had favored protection, because they thought that if the Northern States could be prevented from buy- ing foreign goods they would be forced to go to manufactur- ing, and that this would make a fine market for Southern cotton. The Northern States resisted, but the Southern States succeeded in having the law passed, and the Northern States began to manufacture cotton. After a while the New England manufacturers found out that it was to their interest John c - Calhoun. to keep out foreign goods too, while the Southern States dis- covered that the tariff was doing them an injury by keeping out cheap foreign goods and obliging them to buy at higher prices of Northern manufacturers. Thus it came about that the two sides changed their views on this question, and the Southern States came to favor free trade, while the Northern States favored protection. In the days of the rule of Great Britain the Southern Col- onies had been well off, because their tobacco and other crops sold for high prices, while the Northern Colonies, where farm- ing did not pay, were poor, but in fifty years after the Declara- tion of Independence they had changed positions — the North had gained wealth and her towns had grown into large cities, while the South had lost her prosperity and her cities had re- mained stationary or had decayed. The protection which at 14 EARLY DIFFERENCES. [1828-'33. first had been forced on I\ T ew England had partly brought about this change, and when (1828) the Protectionists succeeded in getting Congress to pass a still more strict tariff law much ill- feeling was caused in the South, and the people cried out that the North was getting rich at their expense. In the election of the same year (1828) the Democrats were successful, and General Andrew Jackson of Tennessee, was chosen President, and John C. Calhoun, of South Carolina, Vice- President. Although both were Southerners, and both belonged to the same party, Mr. Calhoun was much more extreme in his views than General Jackson. He was a very able man, pure in his private life, and strongly devoted to what he considered the true interests of his State, which he believed had certain sovereign rights which had never been given up to the Union. Though he had fa- vored the tariff in 1816, he became strongly opposed to it when he saw that it was injur- ing his State. When the tariff law of 1828 was passed, he brought forward the doctrine of nullification — that is, the right of a State to nullify or make null and of no force, within its limits, any act of Congress which it might consider unconstitutional. This, it will be remembered, is the same ground taken in the Kentucky Resolutions of 1799. During the next session of Congress this doctrine was declared by Robert Young Hayne, Senator from South Carolina, who made a very able speech in defence of it. Daniel Webster, then Sena- tor from Massachusetts, made in reply the most celebrated speech of his life. He denied that any State or States have the right of nullification or can interfere in any way with a law of the United States; that the laws of Congress are the supreme law of the land, and higher, of course, than the law of any State. This speech of Mr. Webster's was more read through- out the country than any other speech ever made before it, and it was generally thought, excepting among the defenders Daniel Webster. 1832.] NULLIFICA TION. 15 of extreme State Rights, to have killed forever the doctrine that a State has the right to nullify a law of the United States. President Jackson did not believe in a high tariff, and he was ready to aid South Carolina in any legal way to secure a change in the tariff laws; but while they were the laws he determined that they should be obeyed, and he let it be known that he would put down any attempt at disunion. There had long been ill-feeling between him and Mr. Calhoun, and it soon grew to an open quarrel. At a dinner given in Washington in honor of Jefferson's birthday some of the toasts seeming to the President to suggest nullification, he arose and gave as a toast, "Our Federal Union: it must be preserved." As soon as it had been drunk, Vice-President Calhoun stood up and gave another to "Liberty, dearer than the Union." In 1832 a new tariff bill was passed by which the high duties laid on foreign goods by the tariff of 1828 were lessened, but Mr. Calhoun and his follow- ers were still dissatisfied, and claimed that Congress had no right to lay duties for protection — that is, to favor home manu- factures. Acting under his ad- vice, the Legislature of South Carolina determined to assert what was believed to be the right of the State to nullify the law. A convention was held at Co- lumbia (1832), and the tariffs of 1828 and 1832 were declared to be "null, void, and no law, nor binding upon South Caro- lina, her officers and citizens." The other States were warned that any attempt at force would be followed by the secession of South Carolina from the Union. The people of the State began to make preparations for resistance, and it looked as if civil war must follow. But President Jackson loved the Union as strongly as Calhoun loved his own State. He saw that the act of South Carolina meant disunion. "If this thing goes on," he said, "our country will be like a bag of meal with both ends open. Pick it up in the middle or endwise, and it will Andrew Jackson. 16 EARLY DIFFERENCES. [1833. run out. I must tie the bag and save the country." And he swore, "By the Eternal, the Union must and shall be pre- served!" He at once issued a proclamation declaring that nulli- fication was treason, and that he would carry out the laws even with force, if necessary. He sent ships of war to Charleston, and guarded the custom-houses with soldiers; and by this prompt action probably saved the country from civil war. The next year (1833) Congress passed a new tariff bill, which provided that the duties on foreign goods should be lowered gradually until 1842, after which year the duties on all goods brought into the United States were to be twenty per cent — that is, twenty cents on every dollar of value. This bill, which was brought forward by Henry Clay, of Kentucky, is called the Compromise Tariff of 1833. The Nullifiers claimed it as a triumph for their principles, and said that they had never in- tended any armed resistance to the United States, but had only threatened it in order to gain their ends. However this may have been, the great mass of the people, though many felt that South Carolina had some grievances, were opposed to her man- ner of asserting her rights, and upheld General Jackson, and several of the States passed resolutions condemning nullifica- tion. Still, there were many, especially in the Southern States, who believed that the people of South Carolina had right on their side, and this belief continued to influence their action until it finally ended in secession. CHAPTER II. SLAVERY. Slavery and Emancipation.— John Randolph's Opinion.— Benjamin Lund y.— William Lloyd Garrison.— The Anti-Slavery Society.— The Abolitionists.— Change of Opinion in the South.— Texas.— The Whig Party.— The Liberty Party.— War with Mexico.— The Wilmot Proviso.— Slave States and Free States.— The Free-Soil Party.— Henry Clay and the Compromises of 185U.— The Fugitive Slave Law.— Personal Liberty Laws.— The Kansas and Nebraska Bill.— Squatter Sovereignty.— Kansas a Battle Ground.— Assault upon Senator Sumner.— The Republican Party.— The Dred Scott Case.— Filibustering Expeditions.— John Brown's Fiaid.— Capture of Harper's Ferry. —John Brown's Execution.— His Soul is Marching on. IN" the early days the feeling in regard to slavery was much the same in the North and in the South, it being looked upon by the best men in both parts as an evil which in time would be done away with. This was the opinion of Washing- ton, Jefferson, Madison, and other chief men of the South, as well as of Franklin, Hamilton, and Jay in the North. The question of emancipation, or the freeing of the slaves, had been discussed in several of the Southern States, and societies in favor of this had been formed at an early date in Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware. So strong was the feeling against it in Virginia that Mr. Randolph said if the slave did not soon run away from the master, the master would run away from the slave. Indeed, scarcely anj^body in the Border States then defended slavery, and if it had not been for the unwise assaults made upon it by people in the Free States, it is probable that the most northerly Slave States would have soon freed their slaves. But in South Carolina and Georgia it was different. Slave labor was more profitable in those States, and their people had even refused to join the Union unless they could bring from Africa all the slaves they wanted; and we have seen in the last chapter how, by a bargain with the New England States, they had secured the slave trade until 1808. It had generally been acknowledged from the beginning in the Free States that slavery was a cpiestion which the people of 18 SLAVERY. [182l-'37. each State had a right to settle for themselves, but a feeling had gradually grown up that slavery was not consistent with Christianity. When James Monroe was President (1821), a young Quaker named Benjamin Lundy began to publish in Ohio an anti-slavery periodical, which was for a time the only one of the kind in the United States. It did not attract much attention, and was even printed for a time in Tennessee, and afterward in Baltimore. In 1828 Lundy made the acquaintance of a printer named William Lloyd Garrison, who became his assistant editor. Garrison, not satisfied with.Lundy's scheme — which was to free the blacks gradually — began in Boston, in 1831, a weekly paper named " The Liberator," in which he urged immediate emancipation. This paper, the last number of which was published in December, 1865, after slavery had been abol- ished, was so bold in its denunciation of slavery that Mr. Gar- rison was threatened with assassination, and several times nar- rowly escaped mob violence. But his paper gradually grew in influence and in circulation, and as it did so aroused more and more a bitter feeling between the Garrisonians, as his followers were called, and those who were opposed to his teachings. About this time (1833) there was formed in Philadelphia an association called the American Anti-Slavery Society, with Arthur Tappan for its President. It declared that slavery was a sin which no human constitution could protect, and that there was a higher law (meaning the law of God) than the Con- stitution, which men ought to obey before any human laws. The Society set about stirring up agitation on the subject by printing books, pamphlets, and papers, and sending them to all parts of the country. Branches of the Society were formed in other States, and many petitions for the abolition of slavery were sent to Congress. But as Congress had no right to act in the matter, no attention was paid to these petitions, and so strong was the feeling against the Abolitionists, as they came to be called, that President Jackson recommended in a message to Congress that their pamphlets and papers should not be allowed to pass through the United States mails. In Northern cities their meetings were broken up, their printing-offices de- stroyed, and many of their prominent men were mobbed, and at Alton, Illinois, one person named Lovejoy was killed. But this persecution only made the Abolitionists more persistent, 1833-'35.] THE ABOLITIONISTS. 19 and they grew in strength and in numbers, and soon became a political power in the Northern States. The Southern people began to look upon the acts of the Abolitionists as an unjustifiable interference with their rights. Slavery, they said, was an institution solely under the control of the States in which it existed, and with which the people of other States had no right to meddle. If it was wicked to hold slaves, they alone were responsible for the sin, and not the peo- ple of the Free States. But the Abolitionists replied that it was sinful to live under a government which permitted slavery, and that if slavery could not be abolisbed it was the duty of the Free States to separate from the guilty Slave States; and some of them even went so far as to petition Congress for a dissolution of the Union. These acts of the Abolitionists brought about a great change in public opinion in the South in regard to slavery; the Border States gave up their ideas of gradual emancipation, and people began to praise slavery as a great good rather than an evil. Those who upheld this view gradually grew in strength, and before long there was a party in the South as strongly in favor of slavery as the Abolitionists of the North were against it. It was argued that slavery was a Bible institution, and that it was a blessing to both master and slave; that the people of the Southern States were the guardians of the slaves, who were a helpless race, unfit for taking care of themselves, and no greater calamity could befall the blacks than the loss of the protection which they enjoyed under the patriarchal system of slavery; that the Abolitionists were misguided fanatics, and the worst foes of the negroes, whose character fitted them for dependence and servitude rather than for freedom; and that slavery, instead of being abolished, ought to be extended so that other parts of the country might enjoy its benefits. Many good people in the Northern States sympathized with the South in the defence of its domestic institutions, and op- posed by all means in their power any agitation of the subject. Still there was a strong feeling that, although slavery should not be interfered with in the States where it already existed, its extension should be resisted by all rightful means. This feel- ing soon showed itself when the republic of Texas asked to be admitted into the Union. 20 SLAVERY. [1835-'45. Iii 1835 the people of Texas rose in rebellion against Mex- ico., to which it then belonged. Many of the inhabitants of Texas were people from the Southern States, who had been slave-holders at home; but as slavery had been abolished by Mexico in 1824, they had no right to keep slaves there. As soon, however, as they had won their independence from Mexico, they established slavery in Texas and asked to be annexed to the United States. The people of the Southern States were very anxious for the admission of Texas as a State, for its soil and climate were well fitted for slave labor. But the ablest men in the Northern States were ojrposed to its admission because it would give more political power to the South and would bring on a war with Mexico, and for a time they were successful in keeping Texas out of the Union. The National Eepublicans had about this time taken the name of Whigs, and in the election of 1839 they succeeded in electing William Henry Harrison, of Ohio, for President over Martin Van Buren, who had then served one term as President; John Tyler, of Virginia, was at the same time elected Vice- President. In this election the Abolitionists appeared for the first time as a party, under the name of the Liberty Party; but they polled less than eight thousand votes (7,609) in all the States. President Harrison died in a month after his inauguration, and Vice-President Tyler thus became President. Mr. Tyler had been elected as a Whig, but he was really a believer in a strict construction of the Constitution — that is, he thought that the central government had only such powers as were given it by the Constitution, and he soon broke with his party. The Southerners, by no means discouraged at their failure to get Texas into the Union, again urged its admission, and Mr. Tyler favored it in his message to Congress (1843). Great opposition was made to it by the Free State members, but the Southerners finally prevailed and Texas came into the Union as a slave State. In the next election the Democrats were successful, and James K. Polk, of Tennessee, was elected President over Henry Clay, of Kentucky, the Whig candidate. In this election the Abolition Party polled 62,300 votes. The annexation of Texas brought on a war with Mexico, as had been foreseen, but our 1845-48.] SLAVE STATES AND FREE STATES. 21 arms were successful, and Mexico was obliged to make a treaty of peace (1848) by which she gave up all claims to Texas. She also agreed to give up her right to California and New Mexico on payment of a sum of $15,000,000. Thus the territory of the United States was extended to the Pacific Ocean. This war was also very important from a military point of view, for in it most of the principal officers who fought in the Civil War, both on the Northern and the Southern side, received their education as soldiers. The addition of so much territory to the United States made both parties desire to possess it, the Southerners wanting to make more slave States out of it, and the Northerners more free States. The contest over it began in 1846, before the land had been acquired. In that year Daniel Wilmot, of Pennsyl- vania, offered a motion in the House of Representatives that slavery should never exist in any part of the said territory. This, which is commonly called the Wilmot Proviso, passed the House by the votes of Whigs and Northern Democrats, but was not acted on in the Senate. It came up again in the next Con- gress and was discussed for a long time and finally defeated; but it was the cause of the rise of a new political party called the Free-Soil Party, which took the place of the Liberty Party, and which, like it, was in opposition to slavery. The States which had been admitted into the Union since the Missouri Compromise (1820) were Arkansas, Michigan, Florida, Iowa, Texas, and Wisconsin, three of which were slave States and three free States. This made the whole number of States then in the Union thirty, fifteen of which were free and fifteen slave States. In 1848, Oregon was organized as a Ter- ritory without slavery. As it would be admitted in time as a free State, which would destroy the balance of power — that is, the equality in the number of slave and of free States — the Southerners were all the more anxious to have California and New Mexico admitted as Territories with slavery, but all their efforts failed. The question of slavery had now grown to be the most im- portant one before the country. It must be thoroughly under- stood that although the people were nominally divided into two great political parties, called Democrats and Whigs, they were not really divided against each other on the slavery question. 22 SLAVERY. [1848-'50. There were pro-slavery men and anti-slavery men in each party, and neither party dared to take sides on the question. In 1848 the Democrats nominated for President Lewis Cass, of Michigan, and the Whigs nominated Zachary Taylor, of Lou- isiana. In the Democratic convention a resolution that Congress had no power to interfere with slavery in either the States or Territories was ^oted down by a large majority; and in the election many Democrats opposed to the extension of slavery in the Territories withdrew from the Democratic party and went over to the Free-Soil party, whose platform declared that there should be no more slave States and no more slave Territories. ^n the South, too, many Democrats voted with the Whigs, preferring Taylor, a slave-holder, to Cass, who lived in a free State. Thus it happened that the Free- Soil or Abolition vote increased in this election to nearly three hundred thousand (291,263)votes, and that the Whigs were success- ful in electing their candidate. In the next Congress, the Northern Democrats, believing that they had been betrayed by the Southern Democrats, voted against slavery. But though the party lost some in this way, it gained many pro-slavery Whigs, so that the Democratic party became stronger and more pro-slavery than before. The Whigs gained nothing, and the party gradually went down from that time. The leading question in this Congress was the providing of governments for the territory won from Mexico, the point of dispute being slavery or no slavery. At last (1850) Mr. Clay introduced a bill which proposed a friendly settlement of the whole slavery question. His bill was made up of several differ- ent points, and was therefore called the Omnibus Bill (Latin, omnibus, for all). The principal points in it were the admis- sion of California, which had made a constitution prohibiting slavery, as a State; the organization of the Territories of New Mexico and Utah, leaving the question of slavery to be settled by the people of those Territories (this was called at the time Squat- Henry Clay. 1850-'52.j COMPROMISE OF 1850. 23 ter or Popular Sovereignty); the passage of a Fugitive Slave Law, for the capture and return to their masters of slaves escap- ing into free States; and the abolition of the slave trade in the District of Columbia. This bill was opposed by the Whigs and the Free-Soilers, who thought it gave up more territory to the slave power, and by the Southern Democrats, who claimed that any one had a right, under the Constitution, to hold his slaves, like other property, wherever he chose to settle. In the discussion upon it, Mr. Calhoun said that the Union was in great danger, because the South was much discontented at the increasing agi- tation over the slavery question at the North and in Congress, and at the destroying of the equilibrium, or equality, in num- ber, between the slave and free States. Mr. Webster and Mr. Clay, both of whom had taken a moderate position in the great disputes on the slavery question, advocated it, and the bill was finally passed, though not in precisely the same form as Mr. Clay had introduced it. The Omnibus Bill, generally known as the Compromise of 1850, was accepted by everybody, except- ing the extreme men on both sides, as a satisfactory compro- mise, which, for the time, saved the country from disunion and civil war, and it was generally looked upon as a final settlement of the slavery question. But there were many people in the Northern States who believed the Fugitive Slave Law to be unconstitutional, and, although it had become the law of the land, determined not to obey it, thus taking the law into their own hands, as the Nullifiers of South Carolina had tried to do. Attempts made to arrest fugitive slaves in Northern cities led to riots, and in several cases soldiers had to be called out to help enforce the law. In some of the Northern States laws called Personal Liberty Laws were passed by the legislatures, to secure a trial by jury of persons arrested under the Fugitive Slave Law, so as to protect free negroes who might be falsely claimed to be slaves. In the next Presidential election (1852) both the Democrats and the Whigs agreed to accept the Compromise of 1850 (in- cluding the Fugitive Slave Law) as a final settlement of the slavery question, and promised to resist all attempts to renew the agitation, thus taking very nearly the same ground. The Free-Soilers or Free Democrats, as they called themselves, de- clared slavery to be a sin against God and a crime against man, 24 SLAVERY. [1852-'54, and denounced the Compromise of 1850 and the two parties that upheld it. The Democrats were successful, electing Frank- lin Pierce, of New Hampshire, President, over the Whig can- didate, Winfield Scott, of Virginia. This defeat was the end of the Whig party. The Free-Soil candidate, John P. Hale, of New Hampshire, received only 156,149 votes, or but a little more than three fifths as many as the party had cast in the pre- ceding election. It was now hoped by all good citizens that the vexed slavery question was at last at rest, but it was destined to come up again soon in a new and still more exciting form. In 1854 the Kansas-Nebraska Bill was brought before Congress. It pro- vided for the organization of two new Territories, one directly west of Missouri, to be called Kansas, and the other north of Kansas and west of Iowa, to be called Nebraska. Both of these are north of the line of 36° 30', and were therefore, according to the Missouri Compromise of 1820, to be forever free terri- tory. But this bill expressly declared that Congress had no power, under the Constitution, to interfere with the domestic relations of any of the States, and that the Missouri Compro- mise of 1820, being inconsistent with this principle, was void and of no effect, and entirely done away with by the Compro- mise of 1850. The advocates of slavery therefore demanded that the principles of Squatter or Popular Sovereignty should prevail — that is, that the people of each Territory should have the right to decide the question of slavery for themselves. There was much opposition to the passage of the bill, and many petitions against it were sent to Congress from the free States, but it was finally passed, and became a law. The passage of this bill was a gain for the side of slavery, for it permitted the extension of slavery even in those Territories north of the line of 36° 30', where, under the Missouri Com- promise, it had been expressly forbidden. The South now de- termined to take advantage of this, and to make Kansas a slave State. The North was equally determined to make it a free State. Both parties sent many emigrants into the Territory, and the result was that Kansas became a kind of battle-ground between the friends and the opponents of slavery. For a time the pro-slavery men had the best of it, for Missouri, being a slave State, prevented Free-State settlers from crossing its ter- l854->56.] KANSAS TROUBLES. £§ ritojy, and sent many young men into Kansas to aid their friends or to vote in elections. This stirred up the people of the North, emigration societies were formed, and large num- bers of Free-State men poured into Kansas through Nebraska and Iowa. Most of these went to build up homes in the Terri- tory, but a large part of those from the South did not go to settle permanently. Many Missourians, called Border Ruffians by the Free-State men, went over the border only to take part in elections or in the frequent fights between the two parties. The Territory finally became divided into two parts, a pro-slavery part, with Leavenworth for its chief town, and an anti-slavery part, with Topeka and Lawrence for its chief towns. Each party formed a government to suit its own views, and finally the quarrel led to a civil war, which was kept up until near the close of 185G. In this the Free-State towns of Lawrence and Ossawattomie were sacked. Many lives were lost, and many families made poor in the struggle, but in the end the Free-State men pre- vailed. During this struggle the excitement which prevailed in all parts of the country was greatly increased by an assault made on the floor of the United States Senate upon Charles Sumner, Senator from Massachusetts, and a leading Free-State man, by Preston S. Brooks, Representative from South Carolina. Sena- tor Sumner had made come severe remarks about Senator But- ler, of South Carolina, in a speech about slavery, and Brooks, who was a relative of Butler's, went into the Senate Chamber, struck Sumner over the head with a cane, and beat him so badly that he was unable to attend to his duties for several years. A resolution to expel Brooks failed in the House of Representatives because it did not get the necessary two-thirds vote; but Brooks resigned, and was at once re-elected by the people of his district in South Carolina. Though his act was upheld by most of the people of the South, it was condemned by the people of the North as an attack on freedom of speech; and- it aided greatly in stirring up a stronger feeling against slavery. In the next election there was a split in the Whig party, and the Northern Whigs and Free-Soilers, after being called for a time Anti-Nebraska Men, took the name of Republicans, which the Democrats made into Black Republicans on account of their anti-slavery views. In their platform of principles the Repub- 26 SLAVERY. [1856-57. licans declared that the Constitution gives Congress sovereign power over the Territories, that it is its right and duty to pro- hibit slavery in them, and that they were as a party opposed to the repeal of the Missouri Compromise. The Democrats, who had been somewhat divided on the Kansas-Nebraska question, were again united, and in their platform they approved of the Kansas-Nebraska Bill and of the principle of Squatter Sover- eignty. They were successful in the election, and Buchanan and Breckinridge became President and Vice-President. Immediately after President Buchanan's inauguration the Supreme Court of the United States gave its decision in the Dred Scott case. Dred Scott was a negro slave in Missouri, who had been taken by his master into the free State of Illinois and afterward into Minnesota, then (1838) a part of the terri- tory in which slavery was pro- hibited by the Missouri Com- promise of 1820. When carried back to Missouri he had been whipped for some offence, and he then sued his master for damages, claiming that his resi- dence in Illinois and Minnesota had made him a free man. His master denied that he had any right to sue him, because he was a slave and therefore not a citizen. Dred Scott won his case in the court in Missouri, but his master appealed it and in time it came before the Supreme Court at Washington. This court decided against Dred Scott. It declared: 1. That Dred Scott was a slave and not a citizen of Missouri; 2. That his residence in Minnesota did not make him free, because the Missouri Compromise Act of 1820 was uncon- stitutional and void, and could not keep a slave-owner from settling in any Territory with his property; 3. That Congress had no more right to prohibit the carrying of slaves into any State or Territory than it had to prohibit the carrying of any other property, for slaves were property under the Constitution. It is important to understand this decision, because it James Buchanan. 1857-59.] DRED SCOTT CASE. 27 resulted in a division of the Democratic Party, and finally led to the great Civil War, By the Missouri Compromise slavery had been prohibited in a part of the territory of the United States, the question being left open in the remaining part. By the Compromise of 1850 the Missouri Compromise had been done away with, and all the territory of the United States had been thrown open to slavery, subject to the principle of Squatter or Popular Sovereignty. But the Dred Scott decision went still further, and declared the right of slave-owners to carry their property (slaves) into any State or Territory of the United. States. Though not liking this decision of the Supreme Court, the greater part of the Northern people were willing to obey it as the law of the land; but there were many who were as un- willing to receive it as law as they had been to acknowledge the Fugitive Slave Law. Even a large part of the Democratic party in the North, who had heretofore agreed to nearly all the claims of the South, became discontented at this new claim, and chose to divide the party rather than to give up to it. The pro-slavery leaders had for some time foreseen that the South would be unable to secure as many States as the friends of freedom, and that their political power consequently would soon be gone. Up to 1848, when Wisconsin < ame into the Union, the number of the slave and the free States had been even, there being just fifteen of each, and consequently each section had an equal number of United States Senators. But the admission of California as a free State (1850) had destroyed the equilibrium, and the admission of Minnesota had added one more to the free States, making seventeen free States to fifteen slave States. This made the contest in regard to Kansas all the more bitter, and the pro-slavery men struggled with almost the energy of despair to make it a slave State. Before this time, too, they had made many efforts to secure Cuba from Spain, both by purchase and by filibustering expeditions, with the ob- ject of making slave States of it. Filibustering expeditions were sent also to Central America, in hope of acquiring there territory fitted for slave labor. But these efforts were all in vain, and at last a strong disposition was shown by many lead- ing men in the South to demand the reopening of the slave trade. While the country was agitated by these various questions, 28 SLAVERY. [1859. everybody was astonished to hear that a company of Abolition- ists, under the lead of John Brown, had taken Harper's Ferry, in Virginia. It must be understood that the name Abolitionist was at that time a term of reproach, used only to designate those of extreme views among the opponents of slavery — who believed that slavery was in opposition to the laws of God, and that they were not morally bound to obey any human laws which upheld it. They therefore refused to obey the Fugitive Slave Law, and did all they could to aid fugitive slave , to escape by what was called the Underground Railroad — that is, the secret ways in which slaves were carried through the free States into Canada, where there was no danger of their capture. Some even went into the Southern. States and tried to incite slaves to rise in rebellion against their masters and thus secure their free- dom. The greater part of the Northern people, even of those who were opposed to the further extension of slavery, did not accept the views of the Abolitionists, but believed in obeying the laws, however bad they might be, trusting to secure their change in time. John Brown was one of the most ardent of the Abolitionists, and when the struggle between the pro-slavery and the anti- slavery men began in Kansas, he went there with the express purpose of fighting to make Kansas a free State. He took a prominent part in the struggle, and became a leader of the free-State men against the Border Ruffians, as the Missourians who crossed over to the help of their brethren in Kansas were called. Not content with defending Kansas from their inroads, he carried the war into Missouri, and aided many slaves there to escape from their masters. At last rewards were offered for his arrest by both the Governor of Missouri and the President of the United States, and Brown, finding that his course was not liked by many of the free-State men, left Kansas and went to Canada, taking witli him twelve negroes whom he had freed. In July, 1859, he settled with several of his Kansas companions on a farm near Harper's Ferry, with the intention of stirring up a general insurrection among the Virginia negroes. He probably chose this place because it was the site of one of the largest of the United States arsenals, having in it many thousand rifles, which would enable him to arm all the negroes he might free, and because it was near the mountains, with which he was 1859.] JOHN BROWN'S RAID. 29 familiar, and into which he hoped to escape when he had armed his forces. Brown had not intended to make the attack on Harper's Ferry until October 24, but fearing that the people had begun to suspect his designs, he determined to strike at once. With only twenty-two men, seventeen whites and five blacks, he entered the village Sunday night, October 16, about ten o'clock, and took possession of the Armory buildings, which were guarded by only three watchmen. The houses of many of the principal citizens were then visited, and the whites taken as hostages and the blacks freed. Had Brown then gone into the mountains with what ne- groes he had collected, lie might have escaped, but it is supposed that he ex- pected the negroes of the surrounding country to rise and join him. This did not take place, and by noon of the next day all hope of his getting away _ _ John Brown. was gone. The news of the attack, sent by telegraph, stirred up a wild alarm all over the South, and militia from the neighboring country flocked to Harper's Ferry. Soon after noon of Mon- day, Brown and his party were surrounded, and an attack was made on the Armory. There was a continuous cracking of rifles, the militia having posted themselves where they could shoot at the Armory windows, and Brown and his men defend- ing themselves as well as they could. Several of Brown's men, including his two sons, having been killed or wounded, and the Armory being attacked in the rear as well as in front, he re- treated, with the few men he had left, into the engine-house. When night came, and the firing had ceased, Brown had left only three unwounded white men and a half-dozen negroes who 30 SLAVEBY. [1859. had joined him from the neighborhood. Around them were more than fifteen hundred militia from Virginia and Maryland, and a company of United States marines, with two pieces of cannon, under command of Colonel Robert E. Lee, afterward famous as General Lee, of the Confederate Army. More troops were all the time arriving, for the number of the insurgents had been greatly exaggerated until rumor made them several hundred strong. At seven o'clock the next morning, Tuesday, October 18, the marines burst open the door of the engine-house, using a long ladder as a battering-ram, rushed in amid a few shots, which wounded several of them, and in a few minutes all of the insurgents who were alive were prisoners. The next day Brown, who was badly wounded, and three of his white companions, were taken to Charlestown jail. He was brought to trial, Oc- tober 27, for conspiring with negroes to produce insurrec- tion, for treason against Vir- ginia, and for murder; was found guilty on all the charges, and was hanged at Charlestown, Virginia (now West Virginia), December 2, 1859. During all the time between his capture and his execution Brown exhibited the utmost calmness and firmness, and never complained of his lot nor expressed any sorrow for what he had done. His conduct won the praise of his bitterest enemies, who, though they saw nothing to commend in his foolish at- tempt, could not but admire the coolness and bravery with which he had conducted it. Even Governor Wise, of Virginia, who had gone to Harper's Ferry at the news of the attack, after- ward said in a speech in Eichmond: " Colonel Washington said that Brown was the coolest man he ever saw in defying death and danger. With one son dead by his side, and another shot through, he felt the pulse of his dying son with one hand, held his rifle with the other, and commanded his men with the ut- Henry A. Wise. 1859,] JOHN BROWN'S EXECUTION 31 most composure, encouraging them to be firm and to sell their lives as dearly as possible." When Brown reached the scaffold his bearing was as firm as ever, and he met his death with the same defiant spirit with which he had faced his enemies in the field. Though most peo- ple in the North condemned his raid as the act of a fanatic, time and circumstances, and his gallant bearing in the hour of trial, made him a hero; and thus it happened that during the Civil War his name was used to denote devotion to principle, strength of will, and brave ;ind persistent daring, and that the soldiers of the Union accepted for their marching song, " John Brown's body lies a-mouldering in the grave, But his soul is marching on."* * See Appendix, page 562. King Cotton. CHAPTER III. SECESSION. Division of the Democratic Party.— Stephen A. Douglas.— John C. Breckinridge.— Elec- tion of Lincoln.— The News in South Carolina.— President Buchanan.— The Critten- den Compromise.— Secession of South Carolina.— Scenes in Charleston.— The Tomb of Calhoun.— Secession Bonnets.— Foreign News.— Forts Moultrie and Sumter.— Major Anderson.— Removal to Sumter.— Raising the Flag.— United States Buildings Seized.— Major Anderson and State Rights.— The Star of the West.— Secession of other States.— John a. Dix and the Flag.— The Confederate States.— Jefferson Davis.— Alexander H. Stephens.— The Peace Congress.— Twiggs's Surrender.— Fort Pickens Saved. THE events which led to the raid of John Brown had stirred up the people of all parts of the country on the slavery question, and finally brought about a change in political par- ties. The Democrats split into two parties. In their conven- tion, held in Charleston (1860), the Southern Democrats demanded that the party should accept the Dred Scott decision in full and declare that neither Congress nor the territorial legislatures had a right to prohibit slavery in the Territories. Most of the Northern Democrats, under the lead of Stephen A. Douglas, were unwilling to go so far as this or to give up the doctrine of Popular Sovereignty, and a bitter struggle ensued, in which the Douglas Democrats were finally successful; and the convention adopted a platform declaring that the Demo- cratic party would abide by the decisions of the Supreme Court. The Southern Democrats were not satisfied with this, and most of them left the convention. The remaining members of the convention finally adjourned to Baltimore, where Stephen A. Douglas, of Illinois, was nominated for President. The dele- gates who had left the convention afterward nominated John C. Breckinridge, of Kentucky. Another party, which had begun in 1852 as the Know-Nothing or American party, but which now called itself the Constitutional Union party, nominated John Bell, of Tennessee. In its platform it avoided the slavery cpiestion and declared its principles to be "the Constitution of the Country, the Union of the States, and the Enforcement of the Laws." The Republican party nominated Abraham Lin- coln, of Illinois. In its platform it declared that " the normal I860.] ELECTION OF LINCOLN. 33 condition of all the territory of the United States is that of freedom," and denied the power of Congress or of a territorial legislature to give legal existence to slavery in any Territory of the United States. There were thus four political parties in the field: the Douglas Democrats, who wished to throw the decision of the slavery question on the Supreme Court; the Breckinridge Democrats, who declared that slavery should be carried into the Territories; the Constitutional Union party, who did not meet the question at all, but evaded it; and the Republican party, who declared that slavery should not be carried into the Terri- tories. The Democratic party being thus divided, the Repub- licans were successful in the election, and Abraham Lincoln became President of the United States. Thus the Free-Soil party, which in 1852 had polled only 156,149 votes, had risen in 1856 to 1,341,264 votes, and in 1860 had polled 1,866,352 votes and elected its candidate for President. Lincoln received the electoral votes of every free State excepting New Jersey, where he received four votes and Douglas three votes. Of the slave States, Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee ehose Bell electors, Missouri voted for Douglas, and all the remainder for Breckin- ridge. The men of extreme views in the slave States claimed that the election of Lincoln, though strictly according to the forms of the Constitution, was a purely sectional and not a party tri- umph; that the party which had elected him was the enemy of the South and determined to override it and its institutions, and that there was no longer any safety for the South in the Union. They therefore determined to withdraw from it. South Caro- lina was the first State to act. There had long been dissatisfac- tion in this State, and there were in it more men of extreme views than in any other of the slave-holding States. The news of Lincoln's election was received by these men with cheers and congratulations, because it gave them the opportunity to with- draw from the Union, which they had so ardently wished for. Some of the more moderate men proposed to wait until the other States could be consulted; but the disunionists saw dan- ger in delay, and urged that a bold step taken by South Carolina would at once bring over to their side all the other slave-hold- ing States. The views of these men prevailed, and a State 34 SECESSION. [1860. convention was called to meet December 17, to consider the question of secession. Meanwhile the government at Washington acted as if para- lyzed. President Buchanan had been elected by both Northern and Southern Democrats; his cabinet was made up largely of Southern Democrats, and the greater part of the government offices were filled by friends of the South, who did all in. their power to aid the disunionists and to hinder the government. John B. Floyd, of Virginia, the Secretary of War, had sent to Charleston in 1861. Southern arsenals and forts, where they would easily fall into the hands of the disunionists, more than a hundred thousand stands of small arms and many cannon. Surrounded by such advisers, President Buchanan did not know what to do, and though he took a stand against the right of secession, he de- clared his belief that Congress could not, under the Constitu- tion, make war on a State, and he did not feel that he would be justified in taking means to compel obedience to the laws. He did not even dare to send reinforcements to the forts along the Southern sea-coast, lest such action should cause a conflict with State troops, and bring on a civil war. At last, General Lewis I860.] CHITTENDEN COMPROMISE. 35 Cass, his Secretary of State, resigned because the President refused to send aid to the United States troops holding the forts in Charleston harbor. Thus Mr. Buchanan, sincere in his love for the Union, but too weak to cut loose from party ties and strike a blow for it, as Jackson had done in nullifica- tion times, found himself deserted by his best advisers, and help- lessly allowed events to take their own course, trusting that the remaining few weeks of his administration would be peaceful. In Congress all parties, excepting the disunionists, set to work to find some means of saving the Union, and several plans were proposed. The one which secured most favor was that called the Crittenden Compromise, so called from the name of Secession Hall, Charleston. its proposer, John J. Crittenden, United States Senator from Kentucky. This provided that slavery should be prohibited in all territory north of 36° 30', the old Missouri Compromise line, and should be recognized and never interfered with south of that line. But the Republicans would not accept this, which was directly opposed to their doctrine of free Territories, and those who favored secession did not want any compromise of any kind. Thus all attempts at conciliation failed. The South Caro- lina Senators and other office-holders resigned, and on Decem- ber 20 the State Convention passed an "ordinance to dissolve the union between the State of South Carolina and other States 36 SECESSION. [I860. united with her in the compact entitled the Constitution of the United States of America." At seven o'clock in the evening of that day, the Convention, which had held its meetings in St. Andrew's Hall, Charles- ton, marched in procession to the great hall of the South Caro- lina Institute, afterward called Secession Hall, to sign the Ordinance of Secession. To make this as impressive as possi- ble, the Governor and Legislature of the State and many cler- gymen and other prominent citizens were invited to witness it. On each side of the platform on which the President of the Convention sat was a real palmetto tree, the emblem of South Caro- lina, and behind his chair was hung a painted banner representing the destruction of the Union and the rebuilding of a new Confederacy out of its ruins. At the base of this picture, a small copy of which is given on the next page, is a pile of blocks of stone, some of them broken, each bearing the arms of one of the free States, while rising above it is a beautiful arch bearing the arms of the fifteen slave States. South Carolina forms the key-stone, on which stands Calhoun, leaning against the trunk of a palmetto tree. On his right is a figure of Hope, and on his left one of Faith; and beyond these, on each side, is the figure of an Indian. Under the arch is the palmetto tree with a rattlesnake coiled round its trunk, and some cotton bales and other emblems of commerce guarded by cannon. When all the members had signed the Ordinance of Secession the President arose, and showing it to the people, said, "The Ordinance of Secession has been signed and ratified, and I proclaim the State of South Carolina an independent commonwealth. " The audience greeted the announcement with cheers, and a rush was made for the palmetto trees, every leaf of which was stripped off as a memo- rial of the occasion. Palmetto Tree. i860.] SECESSION SCENES. 37 Secession was welcomed throughout the city by the firing of salutes and the ringing of church bells, and Palmetto flags were hoisted everywhere, while the flag of the Union was nowhere to be seen. A procession of men marched to St. Philip's Banner op the Secession Convention. church-yard, and forming in a circle round the tomb of Cal- houn, swore that they would devote their lives and their property to the cause of independence. Women crowded the 38 SECESSION. [I860. sidewalks, wearing secession bonnets made of black and wbite cotton, decorated with ornaments of palmetto trees and lone stars, and offered their sons for the defence of the new nation, as they proudly called the seceded State. As if South Caro- lina had already taken her place among the nations of the world, the Governor, Mr. Pickens, was authorized to appoint ambassadors and consuls to foreign countries, and to receive such officers from abroad; and the Charleston newspapers pub- lished intelligence from other parts of the United States under the heading of " Foreign News." Secession being accomplished, South Carolina sent several commissioners to Washington to demand the surrender of the forts and other government property in the State. Charleston harbor was then defended by three forts, Fort Moultrie, on Sullivan's Island; Castle Pinckney, on an island in the mouth of Cooper River; and Fort Sumter, on an arti- ficial island in the narrowest part of the harbor. Colonel Gardner, the United States officer in charge of these forts, had under his command only about eighty men, thirteen of whom were musicians. With these he occupied Fort Moul- trie, the nearest fort to the city. He bad done what he could to put this into a state of defence; laborers from Charleston had dug away the sand which had nearly covered the wall toward the sea, and a large number of masons from Baltimore had worked hard to put the stone-work in order, but in spite of all these efforts the fort was still very weak, and unfit to withstand an attack from the land side. At this time the whole State was swarming with militia-men, who were drilling and getting ready for war, and the streets of Charles- ton were full of people wearing secession cockades. Crowds came every day to look at the work going on at Moultrie, and once they formed a procession and marched round the fort. Soon after this Colonel Gardner was relieved of the command, Tomb of Calhoun. I860.] MOULTRIE AND SUMTER. 39 and Major Kobert Anderson was sent to take his place (Novem- ber 21). Major Anderson was a native of Kentucky, and was at this time fifty-five years old. He was a graduate of West Point, and had served in the Black-Hawk War, the war against the Seminole Indians in Florida, and in the Mexican War, under General Scott. Major Anderson pushed on the repairs of Moultrie as fast as possible, and set more than a hundred men to work on Sumter. This fort, built on an island made of large blocks of stone, stood at the edge of the ship channel leading into the harbor. Its brick walls, which rose up almost directly from the water, had a gloomy look, more like those of a prison than a fort. It was built for three rows of guns, two in casemates and one in bar- bette — that is, on the top of the wall and uncovered. The fort Fort Moultrie. had never been finished, and was at that time much out of re- pair. The disunionists were very glad to see the work of restoration going on, and intended to take possession as soon as the repairs were finished; and to prevent the garrison of Fort Moultrie from occupying it they kept two steamers full of men on guard all the time in the harbor. Major Anderson, who had made up his mind to remove to Sumter, because he knew that he could not hold Moultrie against an attack, still kept men at work at Moultrie to deceive the disunionists. Even his own men were deceived, for he told only two or three officers of his plans. The removal took place on the night of December 26. Three schooners had been hired to carry the soldiers' families to Fort Johnson, an old fort on the other side of the harbor. There were some buildings there belonging to the United States, and the disunionists, thinking it a very natural proceeding to re- move the families before the expected fight took place, did not oppose it. But the schooners w r ere really loaded with supplies for the troops going to Fort Sumter, and the lieutenant in 40 SECESSION. [1860. Secession Cockade. command was ordered to land them there as soon as a signal gun was fired. As soon as it was dark enough, half of the sol- diers were rowed from Moultrie to Sumter in boats, passing the guard-boats without molestation. Most of the workmen in the fort were disunionists, and a crowd of them, wearing secession cockades in their hats, rushed to the landing to see what the soldiers were coming for. But the soldiers drove them at the point of the bayonet inside the fort, seized the guard-room, which commanded the entrance, and placed sentinels. The boats were then sent back for the rest of the men in Moultrie, and on their arrival the signal gun was fired, and the schooners landed the stores. The disloyal workmen were then put on board the schooners and sent to the mainland. In the morning the soldiers on the walls of Sumter were seen by the people in the guard-boats, and they hastened up to Charleston and told the authorities that Sumter had been reinforced in the night. This made a great stir in the city, and the militia were at once summoned. There being no guards now in the harbor, Major Anderson sent some men over to Moultrie, which was found deserted, the people who lived in Moultrieville, the village near by, not having yet discovered that the soldiers had gone. The men set fire to the gun- carriages, and destroyed all the munitions of war that could not be brought away, and returned safely to Sumter. The guns in Moultrie had been spiked the night before, and the flag-staff had been cut down. Major Anderson had not yet raised his flag over Sumter. He was a very religious man, and thinking that the occasion ought to be observed with some cere- mony, he waited until the chaplain of his command, Eev. Mat- thias Harris, who lived with his family in Moultrieville, should arrive. He came in the morning, and at noon the troops were Robert Anderson. I860.] HOISTING THE FLAG. 41 drawn up on the parade inside the fort, near the great Colum- biad, the band played " The Star-Spangled Banner," and after a prayer by the chaplain, the ensign was run up and greeted with three hearty cheers. On the afternoon of the same day two South Carolina rifle companies hoisted the Palmetto flag over Castle Pinckney, and after nightfall some artillery companies occupied Fort Moul- trie. On the next day the United States Arsenal, Custom House, and Post Office in Charleston were seized by the State The Columbiad on the Parade in Fort Sumter. authorities. As the cannons in Moultrie had been made use- less before the evacuation, some guns and gun-carriages were sent there from Castle Pinckney, and men were set at work to make new gun-carriages to take the place of those burned. New batteries were planned, and steamboats, laden with war material, frequently passed up and down the harbor within range of the guns of Sumter. All communication with the fort was cut off, and Anderson was not allowed to receive his mail, nor to send to the city for fresh provisions. Major Anderson could easily have prevented the erection of batteries against Sumter and could have kept the disunionists out of Moultrie, but his orders from Washington were to act 42 SECESSION. [1860. strictly on the defensive and to avoid any act which might bring on hostilities. At the same time he was empowered, in case he saw any evidence of an attack from the disunionists, to take possession of any one of the three forts he might deem best and to defend his position as long as he could. It was in pursu- ance of these orders that he removed from Moultrie to Sumter. The boldness and skill with which the change was made won him much praise from all the friends of the Union, and there can be no doubt that Major Anderson was a brave and consci- entious soldier who did what he believed to be his duty; but it has since been shown that he was then of opinion that it would be impossible to restore the Union by arms, and that if his own State (Kentucky) had seceded he would unhesitatingly have given his sword to the Confederacy against the Union. There are some who have cast doubts on Major Anderson's loyalty, but it must be borne in mind that he shared this belief with thousands of other men — men as loyal and patriotic as any of those who make pretence at this late day to have had a clear insight into the future even in the dark clays which preceded the strug- gle. Then no man knew whom to trust or whither to turn; and even the rulers of the people were doubtful and undecided. Major Anderson, a firm believer in State Rights, a native of a slave State and identified with another through his wife, who was a Georgian, was a patriot compared with many of those who, safe from harm at a distance from the scene of conflict, made louder professions of loyalty. His position was a very trying one. Many of his friends and several of his relatives were in arms on the other side, and even joined in the attack on Sum- ter. No wonder that he wrote that his "heart was never in the war." He hoped to the last that the unholy struggle might be prevented, and his anxiety coupled with his earnest efforts to avoid hostilities are believed to have brought on the disease which ended at last in his death. Major Anderson was denounced by the South Carolina authorities as guilty of a "gross breach of faith," and the State commissioners at Washington were ordered to demand that the Federal troops should be withdrawn from Charleston harbor. On President Buchanan's refusing to accede to this, Mr. Floyd, the Secretary of War, resigned (Dec. 29), giving Mr. Buchanan's refusal as a reason for his action. But the true reason of his 1860-'61.] THE STAB OF TEE WEST. 43 resignation was that President Buchanan had asked him to re- sign several days before (Dec. 23), on account of his being mixed up in an attempt to defraud the government in taking a large amount ($870,000) of bonds and using them for illegal purposes. It has been thought by some that Mr. Floyd was loyal up to this time, but that he then became friendly to seces- sion. Two clays after his resignation, Joseph Holt, of Ken- tucky, then Postmaster-General, was given temporary charge of the War Department. As soon as the news that the disunionists had taken posses- sion of the United States property in Charleston was received, President Buchanan made up his mind to reinforce Sumter. For this purpose the Secretary of the Navy had stationed early in December in Hampton Eoads the sloop-of-war Brooklyn, Captain Farragut, and it was now determined to send her to Charleston with three hundred men drawn from Fortress Mon- roe. But General Scott, fearful that this would weaken too much the garrison of Fortress Monroe, which was of more importance than Sumter, persuaded the President to send, in- stead of the Brooklyn, a merchant steamer called the Star of the West from New York. This vessel, with two hundred and fifty recruits, some ammunition, and supplies on board, sailed from New York on the afternoon of January 5. She arrived off Charleston early in the morning of Wednes- day, the 9th, but information of her sailing had been telegraphed from Washington to the Charleston authorities, and when she tried to go up the harbor to Fort Sumter, with her flag flying, she was fired upon and struck twice by shots from a battery on Morris Island, and seeing that she could not reach Sumter she returned to New York, without even communicating with Major Anderson. This was the first shot fired in the Civil War, against the flag of the Union. When South Carolina thus cut her connection with the Union, the people of the other Southern States were by no means unanimous on the question of secession. A large part of those living in the Cotton States, including nearly all the rich slave-holders, were in favor of disunion; but there were many who, while believing firmly in the right of secession, thought that the South would be better off in the Union than out of it; and there were also some who were for the Union at all hazards, 44 SECESSION. 1861.] and who did not believe that a State had the right to secede. In the Border States a large part of the people were Unionists. Some of these were moved by love for the Union and for the government which their fathers had helped to build up and to defend; others by policy, for they saw that if war should break out it would be waged on their soil, and they would be the greatest sufferers. They were therefore for peace, and they dis- liked the act of South Carolina, whose geographical situation made her territory comparatively safe. But there were also, even in these States, a considerable body of disunionists, many of whom afterward gave their lives for the Confederate cause. In the Cotton States the act of South Carolina had its ex- j>ected effect. Though there was at first some opposition to following her example, the Un- ionists were overawed by the superior numbers and organiza- tion of the friends of secession. During the month of January, 1861, the arsenals, forts, and custom-houses of the United States were taken possession of by the authorities of the several States, and by the first of Febru- ary ordinances of secession had been passed by six other States, in the following order: Missis- sippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. "While the secession convention was in session in New Orleans, an event occurred which stirred the hearts of loyal peo- ple throughout the Union. John A. Dix, the Secretary of the Treasury, had sent an agent South to try to save the revenue cutters from being seized by the State authorities. Captain Breshwood, of the cutter Eobert McClelland, then at New Or- leans, was ordered to take his vessel to New York, but refused to obey. The agent telegraphed his refusal to Washington, and Secretary Dix at once telegraphed an order for his arrest and for the lieutenant to take command of the cutter, closing his despatch with these words: " If anyone attempts to haul down the American flag, shoot him on the spot." The secessionists in New Orleans would not let the telegram pass, and the cutter John A. Dix. 1861.] THE CONFEDERATE STATES. 45 Dix Medal. was lost, but the despatch was printed in all the newspapers of the free States, and a medal in honor of the event was struck by friends of the Union. In this medal, which is of the exact size of the picture, the words of the despatch are not quoted quite right. After the capture of New Orleans the old flag of the McClelland and the secession flag which was hoisted in its place were sent to General Dix- by General Butler. While the disunionists were thus setting up governments in opposition to the Federal government and possessing themselves of the United States property within their States, nothing was done in Washington to stem the tide. President Buchanan, who felt powerless to act, only awaited events, while Congress uselessly debated the slavery question and Avasted time in seeking a cure for what was already past cure. But before judging them we must remember that the best men in the country would not then believe in the possibility of war, and, shocked at the bare thought of a struggle which must array brother against brother, still lingered in hope that the shedding of blood might be avoided. But the disunionists were in dread earnest, and it is doubt- ful if anything would have then turned them from their pur- pose. A convention of delegates from the seceded States met in the State House in Montgomery, Alabama, February 4, 1861, and formed a government called the Confederate States of America. A Constitution similar to that of the United States, excepting that it recognized slavery, forbade protective tariffs, and made the Presidential term six years instead of four, was formed, and Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi, was chosen Presi- dent, and Alexander H. Stephens, of Georgia, Vice-President, to act until an election could be held. This Constitution was afterward adopted by the seceded States, and in the following November, at a general election, Davis and Stephens were elected President and Vice-President of the Confederate States for six years. Mr. Stephens was a member of the Congress which chose him, and took the oath of office at once. Mr. Davis was absent in Mississippi at the time, but went to Montgomery on receiv- ing the news, and was inaugurated there February 18. 46 SECESSION. [1861. Jefferson Davis was at that time fifty-three years old. He was born in Kentucky, but while he was still an infant his father removed to Mississippi. After an academical education, Jefferson became a student in Transylvania University, in Lex- ington, Kentucky, but when sixteen years old he received the appointment of a cadet in the Military Academy at West Point. He was graduated there in 1828, and afterward served in the army, both in the infantry and cavalry, until 1835, when he re- signed and became a cotton planter in Mississippi. About that time he married the daughter of Colonel Zachary Taylor, after- ward -President of the United States. For several years Mr. „.,. lti ;*§i State House, Montgomery. Davis lived a quiet life, taking but little part in political ques- tions, but in 1845 he was elected by the Democrats to Con- gress, where he soon made his mark as an able debater, and took a prominent part in the discussion of questions relating to the war with Mexico. When the war began he was chosen colonel of the first regiment of Mississippi riflemen, in command of which he won distinction at Monterey and Buena Vista. The next year (1847), the time of the enlistment of the regiment having expired, he returned home, and was appointed United States Senator from Mississippi. This position he held until 1851, when he resigned on account of his nomination for Gov- 1861.] DAVIS AND STEPHENS. 47 ernor of Mississippi, but he was defeated in the election. When Franklin Pierce became President he appointed Mr. Davis his Secretary of War, in which office he showed great ability, and was very popular with the army. Under President Buchanan he again entered the United States Senate, and took a promi- nent part until his resignation, January 21, 1861, when he made a farewell speech, and returned to Mississippi to take part with his State in the war against the Union. Soon afterward Mr. Davis was appointed commander-in-chief of the militia of Mis- sissippi, with the rank of major-general, and he was occupied Jefferson Davis. Alexander H. Stephens. with the duties of that position when called to the Presidency of the Confederate States. Alexander Hamilton Stephens, who was chosen Vice-Presi- dent of the Confederacy, was then forty-nine years old. He was a lawyer, and prominent in politics in his native State, and had served several terms in Congress. He strongly opposed seces- sion in 1860, but when Georgia followed South Carolina, he did all he could to aid it. While the disunionists were thus maturing their plans and preparing for war, a Peace Congress had been in session at Washington, trying to settle upon some plan of conciliation by which peace might be assured and the Union preserved. This Congress had been called together at the invitation of the Legis- lature of Virginia, and Avas made up of delegates from thirteen 48 SECESSION. [1861. free States and seven slave States (Delaware, Maryland, Vir- ginia, North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Missouri), the latter being, with the exception of Arkansas, all the slave States which had not joined in secession. It was presided over by ex-President John Tyler, of Virginia. Eesolutions yielding to some of the demands of the South were adopted by it and re- ported to Congress, but the effort ended in failure. Meanwhile Brigadier-General Twiggs, in command of the Department of Texas, surrendered his whole army, with all the fortifications, arms, equipments, and other United States property in Texas, into the hands of the dis- unionists. Twiggs was dismissed from the army, March 1, and soon after entered the service of the Confederate States. The disunionists had now in their possession nearly all the forts and arsenals in the Southern States, the principal exceptions being Fortress Monroe in Virginia, Fort Sumter in South Carolina, Fort Pickens in Florida, and the forts on Key West and the Tortugas, off the coast of Florida. Fort Pickens was saved to the Union through the foresight and bravery of Lieiitenant Adam Slemmer. The map shows the situ- ation of Pensacola and the United States Navy Yard, and the forts defending them. Pensacola is a small place on the northwest side of the bay of the same name, about ten miles from the Gulf of Mexico. The bay forms a fine harbor, deep enough for the largest vessels, and important as the site of the Pensacola Navy Yard, seven miles below the town. Close to the Navy Yard are the villages of Woolsey and War- rington, where most of the employees lived. Below, near the lighthouse, stands an old Spanish fort named San Carlos de . Barrancas, but commonly called simply Barrancas. The en- trance of the bay, which is about a mile wide, is defended by Fort McEee on the west and Fort Pickens on the east side. The Navy Yard and Fort Barrancas were seized (January 12) by Southern troops. Lieutenant Slemmer, who was in Fort 1 JEFMMlS.Prest I : AHisTEEHENS,ViceS6*j Confederate Rosette and Badge. 1861.] FORT PICKENS. 49 McRee with between seventy and eighty men, crossed over with his force and took possession of Fort Pickens, on the western end of Santa Rosa Island, which could be more easily easily defended than forts on the mainland, was soon besieged by Flor- ida, Alabama, and Missis- sippi troops, but reinforce- ments and provisions were sent to him by sea in time to save the fort, which never fell into the hands of the Confederates. The Harper's Ferry Ar- senal and the Gosport Navy Yard were still in possession of the United States, but they soon had to be aban- doned. It is es- timated that the d i s u n- ionists had ob- tained up to this time over forty million dollars' (140,000,000) worth of United States property. CHAPTER IV. SUMTER. Inauguration op Lincoln.— His Early Life.— Lincoln and Douglas.— Peace or War ?— The Cabinet.— The Sjtars and Bars.— The Confederate Commissioners.— Secretary Blair's Opinion.— Secretary Seward and the Wayward States.— Captain Fox.— The Attempt to Provision Sumter. — General Beauregard.— The First Shot against Sumter.— The Civil War Begun.— Anderson and his Men.— The Barracks on FntE.— Making Car- tridges.— Knocked Down Temporarily.— Flames and Smoke.— The Flag Hit.— The Sur- render.— Salute to the Flag. — Yankee Doodle. ABRAHAM LINCOLN took the oath of office, as sixteenth President of the United States, March 4, 1861. The new President was in every way a man of the people. He was born in Kentucky, of poor, unlearned parents, his father being able neither to read nor to write. When Abraham was seven years old the family left Kentucky, floating down the Ohio on a raft, and built a log cabin in the forests of Indiana, then but thinly settled. When a boy he did general farm-work, and only had one year's schooling, but be read diligently all the books he could get, and, being naturally quick and intelligent, soon became unusually well informed for one in his position. As he grew up he became noted for wit and shrewdness, and for his great strength and agility, and there were few at the farmers' gatherings who could wrestle with him. When of age, he was six feet and four inches high. In 1830 the family re- moved to Illinois, on the Sangamon River, where Abraham helped to build a log cabin for their home, to clear the land, and to split rails to fence it. He afterward engaged in various occupations, and was by turns a flat-boatman, a clerk in a country store, captain of a company in the Black-Hawk War, a partner in a store, and a surveyor. In 1834 he was elected as a Whig to the Illinois Legislature, where he served four terms. His ready command of language, his homely and forcible ideas, the earnestness of his convictions, and his knowledge of the people gained by his intimate relations with all classes, made him a by no means unequal match for the few educated men whom he met in debate. Meantime he had been admitted to 1861.] LINCOLN AND DOUGLAS. 51 the bar, and had opened an office in Springfield, where he be- came noted as a successful jury lawyer. In 1846 Mr. Lincoln was elected to Congress, but he did nothing there to distinguish himself. He declined to be a can- didate for re-election, and for a few years afterward paid more attention to his business than to politics, though in 1849 he was an unsuccessful candidate for United States Senator. In 1854, when the Missouri Compromise was repealed by the Kansas- Nebraska Act, he again took part in politics, and soon became the leader of the Anti-Nebraska Whigs in the State. At one time (October 4), Stephen A. Douglas, the father of the Kansas- Nebraska Bill, made a speech in Springfield in defence of his course in the Senate. Mr. Lincoln replied to him in one of the best speeches of his life, and from that time people looked upon Lincoln's Home, Springfield. him as a rising man. He had often met in debate with Mr. Douglas, who was deemed so able that he was called the " Little Giant," but never before so successfully; and in 1858 Mr. Lin- coln was nominated for the United States Senate, against Mr. Douglas, who was a candidate for re-election. Lincoln chal- lenged Douglas to debate with him the subjects at issue, and the two spoke together at different places seven times, the principal question being the right of Congress to prohibit slavery in the Territories. Though Douglas was successful in the contest, Lincoln made such a reputation that he came to be looked upon all over the country as one of the strongest upholders of Ke- publican principles; and it finally led to his nomination and election to the Presidency in 1860. In his inaugural address, Mr. Lincoln took the ground that 52 SUMTER. [1861. " no State, upon its own mere motion, can lawfully get out of the Union; that resolves and ordinances to that effect are legally void; and that acts of violence within any State or States against the authority of the United States are insurrectionary or revolutionary, according to circumstances. I therefore consider that, in view of the Constitution and the laws, the Union is unbroken, and, to the extent of my ability, I shall take care, as the Constitution itself expressly enjoins upon me, that the laws of the Union shall be faithfully executed in all the States. ... I trust this will not be regarded as a menace, but only as the declared purpose of the Union that it will con- stitutionally defend and maintain itself. In doing this there need be no bloodshed or vio- lence, and there shall be none unless it is forced upon the national authority. The power confided to me will be used to hold, occupy, and possess the property and places belonging to the government, and collect the duties and imposts; but beyond what may be necessary Sp for these objects there will be no invasion, no using of force against or among the people anywhere." ABRAHAM LINCOLN. rj^ .^^ ^ ^j^ differently in different parts of the country. In the free States and in some of the Border States it was generally regarded as frank and firm, yet peaceful in its tone, and most peojde drew from it the conclusion that if trouble should ensue Mr. Lincoln would not be the aggressor. In the seceded States, and among the disunionists generally, it was considered war-like, and the friends of secession in the slave States which had not yet openly taken part against the Union felt that the time for action had at last come. President Lincoln at once set about his duties. He formed his Cabinet as follows: Secretary of State, William H. Seward, of New York; Secretary of the Treasury, Salmon P. Chase, of Ohio; Secretary of War, Simon Cameron, of Pennsylvania; 1861.] PEACE OB WAR? 53 Secretary of the Navy, Gideon Welles, of Connecticut; Secre- tary of the Interior, Caleb B. Smith, of Indiana; Postmaster- General, Montgomery Blair, of Maryland; Attorney-General, Edward Bates, of Missouri. Never before in the history of our country had any administration succeeded to the government when "affairs seemed so desperate. Seven States had seceded, and others were preparing to follow. The government was almost without resources: the treasury was without money, the few soldiers of the army were scattered in distant forts, and the few ships of the navy were in foreign seas. Most of the forts along the Southern seacoast were in the hands of the disunion- ists; large quantities of arms and ammunition had been sent from Northern arsenals into the Southern States, where they had fallen into the hands of the enemies of the government, and many of the best officers of the army and the navy had resigned their commissions and gone with their States. On the very day when Mr. Lincoln took the oath of office at Washington, the new Confederate government at Montgomery adopted a new flag — the " Stars and Bars," as it was afterward called — troops were drilling and making ready for war in nearly every Southern State, and Washington itself was threatened. Yet the North was still divided in opinion, and many thought that the South might still be won back to the Union. There was some ground for this opinion, for the disunionists were not yet strong enough in the other States to carry them over to the Confederacy, and in several of them a popular vote had shown a Union majority. Even President Lincoln and his counsellors hoped that war might still be averted; but their hopes were soon to be rudely dispelled. The first question which President Lincoln had to decide was that of reinforcing Sumter. President Davis had sent some commissioners to Washington to settle questions growing out of the secession of the Confederate States. Mr. Lincoln refused to recognize them in any other way than as citizens of the United States, but they were told that Governor Pickens should be informed before any attempt was made to supply the fort. Major Anderson had written a letter saying that it would take twenty thousand men to reinforce him; General Scott agreed with him, and believed that it would be impossible to hold Sumter. But Mr. Blair, the Postmaster-General, said that to 54 SUMTER. [1861. give it up without an effort to hold it would demoralize the North, and certainly lead to a dissolution of the Union. His father had been a friend of General Jackson's, and had aided him in putting down secession in 1832; and he believed that if the government should act as energetically as Jackson had done, the new attempt might also be crushed. Mr. Seward dis- agreed with him, and thought that all the forts should be given up without a struggle. He believed that it was best to "let the wayward States go in peace," and to seek to bring about a reunion through a convention of all the States. The rest of the members of the Cabinet finally agreed with Mr. Seward that the fort should be given up. But Mr. Blair still believed that Sumter should and could be reinforced by means of ships, and he sent for his brother-in-law, Captain G. V. Fox, who had pro- posed to President Buchanan a plan for relieving Sumter. Mr. Fox explained to Mr. Lincoln his plan, which was to go in some ships to the entrance of Charles- ton harbor, and to send in the provisions in armed launches, or small boats, manned by sailors, and the President finally agreed to let him try to carry provisions to the fort. The ships-of-war Powhatan, Pocahontas, and Pawnee, the steamer Baltic, the revenue-cutter Harriet Lane, and some tug-boats were made ready, and the expedition sailed for Charleston early in April, 1861. But at the last moment, unknown to Mr. Fox, the Powhatan had been ordered to sail for Fort Pickens instead of Fort Sumter, and as she had on board the launches and most of the sailors, the expedition failed. This change of orders was spoken of by the President as "an accident," but it was really due to the interference of Mr. Seward, who was opposed to send- ing provisions to the fort. Mr. Fox was much annoyed at the failure, but the energy which he showed in trying to make the expedition a success led to his appointment as Assistant Secre- tary of the Navy, an office which he held through the war. William H. Seward. 1861.] ANDERSON AND BE A UREGARD. 55 The Confederates meanwhile had not been idle. A large number of troops from the different Southern States had been assembled at Charleston, and put under the command of Gen- eral P. G. T. Beauregard, formerly a major of engineers in the United States army, but who had joined the Confederate ser- vice when his State (Louisiana) seceded, and had received the rank of colonel of engineers. On his arrival in Charleston, he had at once strengthened the fortifications, and built new bat- teries bearing upon Sumter. President Lincoln had kept his promise, and had sent word to Governor Pickens of the in- tention to provision Fort Sumter. As soon as this was known, General Beauregard telegraphed to Mr. Walker, the Confederate Secretary of War, at Mont- gomery, for orders. Mr. Wal- ker ordered General Beaure- gard to demand the surren- der of the fort, and if refused, to take it by force. General Beauregard sent two officers (April 11) to Major Ander- son, demanding the evacua- tion of the fort. Major An- derson replied : " I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communica- tion demanding the evacua- tion of this fort; and to say in reply thereto that my sense of honor and of my obligations to my Government prevent my compliance." In his conversation with the officers, Major Anderson had re- marked that he would be starved out in a few days, and would have to evacuate. General Beauregard thought it best to tele- graph to Mr. Walker for further instructions, and, in pursuance of orders received, again sent, on the night of April 11, a mes- sage to Major Anderson to the effect that if he would state the time when he would evacuate Sumter, he would not open fire upon him. Major Anderson replied as follows: " I will, if pro- vided with the proper and necessary means of transportation, evacuate Fort Sumter by noon on the 15th instant, should I not receive, prior to that time, controlling instructions from my Government, or additional supplies." P. G. T. Beauregard. 56 SUMTER. [1861. This was unsatisfactory, because General Beauregard knew that the fleet was then on its way to relieve the fort. General Anderson was therefore notified that fire would be opened on Fort Sumter in one hour from that time (3:20 A.M., Friday, April 12). At half-past four o'clock a signal shell was fired from the mortar battery at Fort Johnson, on James's Island. The shell exploded high in the air above Fort Sumter, and it was at once followed by a shot from the Cumming's Point Bat- tery, which buried itself deep in the masonry of the wall. This, the first hostile shot, is said to have been fired by Fdmund Kuffin, an old Virginia gentleman, whose long white locks fell over his shoulders. He was a firm believer in secession, and had begged the privilege of firing the first shot against Sumter. In 18G5, when the last hope of the Confederacy was gone, and he was more than sev- enty years old, he commit- ted suicide by shooting him- self with a gun, saying in a note which he left, "I can- not survive the liberties of my country." His shot was followed by shot and shell from Moultrie and the other batteries, until the firing be- came almost a continuous roar. The Civil War had begun. The situation of Charleston harbor and the forts and batter- ies by which it was then defended will be best understood from the map. It will be seen that Fort Sumter lies in the mouth of the harbor, about three and a half miles from Charleston, and nearly in the middle of a line drawn east and west between Forts Moultrie and Johnson, each of which are distant about a mile from Sumter. The Cumming's Point Battery, on Morris Island, is about two thirds of a mile nearly south of it. A floating battery, made of logs covered with railroad iron, was moored a little north of Fort Johnson, and several other bat- teries were built at different places, some against Sumter, and some to guard the entrance of the harbor. Though a strong fortification, Sumter was intended only to keep ships from Edmund Ruffin. 1861.] CHARLESTON AND ITS HARBOR. 57 AND VICIOTTT FORT SUMTER Charleston and its Harboe in 1861. 58 SUMTER. [1861. passing into the harbor from the ocean, and was not calculated to resist batteries from the land firing at short range. But now more than fifty of the heaviest siege-guns then known were raining shot and shell upon it. The crash against the walls was terrific, and many shells burst over and some in the fort, tearing up the parade-ground with the noise and force of an earthquake. Major Anderson had made ready for the expected bombard- ment, but being out of oil and candles could not see to sight the guns until daybreak. He therefore ordered the men not to leave the bomb-proofs until the drum beat the call. After breakfast, the officers and men were divided into three parties to take turns in working the guns, for there were so few of them that they had to husband their strength. Fire was opened on Floating Battery. Cumming's Point and Moultrie about seven o'clock, when the Confederate batteries had been at work more than two hours. For four hours a heavy fire was kept up, for the men were so enthusiastic that they could not be kept from the guns, but after they had become tired by the hard labor, not more than half as many guns could be kept at work. The Confederate fire, too, Avas so incessant that the shot and shells came nearly every instant, and it was almost certain death to any one to leave the lower casemates, which were bomb-proof. Several vessels of the fleet sent to relieve the fort were seen about noon through the port-holes, but the batteries below the fort were too strong for them to pass. They dipped their flags, that is, low- ered them a little, as a signal to Major Anderson, and he ordered the flag of Sumter to be dipped in answer. This was a danger- 1861.] SUMTER UNDER FIRE. m ous duty, for the shells were frequently bursting in the parade, in the centre of which the flag-staff stood, but it was safely done. It had scarcely been raised again when a shell burst near it and cut the halyards, but the rope was so twisted that the flag did not fall. The wooden barracks in the parade were set on fire by burst- ing shells three times on Friday, but the flames were put out by the men, these being the only occasions on which Major An- Fort Sumter in 1861. derson would let them risk their lives. He had ordered them not to try to fire the barbette guns, that is, the uncovered guns on the parapet or top wall of the fort, on account of the great dan- ger, for several of these guns had already been struck by shot. Notwithstanding this, several men slipped up there and fired some of them which had been loaded and pointed the day before, and came down unhurt. The cartridges gave out by noon of Friday, and a party of men were kept at work in the magazine making cartridges out of blankets and flannel shirts, the latter 60 SUMTER [1861. being found the best for this purpose because it was so easy to cut off the sleeves and fill them Avith powder, thus avoiding the necessity of sewing them up. Meals were served at the guns, so as to keep up the firing. On Friday afternoon the Confederate fire became very de- structive. Heavy shot and shells plunged deep into the masonry, cutting out large masses near tbe embrasures or port-holes, and throwing pieces of stone and mortar among the cannoneers, but fortunately doing little harm to them. One old veteran of the Mexican war, Sergeant Kearnan, was struck on the head by a piece of concrete and knocked senseless. On being revived, he was asked if he was much hurt. "0 no," he said, "only knocked down temporarily;" and he went to work again. The Confederates kept up their firing during Friday night, but Ma- jor Anderson did not reply. Some of the men climbed the flag- staff to try to fasten new halyards, but found it impossible to disentangle the old ones, so that the flag still remained flying. All night long men were kept on watch, Major Anderson partly expecting boats from the fleet, and partly fearing a Confederate attack in boats. On Saturday the Confederate firing was hotter than ever, and before long the barracks in the parade were again in flames, burning so fiercely that it was found impossible to put them out, especially as the enemy were firing red-hot shot. The fire soon reached some of the shells and grenades in the fort, and they began to explode in every direction, fortunately hurting no one, but adding to the danger and confusion. It was soon feared that the fire would reach the magazine, and both officers and men set to Work to roll barrels of powder out. This was very dangerous work, for a spark might at any moment reach the powder and blow the fort to atoms. About ninety barrels were got out and thrown into the sea through the embrasures. There were still two hundred barrels left in the magazine, but the heat had become so great that the men could not work any more. The great copper doors were therefore closed and locked, and a shot soon after struck the door and bent the lock so that it could not be opened again. The wind blew the smoke so as to fill the fort, and the men could neither see each other nor scarcely breathe; and soon they were obliged to lie flat on their faces and hold wet cloths over their mouths to save themselves 1861.] THE SURRENDER. 6 from being stifled. Although but few cartridges were left, a gun was occasionally fired to let the enemy and the fleet know that Sumter still held out, but the smoke was so thick that the men could not see to aim. At this time the last biscuit had been eaten, and the only food left was salt pork. In the afternoon of Saturday the flag-staff was cut by a shot, this being the ninth time it had been hit, and the flag came down. Lieutenant Hall rushed out and brought it in, and it was then nailed to a staff and planted on the parapet. The Confederates, supposing that the flag had been struck, that is, Interior op Fort Sumter after the Bombardment. hauled down, meaning that the fort had surrendered, sent offi- cers with a flag of truce to Major Anderson. Major Anderson told the officers that the flag had not been struck, but after several hours parley it was finally agreed that the fort should be given up, and that its brave defenders should be allowed to, march out with all the honors of war, and that they should be permitted to salute their flag and take it with them. After working hard to put out the fire, the men slept as well as they could on Saturday night. On Sunday morning the baggage of the officers and men was put on board a small steamer, the Isabel, sent down by General Beauregard. The men were then drawn up under arms on the parade, and a part 62 SUMTER [1861 of tliem told off to fire the salute to the flag, which was still fly- ing. When the last of the fifty guns had been fired, the flag, which had several shot-holes in it, was lowered. During the firing of the salute, a gun went off before it was fully loaded and killed one man, private Daniel Hough. A pile of cartridges at the foot of the gun were also exploded and several others wounded. Hough was buried with funeral honors, and at half- past nine o'clock of Sunday morning, Major Anderson and his men marched out with their arms and their flag, the band play- ing " Yankee Doodle," and embarked on the Isabel, which transferred them on Monday to the steamer Baltic, one of the vessels of the fleet off the harbor. The next day they sailed for ^N~ew York, leaving Sumter behind them a smoking, shapeless ruin. Rodman Gun. CHAPTER V. UPRISING OF THE NORTH. Rejoicing in the South.— Washington Threatened.— Lincoln Calls fob Troops.— Enthu- siasm in the North.— 75,000 Coffins Wanted.— Secession of Virginia.— Help for Wash- ington. —Massachusetts Troops Mobbed in Baltimore.— Washington in a State of Siege.— The New York Seventh and the Massachusetts Eighth.— Ben. Butler.— Old Ironsides.— Railway Repairing.— Room Enough to Bury Seventy-five Thousand. — I must have Troops.— Baltimore Overawed.— Harper's Ferry Burned.— Destruction of the Gosport Navy Yard.— The Blockade Proclaimed.— Confederate Prfvateers.— North Carolina Secedes— More Volunteers Wanted.— Capture of Camp Jackson, St. Louis.— Union Feeling in Kentucky. THE news of the fall of Sumter was received with rejoicing throughout the Southern States. Salutes were fired, hells were rung, and Confederate flags were everywhere dis- played. In a speech in Montgomery, Mr. Walker, the Confed- erate Secretary of War, predicted that before the first of May the Confederate flag would float over Washington City. Indeed, this was common talk in all parts of the South, and in Virginia was sung a song, the first verse of which ended: " The Union it is done — The secession flag, ere many months, Will wave o'er Washington!"* In the Northern States the report of the surrender was scarcely believed, although a telegram announcing it had been published in the New York Herald of Sunday, April 14; but when the newspapers of Monday morning appeared with the proclamation of President Lincoln, calling for seventy-five thousand volunteers to aid in the execution of the laws, sus- pense was at an end. Up to this time the North had been divided. The party feeling stirred up in the Presidential elec- tion had not yet died out, and Democrats and Republicans were still suspicious of each other, and apt to find fault with every expression of each others' opinions. There were very few, too, on either side, who had ever believed that the quarrel would end in blood, and while many were openly denouncing any act which would tend to bring about that result, all were quietly * See Appendix, page 563. 64 UPRISING OF TEE NORTH. [1861. pursuing their every-day business, hoping that the troubles would soon end in compromise and peace. But the fall of Sum- ter and the President's call for troops awoke everybody from his dream, and the people of the North rose as one man to de- fend the flag. Enthusiastic meetings, in which citizens of all political opinions took part, were held in the different cities, large sums of money were subscribed for the cause of the Union, and the free States yied with each other in raising troops and in putting them in the field. The news of the President's call for troops was received by the Confederate Congress sitting at Montgomery with "derisive laughter," and the following epigram was published in some of the newspapers as an answer: "Davis answers, rough and curt, With mortar, paixban, and petard; Sumter is ours, and nobody hurt : We tender Old Abe our Beau-regard." A Mobile newspaper published an advertisement as follows: "75,000 Coffins Wanted. "Proposals will be received to supply the Confederacy with 75,000 Black Coffins. "JSP No proposals will be entertained coming north of Mason and Dixon's Line. Direct to "Jeff. Davis, Montgomery, Ala." Some have tried to show that this advertisement was author- ized by Mr. Davis to show contempt for Mr. Lincoln's procla- mation, but of course it was only a newspaper jest. The War Department at Washington asked the eight slave States which had not yet seceded to furnish their quota of the seventy-five thousand men wanted, but nearly all their govern- ors refused. There had been a strong Union feeling in Vir- ginia up to this time, but the fall of Sumter had strengthened the secessionists, and the President's proclamation had discour- aged the Unionists, and on April 17 the convention in session at Eichmond passed an ordinance of secession, providing, how- ever, that it should be submitted to a vote of the people of the State. There was considerable opposition to this act, especially in the western counties of the State, and the result was that the Unionists of those counties soon after (June 17) formed a sepa- 1861.] THE BALTIMORE MOB. 65 rate government, with Francis H. Pierpont as Governor. They claimed to be the true government of Virginia, on the ground that the loyal people of a State are the State. They finally separated from Virginia and formed a new State, at first called Kanawha, after the principal river, but afterward West Vir- ginia, which was admitted into the Union in 1862. The rumors that Washington would soon be attacked had been rife for some time, and as the danger had increased after the secession of Virginia, troops were hastily sent forward to guard it against surprise. The first volunteers to reach there were from Pennsylvania, but the first full regiment to answer the President's call for troops was the Sixth Massachusetts, which left Bos- ton in the afternoon of April 17. They arrived in Baltimore about noon of Friday, April 19, and while passing through the streets from the Camden to the Washington station were assailed by a mob with stones, clubs, and pistols. After three of the soldiers had been killed and sev- eral wounded, part of the regiment fired on the mob, killing eleven and wounding many others. The regi- ment at last reached the depot, and the train hastened to Washington though it was fired on several times by the way, and in one place rails were found torn up from the track. The coming of the Massachusetts men gave great joy to the Unionists in Washington, who were filled with anxiety lest the city should be attacked. General Scott had done what he could to secure the public buildings. The doors and windows of the Capitol were barricaded, and cannon and ammunition were taken into it, and cannon were placed in the halls of the Treas- ury Building. The streets were patrolled at night by armed citizens, and soldiers were quartered in the great East Eoom of the White House to act as a body-guard to the President. On the 19th of April, the very day when the Sixth Massa- Soldier of the Massachusetts Sixth. 66 UPRISING OF THE NORTH. [1861- chusetts was attacked in the streets of Baltimore, the Eighth Massachusetts, another regiment of the same brigade, marched through the streets of New York on its way to "Washington. General Benjamin F. Butler, the commander of the brigade, accompanied this regiment, which was followed a few hours later by the Seventh New York, under Colonel Marshal Lefferts, then, as now, one of the finest regiments of the city. There was great excitement in New York, and the regiments were greeted as they marched down Broadway with waving flags and The East Room of the White House in 1861. the cheers of thousands of people, who packed the sidewalks and filled every window along the route. Baltimore being completely in the hands of the disunionists, General Butler went with his regiment directly to Annapolis, the capital of Maryland, and the seat of the United States Naval Academy. He arrived in the night, and found the city lighted up, and the secessionists there waiting for the arrival of men from Baltimore, intending to take possession of the frigate Constitution, then used at the Academy as a school-ship. The sight of " Old Ironsides," almost as old as the Union itself, and endeared to every American by her glorious career as the con- queror of the Guerriere, the Cyane, the Levant, and the Java, 1861.] BAIL WAY REPAIRING. 67 roused the enthusiasm of the Massachusetts men, and they de- termined to save her. General Butler asked if there were any men in his regiment who could sail a ship. Fifty-three men stepped from the ranks, one of whom was the son of the man who built the Constitution. These were put on board the old ship, and she was sent safely to New York. Shortly afterward the New York Seventh arrived, and Gen- eral Butler felt strong enough to move toward Washington. The railway route from Annapolis to "Washington can be easily understood from the map (p. 69). The secession- ists, determined that troops should not pass through Maryland, had torn up a large part of the railroad track between Annapolis and Annapolis Junction, where the road joins the Washington Branch Kailroad, between Baltimore and Washington. General Butler, seeing the necessity of this road, determined to open it and hold it. He seized the rail- way station, and finding there a locomo- tive which the secessionists had disabled so that it would not work, called on his regiment for men to repair it. A man named Homans stepped out of the ranks and, after carefully examining it, said: "I think I can do it, General; I helped to build it." With the aid of other machinists from the regiment, the engine was soon in order and at work. The rails were then hunted up in the woods, in gullies, and other places where they had been hidden, and relaid, and bridges rebuilt. At one place some rails had been thrown into deep water at a bridge crossing, but an amphibious Yankee dived for them and found them. The two regiments moved forward carefully, marching all clay and all night, re- building the road, and keeping a close watch lest they should be fired on from the woods and other lonely places, but they were not molested, for the whole country appeared to be deserted. On the morning of April 25, Annapolis Junction was reached, Private of the Seventh New York. 68 UPRISING OF THE NORTH. [1861. and the Seventh took the cars for Washington, while General Butler and the Massachusetts men remained to keep open the railroad. The secessionists were somewhat overawed by these prompt measures, and saw the need of gaining time. A deputation of Marylanders and Virginians called on President Lincoln and demanded that all hostilities should cease until the meeting of Congress, which was called for July 4. As this would give them an opportunity to finish their preparations, and perhaps even to take Washington, Mr. Lincoln of course declined to give this promise. One of the visitors then said that seventy- five thousand Marylanders would contest the passage of troops The Naval Academy and Landing, Annapolis. over her soil. "Well," replied Mr. Lincoln, "I presume there is room enough on her soil to bury seventy-five thousand men." Another deputation, from the Young Men's Christian Asso- ciations, headed by theEev. Dr. Fuller, of the Baptist Church, called on the President, and, saying that the Southern States would "never again be united with the North," expressed a hope that no more troops would be allowed to cross Maryland. Mr. Lincoln received them kindly and treated them politely, but said, "I must have troops for the defence of the Capital. The Carolinians are now marching across Virginia to seize the Capital and hang me. What am I to do? I must have troops, I say; and as they can neither crawl under Maryland nor fly over it, they must come across it." And they did go across it, and before the end of the month more than fifty thousand men were in Washington, and the Capital of the nation was safe. Shortly afterward, General 1861.] HARPER'S FERRY. 69 Butler made a sudden march one stormy night to Baltimore, and before the disunionists knew of his coming, took possession of Federal Hill, a height commanding the city. The city being thus at his mercy, the regular line of railway from there to Washington was reopened. A singular railway battery was built to protect the men engaged in repairing and guarding the road between Baltimore and Havre de Grace. It was made of strong- boiler-plate iron, and had a port-hole in front for a large can- non, and loop-holes for musketry. It carried a garrison of sixty men, and was pushed ahead of the locomotive of the repairing- train as shown in the picture. After the reopening of this road, troops were sent through Baltimore without further trouble from mobs. Maryland, thus cut off from the seceded States, was thenceforth loyal, although many of her citizens joined the Confederate army, while others gave aid to the Confederate cause by all means in their power. In Virginia, mean while, although the people had not yet voted on the cpiestion of seces- sion, the disunion- ists were very active. Troops were drilled, money raised for arming and equij)ping them, and expeditions planned for the capture of the United States Arsenal at Har- per's Ferry, and the Gosport Navy Yard, near Norfolk. A force of several thousand men, mostly Virginia and Kentucky rifle- men, marched on Harper's Ferry, but Lieutenant Jones, then in command, who had but forty-five men with him, burned the buildings, together with fifteen thousand Springfield rifles, and retreated into Pennsylvania. The disunionists, however, suc- ceeded in saving much material, and a large part of the valuable machinery was rescued and carried to Eichmond, where it was afterward used in making and repairing fire-arms. The picture (p. 72) shows Harper's Ferry just after the burning of the buildings. Maryland Heights are seen on the left. Annapolis and Vicinity. 70 UPRISING OF THE NORTH. [1861. Gosport Navy Yard was now the subject of great anxiety. Orders had been sent to the officer in command to put the place in a state of defence, for its value at the time was almost incal- culable. It was one of the most important naval stations which the government possessed, and besides its great stone dry-clock and its buildings for the construction and repair of ships, there were in its yards and buildings more than two thousand heavy cannons, many shot and shell, and vast quantities of other munitions of war and naval stores. Among the vessels there were the ships-of-the-line Pennsylvania, Delaware, Columbus, and New York, the last of which was on the stocks, never hav- ing been launched; the frigates United States (captor of the Macedonian), Columbia, Earitan, and Cumberland; the steam- Railway Battery. frigate Merrimac; the sloops-of-war Germantown and Plymouth; and the brig Dolphin. Most of these vessels were so out of re- pair as to be nearly useless, but the Germantown and the Cumberland were almost ready for sea. The commandant was slow in carrying out his orders, and Captain Hiram Paulding was sent from Washington to take command of the navy-yard and to save the property from fall- ing into the hands of the disunionists. On his arrival there in the frigate Pawnee (April 20), he found that the commandant had ordered the ships, excepting the Cumberland, to be scuttled — that is, to have holes cut in their bottoms for the purpose of sinking them — and as many of the cannons as possible to be destroyed. Among the ships thus sunk was the Merrimac, which was afterward raised by the Confederates and made into the iron-clad Virginia, famous for its fight with the Monitor. 1861.] QO SPORT NAVY YARD. 71 Much of the movable property was at once put on board of the Pawnee and the Cumberland, and the rest destroyed, great quantities of shot and shell and many small-arms being thrown into the water; and early on the morning of Sunday, April 21, the Pawnee steamed down the river towing the Cumberland. Just as the ships started a rocket was sent up from the Pawnee. It had scarcely burst in the air when the well-laid trains in the ship-houses and on the decks of the vessels which had not yet sunk sprang into flame, and in a few minutes the conflagration became general and lit all the country around with its blaze. Several of the guns of the Penn- sylvania had been left loaded, and as the fire reached them they went off, one after another, and added to the grandeur of the scene. The Pawnee and Cumberland passed safely down the river, although vessels had been sunk in the channel to hinder them, and arrived in a few hours at Fortress Monroe. Soon after they bad left a volunteer com- pany of Virginians took possession of the ruins of the navy-yard, and hoisted the State flag on the flag- staff. Though a great deal of war material had been destroyed, the disunionists succeeded in saving much, and the many cannons which fell into their hands afterward served to arm the vessels and forts of the Confederacy. The Virginia Convention now went still further, and adopted (April 25) the Constitution of the Confederate States, putting the whole military force and resources of the State under the control of the President of the Confederate States. President Lincoln, who had issued a proclamation (April 19) announcing a blockade of the ports within the States of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, now issued another one, extending the blockade to the ports of Virginia and North Carolina. To blockade so long a coast, extending from the mouth of the Potomac in Virginia to Kentucky Rifleman. 72 VPRISIKG OF THE NORTH. [1861. the Eio Grande on the borders of Mexico, indented with bays and inlets and studded with islands which offered the best of shelter to smugglers and blockade-runners, was an immense undertaking. But it was necessary to do it, both to prevent foreign ships from carrying supplies to the Confederates, and to prevent the latter from sending out their cotton to be ex- changed in Europe for arms and munitions of war. It was also Harper's Ferry. necessary to prevent the Confederate Government from fitting out privateers, or private armed vessels, in their ports, to prey upon United States commerce. Two days before President Lincoln issued his first blockading proclamation, President Davis had issued a proclamation (April 17) inviting citizens of the Confederate States to fit out privateers, and as we had then a very large commerce, such vessels might easily inflict great injury. President Lincoln f olloAved his blockading proclamations with another one (May 3) calling for sixty-five thousand more volunteers, and eighteen thousand seamen for the naval service. The few available ships of the navy were despatched to the 1861.] THE CONFEDERACY. 73 Southern coasts, and many merchant steamers were hastily fitted out as men-of-war and sent to keep them company in blockade duty. North Carolina had not seceded when her coast was thus blockaded. Indeed, there was s a strong Union feeling in the State, and her people had vo- ted not to call a convention to consider the subject; but being surrounded by Confed- erate States, the Unionists were finally overawed, and after the fall of Sumter and President Lincoln's call for troops, the State authorities had seized upon the United States forts, arsenals, and other property. A conven- tion was called to meet at Raleigb, at which an ordi- nance of secession was passed (May 20) and the Constitution of the Confederate States adopted. In the meantime (May 6) Tennessee and Ar- kansas had also withdrawn from the Union and joined the Confederacy. The Confederacy n o w claimed eleven States, and the friends of secession would probably have succeeded in inducing the four remaining slave States, Maryland, Dela- ware, Missouri, and Kentucky, to follow them if the Union- ists in those States had not been more energetic in action IS'OKFOLK AND VICINITY. than those opposed to them, and had not been promptly aided in their efforts by the Government, 74 UPRISING OF THE NORTH. [1861- While these things were taking place in the East, events, were ripening in the West. Missouri, nearly surrounded by free States and having few slaves compared with the States fur- ther South, had a large Union population, but was at first con- trolled by her Governor and some otber leading politicians who were disunionists. Although her Convention had voted against secession, Governor Jackson had refused to send troops to Wash- ington in answer to the President's call. There were United States arsenals at St. Louis and at Liberty in West Missouri, and the disunionists made preparations to capture them. They ■seized the latter (April 20) and carried off all the arms and Burning of the Ships at the Gosport Navy Vard munitions there, but the one at St. Louis was held by Captain Nathaniel Lyon with a strong garrison of regulars, and the dis- unionists did not yet feel strong enough to take it. But they organized a State Guard and formed a camp near St. Louis which they called Camp Jackson, naming the streets in it after Davis, Beauregard, and other Southern leaders. Notwithstand- ing Governor Jackson's refusal to raise troops, Colonel Frank P. Blair had at once raised a Union regiment, and several others were rapidly forming. On the night of April 25, Captain Lyon had shipped all the arms which were not needed on a steamboat, and sent them for safety to Alton, Illinois, and a few days afterward (May 10) he and Colonel Blair surrounded the State Guard at Camp Jackson with six thousand men, planting bat- teries of cannon on the heights around, and demanded their 1861.] CAPTURE OF CAMP JACKSON. 75 surrender. As they were taken by surprise they could not do otherwise, and they gave themselves up, with all their arms and ammunition, including twenty cannons. Many of the arms taken had been sent by the Confederate authorities from the Arsenal at Baton Kouge, Louisiana, and some of the soldiers wore the uniform of the Confederate States. Crowds of people had followed the troops on their way to Camp Jackson, many out of curiosity, but a large number, armed with rifles, shotguns, and other weapons, determined to aid the State Guard, if possible. Captain Lyon, however, was too quick for them, and the camp was surrounded before they could reach it. Captain Lyon offered to release all his prison- ers if they would swear not to take up arms against the govern- ment. Only eight or ten agreed to this, and the remainder, about eight hundred, were marched in a body, surrounded by United States troops, toward the Arsenal. The soldiers were hooted at and insulted by the rabble on the way to the city, and at last stones were thrown and pistols fired at them. A German volunteer company, hard pressed, returned the fire, and twenty- two persons were killed and many wounded. The city of St. Louis was thrown into the wildest excitement by this act. The streets were thronged with citizens, some to hear the news and talk over the event, some to curse the sol- diers and to stir up the people to revenge. All the theatres, saloons, and restaurants were closed, and the windows and doors of private dwellings were barred for fear of a general riot. Bands of men marched through the streets, some armed, and some carrying banners of different kinds. Several gun-stores were broken open and arms distributed, but at last the police, armed with muskets, succeeded in dispersing the mobs, and in saving private property from further damage. On the next day, Gen- eral William S. Harney, commanding in that department, arrived and issued a proclamation calling upon the people to obey the laws. This allayed the excitement for the time, and after that the Unionists kept the upper hand in St. Louis. But the disunionists were still strong in some other parts of the State, and several battles were fought before they w T ere finally put down. In Kentucky the Union feeling was too strong to be crushed, and although her governor and many of her princi})al men were 76 UPRISING OF THE NORTE. [1861. disunionists, the people refused by a large vote to call a con- vention to consider the question of secession. But many of her young men joined the Confederate army, and in the war thousands of gallant Kentuckians wearing the gray were arrayed on many a bloody field against their brothers in blue. A Bow Gun. CHAPTER VI. MARCH INTO VIRGINIA. Confederate Congress at Montgomery.— King Cotton.— Removal to Richmond.— Manas- sas Junction.— Washington a Camp.— Secessionists in Washington. — Secession Lady's Costume.— A Heavy Petticoat.— Mary's Caps.— Buttons for Lunch.— Brave Miss Web- ster.— A Suspicious Funeral.— A Kite with a Valuable Tail.— The Union Troops in Virginia.— Arlington Heights.— Fort-Building.— Death of Ellsworth.— Fortress Monroe.— Contrabands.— Little Bethel.— Big Bethel.— Death of Theodore Win- throp.— Lieutenant Greble.— McClellan in Western Virginia.— Philippl— Rich Moun- tain.— Death of General Garnett.— Patterson Crosses the Potomac— Patterson and Johnston. AFTER the fall of Sumter, President Davis called the Con- federate Congress to meet at Montgomery (April 29), and in the session which followed, strong measures were adopted for carrying on the war. At this time forty thousand men were in the field, a large part of whom were hastening on to Virginia, and Mr. Davis was authorized to call for one hundred thou- sand more. Paper money and bonds and postage-stamps * Avere issued, and agents were sent to Europe to try to get foreign gov- ernments to recognize the Confederate Government. Arrange- ments were also made to buy arms and munitions of war, to be paid for with money obtained from the sale of cotton. From the beginning the disunionists had foundedgreat hopes on cotton, which they believed to be a vital necessity to the manufacturers of Europe. It was commonly spoken of as King Cotton, and it was generally thought in the slave States that universal distress and strikes and riots would ensue in the factory-towns of Europe if their mills were compelled to close for want of it, and that this would force their governments to raise the blockade and acknowledge the Confederacy. Their Congress therefore forbade private persons from sending cotton out of the Confederate States, but obliged them to sell to the government for Confed- erate bonds, or promises to pay; and the cotton thus bought was shipped to Europe in blockade-runners and sold for gold. These blockade-runners, most of which afterward sailed under the British flag, were very fast steamers that eluded the vigi- * Two, five, and ten cent stamps were issued. 78 MARCH INTO VIRGINIA. [1861. lance of the blockading vessels, and ran in and out of the South- ern ports, generally under cover of the night. Though many of them were captured, they succeeded in carrying into the Con- federacy a vast amount of material to aid in carrying on the war. President Davis did not wait for the people of Virginia to vote on the question of secession, but removed his government to Richmond (May 20), and a few days later took up his resi- dence there. The Virginia Convention had made over to the Confederate Government all the military forces and supplies of the State, and troops had already taken possession of the line of defence between Richmond and Washington. The State troops were then under the command of Robert E. Lee, who had resigned his commission as a lieutenant-colonel in the United States army (April 20) soon after the secession of Vir- ginia. He was appointed Major-General of the forces of Vir- ginia, and at once set about organizing the troops and forming them into regiments. When the Virginia forces were made part of the Confederate army, Lee was made a brig- adier-general, and was put in command of the fortifications at Richmond, but he did not hold any very important position in the field before the second year of the war. The principal places occupied by the Con- federates were Harper's Ferry and Manassas Junction. A glance at the map will show the importance of these two points. Har- per's Ferry, at the head of the g^eat valley of the Shenandoah, which extends into the heart of Virginia, was the meeting place of two railways, one leading down the valley, the other west- ward. Manassas Junction was also the meeting- place of two railways, one connecting Washington with Richmond, the other running westward through Manassas Gap into the Shenandoah Valley. Troops could easily pass by railway between Harper's Ferry and Manassas Junction, and threaten Maryland from the one point and Washington from the other, while Richmond was at the same time protected. The command of the forces at Harper's Ferry, called the Army of the Shenandoah, was given to General Joseph E. Johnston, who had been a brigadier-gen- eral in the United States army, but who had resigned about the same time with Colonel Lee. Under him were Colonel Thomas CONFEDERATE POSTAGE STAMP, 1861.] WASHINGTON A CAMP. 79 Jonathan Jackson, known after the battle of Bull Eun as "Stonewall" Jackson, and Colonel J. E. B. Stuart, afterward famous as a cavalry leader. The army at Manassas Junction, then called the Army of the Potomac, was commanded by Gen- eral Beauregard. Besides these two armies, there was a small Confederate force near Hampton, on the peninsula between the James and the York rivers, under command of Colonel J. B. Magruder, another old officer of the United States army who had resigned after the secession of Virginia, his native State. This force was watching the Federal troops at Fortress Monroe, then under General B. F. Butler, who had been sent there from Baltimore Residence of Jefferson Davis in Richmond. to take command of the Department of Eastern Virginia. Still another small force was stationed in Western Virginia to guard the line of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, leading into the States west of the Alleghany Mountains. While the disunionists were thus preparing to make good their claims of independence by force of arms, thousands of volunteers from the great North and West had flocked into Washington, which soon looked like a great camp. The men were quartered wherever room could be found for them, some in the Capitol, some in the Patent-Office and other public buildings, some at the Navy Yard, and some in public halls. The Capitol looked like a fortress, the Senate Chamber and Hall of Representatives, the Rotunda, and other rooms being 80 MARCH INTO VIRGINIA. [1861. filled with soldiers, while the basement rooms were turned into store-rooms for beef, pork, flour, and other necessaries. The vaults on the west side were made into ovens, where thousands of loaves of bread were baked daily, and many camp-fires blazed in the surrounding grounds. As soon as the soldiers began to flock to the field, societies for their aid were formed all over the country. "Women and children began to scrape linen to make lint, and to prepare bandages for wounds. Thousands of old women knit stockings, while the younger ones made hospital clothes for the sick and wounded, or havelocks for the soldiers to wear when marching in the hot sun. The havelock is a kind of white cotton cape, made to fall down from the back of the cap so as to cover the neck. It was named from Sir Henry Havelock, who first had them made in 1857 for the use of his soldiers in the great rebellion in India. Thousands of these were made and sent to the army during the first year of the war, but the soldiers found them very un- comfortable, because they kept out the air, and they were soon given' up. The different socie- ties for the benefit of the soldiers became united in time under the name of the United States the havelock. Sanitary Commission, and did a great deal of good throughout the war in giving aid to the sick and wounded. In the beginning of the war a large number of the people in and around AVashington were in hearty sympathy with the dis- unionists, and were doing all in their power to help them. Secession women were much more defiant than the men, and not only worked secretly in aid of the Confederates, but openly walked the streets wearing secession cockades and badges. Some of them even had their clothes made to represent the Stars and Bars, the waist being formed of the blue union of the flag with the stars on it, and the skirt of the red and white bars. No notice was taken of them by the authorities, and they soon be- came ashamed of their folly. It was then the fashion to wear large hoops, as shown in the picture, and disunion ladies found it very convenient to hide letters, medicines, percussion-caps, and other contraband articles under their clothes when they went South. Women Avere employed to search all suspected persons leaving Washington, and once a petticoat that weighed 1861.] MART'S CAPS. 81 nearly fifty pounds was taken from a woman. It was quilted full of the finest sewing silk, then very much needed in the South. Another was found filled with packages of quinine a medicine of which the Confederate army was greatly in want. In another case a lady, whose husband had held a high position in Washington, but who had "gone with his State," succeeded in carrying through the line many letters, despatches, and drawings of military works which gave the Confederate author- ities a great deal of valuable information. Secession Lady's Costume. All trunks and parcels on railway trains in the neighborhood of Washington were searched. On a train going to Harper's Ferry the officer attending to this duty found a common red wooden trunk, marked "'Mary Birkitt, Wheeling, Virginia." Mary was inquired for through the train, but no Mary came to claim the trunk, so the searcher took a hammer and a chisel and opened it. When the lid was raised the inside looked very unsuspicious: on the top lay a pair of white sleeves, very neatly arranged beside a chemisette. Under them was a dress carefully folded — why should the unmannerly searcher look further? It was evidently the trunk of some young woman, going home 82 MARCH INTO VIRGINIA. [1861. perhaps to her friends in the South. But the "minion of tyranny" was still unsatisfied, and insisted on lifting up the dress — and lo! under it were more caps than Mary could wear in a lifetime. Unfortunately for her, they were percussion-caps, and the innocent-looking trunk was confiscated. At another time an officer going through the train saw a small lunch-basket on the floor between two seats. The top was partly raised, showing the ends of some sandwiches and some pieces of gingerbread. As the officer was looking at it, the conductor, who happened to come along along, said: " That belongs to an old woman. I believe she has stepped into the forward car." That seemed very reasonable, but the officer, whose wits had been shaiqiened by his knowledge of the many tricks of the enemy, thought he would just put his finger under the handle to see how much a basket of lunch weighs. But he couldn't lift it! The basket stuck to the floor. He then raised it with his hand, and under the gingerbread he discovered about half a peck of bright new brass buttons, on their way South to adorn the uniforms of Confederate soldiers. Other still more singular ways were frequently adopted to get needed things into the Confederacy. One day a funeral pro- cession started from Baltimore to cross the Long Bridge over the Patapsco River. It was apparently all right — the hearse with the coffin at the head, and a few mourners following. The first sentry let the procession pass without question, but the next one, more suspicious, thought he might as well take a peep into the coffin, just to make sure; and lo! instead of a corpse, it was packed full of muskets and ammunition. When he turned to look for the mourners, they were disappearing in the distance, running in a very unreverential manner, but he had the satisfaction of capturing the hearse and horses. In the early part of the Avar there was a great deal of pass- ing to and fro across the Potomac between Maryland and Virginia, and large quantities of needed articles were sent into the Confederacy by that route. One day a Maryland young lady, a Miss Webster, reached the Potomac and found a boat by the bank with a negro in it. She asked the negro to row her over, but he refused for fear, he said, that the Yankees would shoot him. Miss Webster drew a pistol from her pocket, and coolly told him that she would shoot him herself if he did not 1861.] A VALUABLE KITE. 83 take her across. The negro, frightened, rowed her over to the Virginia shore, and she made her way alone to Richmond, with her petticoats qnilted with quinine and her pockets full of pins, needles, thread, and many other necessaries then so hard to get in the Confederacy. When the borders were so strictly guarded that persons could not pass, letters were often sent across the Potomac by means of kites. A very large kite was made and covered with oiled silk, so that water would not harm it if it should get into the river. The tail was then formed of letters and newspapers, tied together with loop-knots so that each should form a bob, as many being put on as the kite could carry. When a favor- able wind was blowing, the owner would fly his kite until it had reached a proper height. He would then cut the string, and the whole would be carried by the breeze to the Virginia shore, where friends on the watch would take off the letters and news- papers. Letters in answer and Southern newspapers would then be attached to the tail, and with the first favorable wind the kite would be sent back to the Maryland shore. By the first of May there were forty or fifty thousand men encamped in and around Washington, under command of Gen- eral Scott, and another large force, under General Patterson, was stationed at Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, watching the movements of the Confederates at Harper's Ferry. Although the city of Washington was commanded by Arlington Heights, on the Virginia side of the Potomac, no hostile foot crossed the river until the people of Virginia decided at the ballot-box to leave the Union for the Confederacy. But shortly after mid- night of the day on which the vote was cast (May 23), fifteen thousand troops passed into Virginia, and took possession of the bank of the river opposite Washington. Washington lies on the left or north bank of the Potomac River, about a hundred and twenty-five miles from its mouth in Chesapeake Bay. About two and a half miles above the city, and separated from it by Rock Creek, is Georgetown, opposite which, on the Virginia side of the Potomac, is Arlington Heights; and seven miles below the city, also on the Virginia side, is Alexandria, a city of Virginia. Washington is con- nected with the Virginia side of the Potomac by the Long Bridge, used for carriage and foot travel and for the cars of 84 MARCH INTO VIRGINIA. [1861. the "Washington and Alexandria Railroad. From Georgetown to the Virginia side crosses the Aqueduct Bridge, so called because it has an aqueduct for a branch of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, which crosses the Potomac there. Above the aque- duct is a roadway, nearly a mile long, for carriages. The troops crossed into Virginia, some by the Long Bridge, some by the Aqueduct Bridge, and some by steamboats. Ar- lington Heights, on which is Arlington House, the home of General Eobert E. Lee, and Alexandria were seized without opposition, a few Confederate horsemen, placed there to watch the Federals across the river, being captured, and a few others Arlington House. escaping to their friends at Manassas Junction. It is said that General Lee had intended to build a battery on Arlington Heights, but was anticipated by the prompt action of the Unionists. The troops were followed by wagons loaded with picks and shovels, and earthworks were at once begun to guard the approaches to the Long Bridge and the Aqueduct, and for the protection of Arlington Heights and Alexandria. These were the beginning of the defences around Washington, which in time grew into fifty large forts and many smaller batteries completely surrounding the city, and mounted with more than a thousand cannons. At the entrances to the bridges and at other exposed places block-houses, made of hewn logs, were built, with loop-holes for musketry. Some of these were used also as signal stations. 1861.] DEATH OF ELLSWORTH. 85 Block-House. Only one sad event marred the success of the crossing into Virginia. Colonel Ellsworth, the youthful commander of the New York Fire Zouaves (he was not quite twenty-four years old), had been ordered to go directly with his regiment to Alex- andria by steamer, and to take possession of the place. The troops were landed without trouble, and Colonel Ellsworth, giving orders to some to see to the rail- road, went himself with a few men to seize the telegraph-office. On the way he saw a Confederate flag flying from an inn called the Marshall House, and mounting to the top of the building cut it down and started to descend with the flag in his arms. But he had scarcely reached the first landing when a man in his shirt-sleeves appeared in the hall below and, levelling a double-barrelled gun, shot him through the heart. Ellsworth fell dead down the stairs, and the man, who proved to be James T. Jackson, the landlord of the hotel, was in- stantly killed by a private who ac- companied Ellsworth. The state of feeling between the two parts of the country at the time is well shown by the different ways in which this event was looked at. In the North Ellsworth's death was called a mur- der, and his slayer an assassin; while in the South Jackson was regarded as a patriot and a martyr, and sub- scriptions of money were made for the support of his family. It has been said before that Gen- eral Butler had been sent from Bal- timore to take command at Fortress Monroe, where were collected ten or New York Fire z '^ ia ™. twelve thousand volunteers. Fortress Monroe, built at Old Point Comfort, Virginia, for the protection of the neighboring waters and of the navy-yard near. Norfolk, was the most impor- tant fortification on the Atlantic Coast, it being indeed the only fortress in the United States. Fortresses differ from forts in 86 MARCH INTO VIRGINIA. [1861 being much larger and stronger, and in having accommodations for very large garrisons. They are generally built for the pro- tection of cities, and may have forts outside to guard their own walls. Fortress Monroe, which covers seventy-five acres and mounts more than four hundred large cannons, needs a garrison of three thousand men to fully man it. Its solid granite walls are surrounded by a deep moat filled with water, and the peninsula on which it is built is connected with the mainland only by a narrow isthmus of sand, shown on the right in the picture, and by a bridge, seen on the left, leading to the village of Hampton. The disunionists would have been very glad to get possession of this strong fortress, but they gave up all hopes of it after General Butler's arrival. Soon after he had taken possession, some slaves who had escaped from plantations near by came into the Union lines. When their masters came to claim them, they were taken before Butler. The General, finding out that they had been used to build fortifications for the Con- federates, declared that they were contraband of war — that is, property liable to be seized as aids in warfare — and ordered them to be set at work throwing up earthworks to guard the approaches to the fortress. After that, all slaves who thus sought the protection of the Union forces were popularly called "contrabands." This was the first blow aimed at slavery during the Civil War, for General Butler's act was approved by the Government, and after that runaway slaves were generally treated as contra- band of war. It is noteworthy that slavery in the English colonies also began at the place where Fortress Monroe now stands. In 1619 a Dutch ship with the first slaves on board ever brought to Virginia touched at Point Comfort, as it was called by the early colonists,* and sold twenty of them to the Jamestown Colonists. * They so named it because it was their first landing-place after their long voyage from England. It isjstill called Old Point Comfort. Ephbaim Elmore Ellsworth. [1861. A DISGUSTED CONTRABAND. 87 The runaway negroes who came into General Butler's lines, had got the idea that in escaping from their masters they were going to be free to do as they pleased, and they were much annoyed to find that the Unionists made them work as hard if not harder than they had ever done at home. One of them, disgusted after a long day's shovelling at the earthworks, ex- claimed, " Golly, Massa Butler, dis nigger never had to work so hard before; guess dis chile will secede once moah." To make his position more secure Butler sent a force to take possession of Newport News,* a point at the mouth of the * It is thus commonly spelled in the maps, but the point was probably MABCII INTO VIRGINIA. [1861. James Elver. He had a camp also at the village of Hampton, about three miles from Fortress Monroe. The Confederates occupied the places in front of these positions, and their cavalry used to ride down nearly every night from a place called Little Bethel, about eight miles north of Newport-News, and annoy the Union picket guards. Butler, wishing to stop this, sent up some troops, on the night of June 9-10, under General Pierce, to drive them away. Part of this force, which was largely made up of New York volunteers, marched from Hampton, with orders to go round so as to attack Little Bethel from the rear, and the remainder from Newport-News with orders to attack in front. By mistake these two parties came near each other just before daybreak, and, taking each other for Confederates, opened fire with both cannon and muskets. The blunder was soon discovered, but not until a number of men had been killed and many wounded. The Con- federates, hearing the firing, left Little Bethel, and fell back to Big Bethel, several miles further north, where lay a larger force protected by earthworks. General Pierce destroyed the enemy's camp at Little Bethel and advanced to Big Bethel. There he found about 1100 Con- Keighborhood of Fortress Monroe, federates, Under Colonel D. H. Hill, with several guns, protected by a muddy stream in front. An attack was at once made upon them, but, being badly mis- managed, it was repulsed by the enemy. During this action fell Theodore Winthrop, well known as the author of " Cecil Dreeme," " John Brent," and other stories, who was shot by a North Caro- lina rifleman, while standing on a log and cheering on his men. He went from New York as a private in the ranks of the Seventh Eegiment, the story of whose march to Yfashington he told so named after Captain Newport and Sir William Newee, whose names were jointly given to it. as was often done in naming places in those days. 1861.] WESTERN VIRGINIA. 89 gracefully in the Atlantic Monthly Magazine two months after- ward. Not satisfied with his experiences as a soldier during the thirty days' campaigning of the regiment, he accepted the posi- tion of military secretary to General Butler, an office which he had held only about a month when he met his sad fate. Another sacrifice to the cause of the Union was Lieutenant John T. Greble, of the Second Artillery, who Avas killed by a rifle-ball while covering the retreat by firing upon the enemy with a single field-gun. He had just ordered the gun to be taken away when the fatal ball struck him in the forehead, and he fell dead. Lieutenant Greble was the first officer of the regular army who fell in the Civil War. He was a very promising young man, and beloved by all who knew him. We must now take a look into Western Virginia, where General Lee had sent troops fur the purpose principally of overawing the inhabitants and forcing them to take the side of secession. But most of the people there were firm Union- ists, who had determined not to yield to the Richmond gov- ernment. In the month of May General George B. Mc- Clellan, formerly an officer in the regular army, but then major-general of Ohio volun- teers, was made a major-general in the regular army and given the command of the Depart- ment of the Ohio, formed of the States of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. His Department being separated from West Virginia only by the Ohio River, he was enabled to watch closely the actions of the Confederates there: and thinking that the Unionists ought to receive aid, he sent some of his troops across the river and issued a proclamation (May 26) calling upon all loyal men to take up arms against the disunionists. Many of them had already formed a regiment under command of Colonel B. F. Kelley. The Confederates, Avho were posted at Grafton, a station on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, fell back to Philippi on the approach of the Union forces. On the morning Theodore Winthrop. 90 MARCH INTO VIRGINIA. [1861. of June 2 an advance was made on Philippi, which is about twenty-five miles from Grafton. It was expected that the Confederates would he taken by surprise, but when the troops were approaching the place just before daylight the next morn- ing, they were discovered by a woman, who sent her little boy by a short road over the hills to tell of their coming. When the Unionists came in sight of the camp the Confederates were all astir, and though their camp equipage was captured, the men escaped. A few volleys were exchanged by which several men were killed and wounded on each side. Among the wounded was Colonel Kel- ley, who was shot through the lungs, but he finally recovered. The Confederates, de- termined to hold this mountain region if possi- ble, sent there reinforce- ments of about six thousand men, under com- mand of General Robert S. Garnett, who had been George b. McClellan. an officer of the regular army. Garnett took up a position at a place called Laurel Hill, a spur of the Alleghany Mountains, which commanded the main road from Wheeling to Staunton, placing a smaller body of men, under Colonel Pegram, at Rich Mountain, about five miles below. McClellan, who had a much superior force, made up his mind to try to capture Garnett's whole army, if possible. With this end in view, he sent General Rosecrans to assail Pegram in the rear, while he attacked in front. Rosecrans marched through thick woods and by mountain paths in a heavy rain, and finally got behind Rich Mountain. The path up the mountain was rugged and difficult, but the Union troops toiled up through briers and laurel-bushes, and over the wet rocks and slippery earth. At last the Confederates spied them, and opened on them with artilleiy, but their shots did little damage. After a sharp fight Rosecrans won the crest of the hill. During the following night, Pegram, finding McClellan in his front, tried to escape to join Garnett at Laurel Hill, but he was surrounded in the 1861.] PATTERSON AND JOHNSTON. 91 woods the next; day, and forced to surrender with six hundred men, a few companies escaping. General Garnett, hearing of Pegram's loss, tried to retreat southward, but McClellan cut off his line of retreat, and he was forced to fly eastward over a mountain road. The way was difficult, and being followed closely by the Union army, he had to turn and fight frequently. The last stand was made (July 13) at a ford on Little Cheat Eiver, where four companies of a Georgia regiment were cut off, and General Garnett himself, while trying in vain to rally his men, was killed. The losses in killed and wounded in these engagements were not very great, but the Confederates lost more than a thousand prisoners, with nearly all their stores, baggage, and artillery. The Unionists thus gained control of Western Virginia through the skill of General McClellan, whose ability soon won for him a wider field of action. While these things were going on in Western Virginia, Major- General Patterson, in command of the United States forces at Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, had begun to move toward the Potomac. General Joseph E. Johnston, commanding the Army of the Shenandoah, feeling that Harper's Ferry could not be held, burned the great railroad bridge and other buildings there which might be useful to the enemy, and withdrew his troops (June 13) to Winchester, in the Shenandoah Valley. Patterson crossed the Potomac three days afterward, but on the 18th the troops were all ordered to fall back into Maryland, and part of them were called to Washington. Johnston then sent General Jackson, afterward called " Stonewall," with a brigade and General J. E. B. Stuart's cavalry, to Martinsburg, to destroy all he could of the Baltimore and Ohio Eailroad. On the 2d of July General Patterson again crossed the Potomac at Williams- port, where the water was only waist deep, and took position at Martinsburg. Jackson fell back toward Johnston, keeping up a running fire with the Union forces as ho retreated. Patterson had then about eighteen thousand men, while Johnston had only about eight thousand; but instead of advancing on Winchester and attacking the enemy, as he was expected to do, he turned toward Harper's Ferry after reaching Bunker's Hill, and marched (July 17) to Charlestown. This left Johnston free to move where he pleased. How he improved the opportunity and what effect it had on the Union cause will be shown in the next chapter. CHAPTEE VII. BULL RUN. Five Hundred Thousand more Volunteers.— General McDowell.— On to Richmond.— The March begun.— Beauregard's Position.— Battle of Bull Run.— Stonewall Jackson.— Johnston aids Beauregard.— Death of General Bee.— Mrs. Henry's House.— A Dis- gusted Irishman.— The Stars and Stripes or the Stars and Bars.— Kirby Smith and Early to the Rescue.— The Union Rout.— Davis visits the Battle-Ground.— The Centreville Picnic— Confederate Exaggerations.— A Long Retreat.— Den I got off.— Confederate Hopes.— The North prepares for War in Earnest.— McClellan in Command of the Army of the Potomac— The Bull Run Monument. THE extra session of Congress culled by President Lincoln met July 4, approved of the President's acts, and em- powered him to accept the services of half a •million more vol- unteers for three years. Washington was then safe from attack, but the main Confederate force still lay at Manassas Junction, within marching distance of the Capital, and people who for weeks had watched the gathering there of what they looked upon as a resistless force began to wonder why the Grand Army, as the crowd of volunteers was fondly called, did not at once move upon and crush the "rebels." General Irvin McDowell, who, under General Scott, was at the head of this force, had never commanded a large body of men in the field, but he had had a thorough military training, and had seen European armies, and he was well aware that his troops were in no con- dition to meet an enemy. He had worked hard to organize them, but the regiments were formed of men from all grades of life, commanded principally by civilians without military knowledge. In most cases, so little drilling had they had that they scarcely knew their commanders, and some of the brigadier- generals had never seen their brigades in line. A large part of the men, too, were three months' volunteers, whose term of ser- vice had nearly expired. General Scott, then seventy-five years old and too weak in body to take the field, Avas of the same opinion with General McDowell. He knew that the army was in no condition to move, but the people and the press started the cry " On to Eichmond!" and he was at last forced to yield to public opinion and make an advance when his judgment told him it was wrong. 1861.] MARCH TO MANASSAS. 93 It may be said that the Confederates were no better off — that their troops, too, were new to military service, and equally without organization. But this would be only partly true, for most of them had been longer under arms than the Union troops, who were made up chiefly of raw levies pushed forward hastily to defend the Capital. The Confederates, too, were acting on the defensive in a country well known to themselves, and were occupying a strong military position. A glance at any good map of Virginia Avill show that the Confederate armies at this time held very advantageous positions, where they were enabled not only to threaten the Union forces, but also easily to aid each other. Beauregard, with the main army, occupied a line along a stream called Bull Run, his headquarters being at Manassas Junction, about thirty-five miles from Washington, where he was within easy communication with Johnston in the Shenan- doah Valley, distant about 4||g||| seventy miles by railroad, and i ■ . with the troops in the Penin- sula and at Richmond, dis- tant seventy-five miles by railroad. The Confederates thus held what is called an interior line, with their troops at three different points within easy reach of each other, while the Union forces were arrayed against them in an exterior line, in which the several bodies of troops were at much greater distances from each other. In this the Confederates had a great advantage; but to overcome this, General Butler at Fortress Monroe was expected to keep the enemy in the Peninsula busy, and General Patterson was ordered to so occupy Johnston that he could not send reinforcements to Beauregard. General McDowell began his march toward Manassas in the afternoon of Tuesday, July 1G. He had about twenty-eight thousand men, in four divisions: the First Division under the command of General Tyler, the Second under Colonel Hunter, the Third under Colonel Ileintzelman, and the Fifth under Irvin McDowell. 94 BULL BUN. [1861. Colonel Miles. The Fourth Division, under 'General Runyon,. was left to guard the defences on the Potomac opposite Wash- ington. The First Division, which led the advance, did not reach Centreville until the morning of the 18th. General Tyler had been cautioned not to bring on a battle; but thinking that he was strong enough to go through to Manassas, he pushed on to Bull Run, which he reached at a place called Blackburn's Ford. From the heights he opened an artillery fire on a Con- federate battery opposite, and finally advanced a brigade to the stream. But the Confederates under General Longstreet easily drove him back, and he was obliged to retire with a loss of nearly a hundred men, the enemy losing about sixty. The effect of this skirmish was bad for the Unionists, while the Con- federates were greatly elated by it. The next two days (July 19 and 20) were passed in study- ing the ground and the position of the enemy. Beauregard was found to be strongly posted on the other side of Bull Eun, a stream too deep to be crossed excepting at the fords, which were from a half-mile to a mile apart. His lines were about eight miles long, from Union Mills to Stone Bridge, where the Warrenton Turnpike crosses. These two points and the other fords between them were defended by batteries behind breast- works of felled trees, and supported by foot-soldiers, mostly hidden by the woods. After a thorough survey of the position, General McDowell determined to make a false attack on Beau- regard's right below, and to make the real attack on his left above the Stone Bridge. It must be understood that as the two parties in a battle face each other, the enemy's right is always opposite the left of the attacking force. In accordance with this plan, Colonel Miles was ordered to hold Centreville with his division and to make a false attack at Blackburn's Ford at the same time. Early on the morning of Sunday, July 21, the First Division, under Tyler, moved from Centreville by the Warrenton Turnpike to Stone Bridge, with orders to threaten the Confederates at that point, and to cross when possible. The Second and Third Divisions, under Hunter and Heintzelman, were ordered to march further up Bull Run, and cross by a ford at Sudley Spring, which it was found the enemy had left unguarded; then, coming down on the other side of Bull Run, to attack the defences of the Stone Bridge in 1861.] STONEWALL JACKSON. 95 the rear. All these movements were executed, but so slowly that Hunter and Heintzelman did not get across Sudley Ford until ten o'clock. The Confederates were found strongly posted, but the Union troops were superior in number, and after a stubborn fight forced them back little by little until Tyler was enabled to cross at Stone Bridge. The Con- federate left was thus turned — that is, the Union troops had got around it so as to attack it behind. This was a great advantage, for with good man- agement the Union troops could defeat this end before Beauregard could get up his other troops, many of whom were oppos- ing the false attack several miles below. The Confede- rates, under Gen- erals Evans and Bee, gave way and fell back slowly. It was afterward said at Eichmond that they were whipped at this time, but that the men did not know it. General Bee, however, felt that the day was lost. As he was retreating with his troops, he came upon General Jackson, who had brought several regiments to his support. "General," he cried, "they are beating us back!" "Then, sir," replied Jackson, "we'll give them the bayonet." Bee Site of the Battle op Bull Run. 96 BULL RUN. [1861. rushed back to his hard-pressed men, exclaiming, u See, there are Jackson and his Virginians, standing like a stone wall; let us determine to die here and we will conquer." And from that time Jackson was known to all as Stonewall Jackson. It will be remembered that in the last chapter we left Gen- eral Joseph E. Johnston with his army at Winchester in the Shenandoah Valley, and that General Patterson had been ordered to press him so closely that he would not be able to re- inforce Beauregard. But Patterson, instead of following up Johnston, moved, July 17, to Charlestown. On the very next day McDowell appeared before Bull Bun, and Beauregard im- mediately sent word to Johnston to come and help him. John- ston, thus left free by Patterson, joined Beauregard with part of his troops on Saturday, the 20th, the rest, under General Kirby Smith, being detained on the way by want of railroad cars to carry them. Thus it l^rpened that Johnston and Stonewall Jackson were present at the battle, while Patterson was wasting his time at Charlestown with more than twice as many men as Johnston had. As Johnston was higher in rank than Beauregard, he took command of the whole army, but he approved of all of Beaure- gard's plans, and the two were in consultation during the whole battle. When they heard how hard pressed Evans and Bee and Jackson were, they galloped to that part of the field, and while Beauregard took command in person and tried to rally the dis- organized troops, Johnston rode back to hurry up reinforcements. By two o'clock in the afternoon the Confederates had been driven back beyond the Warrenton Turnpike. Beaure- gard took a new position on a kind of plateau or table-land, where a growth of young pines and oaks gave shelter for sharp- shooters. Beinforcements came up, and the battle raged more fiercely than ever. The possession of the plateau was desper- ately contested, being sometimes in the possession of one party and sometimes in that of the other, and the whole open ground was streAvn with the dead and wounded. At this point fell General Bee, of South Carolina, and Colonel Bartow, of Georgia. Several dwelling-houses stood within the limits of the place where the fight was hottest, among them the residence of Mrs. Judith Henry, a widow. Not suspecting that it was to be the scene of a battle, the family remained in the house until it was 1861.] A DISGUSTED IRISHMAN. 97 too late to escape. The noise of the conflict came nearer and nearer, and soon cannon-shot began to plow up the ground around, and to endanger the house. Mrs. Henry, who was an invalid confined to her bed, was carried by her son and daugh- ter to a gully, or kind of hollow washed out by running water, and there the three lay in safety until the combatants had passed by. Thinking themselves safe, the children bore their aged mother to the house again; but the Union troops were driven back, and the fight again raged so hotly around them that it Bull Run Battle-Ground.* was impossible to leave. The old lady lay there amid all the remaining terrors of the day; the house was riddled with balls, and when the tide of battle had rolled on she was found so badly wounded that she died soon after. During the thickest of the fight an Irishman on the Union side was startled to see the head of his companion on the left hand knocked off by a cannon-ball. A few moments afterward a spent musket-ball broke the fingers of his comrade on the right. The latter dropped his gun and yelled with pain. "Blasht your sowl, you ould woman," cried the Irishman, *In the centre are the ruins of Mrs. Henry's house; in the background, through the opening, is Manassas Junction ; in the foreground, at the left, is a small monument where General Bee fell. 98 BULL RUN. [1861. " shtop your cryin; you make more noise about it than the man that losht his head!" The Union forces, though repeatedly repulsed, made prepa- rations in the afternoon for a last grand struggle, when on their right appeared a large body of troops marching to the field. For a moment all was in suspense, for it was impossible to tell whether the flag they bore was the Stars and Stripes or the Stars and Bars; but soon cheer after cheer from the wearied Con- federate lines told the Unionists that Kirby Smith and Early had come with the remainder of Johnston's Army of the Shen- andoah. These troops had been moving down the railroad to Manassas Junction, but the train was stopped at the point nearest the battle-field, and the men hurried across the fields just in time to win the fight. They attacked the Union right with the ardor of fresh troops, while Beauregard pressed on in front. A cry ran along the Union lines, "Johnston's army has come!" and at once a wild terror seized upon all. The right, broken and disorganized, fell back across Young's Branch and toward Sudley Ford. The officers tried to form them again, but in vain, and the retreat soon became a rout. They fled across Bull Bun toward Centreville, the different regiments mixed together, and many throwing away their arms and accou- trements. Warren ton Turnpike became choked with train- wagons and artillery carriages, and flying teams and riderless horses trampled on men, while the air was black with dust and the smoke of battle. Many of the troops, unable to get along fast enough by the roads, took to the fields and woods, all run- ning wildly across the country as if the Confederates were close on their heels. At Centreville the reserve still held its ground, but the panic-stricken mob could not be stopped until the forts on the Potomac were reached. Many did not stop even there, but fled across the Long Bridge to Washington, until an end was finally put to the disgraceful flight by closing the bridge. We call it disgraceful because there was nothing to fear. The centre and the left of the Union line, though it retreated quickly, fell back in such good order that the Confederates did not think it best to pursue; and the reserve at Centreville held its ground until midnight, when it marched back to the Poto- mac. The Confederates were too nearly used up for pursuit; only a small body of cavalry followed the fugitives, picking up 1861.] DAVIS AT MANASSAS. 99 stragglers, and the victorious army did not advance beyond the defences behind Bull Run. It has often been said that if the Confederates had pressed on they might have captured Washington, but General John- ston has shown that it was impossible. He says his army was more disorganized by victory than the Union army was by de- feat; that his men were unfit for marching or for attacking the strong entrenchments around Washington, defended by a more numerous enemy; and that he had not proper supplies of food and ammunition. Even if he had succeeded in taking the for- tifications opposite Washington, the Potomac with the Union war-ships in it would have protected the city. After the battle was ended, President Davis, who had has- tened from Richmond by the railroad in hope of arriving in time to take part in the battle, came up from Manassas Junc- tion and rode over the field. As the train apjiroached the Junction he had seen so great a stream of skulkers and strag- glers running to the rear of the Confederate troops that he made up his mind the battle was lost. His first words, as he shook hands with General Johnston, were, " How has the battle gone?" and he was agreeably surprised when he heard the result. So little did men in Washington in those clays understand the clangers of the situation, and so little anxiety had they in regard to the result, that they treated McDowell's advance against the Confederates as an occasion for festivity, and many Congressmen and other officials, and even some ladies, drove out to Centreville on Sunday morning to witness the end of the Confederacy. Indeed, so general was the belief that the Grand Army had but to show itself to cause the Confederates to melt away like mist before them, that a chaplain of a Connecticut regiment had prepared a sermon, to be preached after the vic- tory, from the text "And Manasseh is mine" (Psalms lx. 7). The civilians posted themselves at General Miles's headcjuarters, on the heights of Centreville, where they could overlook the- field, and with wine and cigars and many a merry jest they passed the day while the work of death was going on before them. When the rout began and the fugitives from the battle came pouring across the fields upon them, many of their cheeks became white with fear and they tried to escape as best they might. But the terrified crowds overtook them, their carriages 100 BULL RUN. [1861. were smashed, and men and gayly dressed women made their way back to the Capital as they best could, struggling with' the sol- diery to escape the death or captivity which they saw behind them. The Confederates had at Bull Eun about twenty-seven thousand men, including Johnston's army. McDowell had in all about twenty-eight thousand, a part of whom were held in reserve at Centreville and took no part in the battle. It is probable that the forces actually engaged on each side before the day was over were very nearly equal, but the Confederates in their reports greatly magnified the numbers opposed to them and made their own smaller than they really were. In the address to their army by Generals Johnston and Beauregard after the battle, the Union army is spoken of as a " countless host," and again as "nearly treble our numbers." In the de- spatch sent by President Davis to the Confederate Congress on the night following the battle, he said, " Our force was fifteen thousand; that of the enemy estimated at thirty-five thousand." In other accounts the number of the Union army was put at more than fifty thousand and in one account as high as eighty thousand. The loss of the Confederates in the battle was about nineteen hundred; that of the Unionists about fifteen hundred killed and wounded and as many prisoners, or about three thousand in all; but there were also many stragglers who never returned to their regiments, so that the entire loss was nearly four thousand. Several days after the battle one of these stragglers, to call him by no worse name, was met by an acquaintance near Wash- ington Market in New York. " Halloo!" said his friend, "what are you doing here? Got leave of absence?" "No," said the fellow. " I got the word to 'fall back' at Bull Run, and nobody told me to halt, so I kept on retreating until I got here." This was a fair sample of the discipline in the army at the time. A negro boy who was employed in driving an ambulance, when asked about his experience on the battle-field, said, "Ye see, Massa, I was a-drivin' along when a musket-ball came and killed my horse; and den, pretty soon, a shell came along, and he blow my wagon all to pieces — and den I got off." 1861.] CONFEDERATE HOPES. 101 The battle of Bull Bun, or Manassas, as the victors chose to call it, had a very different effect upon the two parties. Although the Confederates had won in the struggle, they really gained nothing from it, and some of their writers have not hesitated to call it the greatest misfortune that could have hap- pened to them. The larger part of the Southern people looked upon it as the end of the war, and Confederate newspapers boasted of the prowess of the sons of the South, and openly asserted that one Southerner was equal to five Yankees in a stand-up fight, This was the talk, too, of their orators, and even the Confederate officials believed that, although there might be a few more skirmishes, independence was virtually attained. One of their principal historians says that politicians began to discuss who should be the next President of the Confederacy, although the election was nearly six years distant, and the dif- ferent States disputed which of their cities should be honored as the chosen site of the Confederate Capital. Thus, inspired with a false confidence and wholly ignorant of the deep-set determination of the North to restore the Union at all hazards, they wasted their time in silly glorification, while their enemies diligently went to work to retrieve their first blunder. But their victory had for them one good effect. Previous to it there had been many of their citizens Avho, if not professed Unionists, had been lukewarm in the cause of the Confederacy; but after it all became as one people, and devoted their money and their lives to the new government. The news of the defeat was received very differently at the North. Union orators, clergymen, and newspapers had talked so persistently about the justice and holiness of the cause that the people had begun to think that nothing but a little self- sacrifice was necessary to overcome the hosts of secession, and that the right would prevail no matter how great the odds against it. This opinion was strengthened when the people rose as one man after the fall of Sumter and the enthusiastic volunteers marched to Washington, and everybody looked for- ward to a speedy if not a bloodless campaign. But Bull Bun largely disabused them of these notions. Those who met the enemy there found that the Confederates were inspired with no less patriotism and self-sacrificing devotion, and that they as firmly believed in the justice of their cause as did the most 102 BULL BUST. [1861. ardent Unionists. They believed, too, that the war against them was an unjust war of aggression, for which there was no author- ity under the Constitution — nay, more, that the contest on their part was the last great struggle on this continent for the civil liberty for which their fathers had fought, and for which they were as willing to lay down their lives as were their opponents in defence of the Union. "You have fought for your cause; I die for mine," said a wounded Georgian with a smile, as a Union soldier gave him a cup of water while he lay in the throes of death on the battle-field; and many like instances told the brave fellows who bore the brunt of the bat- tle on the Union side that the newspapers and the politicians had deceived them in regard to the character of the men they were to meet. The Unionists, with their eyes thus rudely opened, saw that the country had before it a long and terrible strng- Bull Run Monument. gle, which would tax its resources to the utmost; and though many of the best men quailed before the immensity of the task, the greater part of the people upheld the government at Washington and determined that the Union must be preserved. On the very Monday (July 22) when the panic-stricken fugitives from Bull Run filled the streets of Washington, Congress sat all day in calm deliberation, and the House of Representatives passed unanimously the following resolution: "Resolved That the maintenance of the Constitution, the preservation of the Union, and the enforcement of the laws are sacred trusts which must be executed; that no disaster shall dis- courage us from the most ample performance of this high duty; 1861.] MPGLELLAN IN COMMAND. 103 and that we pledge to the country and the world the employ- ment of every resource, national and individual, for the sup- pression, overthrow, and punishment of rebels in arms." Sentiment was now laid aside, and preparation for the strug- gle began in dread earnest. General McClellan, who had won the confidence of all by his successes in Western Virginia, was called to Washington the day after Bull Run and put in com- mand of the Army of the Potomac. The whole North went to work with aii energy unknown before. Money was raised, armies set on foot, and navies built in the long months of mili- tary inactivity which followed Bull Eun, for the South, repos- ing in fancied security upon its laurels, made no attempt to follow up its success, and the spring of 1862 found the Union fully prepared to grapple with its foe, whom it had learned no longer to despise. Four years after the battle of Bull Run, when the war had ended, a monument was built on the field by some Massachu- setts and Pennsylvania soldiers, in memory of their comrades who fell in the fight. It stands on a mound, not far from the site of Mrs. Henry's house, on the place where the struggle raged fiercest. The illustration gives a very good idea of it. The monument is of sandstone, with a 100-pounder shell on the top, and similar shells are placed at each corner of the base. It bears the inscription: In Memory of the Patriots who pell at Bull Run, July 21, 1861. Common Bayonet. Trowel Bayonet. Sword Bayonet. CHAPTER VIII. BOONVILLE.— WILSON'S CEEEK. Military Importance of Cairo.— Bird's Point.— Lyon in Command in Missouri.— Governor Jackson calls for Volunteers against the Union.— Battle of Boonville.— Fight near Carthage.— Franz Sigel's Retreat.— Fremont in Command in the West.— Ben Mcculloch.— Battle at Dug Spring.— Wilson's Creek.— The Confederates sur- prised.— A False Flag.— Where is Sigel?— Death of Lyon.— Eetreat to Spring- field.— Story of Eddy, the Drummer-Boy. WE must now return to the West and see what has been taking place there during these stirring events around Washington. A glance at the map will show how Illinois, Ken- tucky, and Missouri come together nearly in a point at the junction of the Ohio with the Mississippi Eiver, while a part of Tennessee lies on the Mississippi opposite Missouri but a little way below the junction. It was considered very impor- tant by both parties in the beginning of the war to get posses- sion of the great rivers, because troops and munitions of war could be transported much more easily by water than over land. The Confederates saw that if they could establish themselves at Cairo, in Illinois, on the point between the Ohio and the Mis- sissippi, they could keep the Unionists from coming down the Ohio and going up the Mississippi to St. Louis, and could also shut them out from the lower Mississippi, which below that point ran wholly through slave States. But the Unionists, alive to the importance of the place, were too quick for them, and in May, 1861, they established a camp there of several thousand men, who threw up strong earthworks, mounted with heavy cannon, commanding both rivers. After that, steamboats and other vessels were obliged to stop there and report to the com- mandant before being allowed to pass either up or down. Cairo stands on ground so low that but for its levee, or earth embankment thrown up along both rivers, it would often be overflowed. Directly opposite, in Missouri, is Bird's Point, on a bluff higher than Cairo; and as cannon placed there would command the Union position, it was occupied by Missouri Union volunteers, who threw up earthworks and constructed a strong camp. The Confederates, thus foiled, began to form plans for the capture of Cairo. 1861.] LYON AND SIOEL. 105 Meanwhile General Lyon, who by his energy had preserved the city of St. Lonis from falling into the hands of the dis- unionists, had been appointed to the command of the Union forces in Missouri, in place of General Harney. Governor Jack- son, who had assembled his legislature at Jefferson City, the capital of the State, issued a proclamation (June 12) calling for fifty thousand volunteers to drive the Union troops, whom he called invaders, out of Missouri. Major-General Sterling Price, who had been made commander of the State forces, and the sev- eral brigadier-generals under him were ordered to organize the militia as soon as possible, and gather them at Boonville and Lexington, two places on the Missouri River, northwest of Jeffer- son City. General Lyon, de- termined to break up this force at once, started with two thou- sand men on two steamboats from St. Louis, June 13, and arrived at Jefferson City two days after- ward ; but Jackson, hearing of his com- ing, had gone to Boon- ville. General Lyon followed, and on Mon- day, June 17, after a brisk light, dispersed the force there with but small loss to either side; but many prisoners were taken, most of them youths under age, who were released next day on promising not to take up arms again against the United States. The Confederates retreated southward toward Arkansas, where they expected General Ben McCulloch to come to their aid, and being- joined by the troops at Lexington and by others, soon formed a well-organized body of nearly four thousand men. Meanwhile another Union army, about fifteen hundred strong, under Colonel Franz Sigel, had gone by railroad from Union Camp at Cairo. f 106 BOONVILLE.— WILSON'S CREEK. [1861. St. Louis to Rolla, the end of the road, and marched thence td Springfield. Hearing of Jackson's flight, he pushed on after him, and met the Confederates near Carthage on the morning of July 5. Sigel's force was much inferior to that of the enemy, but he had the most artillery. He took a strong position on a hill, where he defended himself successfully for three or four hours, but finally the Confederates, who were mostly mounted men, sent their cavalry to his right and left, and he was obliged to fall back to keep his baggage-train, which was three miles in his rear, from falling into their hands. Hard pressed by the Confederates, and sometimes nearly surrounded, he retreated to Carthage, and finally to Springfield, where he was joined (July 10) by General Lyon, who, being the higher in rank, took command of the whole force. Sigel's masterly retreat in the face of numbers so greatly supe- rior to his own won him much praise, and to ''fight mit Sigel" became a by-word among the Union men of Missouri. The next day after the bat- tle, General Sterling Price, who had been too ill to take part in it, arrived at Carthage with General Ben McCulloch and a reinforcement of Arkansas troops. The Confederates now over- ran all southwestern Missouri, General Lyon with his small force still remaining at Springfield waiting for reinforcements. The greater part of his troops were three-months men, whose time was nearly up, and, the Unionists of the West having been greatly discouraged by the result at Bull Run, it was very hard to raise more volunteers. General John C. Fremont had mean- while been appointed (July 9) to the command of the West, but lie did not arrive at St. Louis until near the end of the month (July 25). He took no proper measures to reinforce General Lyon, nor did he order him to retreat from Springfield; so Lyon was left to do the best he could under the circumstances. Many of his officers thought he ought to fall back from Springfield, but others objected that such a movement would Franz Sigel. 1861.] MCCULLOCH AND PRICE. 107 leave all that part of Missouri open to the Confederates ; so it was determined to attack the enemy, though they were known to be greatly superior in number. But the Confederates, who had received reinforcements of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas troops, had also made up their minds to fight. All their forces, consisting of about twelve thousand effective men, half of whom were horsemen, with fif- teen guns, were collected at Cassville and marched from there toward Springfield in three divisions, part on the 1st and part on the 2d of August. The command was held by General McCulloch, who was a Confederate brigadier-general, while Price was only a State officer. Early in the morning of Friday, August 2, the first division was met by General Lyon, with a force of about six thousand men and eighteen guns, at a place called Dug Spring, and after a sharp fight defeated and driven back. The Confederates, the rest of whose troops soon came up and joined the de- feated division, pressed on in hope of again fighting Lyon near the scene of the battle, but they found that he had retreated toward Springfield. The weather was hot and the roads very dusty, but the Confederates followed him about seventeen miles, when they were compelled to halt for rest, the men being nearly ex- hausted. The next morning they moved forward and took a position on Wilson's Creek, about ten miles southwest of Spring- field, where they made ready for an attack. General McCulloch gave orders to march on Springfield at nine o'clock on Friday night (August 9), but a threatened storm caused them to be countermanded, and the troops were ordered to hold them- selves in readiness for an advance. They therefore kept under arms all night, every moment expecting to march. In the mean time General Lyon, who had news of McCul- loch's coming, determined to surprise him if possible. So, on Ben McCulloch. 108 BOONVILLE. — WILSON '8 CREEK. 11861. the very night on which McCulloch had intended to move upon him (Aug. 9) he marched- out of Springfield in two columns. General Sigel, with one brigade and a battery of six guns, was sent in a southerly direction with orders to attack the enemy in the rear, while General Lyon himself, in command of the main body, was to attack in front. The plan was well executed, and Plan op the Battle op Wilson's Creek. about daybreak of Saturday, August 10, both columns came in sight of the Confederate encampments before the enemy knew of their coming. The valley of Wilson's Creek, lying between high bluffs on one side and sloping hills on the other, was white with a thousand tents which extended in many places up the hillsides and in the ravines which opened into the main valley. The Confederates, not expecting an attack, kept a poor watch, and when the two Union columns ojjened fire 1861.] BATTLE OF WILSON'S CREEK. 109 upon them at nearly the same time they were at first thrown into confusion. They gave way before Sigel, and he succeeded in placing his artillery on the hills so that he cotild open a destructive fire on those in the valley. But the Confederates soon saw how small his force was, and a Louisiana regiment, carrying a United States flag, succeeded in getting very near to his artillery, Sigel supposing all the while that it was a part of Lyon's force coming to his aid. When the mistake Avas found out it was too late. Sigel's first line was thrown into confusion by the Louisianians, who were followed by some Texans and a regiment of Missouri cavalry, and his whole force was soon routed, with the loss of five pieces of artillery. Few of Sigel's men were killed, but two or three hundred were taken prisoners, and the rest, being mostly three-months men, whose time was nearly up, made the best of their way to Springfield and thence to their homes. On the other side, General Lyon had at first met with suc- cess, the Confederates being thrown into confusion. But their officers, knowing their superiority in numbers, rallied them again and again to the attack, and nothing but the Union artillery, well posted on the hills, saved Lyon and his brave men from being overrun. General Lyon watched in vain for Sigel, from whom no news had been received; and his own guns had kept up such a continuous fire that the sound of Sigel's artillery, though only three miles away, had not been heard. About half-past eight o'clock there was a lull in the fighting, and the wearied Unionists began to hope that their attack had been suc- cessful; but the Confederates who had crushed Sigel soon arrived to aid their friends, and another fierce assault was made on the Union lines. The hills were covered with brushwood, and the two hostile lines were often little more than a hundred yards from each other. The hum of the musket and ri fle balls was incessant, and manv officers were killed and wounded on both Nathaniel Lyon. HO BOONVILLE.— WILSON'S CREEK. [1861. sides while urging their men to the attack. General Lyon, who rode a beautiful dapple-gray horse, was in the thickest of the fight. He was twice struck by rifle-balls, and soon his horse was killed under him. Major Sturgis offered him his own horse, and the General, mounting it, ordered a bayonet charge along the line. Bleeding from his two wounds, one of which was in his head, Lyon swung his hat in the air and shouted, " Come on, brave men, I will lead you!" but just then a bullet struck him in the breast, and he fell from his horse mortally wounded. His lifeless body was carried to the rear and put into an ambu- lance, and Major Sturgis took command of the troops. The Confederates now tried the same trick they had jjlayed so successfully on Sigel, and sent forward a body of troops carry- ing the Union flag. Sturgis and his men, supposing them to be Sigel's column, hailed them with cheers, to which the Con- federates replied with a heavy fire of canister from their artillery. As it was known that the Confederates had no canister shot, it was evident to all that Sigel's guns and ammunition had fallen into the hands of the enemy. But notwithstanding this disap- pointment and the loss of their leader, the Unionists held their ground bravely against this new attack, and the enemy were again driven back. The Confederates had now nearly used up their ammunition and made no further attack, but took up a position on the hills to watch the enemy. It was half-past eleven o'clock, and the fight having raged for nearly six hours and there being no hope of continuing it with success, it was determined to withdraw to Springfield. The enemy offered no resistance; the army fell back slowly and in good order, and reached Springfield about five o'clock in the afternoon. That place being unfortified and it being very hard to get provisions, the Union forces fell back, under the command of Sigel, to Eolla, at the end of the railroad to St. Louis, the Confederates making no attempt to molest them. This battle, which was among the hardest-fought ones of the whole war, was called by the Unionists the battle of Wilson's Creek, and by the Confederates the battle of Oak Bluff. The loss of the Unionists in it was between twelve and thirteen hun- dred in killed and wounded, while that of the Confederates was nearly three thousand. In the hurry of retreat the body of General Lyon was left on the field, but the next morning a sur- 1861.] EDDY THE DRUMMER BOY. \\\ geon and some men were sent for it, and General Price had it conveyed to Springfield in his own wagon. This victory of the Confederates — for it was really a victory, although they were unable to follow it up — gave them the com- mand of all southern Missouri. But McCulloch and Price could not agree upon what to do next. They therefore separated, McCulloch going back with his troops to Arkansas, while Price marched northwest, gathering recruits as he went. An affecting incident of the battle of Wilson's Creek is the story of little Eddy, the drummer-boy, who was mortally wounded there. His father, a Union man of East Tennessee, had been killed, and his mother had gone to St. Louis with Eddy, then about twelve years old, in hope of finding a sister who lived there. Failing in this, and getting out of money, she applied to the captain of one of the companies in the Iowa First to get Eddy a position as drummer-boy. The regiment had only six weeks longer to serve, and she hoped that during that time she might find work for herself and discover her sister. The captain was about to say that he could not take so small a boy, when Eddy spoke out, "Don't be afraid, captain, I can drum." Upon this the captain, seeing the little fellow's determined air, replied, with a smile, " Well, well, sergeant, bring the drum, and order the fifer to come forward." The fifer, a lank, round-shouldered fellow, more than six feet high, came forward, and bending down with his hands on his knees, asked, "My little man, can you drum?" "Yes, sir," said Eddy, "I drummed for Captain Hill in Tennessee." The fifer straightened himself up and played the "Flowers of Edinburgh," one of the most difficult tunes to follow with the drum, but Eddy kept pace with him through all the hardest parts and showed that he was a master of the drum. "Madam, I will take your boy," said the captain. "What is his name?" "Edward Lee," she replied, wiping a tear from her eye. "Oh! captain, if he is not killed, you will bring him back with you, won't you?" "Yes, we'll be sure to bring him back. We shall be dis- charged in six weeks." 112 BOONVILLE.— WILSON'S CREEK. [1861. An hour afterward the company led the Iowa First out of camp, Eddy and the long fifer playing " The Girl I left Behind Me." Eddy soon became a great favorite with the soldiers, and always received his share of fruit and melons when the for- agers brought any to camp. It was very amusing on the march to see the tall fifer wading through the mud or crossing streams with Eddy mounted on his back. After the battle at Wilson's Creek part of the Iowa First had been ordered to cover the retreat, while the main body fell back to Springfield. A corporal who was posted on a hill over- looking the battle-ground heard a drum. At first he thought it came from the enemy across the creek, but when he listened attentively he recognized the sound of Eddy's drum. The company was to march in twenty minutes, but not liking to' leave the little fellow, the corporal ran down the hill in the direction of the sound. He soon found Eddy seated on the ground with his back against the trunk of a fallen tree, and his drum hung on a bush where he could reach it. " corporal," he exclaimed, "I am so glad you have come. Give me a drink." The corporal brought him some water from a brook near by, and after drinking heartily Eddy said: " You don't think I will die, corporal, do you? This man said I would not; he said the surgeon would cure my feet." The corporal then discovered that both of Eddy's feet had been shot off by a cannon-ball; and looking round, he saw a Confederate soldier lying dead in the grass. The man had fallen mortally wounded near where Eddy lay. Seeing the condition of the poor boy, although he himself was bleeding to death, he had crept up to him, taken off his suspenders and tied up Eddy's legs below the knee, and then lain down to die. While Eddy was telling this, some Confederate cavalry rode up and made the two friends prisoners. The Confederate captain took Eddy up tenderly on his horse before him, and the party started for the camp, but before it was reached the little drummer was dead. CHAPTER IX. LEXINGTON.— BELMONT. General Bishop Polk.— Fremont's Proclamation.— a Politic Contraband.— Price at- tacks Lexington.— Mulligan's Brave Defence.— Precious Water.— Surrender of Lexington.— No Ammunition left.— General Pillow at New Madrid. — The Confeder- ates seize Columbus.— Island Number Ten.— Zollicoffer and Buckner invade Ken- tucky.— Confederate Camp at Bowling Green.— Fremont marches to Springfield.— Zagonyi's Charge.— Major White's Adventure.— Fremont superseded.— General Halleck in Command in Missouri.— Sterling Price and his Men.— Jeff. Thompson.— General Grant at Cairo.— Battle of Belmont.— General Cheatham's Escape. ABOUT this time the Confederate General Leonidas Polk began to be active in the Mississippi Valley. He was a graduate of the Military Academy at West Point, but resigned after leaving there, and became a minister of the Protestant Episcopal Church. He was very successful as a clergyman, and in 1841 was chosen Bishop of the Diocese of Louisiana. When the war broke out the Confederate authorities, desiring to avail themselves of his military skill, offered him the rank of major- general in the army. In July, 1861, he accepted the position, and was given the command of the Mississippi Valley between the Arkansas River and Kentucky. He saw the necessity either of winning Cairo or of gaining some other point by which the Mississippi River could be commanded, and under his orders General Hardee crossed over into Missouri with a small force in July, and at the end of that month General Pillow, comman- der of the Tennessee forces in the Confederate service, crossed to New Madrid below Cairo and fortified it, partly for the pur- pose of keeping Union gunboats from going down the Missis- sippi, and partly to secure a place from which he could attack Bird's Point, opposite Cairo. General Fremont, hearing that Hardee was marching to- ward Ironton, sent reinforcements there and to Cape Girardeau, and went himself with about four thousand men, by steamboat, to Bird's Point, where he landed the troops and returned to St. Louis (August 4). As soon as the news of General Lyon's defeat and death was received, he set about fortifying St. Louis. He also issued a proclamation declaring martial law in Missouri; ordering that all persons taken within his lines with arms in 114 LEXINGTON.— BELMONT. [1861. their hands should be shot, and declaring the slaves of all rebels in the State to be free men. This proclamation was afterward changed by order of President Lincoln, because the freeing of slaves was contrary to law. The negroes, during these exciting times, when first one party and then the other was in power, were smart enough -'to shout one day for the Union and the next for the Confed- eracy. "Boys," said a Union officer to a group of field-hands by the roadside watching the troops pass by, " are you all for the Union ?" "Oh yes, massa, when you's about we is." "And when Price comes you are secesh, are you?" "Lor, yes, massa, we's good secesh then. Cant 'low white folks to git 'head o' niggers in dat way. Yah! yah!" On the 7th of September General Price defeated a Union force from Kansas, which had marched into Mis- souri under command of General James H. Lane; and leaving a small garrison in Fort Scott, on the borders of Kansas, he marched toward Lexington, on the Missouri Eiver, with more than ten thousand men. Lexington was then a small city of about five thousand inhabitants, situ- ated on the south bank of the Missouri, nearly three hundred miles by the river above St. Louis. Its possession was of some importance, because it commanded the river at that point and the route to Fort Leavenworth. When Price reached Lexing- ton (September 12) he found it guarded by about three thou- sand five hundred Union troops, under command of Colonel James A. Mulligan, of the Irish Brigade of Chicago. Mulligan had fortified a hill, northeast of the city, on which was a brick building erected for a college, by throwing up an earth- work ten feet high around it. In the middle were placed the wagons and about three thousand horses and mules. Price at Leonidas Polk. 1861.] SIEGE OF LEXINGTON. 115 once opened a fire on the works, but the Unionists defended themselves bravely, and the Confederates at last began a regu lar siege. There were at this time about ten thousand Union troops at Jefferson City, under General Jeff. C. Davis, and five thousand more, under General John Pope, were moving from north Missouri toward the river, but Colonel Mulligan looked in vain for reinforcements. Volunteers meanwhile flocked to Price until his force was swelled to more than twenty thousand men. lie completely surrounded the hill on which the Unionists were intrenched, thus cutting them off from the river, from which they got their water. The situation of the besieged was desperate. The weather was intensely hot, their provisions were beginning to *°Jn LEXINGTON "^ ., t % i Ji ~ ; ^Leecb, and even on occasion write a poem.* With a force of about two thousand poorly armed men he overran the southeastern part of the State, one day capturing a Union steamboat on the river, the next tearing up railroads and burning bridges or attacking detach- ments of Union troops and wagon trains many miles away in the interior. He had met with much success in this kind of warfare, but at last he was caught in October near Frederickton by a largely superior Union force and bad- ly defeated. But un- daunted by this mis- fortune, he was soon at work again at his old business. Just before Gen- eral Fremont had been relieved of his command he had sent orders to General Grant at Paducah to aid him by moving against Columbus, so that General Polk could not send troops across the Mississippi to help Price, and at the same time to drive Jeff Thompson into Arkansas. Columbus had been so strongly fortified that it was called by the Confederates the Gibraltar of the "West. Batteries armed with very heavy artillery had been planted along the bluff, which was high there, so as to close the river against Battle op Belmont. See Appendix, page 564. [1861. BATTLE OF BELMONT. 123 the Union gunboats. On the opposite bank of the Mississippi, in Missouri, on ground so low that it was commanded by the guns of Columbus, was Belmont, where the Confederates had a fortified camp. Grant, who had command of all the places guarding the rivers around Cairo, sent General Charles F. Smith with some troops from Paducah to threaten Columbus in the rear, while he himself went with nearly three thousand men from Cairo down the river on five steamboats to make an attack on Belmont. On the morning of November 7 Grant landed about three miles above Belmont, just out of reach of the guns of Columbus, and, some of the men being left to guard the boats, marched to the rear of Belmont, where the Confederates were found strongly posted in the woods. Meanwhile two gunboats moved down the river and opened a fire on some Confederate batteries just above Columbus. General McClernand, who had command of the attacking force under Grant, soon drove the enemy out of the woods and into their camp, which was surrounded by an abattis, a French word for a kind of breastwork made of felled trees with the branches sharp- ened and left sticking outward so as to make it more difficult for an enemy to get over it. But Grant's men soon broke over the abattis and pursued the Coil- federates out of their camp into the woods around. The Unionists, thinking the victory won, began to pillage the camp and soon became thoroughly disbanded. Grant tried to restore order and to get them back into their ranks, and to force them out ordered the camp to be fired. The batteries across the river in Columbus, which had kept quiet while the struggle was going on, for fear of hurting the Confederate soldiers, now opened a heavy fire on the camp, and Grant, seeing that he could not hold the place, began to fall back toward his boats, taking six captured guns. General Polk, meanwhile, had landed several regiments Benjamin F. Cheatham. 124 LEXINGTON.— BELMONT. [1861. above Belmont, under General Cheatham, to cut Grant off. A desperate fight ensued, and though the Union troops finally pushed their way to their boats, it was with the loss of many of their best men, four of the pieces of cannon which they had taken, most of the things brought from the camp at Belmont, and many of their knapsacks, canteens, and other goods. The men rushed on board of the boats in the greatest confusion, and the steamers put off in such haste that Grant himself was nearly left behind. He rode his horse on to the last boat over a single plank which was thrown out to him, and the boats steamed up the river riddled by showers of balls. The gunboats now came to the rescue, and firing grape into the Confederates forced them to take shelter in the woods, and the steamers got safe to Cairo that night. This was one of the hardest-fought battles of the war. Gen- eral McClernand had three horses killed under him, but escaped unhurt. General Grant also had one horse shot under him. The Union loss in killed, wounded, and missing was four hun- dred and eighty-five men; that of the Confederates six hundred and thirty-two. Among the Confederate slain was Colonel Johu V. Wright, of the Thirteenth Tennessee regiment. He was one of the Tennessee members of Congress who resigned on the secession of his State. When he left Washington he said to Philip B. Fouke, of Illinois, who was his intimate friend, " Phil, I expect the next time we meet it will be on the battle-field." The next meeting was at Belmont, where Fouke commanded the Thirtieth Illinois and Wright fell. The Confederate General Cheatham had a narrow escape from capture during the battle. Eiding along the road accom- panied only by an orderly, he saw a scjuadron of cavalry coming toward him. He rode up to within a few yards of them, and asked : " What cavalry is that ?" " Illinois cavalry, sir," was the reply. " Oh! Illinois cavalry. All right; just stand where you are!" The cavalry obeyed the order, supposing him to be one of the Union generals, and General Cheatham, turning, rode back safely directly under the guns of an infantry regiment just come up, the men of which, seeing him coming from the cavalry, also supposed him to be a Union officer, 1861.] GENERAL HALLECE. 125 While these things were going on General Ilalleck was em- ployed in reorganizing his army and getting it ready for another campaign against Price. Several of Price's supply-trains and two or three detachments of recruits were captured in Decem- ber, but winter soon set in and put an end to all large move- ments for the year. Whitworth Cannon. CHAPTEE X. WESTERN VIRGINIA. General Rosecrans in West Virginia.— Robert E. Lee.— Battle of Carnifex Ferry.— Escape of Floyd.— Reynolds and Lee.— Death of Colonel Washington.— Travellers' Repose.— Milroy and Johnston.— Munson's Hill, Virginia.— The Potomac closed by Confederate Batteries.— Acquia Creek.— Torpedoes.— Army of the Potomac- Quaker Guns.— Lewinsville and Darnestown.— Disaster at Ball's Bluff.— Death of Colonel Baker.— False Reports of Battles.— General Stone in Fort Lafayette.— Fault-finding.— Soldiers' Jokes.— Hard-Tack. — Foraging. — Drawing Potatoes.— Soldiers' Slang.— General Scott resigns.— McClellan General-in-Chief.— Dranes- ville.— Winter Quarters. WHEN General McClellan was called to take General McDowell's place at the head of the Army of the Potomac, Brigadier-General William S. Rosecrans was left in command of the troops in West Virginia. General Eobert E. Lee, the Confederate commander, who had gathered together the forces which had been defeated under Garnett and Pegram, and some others, found himself in August at the head of about sixteen thousand men. Lee made his headquarters at Hiin- tersville, while General John B. Floyd, the former Secretary of War at Washington, took up a position on the Gauley River for the purpose of cutting off General Cox of Ohio, who with a brigade of Rosecrans's army had just driven a Confederate force under ex-Governor Henry A. Wise of Virginia out of the Kan- awha Valley. Floyd surprised and routed the Seventh Ohio under Colonel Tyler, and then moved to a place on the Gauley River called Carnifex Ferry, hoping to cut off Cox from Rose- crans. But early in September Rosecrans, leaving part of his army under General Joseph J. Reynolds to watch Lee, marched southward with about ten thousand men and attacked Floyd, who had strongly fortified himself with about two thousand men on the banks of the river. After a severe right of three or four hours, in which the Union troops lost heavily, Rosecrans, finding the position much stronger than he expected, gave orders at twilight to stop the assault until morning; but when morning came no enemy was to be seen; Floyd, finding his enemy much superior in numbers, had crossed the river in the night over a bridge hastily built of logs, and retreated to the 1861.] WEST VIRGINIA. 127 mountains thirty miles away. Eosecrans followed, but finally fell back again to the Ganley. When Rosecrans marched against Floyd, Reynolds took up a strong position on Cheat Mountain. This part of West Vir- ginia, as can be seen by the map, is very mountainous. On the east the Alleghany Mountains separate West Virginia from Vir- ginia, while west of and parallel with them is another range called in one part the Greenbrier Mountain and in another Cheat Mountain. The country is very beautiful and pictur- esque, but rugged and difficult to travel in, the spurs of the Operations in Western Virginia. mountains being often cut by deep and gloomy ravines. The mountains and hills, too, are densely wooded in many places. The scouts of Reynolds and of Lee watched each other for weeks in this wild region, often meeting and firing at each other from behind trees or rocks, and having hair-breadth escapes and adventures enough to fill a book. In September Lee moved against Reynolds, hoping to crush him during Rosecrans's absence, and then to push on to the Ohio River; but he found the Union troops in a very strong position, and being repulsed withdrew and joined Floyd and Wise on Big Sewell Mountain. In this fight with Reynolds was 128 WE8TERN VIRGINIA. [1861. killed Lieutenant-Colonel John A. "Washington, of General Lee's staff. He was the owner of Washington's home, Mount Vernon, which he sold to the Ladies' Mount Vernon Associa- tion, the present owners. Lee's force now amounted to about twenty thousand men, while Eosecrans, though he had been joined by the brigades of Cox, Schenck, and Benham, had only twelve thousand men. But Lee would not attack Eosecrans, and the latter, not feeling strong enough to force his position on the mountain, which was well fortified, fell back toward the Gauley Eiver. Lee, whose campaign had been a failure, was soon after recalled and sent to South Carolina; Wise had. his command taken from him, and Floyd was left alone in West Virginia to watch the Union forces. But he was soon driven away by Eosecrans, and fled south- ward out of the country. Lee had left about three thousand Scout Firing from behind men under General H. E. Jackson, of ' !L Georgia, to watch Eeynolds. Eeynolds attacked him with five thousand men in his fortified camp near a tavern called Traveller's Eepose, but after a fight of seven hours was repulsed and fell back to Elk Water. Soon after this Eeynolds joined Eosecrans, and General Eobert H. Milroy was left with a small force to guard the mountain passes. In December Milroy attacked Colonel Edward Johnston, of Georgia, who had a small Confederate force in the Alleghany Mountains, and after a severe fight retired with a loss on each side of about two hundred men. Milroy soon after broke up a Confederate post at Huntersville, and this ended the campaign in West Virginia. We must now return to the East once more and see what was done there in the fall of 1861. Soon after the battle of Bull Eun the Confederates took possession of the hill at Centre- ville and fortified it, and pushed their scouts forward within sight of the defences of Washington. Their flag on one of their posts on Munson's Hill could be seen plainly from the Capitol. They also erected batteries along the Virginia bank of the Poto- mac, and closed the river to navigation. This caused much inconvenience, because most of the provisions and other things 1861.] ACQUIA CREEK. 129 for the army around Washington had been sent thither by water, and the railroads were not able to keep up the needed supply. Washington was therefore almost in a state of block- ade, notwithstanding the great army gathered there. This was looked upon as a disgrace by all Union men, and caused much mortification throughout the North. Several attempts were made to silence these batteries, especially one at a place called Acquia Creek, where the little stream of that name enters the Acqcia Creek Landing, in 18G1. Potomac. About the 1st of June the sloop-of-war Pawnee, aided by several gunboats, bombarded the battery there for five hours, but without success. The Confederates afterward tried to destroy the Pawnee with a torpedo, like the one in the picture. It was picked up in the Potomac, only a few yards from the vessel, which it would probably have blown up if it had reached it. This was one of the first torpedoes used in the war. The Army of the Potomac now numbered about one hundred and fifty thousand men. From the time when General McClellan took command, a few days after the disaster at Bull Run, he had labored to organize it and to bring it into a fit condition to move once more against the enemy. Men were drilled in com- 130 WESTERN VIRGINIA. [1861. parries and in regiments, and regiments were formed into brig- ades and brigades into divisions, each brigade being made up of four regiments and each division of three brigades. As each regiment had about eight hundred men, a division was com- posed of about ten thousand infantry- and to this was added a regiment of cavalry and four batteries of artillery. At the same time the men were employed in finishing the fortifications around Washington, and by October the city was encircled by a chain of earthworks along the hills on both sides of the Poto- mac. The Confederates also occupied themselves with fortifying their position at Manassas, where their main body still lay. At Richmond, too, they built strong fortifications and established large manufactories of war material and depots of arms and supplies. Men were drilled and sent to the army at Manassas as fast as they became fit for service, but the force there did not increase as fast as that at Washington. It was thought at Washington at the time that the Confederate force was nearly if not quite equal in number to the Union army, but it is now known that Gen- eral Johnston, who had succeeded Beauregard in the command, did not have in October much more than a third as many men as McClellan had. At the end of September the Confederates withdrew from Munson's Hill and their other posts near Washington, and fell back to Centreville. Their earthwork on Munson's Hill, which looked very formidable from a distance, was found to be very weak, while its armament was nothing but logs cut somewhat in the form of cannon, each with a round black spot painted on * 1 1, Oil casks, used for buoys; 2 2, Iron cylinders, filled with gun- powder; 3, Rope, with pieces of cork fastened to it; 4 4, Boxes with fusees or slow-matches; 5 5, Gutta-percha tube; 6 6, Brass tops on the torpedoes; 7 7, Copper tubes running through the casks; 8, Wooden board in casks, on which the fusee was coiled. The fusees were first lighted and the tor- pedo was then set afloat with the tide, with the expectation that the slow- matches would fire the gunpowder and explode the torpedo about the time it struck the vessel. 1861.] BALL'S BLUFF. 131 the end to look like a muzzle. These Quaker guns, as the men named them, had been taken all this time for 100 pounder Parrott guns by the Union soldiers, who had kept at a respectful distance from them. There were several small fights in October for the possession of the Upper Potomac, one of which took place at Lewinsville in Virginia and another near Darnestown in Maryland. In these affairs and in another near Harper's Ferry the Unionists were successful. They were soon followed by a more impor- tant battle at Ball's Bluff, in which the Confederates were vic- torious. The left wing of their army lay at Leesburg, under command of General Evans, the same who had fought at Bull Run. Gen- eral McClellan, hearing that they had left Leesburg", or- dered General McCall to move forward and occupy Drainesville. At the same time General Charles P. Stone, whose brigade was encamped in Maryland, with headquarters at Poolesville, was ordered to cross the river feint toward Leesburg. Quaker Gun. and aid McCall by making a It was expected that the Confederates, if they had not already left Leesburg, would fall back from there on the advance of these two bodies of troops. Stone, thinking that McCall was near enough to help him in case he Avere attacked, ordered some Massachusetts troops under Colonel Devens to cross at Harrison's Island, early in the morn- ing of October 21, to reconnoitre. Harrison's Island is a long island in the Potomac, opposite Ball's Bluff on the Virginia side, which rises there about one hundred and fifty feet above the water. Devens crossed with five companies in a flat-boat about daybreak, and climbing the steep bank moved to within a mile of Leesburg without finding the enemy. But the Confed- erates had been watching the movement, and when Devens fell back toward Ball's Bluff about noon, he was attacked by Gen- eral Evans, with 3200 Virginia and Mississippi troops. 132 WESTERN VIRGINIA. [1861. ;y Wood Colonel E. D. Baker, United States Senator from Oregon, who had joined the army as commander of the California Regi- ment, had been ordered by General Stone to be in readiness with a brigade to aid Colonel Devens if necessaay. At the first sound of the guns he crossed the river with about 1900 men, and, as he outranked Colonel Devens, took command of the whole force. Colonel Baker reached the battle-ground, a level field of about six acres on the top of the Bluff, about two o'clock in the afternoon. The enemy were mostly hidden by the woods, which near- ly surrouuded the field. Baker had scarcely put h i s lines in order when the Confederates attacked him in force. His men held their own gallantly until about five o'clock, when Colo- nel Baker, who ex- posed himself with reckless bravery, was "shot through the head, and soon after the Union troops, pressed by the Confederates on all sides, gave way and fell back in disorder. A terrible scene ensued. All was confusion and dismay. Be- fore the fugitives was the river, its waters black in the twilight; behind were the bayonets of the enemy. Muskets, knapsacks and coats were thrown away. Some ran along the banks wildly seeking a place to escape, some rolled or leaped down on their friends below, and others clung to the underbrush. The Con- federates fired pitilessly into the struggling mass from the top of the Bluff. Hundreds jumped into the river, where many were drowned and many were shot while swimming. Colonel Devens swam the river on a horse and got safe to the island. A flat-boat, loaded with wounded, was overcrowded and sunk. At last darkness put an end to the horrors and enabled a few to Battle of Ball's Bluff. 1861.] FALSE REPORTS. 133 escape, but a large number were made prisoners. There were more than a thousand among the killed, wounded, and prison- ers, while the Confederate loss was only about a hundred and fifty killed and as many wounded. The Confederates called this fight the battle of Leesburg, and it is also sometimes called the battle of Harrison's Island and the battle of Edward's Ferry, from a ferry near the upper end of the island. This defeat and the sad death of Baker, who was noted as an orator and a statesman, caused universal grief throughout the North, while among the Confederates it was regarded as a new proof that Northern men could not stand before Southern soldiers. It was asserted that Evans had defeated a force three times as large as his own, and that the Unionists Fort Lafayette. had lost more men than the Confederates brought into the battle. Bat it must not be supposed that all the exaggeration and false reporting was on their side. The Union authorities, fearful that the truth would have a bad effect on the people, represented the enemy as more numerous than they really were and spoke of the disaster as only a " check." An attempt was made, too, to throw all the blame of the affair on General Stone, and he was sacrificed to quiet the public clamor. Some time after he was arrested and sent to Fort Lafayette, where he lay for six months. Fort Lafayette, at the entrance to New York Harbor, is an old building on a little island opposite Fort Hamilton on the Long Island shore. It was used during the war as a place to confine political prisoners, or those thought to be disloyal to the government, and many persons were sent 134 WESTERN VIRGINIA. [1861. there who never knew why they were arrested. No charge was ever made against General Stone, and no one knows to this day who was responsible for his arrest. Whatever was thought about him at the time, it is now generally believed that he was a loyal and patriotic officer, and that he was not to blame for the defeat at Ball's Bluff. He was released in August, 1862, and afterward did good service under Banks in the South. After the war (1870) he became a general in the army of the Khedive of Egypt. The people, who had expected great things from the A^my of the Potomac, began now to find fault once more because McClellan did not do anything to wipe out the disgrace of Ball's Bluff. Washington was still in a state of blockade from the Confederate batteries along the south bank of the Potomac, and though several efforts were made to capture or destroy them, a new one would spring up in place of every one taken. Though the army was growing in strength and in discipline all the time, it was felt that the Confederates were also gaining, and that the hope of an early closing of the war was becoming less and less every day. The phrase " All quiet on the Potomac," which appeared in the newspapers from day to day, was laughed at and soon became a standing joke, and even President Lincoln, sharing in the general feeling, said in his homely way that if something were not done soon the bottom would drop out of the whole affair. During this long rest of the army before Washington the soldiers had a comparatively easy time, and many of them learned to enjoy camp-life, while those who would have pre- ferred more active duty tried to enliven their daily existence with various sports and games. They were provided with good clothing, and with plenty of wholesome food, on which they appeared to thrive notwithstanding the many jokes cracked about "salt-horse," "boiled rye," and "cow-feed," as they called the mess-beef, coffee, and vegetables served among their rations. The vegetables were dried and pressed in a mass, and were used for making sonp. A soldier writing home about this food, which was new to him, said: "It looks a good deal like a big plug of • dog-leg' tobacco in shape and solidity, and is composed in part of potatoes, onions, beans, lettuce, garlic, parsley, parsnips, carrots, etc. I acknowledge eating two China 1861.] HARD TACK. 135 tin plates full without any convulsions of nature, and can now speak the German language with fluency." The bread served as rations was a kind of cracker called hard-tack by sailors in the navy, where it is much used. Hard- tack is very tough and hard, as its name implies, and, though sweet and wholesome if properly chewed, is apt to trouble one not blessed with good teeth. The soldiers used to call these crackers "McClellan pies," and numberless jokes and not a few teeth were cracked at their expense. They used to come packed in square wooden boxes, with the maker's name and the date of their manufacture usually branded on one end. One day a lot of particularly flinty hard-tack had arrived, and a party of the "boys," while trying to masticate some of it, were wondering at the meaning of the brand on the box. Many in- terpretations were given to it, but all seemed unsatisfactory, until one who had been exercising his jaws on a more than usually stony piece exclaimed, as he drew a long breath: " That brand's plain enough — can't be misunderstood." "Why, how so?" asked several, who had tried their wits on it in vain. "Oh! that's the date when the crackers were baked; six hundred and three years before Christ." * When the boys got tired of salt meat and pressed vegetables they would forage on the neighboring pig-pens, chicken-coops, and vegetable gardens for supplies, until in time a pig or a chicken was a rare thing to be seen within ten miles of a camp. The appearance of a rabbit was the signal for a hue-and-cry, and poor bunny was soon run down and transferred to the soup- kettle. Many complaints were made against the soldiers by tho owners of farms in the neighborhood of Washington, but it was very seldom that any stolen property could be traced. A farmer living not a great way from Alexandria, who had noticed his * Among the many verses on hard-tack which went the rounds of the newspapers during the war, those by Prof. Francis J. Child, of Harvard University, are worth preserving. See Appendix, page 564. 136 WESTERN VIRGINIA. [1861. potatoes disappear in a mysterious way night after night, went to the nearest camp to see if he could, not find some trace of the culprits. While strolling around among the tents, he saw one of the hoys serving up a dish of fine kidney potatoes, which he thought looked very much like his own. " Have fine potatoes here, I see," he said, halting hefore the tent. "Splendid." "Where do you get them?" " Draw them." "Does the government furnish potatoes for rations?" "Nary tater." "But I thought you said you drew them." "Did. We just do that thing." "But how — if they are not included in your rations?" " Easiest thing in the world. Won't you take some with us?" "Thank you. But you will oblige me if you will tell me how you draw your potatoes." "Nothing easier. Draw 'em by the tops, mostly; some- times with a hoe, if there's one left in the field." "Ha! yes! I understand. Well, now, see here. If you won't draw any more of my potatoes, I'll bring you a basketful every morning, and draw 'em myself." "Will you? Bully for you, old fellow!" And three cheers and a tiger were given for the farmer, who had the pleasure in future of drawing his own potatoes. Among the slang used by the soldiers, "bully" was the highest term of commendation, and "I don't see it" expressed an equal degree of dissent. Before long the men had almost a language of their own, and used so many odd words and phrases that a visitor to the camp was at a loss to understand them. Every place had its nickname, and few officers were spoken of behind their back by their proper names. A tent was called a "canvas," a sword was a "toad-sticker," food was "grub," stockings were " scabbards, ' and any of the altered kinds of muskets were "howitzers." The word "skedaddle," which came into use in the first year of the war, caused a great deal of controversy even in Europe, where learned men tried to find out its origin. The word is said to have been first given by some German soldiers to the Confederate earthworks back of 1861.] SOLDIERS' SLANG. 137 Munson's Hill, which they called " Fort Skedaddle" because its defenders ran away, and it soon came to be used by the whole army in the sense of the slang expressions to "cut stick," to "vamose the ranche," and to "slope." Some thought from this that it was of German origin. Lord Hill wrote to the London Times to prove that the word was good Scotch, and said it was in common use in Dumfries, where it meant to spill — milkmaids saying, for instance, "You are skedaddling your milk." But the London Spectator said this was wrong; that the word was good Greek, the root being skedannumi, meaning to disperse or retire tumultuously, and that the soldiers used it in the proper sense. During the first year of the war the Union soldiers com- monly called their opponents "Rebs" and "Secesh;" in 1862, " Confeds;" in 1863, " Gray- backs" and "Butternuts," and in 1864, "Johnnies." The nickname " Butter- nuts" was given the Con- federates on account of the color of their homespun clothes, dyed reddish-brown with a dye made of butter- nut bark. The last name, "Johnnies," is said to have originated in a quarrel be- tween two pickets, which began by the Union man's saying that the Confederates depended on England to get them out of their scrape. This the other denied, saying that they were able to scrape themselves out. The Union man then said that a Reb was no better than a Johnny Bull, anyhow; whereupon the Confederate said that he would shoot him if he called him that again, for he would as lieve be called a nigger as a Johnny Bull. But the name stuck, and in the last part of the war the Confederate soldiers were almost universally called "Johnnies." Throughout the war the Confederates dubbed all the Union soldiers "Yankees" and "Yanks," with- out any reference to the part of the country they came from. The Western men often took as much offence at these names as Winfield Scott. 138 WESTERN VIRGINIA. [1861. the Confederates did at the nickname ''Johnny/- *>r "Johnny Keb," as it was sometimes varied. Other nicknames for Union soldiers, occasionally used, were "Feds," "Blue Birds," and "Blue Bellies." Since the war the opponents have been com- monly called "Boys in Blue" and "Boys in Gray." At the close of October Lieutenant-General Scott, ill and infirm, and then more than seventy-five years old, asked to be placed on the retired list of officers. His request was granted, and he was allowed to retire with his full rank, and without any reduction in his pay or allowances. On the next day (Novem- ber 1) Major-General McClellan was appointed commander-in- chief of the army of the United States. This gave him charge Soldiers' Huts. not only of the Army of the Potomac, but of all the other armies in the field, and of military operations in every part of the United States. A fight near Dranesville, December 20, between a Confeder- ate force of about twenty-five hundred men, under General J. E. B. Stuart, and a Union brigade of about four thousand men, under General E. 0. C. Ord, ended for the year the campaign of the Army of the Potomac. Stuart was foraging — that is, was collecting hay, corn, and other supplies for the Confederate army. To give his wagon-train time to get out of the way, he attacked the Union troops, who were also foraging, but after a sharp fight, in which he lost about two hundred men, was obliged to retreat. The Union loss was sixty-nine in killed and wounded. 1861.] WINTER QUARTERS. 139 Cold weather had now set in, with plenty of snow and ice. and the canvas tents along the Potomac had given place to structures better calculated to keep out wind and rain. Not- withstanding the daily rumors of a forward movement, the sol- diers, taking it for granted that there would be none before spring, had built rude cabins out of unhewn logs cut in the woods near by. Many of these were cpiite picturesque, but most of them were rude huts like those shown in the picture. The Confederates had done the same, and the hostile armies settled down for the winter, each in its city of huts, scarcely more than a day's march from each other. Mortar CHAPTER XL THE ATLANTIC COAST. Secretary Welles and the Navy.— Confederate Privateers.— The Lady Davis.— The Savannah's Crew treated as Pirates.— The Petrel Sunk.— The Sumter.— Raphael Semmes.— The Laws about Prizes.— The Nashville.— Blockade-running.— Expedition against Hatteras.— The Forts Captured.— A Union Expedition Spoiled.— Fort Pickens.— Wilson's Zouaves.— The Boys have got the Money.— Night Attack on the Zouaves' Camp.— Bombardment of Forts McRee and Barrancas.— The Manassas Ram.— Fight with the Union Fleet in the Mississippi.— Fire- Ships. WHILE an army was thus forming, Secretary Welles, of the Navy Department, bad struggled hard to create a navy. When the war began scarcely vessels enough could be found to do blockade duty. Many were in distant seas, and some had been captured or destroyed by the Confederates when they took the navy-yards in their States. What was still worse, two hun- dred and fifty-nine naval officers, born in the South, had "gone with their States." Fortunately, merchant vessels fit for use while war-ships were building were obtained, and enough offi- cers from the merchant service were found to take the place of those who had left. At the beginning of July, 1861, there were forty-three armed vessels in the service, doing duty as blockaders and in defending the coasts. These were divided into two squadrons or fleets, one, called the Atlantic Squadron, consisting of twenty-two vessels, under command of Commodore Silas H. Stringham, and the other, called the Gulf Squadron, of twenty-one vessels, under Commodore William Mervine. The Naval Academy meanwhile had been removed from Annapolis, where it was no longer considered safe, to Newport, Rhode Island. As early as April, 1861, Jefferson Davis had begun to send out privateers to prey on the commerce of the United States. The first of these vessels to sail under the Confederate flag was the Lady Davis, named after the wife of President Davis. She was a small steamer used at first for the defence of Charleston Harbor, and mounted only two guns. Two other steamers, the Savannah and the Petrel, were soon sent out, and by the time the blockade began to be strictly enforced quite a fleet of vessels 1861.] CONFEDERATE PRIVATEERS. 141 were afloat, and our commerce was seriously threatened. Some rich prizes were made at first by these vessels, for many United States ships returning from foreign countries had not at that time heard of the war; but the Confederate privateers soon found that the business was a dangerous one. The Savannah, a little schooner which had been a pilot-boat, armed with only one gun, slipped out of Charleston Harbor, Sunday, June 2, and lay in wait for vessels sailing up and down the coast. On the next day she was fortunate enough to catch a brig laden with sugar from Cuba, bound to Philadelphia. Putting part of her crew on the prize, the Savannah began to look for more prey. To- ward evening another brig hove in sight, and the privateer, hoping for a second rich JSUKSfc prize, pursued her; but what was her crew's surprise and dismay to find that they had caught a Tartar. The ves- sel proved to be the United States brig-of-war Perry. When the Confederates! ound out their mistake, they tried in vain to escape, and were obliged to strike their colors. Her crew were taken to New York, imprisoned, and in Oc- tober following were tried as pirates. In the mean time Mr. Davis hud written a letter to President Lincoln, threaten- ing that if the privateersmen were hung as pirates he would treat in the same way an equal number of prisoners of war. Soon after he prepared to carry out this threat by selecting Colonel Michael Corcoran, of the Sixty-ninth New York regi- ment, who had been taken at Bull Run, and some others as host- ages, -and putting them in irons to await the result of the trial. This put the matter in a new light. The United States Government had refused, from the beginning, to recognize the Confederate States as a belligerent — that is, as a government capable of carrying on war. It regarded every Confederate sol- dier who killed a Union soldier as nothing but a murderer, and every Confederate vessel as a pirate. But it was soon found Gideon Welles. 142 THE ATLANTIC COAST. [1861. out that this would not do. The battle of Bull Eun had given the Confederates the advantage of a large number of prisoners, both officers and men. It would be not only inhuman but very inconvenient to refuse to exchange for these prisoners Confed- erates taken in battle; and as the Government could not con- sistently make any difference between prisoners taken on land and those taken at sea, it was soon obliged to treat the pri- vateersmen the same as other prisoners. The trial was there- fore stopped, and the prisoners were soon after exchanged. The Confederates were also acknowledged as belligerents by Eng- land, France, Spain, and Portugal in 1861. The Petrel, another privateer which sailed from Charleston (July 28), was not so lucky even as the Savannah. She was the United States revenue-cutter Aiken, which had been given up The Privateer Lady Davis. by her commander to the disunionists at Charleston the pre- ceding December. She had scarcely got out of the port when she came in sight of the Union frigate St. Lawrence, then on blockade duty. The frigate was at once made to look as much like a merchant vessel as possible: her ports were closed, her rigging and spars reduced, and most of her men sent below. The Petrel, thinking she had a rich prize, gave chase, and tired a gun for her to heave to. The St. Lawrence appeared to be crowding all sail as if to escape, but she let her pursuer come up with her little by little, until at last, when she was within good range, she threw open some of her ports and fired three heavy guns at her. The Petrel, crushed like an egg-shell, sank at once, leaving her astonished crew struggling in the sea. Four of her men were drowned, and the others, when picked up by 1861.] THE SUMTER. 143 the boats of the St. Lawrence, were so dazed that they scarcely knew what had happened. A little before the Petrel sailed from Charleston, a larger ves- sel, and one destined to become more famous, had sailed from New Orleans. This vessel had been a New Orleans and Havana p icket steamer, named the Marques de la Habana. The Con- federate government armed her with heavy guns, changed her name to the Sumter, and put her under the command of Raphael Semmes, a former officer of the United States navy, and better known afterward as commander of the Alabama. The Sumter easily escaped from the blockading squadron at The Privateer Savannah. the mouths of the Mississippi, and soon made many captures in the Gulf of Mexico and among the West India Islands. According to the laws of nations, prizes taken at sea have to be sent into some port of the country to which the vessel making the capture belongs, so that the lawfulness of the cap- ture may be decided by a prize court. It may often happen that property owned by neutrals — that is, parties who do not belong to either side in a war — may be on board of a vessel belonging to an enemy, and this may give rise to questions which can only be settled by a court. To capture vessels on the high seas with- out presenting the case before a proper court is piracy accord- ing to the law of nations. Semmes sent the first prizes taken 144 TEE ATLANTIC COAST [1861. by him to New Orleans in charge of some of his crew, but as they fell into the hands of the United States Government, he determined to settle afterward for himself all questions relating to prizes. So he set up a court on board his own vessel, and decided each case to suit himself; and as his chief object was to damage the enemy, he burned nearly every Union vessel- that fell into his hands, and landed the crews at the nearest port. Instead of being treated as a pirate, he was allowed to take sup- plies of coal and provisions in the ports of the British colonies, and was given all possible aid in his career of destruction, the English being only too glad to see the commerce of a rival swept from the ocean. After destroying a large number of vessels, Semmes crossed the Atlantic, and went into the port of Gibral- The Privateer Sumter. tar. The Sumter was found there early in 1862 by the United States steamer Tuscarora, and Semmes, not daring to come out, sold his vessel and went to England, where he had the Alabama built. The Nashville, another Confederate steamer, was less suc- cessful. She captured only two vessels, and was finally destroyed (Feb. 28, 1862), in the Ogechee River, Florida, by the Montauk, as will be related hereafter. The Jefferson Davis, a brig, was lost on the coast of Florida, and the Beauregard, a schooner, was captured. Notwithstanding the great difficulty in blockading so long a seacoast, it was so effectually done by the close of the year that the Confederates began to feel the pressure. Having no com- merce of their own and having to depend wholly on blockade' 1861.] BLOCKADE RUNNERS. 145 runners for supplies, most of those tilings which they had been accustomed to get either from the North or from foreign coun- tries rose greatly in cost, while some could not be had at any price. If the blockade could have been kept up strictly the Confederates could scarcely have kept up the war, for they had to depend almost entirely on foreign countries for arms and supplies. These were carried into the ports of the Confederacy chiefly by British steamers built for the purpose. These block- ade-runners, as they were commonly called, were long sharp side-wheel steamers, built for strength and speed. They were usually painted gray, so that they could scarcely be seen in the dusk or in the lightest fog. Laden with arms, ammunition, and army supplies of all kinds, these vessels would approach Blockade-Runner. the coast in the night, and, hiding all their lights, watch their chance to run in, some of them passing unseen between the vessels of the blockading squadron until too late to stop them. Exchanging their precious cargoes for cotton, they would wait until some dark or foggy night offered them an opportunity of running through the fleet again. Once on the ocean they were fleet enough to show their heels to the fastest of our heavy war-vessels. In the summer of 1861 General Butler was superseded in command at Fortress Monroe by General John E. Wool, and was put in command of a naval and land expedition for the capture of the forts at the mouth of Hatteras Inlet. Hatteras Inlet is an opening through the long sandy tongue of land which separates Pamlico Sound, on the coast of North 146 THE ATLANTIC COAST. [1861. Carolina, from the Atlantic Ocean, and is a little way below Cape Hatteras. Through it British blockade-runners were all the time carrying in supplies for the Confederates, who had built two forts, named Hatteras and Clark, on the north side to guard the entrance. The fleet carrying the expedition, under command of Commodore Stringham, was composed of the Min- nesota, Pawnee, Monticello, Wabash, Susquehanna, Cumber- laud, and Harriet Lane. It sailed from Hampton Eoads, August 26, and two days afterward fire was opened on the forts, which, though not yet finished, were garrisoned by about seven hundred men, under command of Commodore S. Barron, a former officer of the United States navy. The bombardment continued all day. The Confederates left Fort Clark, and some troops landed from the ships and took possession of it. The enemy, who had gone into Fort Hatteras, could do Operations at Hatteras Inlet. little harm to the ships because their guns were too small; and being cut off from a retreat by the Union men in Fort Clark, they raised a white flag, on the morning of August 29, in token of surrender. Among the captures were more than seven hundred prisoners, twenty-five cannon, and a large quan- tity of small-arms and stores. For several clays afterward the blockade-runners, not knowing of the loss of the forts, continued to run into the inlet, and of course fell a prey to the Union fleet. Thus one of the most important channels by which the Confederates received supplies was closed. It was therefore a severe blow to them, but it soon led to still more important events. The Government had intended to close up Hatteras Inlet by 1861.] HATTER AS. 147 sinking some old vessels in it, but after the capture of the forts it was determined to hold them as a means of getting command of Pamlico and Albemarle sounds, which form an inland sea navigable for vessels. There were several other inlets into this sea through which blockade-runners could pass. At one of these, called Ocracoke Inlet, south of Hatteras, the Unionists found a fort begun, but undefended; so all they had to do was to destroy it and throw its guns into the sea. About the first of October the Twentieth Indiana Regiment was sent to Chico- micomico, north of Hatteras, with the object of taking posses- sion of another inlet opening into Pamlico Sound near there. The Confederates had a strong post on Eoanoke Island, which lies in the inland sea, separating it into Pamlico and m Fort Hatteras. Albemarle sounds. As soon as they heard of the troops at Chicomicomico, they sent a force of about two thousand men against them from the island. A Union vessel, containing camp equipage, provisions, and intrenching tools, was captured by them, and the Indianians, seeing no hope of holding the place, retreated toward Cape Hatteras, with the loss of about fifty men prisoners. They would probably all have been cap- tured if they had not been protected by two of the Union ships which shelled the enemy and drove them away. The Confed- erates retired with their captures, and the Unionists returned to Fort Hatteras. Fort Pickens, on Santa Rosa Island, off the coast of Florida, which had been saved for the Union at the opening of the war by the bravery of Lieutenant Slemmer, still remained in the 148 THE ATLANTIC COAST. [1861. possession of the United States. The fort had been reinforced about the same time that the attempt was made to provision Sumter, and to make it still more secure a regiment from New York, called Wilson's Zouaves, was encamped near by on Santa Kosa Island. A small squadron of ships was also stationed off the entrance of the port, which is one of the best in the Gulf of Mexico. The Confederates felt the loss of this fort very seri- ously, for, although they held Pensacola and the other forts, it completely blockaded the harbor. The garrison of Pickens, too, had made several raids on the mainland, in one of which they Ik '■ ' Fort Pickens. Fort McRee in distance on the right. burned the dry-dock in the navy-yard, and in another a schooner fitting out as a privateer. Wilson's Zouaves had a bad reputation. It is said that the regiment was largely made up of New York "roughs," and many stories were told in the newspapers of the time at their expense. A clergyman in New York, who had been collecting subscriptions to aid in fitting out the regiment, went one day to the City Hall Park, where the Zouaves were encamped, to carry some money to Colonel Wilson. He lingered a while among the tents, talking with the men and 1861.] WILSON'S Z0UAV3S. 149 giving them good advice, and at last reached headquarters and informed the Colonel of the object of his visit; but on looking for his pocketbook he found to his dismay that it was gone. ''Did you come through the camp?" anxiously inquired Colonel Wilson. " Yes/' replied the clergyman, "directly through the main avenue." " It's all right then," said the Colonel, with a bland smile, "the boys have got the money." The reputation of the regiment had preceded it, and when it was sent to Santa Eosa Island, the Confederates around Pen- sacola thought it had been selected expressly to plunder them. They therefore determined to capture them, if possible. One dark night they landed about twelve hundred men at Deer Point, four miles east of Colonel Wilson's camp. The Zouaves, unsuspecting any danger, were surprised about two o'clock in the morning (Oct. 0) by the enemy, who rushed upon them with cries of "Death to Wilson! no quarter!" The Zouaves ran from their tents, which were quickly pillaged and set on fire by the Confederates, and fell back toward the fort in little groups. The night was very dark, and friend and foe could scarcely tell each other in the fitful light made by the blazing tents. The Confederates, as much disorganized as the Zouaves, followed them, firing their guns whenever they could see them. Colonel Brown, who commanded then in Pickens, sent Major Vogdes with two companies of regulars to the aid of the Zouaves. The Major missed his way and was captured by the enemy, but his men advancing rapidly and in order on the Confed- erates, put them to flight, and they retreated in disorder to their boats. Vollies of musketry were fired at them as they made off in haste, so that their loss was nearly double that of the Unionists. Most of the Union loss was among the regu- lars, the Zouaves having done but little fighting until the enemy was in retreat. During the next month the commander of Fort Pickens, aided by the men-of-war Niagara, Richmond, and Montgomery, bombarded Forts McRee and Barrancas and destroyed with shells the village of Warrenton and part of the navy-yard. The Confederate forts replied, but little damage was done on either side, and after two days the bombardment ceased. 150 TEE ATLANTIC COAST. [1861. Soon after the burning of the camp of "Wilson's Zouaves, the Confederates made a notable attempt to break the blockade of New Orleans by making an attack on the Union fleet guarding the mouths of the Mississippi. To effect this they had pre- pared an iron-clad vessel by cutting away the upper works of a river steamboat and covering it with an iron-plated roof, built so slanting that cannon-balls would glance off from it. Her bow was so made that a heavy gun could be fired directly in front, and under the water-line she had a sharp iron spike for ramming in the sides of ships, just as ancient war-galleys did. From this the vessel was called a ram, and she was named the Manassas, after the battle commonly called Bull Eun. Great things were expected of this queer-shaped vessel, and if she had been managed properly she might have done much damage. On the night of October 12, a very dark night, the Manassas, under command of Commodore J. S. Hollins, an old officer of the United States navy, steamed down the river, followed by seven small armed steamers towing some fire-ships. The ram, having no masts and showing only a rounded back as she glided along, looked more like a great turtle than a war-ship. She arrived among the Union ships, which were lying in one of the mouths of the Mississippi, called the Southwest Pass, before their crews knew of her coming. Passing the sloop-of-war Preble, she struck the war-steamer Richmond with her ram, staving a small hole in her side about two feet below the water- line. The Richmond and the Preble each fired into the mon- ster, but their shots glanced off from her sides like hail from a roof. The fire-ships were now lighted and began to drift down, lighting up the river with their blaze, and Captain Pope, the commander of the fleet, fearful that some of his vessels might be set on fire by them, ordered the Preble and the Vincennes to go down the river, while he covered the retreat with the Rich- mond. The Preble passed the bar safely, but the Vincennes and the Richmond grounded. Captain Handy of the Vincennes, mistaking a signal, set a slow-match to the magazine of the Vincennes, intending to blow her up, and went with his men on board of the other ships; but fortunately the match went out, and he returned and again took possession of her. About ten o'clock the enemy retired and went up the river, and the 1861.] TIIE MANASSAS. 151 next morning the ships were got safely over the bar, though some of the guns of the Vincennes had to be thrown overboard to lighten her. It was afterward found out that the machinery of the ram had been damaged by the stroke she gave the Kichmond, so that she was unable to ram any of the other vessels. Vice-Admiral Rear-Admiral. Commodore. Lieutenant-Commander. {gold leaves). Shoulder-Straps of the United States Navy. CHAPTER XII. DEEDS OF THE NAVY. The Port Royal Expedition.— Hilton Head.— The Mosquito Fleet.— Port Royal.— Beau- fort.— French Colony of 1562.— Capture of the Forts.— Cotton-burning.— Massa Bobolition.— Big Tybee Island.— Martello Tower.— Sinking of the Stone Fleet at Charleston.— Mason and Slidell.— The Trent and the San Jacinto.— Lieutenant Fairfax and Miss Slidell.— Honors to Captain Wilkes.— The British Lion Growls and Gets Ready for War.— I'm Off to Charleston.— Mr. Lincoln's Story of the Two Dogs.— Mr. Seward's Joke.— Mason and Slidell Delivered up. AT the close of October, 1861, Hampton Roads presented a gay and exciting scene. Eighteen war-ships and thirty- three transports lay off Fortress Monroe, the latter with fifteen thousand soldiers on board, ready to sail on an expedition down the Southern coast. Besides these there were twenty-five ves- sels laden with coal, to form a depot for supplying fuel for the. steamers as soon as a landing should be made. The naval part of the expedition was under the command of Commodore S. F. Dupont, while the land force was in charge of General T. W. Sherman. Many weeks had been spent in getting together this great fleet and in making it ready, yet the secret had been so well kept that no one but the commanding officers knew where it was intended to strike, and there was scarcely a Confederate port on the Atlantic or the gulf coast where it was not expected. The expedition sailed October 29, and after a stormy passage, during which four transports were lost and several disabled, most of the vessels came to anchor off Hilton Head, on the coast of South Carolina. Hilton Head is an island forming the south side of the en- trance of Port Royal Harbor, about fifty miles below Charles- ton. To guard this entrance, the Confederates had built there a large earthwork called Fort Walker, and on Bay Point of Philip's Island, on the opposite side of the channel, which is about two miles wide, a smaller one named Fort Beauregard. "Within the harbor were eight steamers, mostly so small that they were called the " mosquito fleet," under command of Commodore Josiah Tatnall, a former officer of the United States navy, who had served bravely in the last war with Great 1861.] PORT ROYAL. 153 Britain. The Confederate troops in the vicinity, numbering about three thousand men, were in command of General T. F. Drayton, whose brother, Captain Percival Drayton, was the com- mander of the Union vessel Pocahontas in this expedition. Port Eoyal is one of the finest harbors on the Atlantic coast, and is the entrance from the sea to the most fertile and most thickly settled part of South Carolina. Several rivers flow into it, and numerous natural canals, between the many low islands which lie along the coast, furnish safe inland navigation between Charleston and Savannah. On the islands grows the famous sea- island cotton, far more valuable than the upland cotton, and on the low grounds of the mainland is raised the long- grain rice, the best in this country. On Port Eoyal Island, about sixteen miles from the sea, is the town of Beaufort, the county seat of the district and a favorite summer resort of rich South Carolinians. More than three hundred years ago (15G2) a colony of French Protestants, driven from France by the religious persecutions, came Samuel f. Dotont. to Port Eoyal, and built a fort not far from Beaufort. They were soon forced to leave by danger of starvation, but the French names of Beaufort and Port Eoyal still keep them in memory. The attack on the forts began about half-past nine o'clock on the morning of the 7th of November. The steam war-ves- sels, led by the Wabash, Commodore Dupont's flag-ship, passed slowly between the two forts, always moving so that the enemy would have no fixed mark, and firing their broadsides as they went. When a sufficient distance within, the line turned and passed outward in front of Fort Walker. In this way the fight went on, the fleet passing round and round. A few gunboats were left within the harbor to watch Tatnall's "mosquito fleet." The garrisons in the forts fought bravely, but the fire from the 154 DEEDS OF TEE NAVY. [1861. ships was too severe to be borne; shot and shell rained on them so fast that it was not safe for a man to show himself, and after about four hours the forts were abandoned and their defenders ran, every one for himself, to the woods the other side of the island, whence they escaped to Savannah. The vessels were more or less injur- ed in the fight, the "Wabash having Jp|, been struck C thirty-four times; but the loss was only eight killed and twen- ty-three wounded. The forts were knocked all to pieces, and most of their guns were dis- mounted; the loss was about a hundred killed and wounded. In the afternoon the troops were land- ed, and permanent possession taken of the The flag hoisted over Fort Walker was the first ensign of the Union raised on South Carolina soil after the act of secession. The news was re- ceived in all the loyal States with great joy, for it was felt that a most important advantage had been The fleet, which had before been cut off from every port below Fortress Monroe, had now a splendid harbor for refuge in case of storms, and a place well fitted for send- ing expeditions into the enemy's country. The Confeder- ates felt that they had suffered a great loss, which they feared Port Royal Entrance. gained 1861.] MASSA BOBOLITIOtf. m would soon lead to the capture of Charleston and Savannah. They knew that the coast country was now at the mercy of the Unionists, and fearful that the cotton would fall into their hands they burned great ^quantities of it. Most of the planta- tions in the neighborhood were deserted, the slaves in many cases being left to shift for themselves. The district around Beaufort had at that time a population of about forty thousand, of whom three fourths were slaves, mostly employed on the cotton and rice plantations. As soon as the Union troops had obtained a footing, they began to flock to the camps, men, women, and children, with their little prop- erty tied up in bundles, inquir- ing for "Massa Bobolition," whom they had heard was com- ing to free them. Many begged earnestly to be taken on board the ships, and they seemed to think it a great hardship when they were refused. But in time they became reconciled to their lot, and made themselves very useful, going to their work sing- ing cheerily, " Ole massa tink it day ob doom, And we ob jubilee." The taking of the forts at Port Royal led to the occupa- tion before the end of the year of Beaufort and most of the chain of coast islands along South Carolina and Georgia. One of the most important captures was that of Big Tybee Island, at the mouth of the Savannah River, shown in the map on page 154. It was defended by a martello tower of solid masonry, built there during the last war against Great Britain,* and by Martello Tower on Tybee Island. * Martello towers were first built during the reign of the Emperor Charles V., in the islands of Sardinia and Corsica, as a defence against pirates. They were generally round, and were defended by one large gun on the top, so mounted that it could be fired in all directions. The British, who had seen them in Corsica, built some of them along the coast of England when Bonaparte's invasion was expected; and the one on Tybee Island was constructed like them. 156 DEEDS OF THE NAVY. [1861. a battery at its base. The enemy gave it up without a struggle, and the flag of the Union, the first in Georgia, was hoisted over the tower. The possession of this island shut the port of Savannah against blockade-runners, and gave the Union troops a point from which to attack Fort Pulaski, on an island a little further up the river. In December an attempt was made to close Charleston Har- bor by sinking a fleet of sixteen old vessels, loaded with stone, across the main channel. Great expectations were formed of this, and some of the newspapers said that Charleston Harbor was a " thing of the past." Those friendly to the Confederates called it a "barbarous act," and the British Government pro- tested against it. But the stone fleet proved a failure : the sea soon broke up the hulks of the ves- sels, and they with their cargoes disappeared in quicksands below. While Commodore Dupont's fleet was bat- tling with the storm off the coast of South Caro- lina, an event took place among the West In- dia Islands which bid fair for a time to involve Charles Wilkes. th(J United States in a war with Great Britain. The Confederate Government, anxious to get the aid of some of the European powers, had ap- pointed Messrs. James M. Mason and John Slidell commis- sioners, the one to England and the other to France, to try to induce the governments of those countries to recognize the independence of the seceded States. These gentlemen sailed from Charleston on the night of October 12 in a blockade-runner, went to Havana, and sailed from there in the British mail steamer Trent for the island of St. Thomas, where they expected to take a steamer for Southampton, Eng- land. Captain Charles Wilkes, famous as the commander of the American Exploring Expedition to the South Seas, hap- 1861/ MASON AND SLIDELL. \m pened to be returning at this time from the coast of Africa in command of the steam sloop-of-war San Jacinto, and hearing in Havana of the intention of the Confederate commissioners to sail in the Trent, he determined to take them. He therefore watched for the Trent in the Bahama Channel, and when she came up hailed her to heave to. She paid no attention to this and kept on her course; but when a shell was fired across her bow, she stopped. A boat, in command of Lieutenant Donald M. Fairfax, was sent to her, with orders to take the commissioners prisoners, and bring them with their papers and baggage on board the San Jacinto. Messrs. Mason and Slidell refused, and several armed boats were then sent from the San Jacinto and the commissioners and their secretaries, Messrs. Fort Warren. Eustis and McFarland, were taken by force, amid the protests and insults of the officers and passengers of the Trent. They were carried to Boston, where they were confined in Fort War- ren, then used, like Fort Lafayette, as a prison for political offenders. Lieutenant Fairfax, who was a Virginian by birth and a connection of Mason's by marriage, conducted the delicate busi- ness with the utmost courtesy and kindness. A story was cur- rent at the time that Miss Slidell, the daughter of Mr. Slidell, had, in the excitement of the moment, slapped Lieutenant Fairfax in the face; but, fortunately for the credit of American womanhood, Lieutenant Fairfax was able to deny this. Captain Wilkes received universal praise for his act when he reached New York, and many public honors were bestowed 158 DEEDS OF TEE NAVY. [1861 upon him. He was even thanked by the Secretary of the Navy and by Congress; but Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Seward and some others of our more thoughtful statesmen saw at once that his act, however just it might be according to British law, was not right according to American law. In 1812 the United States went to war with Great Britain because that country claimed the right to search the vessels of any neutral or friendly power, and to take from them not only the goods of an enemy but also any subjects of her own found there. Her men-of-war contin- ually stopped American vessels on the high seas, and took from them British seamen to serve in their navy. As their officers were not very careful in performing this duty, many thousand Americans were thus impressed and made to serve in their ships. The United States Government protested in vain against this, and it was one of the chief causes of the war of 1812-1814. Great Britain was thus forced to let American seamen alone, but she did not even then give up the right she had claimed. The act of Captain Wilkes, therefore, though right in British law, could not be justified by us because we had always claimed that the flag of a friendly power protects everything on board a vessel, unless the vessel be engaged in an illegal act. The Gov- ernment of the United States therefore determined to give up the prisoners if Great Britain should demand them, and Mr. Adams, our minister at the Court of St. James, was notified of the fact. The news of the "outrage," as the English newspapers chose to call the seizure of the commissioners, was received with great indignation in Great Britain, and the government, with- out waiting to hear whether the United States Government would justify the act of Captain Wilkes, made hasty prepara- tions for war. The great iron-clad Warrior was made ready for sea, cannon were bought, and troops ordered to Canada. The Guards went on board the vessels to, the music of " I'm off to Charleston," for they thought they were going to aid the Con- federates. Much of this was mere bluster on the part of the British Government, for at the time when these preparations were going on it had in its possession a despatch from Washing- ton which showed that the United States Government would treat the matter in a friendly spirit. But the party then in power in England was not friendly to the United States, and 1861.] THE TWO DOGS. 159 would have been very glad to see the country divided; so Lord Lyons, the British Minister at Washington, was instructed to demand an apology and the immediate release of the prisoners, many hoping probably that the United States would refuse. The temper of the people was such that if there had then been an Atlantic telegraph it is probable that war would have taken place. Mr. Lincoln illustrated the feeling of the two nations by a story. "My father," he said, "had a neighbor from whom he was separated only by a fence. On each side of the fence were two savage dogs, who kept running backward and forward all day long, barking and snapping at each other. One day they came to a large opening recently made in the fence. Did they take advantage of this to devour each other? Not at all; scarcely had they seen the gap when they both ran back, each on his own side, with their tails between their legs. These two dogs are fair representatives of America and Eng- land." And so it turned out: the United States Government agreed at once to release the prisoners, mainly on the ground that the seizure was contrary to American principles, and the two peoples, who appeared to be on the brink of Avar, experienced a feeling of relief when the matter was settled, and treated each other thereafter with greater respect than before. Mr. Seward, by way of a joke, in closing the affair, sent word to the British consul in Portland, Maine, that the British troops which had started for Canada to prepare for hostilities against the United States would be permitted to land at that port to escape the dangers of the ice in the bay of St. Lawrence. Messrs. Mason and Slidell and their secretaries were delivered up, January 1, 1862, to the British authorities, much to the disappointment of the Confederates, who had hoped that a war between the United States and Great Britain would lead to their independence. The commissioners arrived at the end of the month in England, but the excitement in regard to them had nearly died away and they attracted little attention. CHAPTER XIII. MILL SPRING.— FORT HENRY. zollicoffer ix kentucky.— camp wildcat.— general schoepf.— sham secession of Kentucky.— General Buell.— Colonel Garfield.— Battle of Mill Spring.— Death of Zollicoffer.— The Yankees will Cotch us.— Contraband Fun.— Schnapps! Schnapps'. —Albert Sidney Johnston.— Forts Henry and Donelson.— Commodore Foote.— Tor- pedoes.— Capture of Fort Henry.— General Tilghman.— a Brave Boy. THE reader will remember that eastern Kentucky had been invaded in the autumn of 1861 by a Confederate force under General Zollicoffer. Zollicoffer had been sent into east Tennessee, a country much like West Virginia, and really a continuation of its mountain region, for the same reason that Lee had been sent into West Virginia — to put down the strong Union feeling which existed there. As soon as he heard that General Polk had occupied Columbus, he marched through Cumberland Gap into Kentucky to help the Confederates to get possession of that State. The Unionists gathered to resist this invasion, and formed a post called Camp Wildcat in the Cumberland Mountains, under Colonel Garrard. His force was small, but it was soon increased by two or three regiments under General Albin Schocpf, a Hungarian, who had formerly been an officer in the Austrian army, and later had served under General Bern in the war for Hungarian independence. Zolli- coffer attacked Camp Wildcat on the morning of October 21, and again in the afternoon, but was each time repulsed, and at night retired into the hills. But soon after, General Schoepf, who had taken command, hearing that a large force from Buck- ner's camp at Bowling Green was marching against him, re- treated toward the Ohio, and left that part of Kentucky again open to Zollicoffer. With Polk at Columbus, Buckner at Bowling Green, and Zollicoffer in the valley of the Cumberland, all southern Ken- tucky was now in the power of the Confederates. They set up a separate government at Russellville, and on November 20 a convention which met there passed an ordinance of secession. Bowling Green was made the new capital of the State, and in 1862.] SECESSION IN KENTUCKY. 161 December Kentucky was received into the Confederacy. But this was the act of only a few politicians; most of the people of the State were strong Unionists during the war, and few but those in the Confederate army pretended to recognize this sham secession. In the mean time General Don Carlos Buell had been sent to take General Sher- man's place as commander of the Department of the Ohio, with headquarters at Louis- ville. General Buell soon had a force of one hundred and fifteen thousand men, with a hundred and twenty- six pieces of artillery. This great army was divided into four divisions, commanded by Generals Alexander McD. McCook, Ormsby M. Mitchell, George II. Thomas, and Thomas L. Crittenden, and was stretched across the State so as to oppose the Con- federate lines, with the inten- tion of Operations in Eastern Kentucky. driving the enemy out of Kentucky, and then pushing on into Ten- nessee. In January, 1862, Major-General Humphrey Marshall, a graduate of West Point and well known as a colonel of cavalry in the Mexican War, was at Paintsville, on the Big Sandy Biver, in command of a Confederate force of about twenty-five hun- dred men, Colonel James A. Garfield was sent with two regi- 162 MILL SPRING.— LORT IIENRY. [1862. ments of infantry and a small body of cavalry to drive them away; but when Marshall heard of his coming he moved toward Prestonburg. Garfield followed, and coming up with him, fought him all the afternoon until dark, gaining a complete victory, driving him from all his positions. Colonel Garfield was commissioned a brigadier-general of volunteers for this service. Most of the force which Zollicoffer had brought into the State was now stationed at Mill Spring, shown in the map (p. 161), but part was in an intrenched camp, on the other side of the Cum- berland River, named Camp Beach Grove, where provisions and necessaries were landed by a little steamer running between there and Nashville. The army had been increased to about ten thousand men, and was under the command of Major-General George B. Crittenden, brother of the s Union general of the same name. In January, 1862, part ^SHS 1^ HlHl Hk °f the division of the Union army under General Thomas ..^-.-- moved against Camp Beach sHH H \- ' Grove from Columbia,, while James A. Garfield. i i l ~\ n i another part, under General Schoepf, marched from Somerset in the same direction. A small stream called Fishing Creek, which lay between these two bodies, was much swollen by rains, and the Confederate General Crittenden, hoping to defeat Thomas before Schoepf could join him, ordered Zollicoffer to advance with five or six thousand men. Thomas's force was nearly equal in number, but his men were in better condition. The Confederate troops had been living on short rations, and were indeed half starved. A letter written by all officer of one of the regiments said : ' I have at length approached that point in a soldier's career when a hand- ful of parched corn maybe considered a first-class dinner." The two armies met at daybreak of Sunday, January 19, about ten miles from Beach Grove. The Union line was at first driven back on the left, but the Fourth Kentucky, under 1862.] DEATH OF ZOLLICOFFER. 163 Colonel S. S. Fry, sent by General Thomas to that part of the field, soon changed the fortune of the day. While Colonel Fry was about to lead a charge upon a Mississippi regiment, Gen- eral Zollicoffer, accompanied by a single aide, rode up to him and said: "You are not going to fight your friends, are you? These men" (pointing to the Mississippians opposite) "are all your friends." Zollicoffer, who was riding a splendid gray horse, wore a light drab overcoat buttoned to the chin, hiding his uni- form, and probably thought that Fry would take him for a Union officer. Fry was deceived, and said, "No, I do not in- tend to fire upon our men;" and he did not see his mistake until Zollicoffer's companion fired at him with a pistol, killing his horse. One of Fry's officers shot the aide, and Colonel Fry himself drew a revolver and killed Zollicoffer. A Confederate soldier threw down his gun and ran to take up the body of his commander to bear it from the field, but he was shot in the attempt. The Confederates, seeing their leader fall, began to give way, and were soon in confusion. General Crittenden suc- ceeded in reforming the line for a few minutes, but the Union troops pressed them so hard that they broke and fled to their in- trenched camp at Beach Grove, leaving their dead and wounded on the field. In the afternoon Thomas, having been joined by Schoepf, followed until darkness set in. The next morning the Confederate works were occupied, the enemy having abandoned them in the night and fled across the Cumberland River' into the mountains. A Union woman who lived near Monticello said that they passed her house, along the road and through the fields, all day long on Monday. Some were on horseback and some on foot, and many were wounded. One man passed with his brother on his back. An old man from Alabama, with his two sons, stopped a moment to rest, asking for a little food. He had been sick for months, and could scarcely totter along. She invited him to stay, but he said, " No, the Yankees are close after us, and will cotch and kill me." This seemed to be the universal fear — "The Yankees will cotch and kill us." The good woman forgot for the time that, these miserable men were enemies, and cooked for them and dressed their wounds until late in the night. A gentleman of Nashville, Avhose slave accompanied a young 164 MILL SPRING.— FORT HENRY. [1862. Confederate officer in this expedition, asked the negro, on his return home, how long the army was in making the advance to the battle-field. '•'Bout four days, massa," was the reply. "Four days! How long were they in marching back?" "'Bout two days, massa." " How is that, Joe? Could the men travel faster coming back, after a four days' march and a severe battle?" " Oh! I tell ye, massa, it was de music made de difference. Dey marched dere to the tune of 'Dixie;' but dey come back to de tune 'Fire in de mountains! Bun, boys, run!' " This battle, which is commonly known as the battle of Mill Spring, is sometimes called also Beach Grove, Fishing Creek, and Somerset; but it was really fought at place called Logan's Boad. Among the taken by Thomas twelve pieces of artillery, with caissons or ammuni- tion wagons, several army forges,* a hundred and fifty wagons, more than a thous- and horses and mules, many small-arms, and a large amount of stores. The Confederates were much grieved at this defeat, the blame of which they laid upon General Crittenden, some saying that he was intoxicated on the day of the battle, and others that he was a traitor. In a cabin in the Confederate works at Beech Grove some of the soldiers found a barrel of apple brandy. Just as they had filled their canteens a German belonging to one of the a Cross spoils were Army Forge. * An army forge is a four- wheeled -wagon so made that the fore wheels may be separated from the hind wheels. On the fore axle is a box con- taining supplies and blacksmiths' tools, while the hind part carries the forge and bellows, as shown in the picture. When needed for use the anvil is taken out and set upon the stump of a tree. Such a forge is very useful in an army, and is generally attached to artillery and cavalry corps for skoeinsr horses and doim; other metal work. 1862.] SCHNAPPS! SCHNAPPS! 165 Western regiments came in, and seeing what was going on, said: "Halloo, vat yon gets there?" On being told he ran to the door and began shouting with all his might: "Hans! Heinrich! schnapps! schnapps!" A dozen more rushed in in great excitement, and soon had in their canteens all that was left of the liquor. One of the soldiers who bad first found the prize, thinking to have a little fun, said: " Boys, you'd better look out; this is a doctor's shop, and there may be strychnine in that brandy." The Germans paused and looked at each other with a mourn- ful expression, as if they feared it might be true. At last one of them, apparently struck by a happy thought, said: " Mein Gott, poys, I tells you vat I do: I trinks some, and if it don't kill me, den you trinks." He took a long and hearty pull at his canteen, smacked his li]is, and said, with a wink of the eye: "All right, poys, go ahead!" This victory won eastern Kentucky from the Confederates, and left the way open through the mountains into Tennessee; but the roads were so bad at that time of the year, and the country was so barren of provisions, that it was determined to strike first in another quarter. The Confederate line of defence in the West was then in command of General Albert Sidney Johnston, of Kentucky, formerly one of the bravest and best officers of the United States army. The main body of his army was at Bowling Green, and the western end of the line Avas at Columbus, which General Polk had strongly fortified. Between these two points were two great rivers, the Cumberland and the Tennessee, stretching southward like two roads into the heart of the Confederacy. Their mouths at Smithland and Paducah, where they join the Ohio, were in possession of the Union troops, who were liable at any moment to advance up them with their gunboats into Tennessee. To prevent this, the Confed- erates had built two forts at a place eighty or ninety miles above their mouths, where the two rivers are only ten or twelve miles apart. Fort Henry, the smaller of these fortifications, was on the east bank of the Tennessee River, while Fort Donelson, the 166 MILL SPRING.— FORT HENRY. [1862. larger, was on the west bank of the Cumberland Kiver, both being in the State of Tennessee just below the border of Ken- tucky. The two were connected by a line of telegraph and by a good road, so that reinforcements could easily pass from one to the other. In the beginning of February, 1862, seven Union gunboats left Cairo for Paducah and steamed thence up the Tennessee River. Four of these, the Cincinnati (the flag-ship), the Essex, the Carondelet, and the St. Louis, were armored or iron-clad; the others, the Conestoga, the Tyler, and the Lexington, being ordinary wooden gunboats. This little fleet, under command of Commodore Andrew Hull Foote, was accompanied by several transports carrying two di- visions of General Grant's army, under Generals Mc- Clernand and C. F. Smith. The armored gun-boats looked much like floating houses as they moved along. Their sides and ends, built of heavy timber covered with thick iron plates, were made so slanting that can- non-shot would glance off from them; and they were fitted with very powerful engines so that they could stem the strong currents of the rivers and be easily moved in battle. Their cannon were very heavy, some being large enough to carry a ball ten inches in diameter, and each had a mortar for throwing bombs more than a foot in diameter. Fort Henry was built on low ground at a bend in the river, about two miles above a little island called Panther Island. It was in command of General Lloyd Tilghman, of Maryland, a graduate of West Point, who had under him about three thousand men, some in the fort and some in a fortified camp outside. In the channel near Panther Island had been laid many torpedoes, in which the Confederates had placed great hopes. The position of these was found out in a singular way. Andrew H. 1862.] CONFEDERATE TORPEDOES. 167 Some of Grant's scouts had stopped at a farm-house near the bank of the river, in which many women had gathered for safety. One of the women said that her husband was a soldier in Fort Henry. " By to-morrow night, madam," remarked one of the scouts, " there will be no Fort Henry; our gun-boats will take care of it." " Not a bit of it," replied she. " They will all be blown up before they get past the island." This made the scout and his companions curious to know what was going to blow them up, and they told the woman they would carry her away a prisoner if she did not tell all she knew. Foote's Fleet. She thereupon told about the torpedoes and pointed out the places where they had been sunk, and when search was made eight were found and fished up. They were sheet-iron cylinders about five and a half feet long, pointed at each end, and each containing about seventy-five pounds of powder, with a simple apparatus for 'firing it when touched by a vessel's bottom. Such' a torpedo, if well made, would blow a hole in any vessel, but in nearly all of these the powder was found so damp as to be worthless. The troops were landed a few miles below the fort, McCler- nand on the east side with orders to get between Henry and Donelson, and Smith on the west side to attack the fort with artillery from Fort Hieman, a half-finished work on a hill oppo- site Henry. But there had been a heavy rain during the night and the roads were so muddy that the troops did not move as 168 MILL SPRING.— FORT HENRY. [186$ fast as was expected, and when Grant reached the fort it had already surrendered to Commodore Foote (Feb. 6) after a bom- bardment of an hour and a quarter. General Tilghman had fought with great bravery. To avoid a useless loss of life he had placed most of his men outside of the fort, where they could escape in case of disaster, and had shut himself up within the works determined to defend them to the last. But nothing could withstand the fire from the heavy guns of the fleet, which rained an incessant storm of shot and shell into the fort. Some cannon were dismounted, one exploded, and many of the cabins in and around the works were in flames. Seeing the folly of Fort Henry. holding out longer, General Tilghman ordered the Confederate flag to be lowered. A white flag was raised on the ramparts, a boat from the St. Louis was sent ashore, and the stars and stripes were hoisted once more over the soil of Tennessee, amid cheers from the whole fleet. General Tilghman asked for Commodore Foote, and a boat was sent from the Cincinnati with a message that the Commo- dore would be glad to see him on board. When General Tilgh- man met the Commodore, he asked him what terms he would give him. "None, sir," replied he; "your surrender must be uncon- ditional." "Well, sir, if I must surrender, it gives me pleasure to surrender to so brave an officer as you." 1862. A Bit AVE! BO'f. 160 Just then the steward announced that dinner was ready, and Commodore Foote, pleasantly remarking to General Tilgh- man that as the fortunes of war had deprived him of his own dinner he should he glad to have him a guest at his table, courteously led the way to the cabin. Only about sixty men surrendered with General Tilghman, all the rest having escaped to Fort Donelson. Twenty cannon and a large quantity of supplies and munitions of war were found in the fort. But few were killed and wounded on either side, but in the thickest of the fight the Essex had her boiler pierced by a cannon-ball and thirty of her men were badly scalded by the escaping steam. She had to drop astern and took no further part in the tight. The Essex was named after the old frigate Essex of the war of 1812, in which Commodore David Porter made his famous cruise, and was commanded by Com- mander William D. Porter, son of the gallant commodore. He was badly scalded by the explosion, but recovered. Among tbe wounded in Fort Henry was a young Wisconsin boy, a prisoner, who had his arm shattered by a ball from one of the gunboats. He was taken into one of the cabins and Dr. Voorhies, of Mississippi, a surgeon, began to operate upon the injured limb. He had just bared the bone when a large shell came crashing through the hut, but the little fellow kept on * The picture shows the torpedo with a piece cut out so that the inside can be seen. A is the outer shell; B, an air-chamber, to make the tor- pedo float with that end up; C, the gunpowder; D, a pistol, with its muzzle in the powder and its trigger connected with the rod E, which had prongs to catch on the bottom of a vessel passing over it; F F, iron bands with rings, to which the weights G G were fastened. The torpedo was placed so that a vessel coming up against the current, the direction of which is shown by the arrows, would strike the prong. This would move a lever, which would pull a cord connected with the trigger of the pistol and tire it into the gunpowder. NFEDERATE TORPEDO.* 170 MILL SPRING.— FORT BENRT. [1862. talking while the bone was being sawed, without showing the least fear. Presently another shot went plunging by them. " This is getting too hot for me," said the doctor, and tak- ing the boy up in his arms he carried him into one of the bomb- proofs, where he finished the operation. "If you think this hot," replied the boy, " it will be a good deal too hot for you by and by." "Ah!" said the doctor afterward, "I should like to see that boy again. He was the bravest little fellow I ever saw." Lieutenant-General. Majob-G kukeui*. Beigadiek-Gexeral LlEUTENANT-CoLONKL. (silver Uave*.) jpS&ESSil ^ ^5? v v i ■ Major. (gold leaves.) FlRST LHLTI.Vi:.T. Second Lieutenant. (Shoulder Straps of the United States Armt.) CHAPTER XIV. FORT DONELSON— NASHVILLE. The Tennessee River Opened.— General Grant.— Commodore Foote as a Preacher.— Siege of Fort Donelson.— Sharpshooters.— A Gallant Boy.— Sleet and Snow.— Foote and his Gunboats.— The Commodore Wounded.— A Bold Sortie.— The Confederates Checked.— Escape of Floyd and Pillow.— Forest and his Cavalry.— Unconditional Surrender Grant.— Triumphal Entry.— Clarksville and Nashville Occupied.— An- drew Johnson.— A Sharp Newsboy.— The Confederates Abandon Columbus.— John Morgan— The Disobedient Soldier.— An Unfortunate Gatekeeper.— A Costly Load of Meal.— Morgan and the Telegraph Operator. THE capture of Fort Henry opened the Tennessee to the Union fleet, and the three wooden gunboats actually went up the river as far as Florence, Alabama, seizing and destroy- ing Confederate vessels and property. The drawbridge of the railroad between Bowling Green and Memphis, which crosses the Tennessee River about ten miles above Fort Henry, was also destroyed. This was of great importance, because it cut the railway connection between the Confederate positions at Bowling Green and Columbus. But to make the success a permanent one it was necessary to take Fort Donelson, which it will be remembered was only about twelve miles from Fort Henry; for it was possible that the Confederates might send large reinforce- ments to that place and then recapture Fort Henry. General Grant, who saw the necessity of attacking Fort Donelson at once, sent Commodore Foote back to Cairo to get more troops and to take his gunboats up the Cumberland in- stead of the Tennessee River. On the Sunday after his arrival in Cairo the Commodore attended the Presbyterian Church. A large congregation Avas in attendance, but the minister did not come. Commodore Foote, who was himself always very punctual, became impatient at the delay and asked one of the elders to conduct the services; on his refusing, he entered the pulpit himself, read a chapter in the Bible, made a prayer, and then preached a sermon from the text: "Let not your hearts be troubled. Ye believe in God: believe also in me." The congregation were delighted at the discourse, and an army chap- lain, who had come in meanwhile, congratulated the Commo- 172 FORT DONELSON.— NASHVILLE. [1862. dore on his success in preaching. "Ah!" replied the old sailor, "you should have come forward and taken my place." Donelson was a much larger and stronger fort than Henry. It was built upon a hill commanding a bend in the Cumberland River, and enclosed about one hundred acres of ground. It had also strong water-batteries — that is, batteries at the edge of the water — and side defences, all mounted with heavy guns. Back of the fort the forest had been cut down, the trees being felled with their branches lying outward so as to form an abatis, and about a mile in the rear and on the sides was a strong breastwork of logs and earth, with rifle-pits and places for can- non. Just above the fort, within the outer line of fortifications, was the little town of Dover. General Johnston knew that if Donelson fell Kentucky would have to be given up, because the Confederate troops there would then be between Buell and Grant, and might be all captured; he also knew that its loss would lead to the fall of Nashville and to the giv- ing up of the greater part of Tennessee. He there- fore determined to with- draw the best of his troops from Bowling Green, and, as he said, to "fight for Nashville at Donelson." General Pillow and Buckner were sent there with heavy reinforcements, and on the morning of the 13th of February General Floyd, who had been driven out of West Virginia in 1861 by Eosecrans, ar- rived with more troops and took the chief command, Pillow being second to him. There were then in the fort about sixteen thousand troops. General Grant moved against Donelson from Fort Henry on the morning of Wednesday, February 12, with fifteen thou- sand men, and before night he had taken positions nearly sur- rounding the enemy's lines on the land side. A third small Ulysses S. Grant. 1862.] 8HABPSII0 TEES. 173 division, under General Lewis Wallace, was left at Fort Henry. In the morning, after an examination of the ground, Grant saw that his line, stretched out over such a distance, was too weak to make a general attack, and he determined to wait for the gunboats and reinforcements; but there was a heavy artillery fire all day, and the riflemen kept the Confederates busy by picking off their gunners. In the afternoon attacks were made on batteries both on the right and on the left of the line, but they were rejmlsed by the Confederates, and the Union troops suffered severe losses. Among the Union riflemen who did the best service was the Sixty-sixth Illinois, known as Berge's Sharpshooters, from the name of their colonel. They were armed with Henry rifles, and each man had been chosen for his skill as a marksman. Their uniform was gray, with a gray felt hat ornamented with a squirrel-tail plume, dyed black. The sharpshooters used to creep up behind trees, rocks, or any- thing which would hide them, until they got near enough to pick off the gunners of the enemy. One of them got behind a stump' so near to the fort that he could speak to those within, and shot down the gunners as fast as they tried to load one of the cannons. The Confederates set men with rifles to watch him, but they could never get a good shot at him, and finally they had to give up using that cannon. Another sharpshooter had a fight which lasted nearly all day long with one of the best of the Confederate marksmen. The Union man lay behind a log, and the Confederate behind the breastwork. Each tried to deceive the other by holding up his hat or his coat on his ramrod. Whatever was thus shown on either side at once got a bullet through it, but both men were careful not to expose any part of their persons. It seemed Berge's Sharpshooter. 174 FORT DONELSON.— NASHVILLE. [1862. as if the two might fire at each other forever in this way with- out doing any harm. About four o'clock in the afternoon, however, the Confederate, not having heard from his enemy for several minutes, took a quick look over the breastwork. His head was not in sight five seconds, but in that brief time the sharpshooter, who was ever on the watch, sent a bullet into his brain, and the poor fellow fell dead, scarcely knowing what had hit him. Another story is told of a boy about eleven years old, whose father, a Union volunteer, had been taken prisoner some time before. Having no mother, and no one to care for him, he made up his mind that he would goto fight his fathers captors, and smuggled himself on board of a transport at Cincinnati laden with troops for the attack on Donelson. When the troops marched from Fort Henry, he joined the Seventy-eighth Ohio and trudged along with the rest. One of the officers questioned him and tried to turn him back, but he would not go. On the field of battle he succeeded in getting a musket, and posting himself behind a tree fired at every head he saw above the enemy's breastwork. The Confederate sharpshooters tried hard to drive him away, but he kept himself well hid- den all the time. At last a Confederate soldier on the outside of the breastwork took good aim at him, but the little fellow was too quick and brought him down with a shot from his musket. As the Confederate had a fine Minie rifle, the boy ran out, while the bullets were flying in all directions, and despoiling the soldier of his rifle, cartouch, and knapsack, retreated in safety to his tree, and returned to the Seventy-eighth at night with all his prizes. The weather, beautiful and spring-like in the morning, changed in the afternoon to a violent rain-storm, followed at night by severe cold with sleet and snow. The Union soldiers, poorly clothed and without tents, and many even without blankets, which they had thrown aside in the warm morning, suffered terribly. They dared not light any fires, for fear of making a mark for the enemy's guns; so officers and men were obliged to shiver through the long night, watching anxiously for the dawn. The Confederates were little better off, for a large part of them had to lie on their arms in the trenches, not knowing when an attack might be made. The wounded be- 1862.] SIEGE OF FORT DONELSON. 175 tween the two lines still lay where they had fallen, and in the morning only frozen corpses were found. General Grant now ordered General Wallace to come to his aid with the troops left at Fort Henry. Wallace arrived about ' *& ^ y *^ %>" **! ^f '** ' * U Pf CSS' 1 Siege of Fort Donelson. noon (February 14), and the gunboats and reinforcements, about five thousand men, having in the mean time come up the river, he was posted between the divisions of McClernand and Smith, as shown in the map. This made the Union lines on the land 176 FORT DONELSON— NASHVILLE. [1862. side complete, while the gunboats in the river cut off all hope of escape on the other side. Commodore Foote, who had had no time to repair the dam- age received by his gunboats in the attack on~Fort Henry, opened the assault on Donelson in the afternoon of the 14th with the ironclads St. Louis (flag-ship), Carondelet, Pittsburgh, and Louisville, and the wooden gunboats Conestoga and Lex- ington. He could bring only twelve guns to bear, while more than twenty in the fort and water-batteries were throwing the heaviest shot and shell upon his little fleet. For an hour the bombardment raged furiously; several of the water-batteries were silenced, the men flying from their guns to the fort above, and the Commodore was about to pass up the river to get a better position above the batteries, when the Louisville and the St. Louis had their steering apparatus disabled, and drifted helplessly down with the current. About the same time Com- modore Foote, who was in the pilot-house, was severely wounded by fragments of iron, caused by a solid shot which struck the house. His foot and leg were badly bruised, and the pilot, who stood by his side, was instantly killed. The Confederates, see- ing their success, ran back to their guns and again opened fire, and the Pittsburgh and the Carondelet, both badly injured, had to retire from the fight. The gunboats were struck by shot nearly a hundred and fifty times, and had fifty-four men killed and wounded. After this repulse, General Grant made up his mind that he would have to lay siege to the fort in regular form, and Commodore Foote returned to Cairo to have his disabled gunboats repaired, and to bring up the mortar-boats, which had been delayed. But the Confederates, though successful in repelling the assaults both by land and water, were much discouraged, and could see no hope of holding the place. Their troops were bet- ter off than the besiegers, for they had well-built barracks, but the Union artillery kept up a contimial fire of shells which, bursting in and over the fort, worried them greatly. Besides, they had no confidence in their officers, who showed by their actions their unfitness to command in such a situation. At a council held in the evening of February 14, General Floyd said the place could not be held, and proposed that the troops should try in the morning to cut their way out through the 1862.] FALL OF FORT DONELSOK 177 Union lines, and thus escape toward Nashville. The attack was made, and came very near being a success. Pillow, with about ten thousand men, attacked McClernand's right at early dawn, while Bnckner prepared to move against Wallace. Grant had gone on board the St. Louis to see Foote. Part of McClernand's division was thrown into disorder and forced back, and Pillow, sure of success, sent an aide to tclegraj)h to Johns- ton that he had won a victory. Johnston sent the dispatch to Eichmond, and on the next Monday the Eichmond Enquirer published the news, and said: " This splendid feat of arms and glorious victory to onr cause will send a thrill of joy over the whole Confederacy." But "there's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip." Gen- eral "Wallace soon came to McClernand's aid, and by the mid- dle of the day the Confederates were checked. McClernand's regiments were formed again, and Grant, coining upon the field and finding that Pillow had paused in the attack, ordered a general advance along the line. Smith forced his way over the enemy's intrenchments on the left, while all the lost ground was regained on the right, and the Confederates were driven back within the shelter of their works. Both parties slept on their arms, the Union men confident of victory in the morning, the Confederates seeing nothing be- fore them but surrender. The former had lost fifteen hundred men in the day's struggle, the latter two thousand. All was now confusion in the fort. Floyd, believing that the United States authorities were very anxious to capture him on account of his misdeeds when he was Secretary of War, gave up the command to Pillow and announced his intention to try to escape. But Pillow, declaring that it was useless to attempt a further defence, resigned the command to Buckner, and de- clared that he should follow Floyd. There were two small steamers in the river, and on these the two commanders, alarened fire on them the Hawkins Zouaves charged the battery in front. Shout- ing "Zou! Zou! Zou!" the red caps rushed over the narrow causeway, followed by the Tenth Connecticut, and entered the battery just as the Fifty-first New York and the Twenty-first Massachusetts came in from the right. The Confederates fled, leaving everything behind them. The Union troops pressed on after them to the northern end of the island, where about two Troops Landing in Flat-Boat. thousand surrendered, a part escaping in boats to Nag's Head. About a thousand more prisoners were taken in other parts of the island. Commodore Goldsborough had continued the bombardment of Fort Bartow while the land fight was going on, but about four o'clock in the afternoon the Union flag was hoisted over its walls, and the crews of the gunboats greeted it with three hearty cheers. The Confederates burned the barracks in Fort Forrest opposite, and the Curlew, which had been run aground under its guns. Among the spoils taken in the different forts were forty-two cannons and more than three thousand small- arms. Two days afterward the gunboats advanced into Albe- marle Sound, and thence to Elizabeth City, the most important town in that part of the State. Lynch's fleet was found there, supported by a battery on the shore, but after a short but severe fight the vessels were run aground and set on fire by their 1862.] GALLANT JOHN DAVIS. 187 crews, and all the Confederates fled, leaving the town in the possession of the Unionists. During the fight a shell from one of the Confederate gun- boats passed through the magazine of the steamer Valley City, and burst just outside of it. John Davis, a gunner's mate, was busy passing out powder for the guns when the shell entered, but instead of running out, as most men would have done, he coolly sat down on the open keg of powder, and thus protected it from sparks until the fire was put out. For this gal- lant act he was appointed an acting-gunner, with a salary of a thousand dol- lars a year, instead of three hundred which he had been getting. The capture of Roan- oke Island gave the gov- ernment the control of Albemarle and Curri- tuck sounds and of the rivers flowing into them, as well as the command of the country back of Norfolk, Virginia, from which that city drew most of its supplies. To the Confederates it was a great disaster, and, be- ing followed a few days after by the loss of Fort Donelson, it aroused in the minds of the people of the South a belief that their rulers were not doing their duty. An investigation was ordered in the Confederate Congress, but nothing came of it. General Burnside, leaving a sufficient force behind to hold Roanoke Island, collected his fleet of gunboats and his troops at Hatteras Inlet, for the purpose of making an attack on New Capture of New Berne, 188 ROANOKE.— NEW BERNE— PULASKI. [1862. Berne, an important place at the junction of the rivers Trent and Neuse. The fleet, under command of Commodore Rowan (Commodore Groldsborough having been recalled to Hampton Roads on account of the attack on the fleet there by the Merri- mack), sailed on the morning of March 12, and on the next morning fifteen thousand men were landed on the south bank of the Neuse, about eighteen miles from New Berne. The sol- diers, impatient to get ashore, would not wait for the boats to land, but jumped into the water and waded waist-deep to the shore. As fast as the regiments could form they started on the march for New Berne; but rain fell nearly all daylong, and the roads were almost impassable. The men waded knee-deep in mud, dragging the heavy cannons by hand with long ropes through swamps and thickets, while the gunboats passed up the river shelling the road in advance of them. After a weary march of twelve miles the troops reached a place about a mile and a half from the Confederate defences, shown in the map, when they halted for the night. The men had no shelter, but built fires in the woods beside the road, and lay down to rest on the wet ground. More rain fell in the night and drenched everybody to the skin, but all were up at daylight and soon on the way to attack the enemy's works. A man on horseback, who had just come from New Berne, was arrested at a cross-road, and on being questioned said that the Confederates had evacu- ated Manassas. The joyful news was passed along from regi- ment to regiment, and hailed with a storm of cheers that put new life into the wet and jaded column, and they pressed on with redoubled vigor. The morning was foggy, but after a short march the line of intrenchments came into view. They reached from the river, where the Confederate left was de- fended by several forts, across the railroad track for more than a mile, and were defended by about five thousand men and eighteen guns. The attack was made by General Foster on the enemy's left, nearest the river, by General Reno on the right, and by General Parke in front, while the gunboats shelled the batteries along the river. There were five of these batteries or forts, named Dixie, Thompson, Brown, Ellis, and Lane, and the channel of the river was further defended by sunken vessels, sharpened piles, and torpedoes. But the forts were silenced one after 1862.] BURNEMBIDE'S BOYS. 189 another by the guns of the fleet, and the line of intrenchments was won by the troops, after a fight of four hours. As soon as the Confederates saw that there was no hope of holding the position, they fled in confusion, leaving all their guns, and throwing away knapsacks, blankets, and small-arms. After crossing the two bridges to New Berne, they burned the rail- road bridge and destroyed the draw of the turnpike bridge, so that the Union troops could not follow them. But the gun- boats, led by Commodore Bowan in the flag-ship Delaware, at once pushed through the obstructions in the river to the wharves and took possession of the town. The Confederates, who had fled by the railroad to Goldsboro, had set many build- ings on fire before leaving, but the soldiers succeeded in saving most of them. Among the spoils of the victory were forty-six heavy cannons and eighteen field-guns, two hundred prisoners, and a large quantity of arms, ammunition, and stores. Most of the citizens fled from the town on the approach of the Union troops, but as soon as order was restored many returned to their homes. The New Berne Daily Progress, a strong anti-Union newspaper, was taken possession of, its former editor having run away with the Confederates, and in a few days its new editors changed its politics so completely that its old owners would not have known it, for it came out as strong for the Union as it had ever been against it. Among those who seemed to enjoy most the capture of New Berne were the contrabands, who flocked in from all parts of the country to see " Massa Linkum's men." They had much curiosity to see the gunboats, the cannons which fired the great balls, and the shells which made such a screeching as they flew through the air. The shells especially were the subject of much wonder, and they had many questions to ask concerning them and many ways of explaining them. One day, while a soldier was watching the landing of some horses from a vessel beside the wharf, a gray-headed contraband came up, touched his fur hat, and, scraping an enormous foot, said: " Well, boss, how is yer?" " Pretty well, daddy; how are you?'' replied the soldier. "Fuss rate, I is. B'long to ole Burnemside's boys?" "Yes; great boys, ain't they?" " Well, I allow dat's so. Great man he is, dat's sartin. Yes, sir!" 190 ROANOKE.— NEW BERNE.— PULASKI. [1863. " Did you hear that we were coming up the river?" " Spected yeh was comin' — but we waited an' waited an' mos' guv yeh up. 'Deed we just did. But one day we heard de big guns — way down ribber — bang, bang, bang, and de folk 'round yere began to trabble up de rail-track. Den, bress de Lord, we knew yeh was comin', but we held our jaw. Bimeby de sojers began to cut stick too, and de way dey trabble! Gor- amighty, 'pears dey jes' make de dirt fly! Yah, yah!" "Why were they scared so bad?" asked the soldier. "De sojers didn't skeer 'em so much as de black boats. De sojers' solid- balls — dey didn't mind dem much; but when dem boats go boom — dey know de rotten balls was comin', an' dey skeeted." "Rotten balls! What do you mean?" "Why, dem balls dat are bad. Fly all to bits — 'deed does dey — play de debble too. No dodgin' 'em, 'kase yeh don't know whah dey goin' to — strike yeah and fly yandah." "Oh! I see," said the soldier, smiling, as he became con- scious that Sambo meant the shells. " We did have a few bad ones." Among the wounded at the battle of New Berne was Mrs. Brownell, wife of Sergeant R. S. Brownell, of one of the Rhode Island regiments. She had served in the battle of Bull Run, in the regiment commanded by General (then Colonel) Burnside, by which she had been adopted as the " child of the regiment." In the battle of New Berne she was on the field during the whole engagement, taking care of the wounded and encourag- ing the soldiers. When the standard-bearer of the Sixth Regi- ment fell, she seized the flag, and while bravely carrying it across the field was wounded by a bullet. Her husband was wounded also in the fight, and the two were sent to New York in the same vessel. The heroine of New Berne carried with her a Confederate rifle which she had picked up on the battle- field, and of which she was justly proud. The capture of New Berne cut off the port of Beaufort, with which it was connected by railroad, from the interior. This was very important, because Beaufort had been a resort of English blockade-runners, the stores and arms brought by which had been carried by rail to New Berne, and sent thence to all parts of the Confederacy. A few days after the fall of New 1862.] CAPTURE OF FORT* MACON. 191 Berne, Morehead City, at the end of the railroad, opposite Beau- fort, was taken possession of, and on March 25 Beaufort itself was occupied. But the entrance to the harbor was still com- manded by Fort Macon, a work built of solid masonry at the end of a long sand-spit called Bogue Bank, and defended by about five hundred North Carolinians. General Parke crossed with some troops on to the other end of this spit, and built three siege-batteries behind some sand-hills. This was very dangerous and tiresome work, for shot and shell were fired from the fort day and night. The bomb-firing at night was a beauti- ful sight. First would come the report of the gun, then the shell would be seen by the light of its twinkling fuse mounting slowly in the air, and then falling and bursting with a brilliant flash and a noise often louder than the gun itself. The fun was for a time all on one side, but the siege-batteries were soon finished and ready for work. As the gunboats controlled the water-side, the fort was thus cut off from all communication with the mainland. The bombardment began on the morning of Friday, April 25, and was kept up steadily by both the land-batteries and the gunboats. The fort replied vigorously, and maintained a heavy fire until four o'clock in the afternoon, when a white flag was raised on its walls; and in the morning of the next day the flag of the Union was once more flying over Fort Macon, which, with Fort Pulaski, had been seized by the State authorities more than a year before (January, 1861). The Confederate flag flying during the bombardment was made out of the United States flag that was over it when it was taken. The stripes had been ripped apart and then put together again to form the broader bars of the Confederate ensign, while only enough of the stars had been left in the union to represent the States of the Confederacy, the rest being cut out and the holes thus made left. The flag hoisted in its place was found in one of the case- mates of the fort, it having been taken by the Confederates from the wreck of the steamer Union, which went ashore on Bogue Bank at the time of the Port Royal expedition. In the mean time General Eeno had been sent to Eliza- beth City, to try to surprise a Confederate force about to leave there for Norfolk. His forces were taken by boat up the Pasquotank Eiver and landed in the night, but part of them 192 ROANOKE.— NEW BERNE.— PULASKI. [1862. marched ten miles out of their way and when almost worn out, having been on their feet nearly twenty-four hours, were attacked by a body of Confederates posted in some woods with swamps on both sides. After a severe fight, in which the Union loss was the greater, the enemy were at last repulsed and, after a six hours' rest on the battle-field, General Reno returned to his boats. This is called sometimes the battle of South Mills and sometimes the battle of Camden, because it was fought not far from Camden Court-House. For the remainder of the year the coast of North Carolina remained in the possession of the Union troops. Most of the towns near it were occupied, and its commerce was entirely stopped, excepting that carried on by blockade-runners, which often slipped through the blockading fleet and ran into the Cape Fear River, in the southern part of the State. Fort Pulaski. While General Burnside was thus engaged in North Caro- lina, other equally successful operations had been carried on further down the Atlantic coast. The reader will remember that the capture of Port Royal had led to the occupation of Big Tybee Island at the mouth of the Savannah River, thus threatening Fort Pulaski. This fortress was a strong brick structure, with solid walls six feet thick and about twenty-five feet high, built on Cockspur Island, directly in the mouth of the river. The Union gunboats found a way into the river above the fort oetween the low islands and mud-banks, and took possession of Jones's Island, where they built an earth- work, called Battery Vulcan. They also constructed a little battery on a small island opposite, and this closed the river behind the fort, so that no gunboats could come down from Savannah to help it. Meanwhile eleven other batteries were SIEGE OF FORT PtTLASKl. 103 built on Big Tybee Island, under the orders of General Quincy A. Gillmore. These batteries, whose positions are shown in the map, were named after distinguished Union men. Nearly all the work on them had to be done in the night and with- out lights, so that the garrison in the fort should not see what was going on. Much of the island being little more than a quaking bog, a road had to be made to move the heavy guns and mortars across. This was built by laying bundles of brush- wood through the swamp and covering them with heavy planks. Over this narrow causeway the men had to drag the great mor- tars and guns loaded on strong wheels called sling-carts. It sometimes took two hundred and fifty men to move a single mortar, and frequently one of them would slip from the sling- Siege of Fort Pulaski. cart, when great labor was necessary to keep it from sinking to the bottom of the bog through eleven or twelve feet of mud. The mortar is a kind of short cannon, used for throwing bombs, and shaped something like an apothecary's mortar, from which it gets its name. The one in the picture is called a 13-inch mortar, because its mouth is broad enough to take in a bomb-shell thirteen inches in diameter. Such a bomb weighs more than two hundred pounds, and is too heavy for one man to lift; it is therefore carried from the magazine to the mortar by two men with a kind of clamp held up by a stout pole. A bag of powder, containing about twenty pounds, is put down the monster's throat, and then a bomb is dropped in on top of it. The bomb, which is hollow, is filled with powder and fitted with a fuse, which is lighted by the firing of the mortar. When all is ready, a string is pulled which snaps the lock, and the 194 ROANOKE.— NEW BERNE.— PULASKI. [1862. great mortar goes off with a concussion which shakes everything around, while the noise is almost deafening. The bomb mounts higher and higher in the air and finally comes down within the enemy's works, where it explodes with a loud noise and a cloud of smoke, throwing jagged pieces of iron in every direction. It is to guard against these fearful weapons that bomb-proofs are built in forts. On the night before the bombardment was to begin the men were busily at work in the trenches getting the guns and ammu- nition ready for the morning's work. All noises on their side were drowned in the roar of the surf, which rolled uj) inces- santly on the ocean side of the island; but now and then the "All's well " of the sentinel on the wall of the fort, unconscious of what was going on so near him, could be distinctly heard. "Ah!" said a soldier at work preparing ammu- nition, "you wouldn't say that if you could see what we are about over here." The officer in charge of Battery Totten found that no fuse-plugs had been provided for the 10-inch mortars. After vainly trying several made for mortars of other size, he was about to give up in despair, thinking it would be impossible to use the mortars. But a happy thought struck him; among the troops in the camp at the other side of the island was a Yankee regi- ment. All Yankees are said to be whittlers. If this regiment was turned out, the men might whittle fuse-plugs enough before morning to fire a thousand rounds. He acted at once on the thought, rode to camp, and in a few minutes the Seventh Con- necticut Avere ordered out to whittle. They showed themselves to be experts with the jack-knife, and before morning had made all the plugs used in the battery in the two days' firing. On the 8th of April General David Hunter, who had for- merly commanded in Kansas, arrived at Tybee Island to take Thirtkex-inch Mc 1862.] CAPTURE OF PULASKI. 195 the place of General Sherman as commander of the Department of the South. Two days afterward he demanded the surrender of Fort Pulaski, hut the commander, Colonel Olmstead, of Georgia, sent hack word, "I am here to defend this fort, not to surrender it." General Gillmore was ordered to open fire on it at once. The bombardment began early in the morning and lasted all day long, and it was kept up during the night by several heavy guns. On the next morning all the batteries opened fire again. The guns of the fort answered with vigor, and there was a continuous roar of guns and mortars. The wall of the fort soon began to crumble, and before noon a part of it was in ruins. Pre- parations were then made to send over troops in boats to storm it, but at two o'clock a white flag was displayed on the walls and the stars and bars were hauled down amid loud cheers from all the batteries on Ty- bee Island. It was the 11th of April, just a year since the flag of the Un- ion over Sumter had been fired upon. On taking possession it was found that ten of the guns in the fort had been dismounted by the Union artillery, and that some of the balls from the Parrott guns had gone entirely through the Avails, exposing the powder magazine to the danger of explosion. By this vic- tory forty-seven guns and three hundred and sixty prisoners fell into the hands of the government, as well as large quantities of scores and ammunition. Only two persons were killed in the bombardment, one on each side. Other successful operations were carried on in the beginning of this year (1862) on the coasts of Georgia and Florida. Com- modore Dapont, who had sailed from Port Royal in February with a fleet of fifty war- vessels and several transports, bearing troops under the command of General II. G. "Wright, found Fort Clinch, on Amelia Island, deserted. This fort, a strong regular work mounted with heavy guns, commanded the waters Bomb-shell. 196 ROANOKE.— NEW BERNE.— PULASKI. [1862. in that part of the coast of Georgia. Leaving a garrison to man it, the fleet sailed to Fernandina, Florida, but that also was found abandoned. Commodore Dupont wrote to Washington: "We captured Port Royal, but Fernandina and Fort Clinch have been given to us." While the fleet was approaching Fernandina, a contraband was picked up in a small boat, in which be had ventured out to sea to tell that the place had been deserted. While questioning him one of the officers said : "You ought to have brought up some newspapers to let us know what is going on." " I thought of that," replied the contraband, "and fotched a Charleston paper wid me." He took a paper from his bosom and handed it out with the air of a man who thinks he is doing an important service. The officers grasped it eagerly and gathered in a knot to look at it, but after one glance everybody, to the darky's astonishment, burst into a loud fit of laughter. Poor Cuffy, who could not read, supposing one paper to be as good as another, had brought one dated 1822. Commodore Gordon and several gunboats were sent to take possession of Brunswick, Georgia, tbe terminus of the railroad from Pensacola. It was found to be fortified, and the gunboats were reconnoitring to find a position to shell the works, when a boat was observed, rowing off from the shore. On coming near it was seen to contain two contrabands, who rowed for the nearest gunboat, yelling as loud as they could: "Hold on, Mars' Yankee, don't shoot! Soldiers all gone to Serwarner! Dase leff us all alone!" Sure enough, the forts were evacuated, and Brunswick was taken possession of without a fight. St. Augustine and Jacksonville Avere soon after occupied, and, leaving soldiers enough to hold the different places recov- ered, Commodore Dupont returned with his fleet to Port Eoyal at the end of March. All the Atlantic coast from Cape Hatteras southward was now in possession of the government, excepting Charleston, and preparations were soon made to attack that place. In June an expedition under General Hunter landed on James's Island and attacked the little town of Secessionville, a few miles from Charleston, but was defeated and had to fall back, and this ended operations against Charleston for the year. CHAPTER XVI. PEA RIDGE.— ISLAND NUMBER TEN. Price in Springfield.— Retreats before Curtis.— Sugar Creek.— Curtis Falls back to Pea Ridge.— Albert Pike and his Indians.— Earl Van Dorn.— Battle of Pea Ridge.— Elkhorn Tavern.— A Night of Anxiety.— Death of Ben. McCulloch.— The Confeder- ates Retreat.— Indian Atrocities.— Beauregard in the Mississippi Valley.— A New Line of Defence.— Island Number Ten.— General Pope attacks New Madrid.— The Confederates Abandon the Forts.— Commodore Foote and his Fleet.— Bombardment of Island Number Ten.— Digging a Canal,.— Gunboats Running the Batteries.— The Little Gibraltar Surrenders. WE left General Price in Springfield, Missouri, in the fall of 1861, while the Union army had fallen back to pre- pare for another campaign. Price, who had about ten thou- sand men, had built comfortable huts for them, expecting to remain there all winter. But early in February, 1862, Gen- eral Halleck, determined to drive him from his position, ordered the army, then under command of General Samuel P. Curtis, to advance. The Union troops, about twelve thousand in number, after a severe march over muddy roads and streams swollen by rains, reached Springfield on the morning of Febru- ary 13, but found the enemy's camp deserted. Price had left in haste the night before, and retreated southward. Curtis followed him across the border of Arkansas, defeated him in a small fight at Sugar Creek (February 20), and finally drove him over what is called the Boston Mountains. Curtis, fearing that he had gone too far into the country of the enemy, who was almost as strong as he, thought it pru- dent to fall back to Sugar Creek Valley, where it would be easy for him to get into Missouri again, if he found it necessary to retreat. On the north of this valley is a spur of the Ozark Mountains, called Pea Ridge, a good place for defence, with plenty of water. While there he heard that the Confederates, strongly reinforced, were marching to attack him. Price had been joined by Generals McCulloch and Mcintosh with a large body of Confederate troops, and by General Albert Pike, of Arkansas, at the head of about four thousand Indians, mostly Choctaws, Cherokees, and Chickasaws, who had joined the Con- federate cause. The whole force, numbering about twenty 198 PEA BID GE.— ISLAND NUMBER TEN. [1862. thousand men, was under the command of Major-General Earl Van Dorn, who had been sent in January to take charge of the Confederate Trans-Mississippi Department. To meet this large army Curtis had only about eleven thousand men, with forty- nine pieces of artillery. Van Dorn, who was marching towards the Union position on the Fayetteville road, shown in the map, encamped on the night of March 5 near Cross Hollows. The day had been cold and blustering, and snow enough to cover the ground had fallen. The next morning he turned to the north- west and marched to Benton ville, near- ly cutting off Gene- ral Si gel, who had encamped near that place to get for- age for his horses more easily. But Sigel succeeded in fighting his way the Con- cavalry, had sur- him, and the main army in safety, with a loss of about eighty men, fifty of whom were taken prisoners. On the next night Van Dorn, who knew that he largely outnumbered Curtis, marched en- tirely around the Union position until he reached its rear at a place called Elkhorn Tavern, on the road to Keitsville. By this movement he hoped to capture the whole Union army, for Curtis, in case of defeat, was thus cut off from his supplies and from all chance of retreating into Missouri. Curtis, who had expected Van Dorn to attack him in front, had fortified that 3 NATIONALS ■ CONFEDERATES a. M9CULLOCH FELL b M'SUMTOSH ftLL through federate which rounded reached Battle-Field of Pea Ridge. 1863.] BATTLE OF PEA RIDGE. 199 part of his line with felled trees and earthworks; but when he found out that the enemy was marching to his rear, he had to give up his strong position and turn so as to fight him behind. The map shows the positions of the two armies after these changes had been made. In Van Dorn's army Price and his Missouriaus were on the Confederate left, near Elkhorn Tavern, while McCulloch and Mcintosh's Arkansas troops and Pike's Indians held the other end of the line. In the Union army General Carr was on the right, opposite Price, General Jeffer- son C. Davis in the centre, and Generals Sigel and Asbotli on the left, near Sugar Creek. The Union line, though it looks short on the map, was really between three and four miles long, while the Confederate line was still longer. Van Dorn began the attack about half-past ten o'clock in the morning of Friday, March 7, near Elkhorn Tavern. The Confederates pressed on, firing shot and shell and supported by heavy masses of infantry. General Carr defended his lines as well as he could, but, overpowered by superior numbers,, his cavalry was repulsed, a battery was lost, and he was gradually forced back more than half a mile. About the same time the centre was attacked, and the battle soon raged there with great fury. General Davis succeeded in holding his own, his troops standing firmly against all the efforts of McCulloch and Mcin- tosh to break his lines. The left of the Union line had not been attacked, and about five o'clock in the afternoon General Curtis ordered General Sigel to go to the aid of Davis, and Gen- eral Asboth to reinforce Carr. Carr had then been seven hours under fire, many of his officers had been killed and he himself wounded, and the remnant of his men were nearly tired out. Asboth at once opened fire and continued the fight until night put an end to it. That night was one of great anxiety to both parties, and Confederates and Unionists slept on their arms almost within reach of each other. The Confederates had been successful against Carr, but they had won the ground at a great loss, and General Price had been seriously wounded. In the centre, however, they had been repulsed, and both Generals McCulloch and Mcintosh had been killed. The Arkansas troops, who had had great faith in these leaders, felt their loss very seriously, and being unused to strict discipline, were unwilling to obey new 200 PBA RIDGE.— ISLAND NUMBER TEN. [1863. commanders. But they were rallied by Van Dorn, and joined to Price's troops near Elkhorn Tavern. The Union troops still had their leaders, but they had met with serious losses. After a long day's fight they had not been able to hold the ground on their right, and there was a prospect that the enemy, with his superior numbers, would be able to complete the victory on the morrow. Yet every man felt when he lay down to sleep on the field among the dead and the dying that the battle must be won, for if the army was defeated there was no escape from captivity. When day broke the Confederate attack was anxiously awaited, but all was quiet. Curtis at last opened fire against the positions near Elkhorn Tavern, where he had reason to be- lieve Van Dorn had massed his troops during the night. The Confederate artillery replied, and the battle soon became gen- eral again. The attacks of the Union troops were repulsed several times, but soon Sigel moved around on the left and Asboth on the right, and at last the Confederates, thus threat- ened with a cross-fire, fell back through Cross Timber Hollow and gave up the battle. Part of them tied south through Ben- tonville, on the route shown in the map, and part, under Price, went north toward Keitsville. Pursuit was kept up but a short time, and the wearied Union soldiers encamped on the field of battle. Their loss had been more than thirteen hundred in killed, wounded, and missing, and that of the Confederates much greater, though there was never any correct report of it. The Indians are said to have committed many atrocities on the battle-field, tomakawking and scalping the Union wounded without mercy. A soldier of the Ninth Missouri, seeing his brother scalped by a savage, vowed vengeance and devoted him- self all day long to shooting Indians. He was a good marks- man, and at night returned to camp with nine of their scalps as trophies of his day's work. Van Dorn succeeded in carrying off nearly all his artillery and baggage, so that Curtis won little more than a bare victory. But it resulted in freeing Missouri for some time to come from all danger of Confederate invasion, and enabled both parties to send their armies to engage in the struggle about to take place in Tennessee. The battle was called by the Unionists Pea Eidge, but by the Confederates Elkhorn. 1862.] SIEGE OF NEW MADRID. 201 We must now return once more to the Mississippi Valley to watch the movements of Generals Grant and Buell and of Com- modore Foote, who were preparing to press southward. Shortly after the battle of Mill Spring, in which General Zollicoffer waa killed, General Beauregard had been sent to aid General Johns- ton in the defence of the Mississippi department. After the fall of Donelson he saw that it would be useless to try to form another line of defence north of Memphis, so he ordered Colum- bus to be evacuated and began to fortify that place, in hope of stopping the ad- LJ-r MADRID; vance of the Union forces. In order to gain time to finish the works at Mem- phis, he determined to hold Island Num- ber Ten* and New Madrid as long as poaiible, although he knew that the posi- tions there were not very strong. Follow- ing the course of the Mississippi, this island is about ten miles above New Madrid, Missouri, which is seventy-nine miles below Cairo; but on account of a long bend in the river, shown in the map, New Madrid New Madrid and Island Number Ten. the island is really further south than New Madrid is at the most northerly part of the bend, and its'guns were so placed as to be able to fire at vessels coming either way. Besides Fort Thompson, named after Jeff. Thompson, it was defended by several batteries and *The islands in the Mississippi River from the mouth of the Ohio southward are all numbered. Island Number Ten therefore is the tenth island below the Ohio River, 202 PEA RIDGE.— ISLAND NUMBER TEN. [1862. by six gunboats, mounting heavy guns, which had come up the river from New Orleans and were under the command of Com- modore Hollins, who had made the unsuccessful attack on the Union fleet in the passes of the Mississippi. As the land around New Madrid is very flat, these gunboats could fire upon troops approaching the place by land. On the same day when the flag of the Union was hoisted over the deserted works of the Confederates at Columbus, a Uuion army under General John Pope, who had been command- ing in eastern Missouri, appeared before New Madrid. Seeing that he could do but little with his field artillery, he sent to Cairo for heavy guns; and while waiting for these he built a battery at Point Pleasant, about ten miles below New Madrid, so as to blockade the river at that place and prevent supplies from being sent up to the town. Meanwhile the Confederates AiuvixG a Heavy Cannon. strengthened their works and reinforced the garrison with men from Island Number Ten, while their fleet of gunboats was increased to nine. Four heavy guns were sent from Bird's Point to General Pope by the Cairo and Fulton Eailway, which brought them within twenty miles of where they were wanted. They were then dragged on large cannon-trucks, like that shown in the picture (the guns being slung underneath the axle), over very muddy roads, to the place prepared for them. On the night of March 12 a thousand spades were at work within half a mile of Fort Thompson, and at daylight the guns were in posi- tion ready for action. Pope opened a cannonade at once on the gunboats and on Fort Thompson, both of which replied vigor- ously. The fight raged all day long ; several of the gunboats were disabled and the Union army was gradually shutting ki 1863.] CAPTURE OF NEW MADRID. 203 the Confederates on the land side, when their commander, General McCown, seeing the danger of capture, left the place in the night, during a heavy timnder-storm, and removed all his troops to Island Number Ten. When General Pope rode over the works and saw how strong they were, he could scarcely believe that he had won so easy a victory. On taking possession it was found that the enemy had fled in such haste that their suppers were left untasted on the tables, and candles were burning in many of the tents. The men had carried off only what they wore, leaving behind even their knapsacks, and the officers their private baggage. An immense amount of property was found in the works: thirty- three pieces of cannon, several thousand small- arms, great quantities of ammunition and provis- ions, tents enough for an army of ten thousand men, and many horses and mules. Two men were found asleep in the fort; when awakened they rub- bed their eyes in astonish- ment to hear that all their friends had left and that they were in the hands of the Yankees. General Pope lost fifty-one men in killed and wounded during the day's bombardment; the loss of the Con- federates is not known, but is thought to have been more than a hundred. About the time of the capture of New Madrid, Commodore Foote sailed from Cairo with a fleet of seven iron-clad gun- boats, one wooden gunboat, and ten mortar-boats, for the pur- pose of aiding General Pope in the attack on Island Number Ten. He came in sight of the island on Saturday, March 15, and on the next morning opened the bombardment with the rifled guns of the Benton, his flag-ship. The mortar-boats, moored at convenient places along the shore, soon took part in the firing, and rained bombs into the Confederate works. The form of one of these boats is well shown in the enffravinsr. It Mortar- Boat. 204 PEA RIDGE.— ISLAND NUMBER TEN. [1862. was simply a strong fiat-boat, with a thick wooden wall built all around it, about eight feet high, plated with iron on the outside, and made sloping so that shot would glance off. Each carried a single mortar in the middle, the ammunition for which was kept in a magazine under the floor below the water-mark, and had a tent for shelter. The mortars were precisely like those used on land, a picture of one of which is given on page 194. Commodore Eoote kept up the bombardment for many days, without doing much damage to the Confederate works. But while he kept the enemy busy, General Pope had been engaged in digging a canal across the swampy peninsula formed by the bend of the river, so that vessels could go through to New Island Number Ten. Madrid without having to pass Island Number Ten. This was a most wonderful feat, for the peninsula was about twelve miles across, moie than half the distance being covered with a growth of heavy trees, which had to be sawed off in many places four feet under water. A large number of men were employed, and after nineteen days of hard labor a channel deep enough for light-draught vessels was cut through. In the night of April 1 a few men from the gunboats, aided by some of Pope's soldiers, landed on the Kentucky shore, op- posite Island Number Ten, took one of the batteries by sur- prise and spiked its six guns — that is, drove files into their touch-holes, so that they could not be used any more. A few nights afterward the Carondelet ran safely by all the batteries at midnight, during a heavy thunder-storm. She might have 1862.] TEE LITTLE GIBRALTAR 205 slipped by unseen, but the soot in her smoke-stacks caught fire just before the batteries were reached, and the flames leaping up five feet above the tops of her chimneys showed her to the Con- federates, who opened all their guns upon her. Her comman- der, Captain Walker, then ordered all steam to be put on, and she ran by amid a storm of shot and shell without being hit once, her pilot guiding her by the light of the lightning flashes. Two nights afterward the Pittsburgh, another gunboat, per- formed the same feat, with the same good fortune; and a few days later the Confederates were astonished to see a fleet of transports laden with troops and several floating batteries join the gunboats at New Madrid. These had passed through the canal, which the Confederates had heard about but had not believed in. Their astonishment was the greater because they had been taught that their position on Island Number Ten, which they had fondly called the "Little Gibraltar," was so strong that it could not be taken. The gunboats soon silenced the one-gun batteries on the opposite side of the river below New Madrid, when the Con- federates on the mainland, satisfied that they could no longer hold their position, sunk a gunboat and some transport steamers in the river between Island Number Ten and New Madrid, and fled in confusion. But General Pope, who had sent some troops across the river from New Madrid, cut them off below Tiptonville, and they all surrendered. About the same time the few men on Island Number Ten surrendered to Commo- dore Foote. Nearly seven thousand prisoners, including three generals, were taken. Among the other fruits of the victory were more than one hundred heavy siege-guns and mortars, twenty-four pieces of field artillery, several thousand small- arms, an immense quantity of ammunition and supplies, and a great number of tents, wagons, horses, and mules. Four steamboats were taken afloat, and the six which were sunk were soon raised and repaired. A floating battery, carrying sixteen guns, drifted down the river, and was found stranded on a sand-bank a little way above Point Pleasant, where it was soon taken possession of. This was made out of the Pelican Float- ing Dock at New Orleans, and had been towed all the way up the river from that place. The capture of Island Number Ten was one of the most im- 206 PEA BlDGE.— ISLAND NUMBEU TEN. [1862. portant successes which the Union forces had yet won, as it opened the Mississippi down to Fort Pillow, a hundred miles below and about forty above Memphis. While it carried joy to the hearts of all in the loyal States, it caused many a Confeder- ate to despair of the future, for it seemed almost certain that the armored gunboats of the Union would soon navigate the whole of the Mississippi and cut off the western from the east- ern part of the Confederacy. Confederate General. CHAPTER XVII. SHI L OH. —MEMPHIS. Beauregard at Corinth.— Grant and Halleck.— Pittsburg Landing.— Albert Sydney Johnston Joins Beauregard.— Marches against Grant.— Shiloh Church.— An Uncom- fortable Night.— We Shall Sleep in the Enemy's Camp.— The Union Army Surprised. —Sherman and his Men.— Skulkers.— Death of Johnston.— Grant at Bay.— Beaure- gard Keeps his Promise.— Buell to the Rescue.— The Gunboats do Good Service.— A Dreadful Retreat.— Boats Enough.— Kentuckians at Shiloh.— Hold, Bill! That's Father!— Schpike Dem Guns!— Mitchell in Huntsville.— Halleck Relieves Grant of Command.— Corinth.— Quaker Guns.— Fort Pillow.— Battle of Gunboats.— Memphis Taken. THE Confederates under General Albert Sydney Johnston had fallen back to Murfreesboro, so as to be between the Union forces advancing into Tennessee and the important railway centre at Chattanooga. General Beauregard mean- while had taken his position at Corinth, in the northeast corner of Mississippi and about sixteen miles from Pittsburg Landing on the Tennessee River in Tennessee. Corinth was, like Bowling Green, an important railway centre, it being a station of the Memphis and Charleston Railroad, the principal route connecting the eastern and the western parts of the Con- federacy, and also of the Mobile and Ohio Railroad, running directly to the Gulf of Mexico. Beauregard, seeing the neces- sity of defending this position, had gathered there General Polk's forces and the troops of General Braxton Bragg from Pensacola. He also fortified the high bluffs about forty miles above Memphis by building several earthworks, called Forts Pil- low, Harris, Randolph, and Wright. After the fall of Fort Donelson General Halleck ordered General Grant to push on up the Tennessee River; but Grant, at the request of General Buell, went to Nashville to consult with him. Halleck was angry, and telegraphed to Grant to give up the command to General C. F. Smith, and to remain himself at Fort Henry. But General Smith was then so ill that Grant could not be spared, and General Smith's death soon put him in command again. Smith had ordered the army to go to Pittsburg Landing, because it was a good point from which to strike the Memphis and Charleston Railroad, and about thirty 208 SHIL OH. —MEMPHIS. [1862. thousand men were soon landed there from transports. Gen- eral Buell, who had forty thousand men, was ordered to march from Nashville to aid this movement. General Sydney Johnston, seeing that General Buell's ad- vance freed Chattanooga from danger, hastened with his army to join Beauregard at Corinth, where he took the chief com- mand, Beauregard being second to him. The whole force there amounted then to about forty-five thousand men, while about thirty thousand more were on the way from Arkansas. The latter were the troops of Van Dorn and Price, who after the retreat of General Curtis into Missouri had marched to rein- force Beauregard, with the hope of aiding him to win back by one crushing blow all that the Confederates had lost in the West. Johnston, who knew through his spies all about Grant's and Buell's move- ments, saw at once that his best plan was to try to crush Grant before Buell could join him. The ad- vance was begun on the morning of April 3. The distance to Pittsburg Land- ing is only about sixteen miles, but the roads were in a very bad condition, and the army did not arrive until the night of the 4th. Orders were given to attack at dawn of the 5th, but soon after midnight a furious rain-storm set in and so flooded the country as to make an at- tack impossible. The whole country around Pittsburg Landing was covered with woods, partly underbrush and partly large trees. The place where Grant's army lay was a kind of plateau on the bank of the river, crossed by several little streams and ravines, and bounded on the sides by two creeks, called Lick Creek and Snake Creek. About the middle of the plateau, two miles from the landing, was Shiloh Church, built out of rough logs. Nothing had been done by the Union troops to fortify their W. J. Hardee. 1862.] BATTLE OF SHILOH. 209 position, for no one thought there was any danger of an attack from the Confederates; indeed, it was supposed that they had not troops enough at Corinth. Johnston's army lay, on the night of April 5, on the wet ground in the woods, within a mile of the careless Union pickets, whose camp-fires could be seen through the trees and whose noise could be plainly heard. The few fires around which the drenched Confederates hovered were carefully hidden in holes in the ground. In a little ravine, sheltered by trees, Johnston and his generals gathered around a small fire to talk over the plan of battle for the morrow. Chief among these was Beauregard, already famous as the victor of Sumter and Man- assas. There also were Hardee, of Georgia, who had won rank in the old army for gallantry in the Mexican war, and who had long been the commandant of cadets at West Point; Braxton Bragg, of North Carolina, who won fame at Buena Vista, where he was the hero of General Taylor's "a little more grape, Cap- tain Bragg;" Polk, of Louisiana, the bishop who had laid down the crozier for the sword; and Breckinridge, of Kentucky, late Vice-President of the United States. These leaders talked long and earnestly over the situation, telling of their hopes and their fears, but at last it was decided that the attack must be made in the morning. As they parted about ten o'clock, each to try to get a little rest before the struggle, Beauregard pointed to- ward the river and said with a smile, " Gentlemen, to-morrow night we shall sleep in the enemy's camp." Sunday morning, April 6, opened clear and warm. The woods, whose buds had just burst into green, were enlivened by the songs of birds or the gentle sough of the wind; but few other sounds reached the ear, for the Union troops were sleep- ing in fancied safety, and the Confederates made their prepara- tions with the utmost quietness. The attack was made just at the gray of dawn. The Union army, taken by surprise, was first made conscious of the danger when the frightened pickets, driven from their posts in the woods by the Confederate ad- vance, came running into camp with wild cries that the rebels were upon them. Closely following charged the lines of the enemy, rushing through the woods, and firing volleys of mus- ketry as they came, while shells and cannon-shot began to crash into the camps. The Confederates were among the tents al- 210 SniLOII.— MEMPHIS. [1862. most as soon as the flying pickets. Most of the men were en- gaged in washing and cooking, their accoutrements lying round in confusion and many of their guns unloaded. Some sprang for their weapons, some were shot down as they were running, coatless and hatless, toward the river. It is said that several whole regiments ran without firing a gun.* Some of the shattered regiments of General W. T. Sherman's brigade, whose men had fallen back toward the river, gained at last a wooded ridge, where they succeeded in checking the vii«!/ 4- Pickets on Duty in the Woods. enemy's advance long enough to form in line. Sherman was in the thickest of the fight, encouraging his men and freely exposing his life, though he escaped with only a bullet through his hand. Through his energy and gallantry the whole army was saved from a disgraceful rout. General Grant was at Savannah, a few miles up the river, on the other side, when the fight began, having a talk with General Buell, who had arrived there with his army on Saturday. Hearing the firing in the morning, Grant hastened down in a steamboat and reached the * This is the story told by most writers of the time; but General Sher- man says in his Memoirs that there was no surprise, and that his men were in line of battle when attacked. 1862.] DEATH OF GENERAL JOHNSTON. 211 battle-field about eight o'clock. The battle was then raging at all points and seemed to be lost. Sherman still held the centre around Shiloh Church, but soon he too had to give way before the fierce attacks of the Confederates. The other divisions, under McClernand, Hurlbut, Prentiss, and W. H. L. Wallace, were also driven back, and by noon the enemy had won the whole camp, and the Union troops were crowded into a small space along the banks of the Tennessee, close by Pittsburg Landing. Under the bluffs huddled four or five thousand fugitives from the battle-field, trying to shelter themselves from the storm of death above. About two o'clock in the afternoon General Sydney Johns- ton, who had been as reck- less as Sherman in exposing himself, was struck by a Minie ball in the leg. Sup- posing it to be only a flesh wound, he paid no attention to it and rode on. But the artery had been cut, and becoming faint with loss of blood, he said to one of his aids. "I fear I am mortally wounded." The next mo- ment he reeled and fainted. He was carried a short dis- tance away into a ravine, where he died in a few minutes. His troops, kept in ignorance of the sad event, still pressed onward, and Beauregard took the chief command. Though driven to the very brink of the river, Grant had not yet gi ven up all hope. " We can hold them off till to-morrow," he said. " Then they will be exhausted, and we'll go at them with fresh troops." There was a deep ravine between the two armies, which the Confederates had yet to cross. Grant hastily threw up some small earthworks along its brow, and mounted there some heavy siege-guns, which fortunately had been landed for use against Corinth, and when the enemy made a final at- tack they were received with a hot fire from these and from the cannon of the gunboats Tyler and Lexington, which were Albert Sydney Johnston. 212 SHILOE.— MEMPHIS. [1862 then able to give their aid. The Confederates made brave efforts to charge up the slippery banks, but the Union troops fought as gallantly as they did, and the enemy gave up the assault at nightfall. Thus the first day's battle ended in a. de- cided advantage for the Confederates, and Beauregard, expect- ing to win easily on the morrow, telegraphed to Eichmond that he had "gained a complete victory." He was not far wrong, for he had taken most of the Union artillery, thirty flags, and nearly three thousand prisoners, including General Prentiss. He kept his promise, too, of sleeping in the Union camp, for that night he occupied General Sherman's headquarters in Shi- loh Church. But a great change took place during the night. The gun- boats continued to throw shells, and the Confederates were so MCLE-LlTTERS FOR CARRYING WOTJSDED. annoyed by them that they had to fall back from place to place, and thus lost more than half the ground they had gained. Gen- eral Lewis "Wallace, who had not been able to take part in the fight, joined Grant with his division of five thousand men, and more than twenty thousand of Buell's army had succeeded in crossing the river; so that when morning broke the Union lines were again ready for the enemy, with fifty thousand men in position, while Beauregard had less than thirty thousand. The day opened cloudy and with a drizzling ram. General Wallace began the attack, followed by Sherman, and the Confederates were soon forced back little by little from the positions they had held during the night. Beauregard rode backward and forward among his men, cheering them on by his words and example. They responded bravely, but they were too fiercely pressed by 1862.] RETREAT FROM 8IIIL0H. 213 the fresh Union troops, who rushed forward with cheers as the enemy gradually gave way. At last Beauregard ordered a re- treat. He expected to be pursued by Grant, for he said to Breckinridge, who commanded the rear, "This retreat must not be a rout. You must hold the enemy back, if it requires the loss of your last man." The army fell back toward Corinth in a cold drizzling rain which soon turned to hail. The wounded, some carried in wagons, some on mules or horses, and some on hand-litters, suffered terribly. Many died, more than three hundred being dropped by the wayside. Beauregard re- ported his loss in killed, wounded, and missing at 10,699; Grant reported his own at 13,573. The day after the battle Beauregard wrote to Grant asking permission to send men to bury his dead, but the dead had already been buried, and the dead horses on the field had been burned, for fear that if left they might cause sickness among the troops. General Buell thought that Grant had done wrong in placing his army on the same side of the river with the enemy when they were so near, and asked, " What would you have done had you been pressed once more on Sunday evening?" "Put my troops across the river," said Grant. "But you had not boats enough," answered Buell. "Plenty," replied Grant, "to take over all that wouhi have been left when we had done fighting." The probability is that Beauregard would have made another attack Sunday night if he had not believed that the river bank was fortified. When General Prentiss was taken prisoner, Beauregard asked him if the Nationals had any fortifications at the river. " You must think us poor soldiers, General," replied Pren- tiss, "if you suppose we would have neglected so plain a duty." Notwithstanding this answer, the Union troops had not Hand-Litter for Carrying Wounded. 214 SHILOH.— MEMPHIS. [1863. even an earthwork to protect their position until some slight ones were thrown up Sunday night, and if Beauregard had pressed on all might have been captured before Buell could have come to their aid. In the battle of Shiloh, or Pittsburg Landing, as it is sometimes called, Kentucky regiments fought in both armies. During the hottest of the strife it happened that two of these regiments met and fought each other with the fury and hatred which usually marks civil warfare. One of the Union soldiers happened to wound and take prisoner his own brother, and after handing him to the rear began firing at a man near a tree. "Hold, Bill," shouted his captured brother, " don't shoot there any more! That's father!" In another case a Union volunteer from Louisville was serv- ing in the hospital near the battle-field when his brother, who had been fighting on the other side, was brought in mortally wounded. The poor Confederate was tenderly cared for and died in his brother's arms. During the heaviest of the fighting, batteries of artillery were taken and retaken by both sides. Once the Union troops captured a Confederate battery, but the enemy came on in force again and after the fight had raged around the guns for a half- hour the captors were driven back, leaving the cannons in pos- session of the enemy; but before abandoning them the Union soldiers filled the touch-holes of the guns with mud, and from that time to the close of the fight the enemy did not succeed in firing another shot from them. Another story is told of a German officer who rode up to General Grant and said, "Sheneral, I am sorry to say dot our battery vas took." " Of course you spiked the guns, sir," said Grant. " Schpike dem guns! Dem new guns! Oh no; we would not schpoil dem guns." "Well, sir, what did you do?" asked Grant, sharply. "Vy, we took dem back again!" While General Buell was moving to reinforce Grant, General 0. M. Mitchell, in command of a division of Buell's army, had been sent southward from Nashville to destroy the railroad east of Corinth. He marched very rapidly, passed through Mur- freesboro and Shelbyville, and entered Huntsville, Alabama, at 1862.] TAKING OF CORINTH. 215 daylight of April 11, taking the people by surprise. The clat- tering noise of the cavalry roused everybody from sleep. The cry arose, " The Yankees have come!" Men leaped from their beds and rushed into the streets in their night-clothes, women fainted, children screamed, the negroes chuckled and laughed, and for a time all was hubbub and confusion. General Mitchell at once took possession of the telegraph office and railway station, where he captured seventeen locomotives and more than a hundred passenger cars, and sent parties out both east and west to destroy bridges. Stephenson, Decatur, and Tuscumbia were taken, thus cutting off Beauregard from the east. For these important services, in which not a man was lost, Mitchell was made a major-general of volunteers. It must be remembered that all the movements of these ai'mies were directed by Major-General Halleck, the commander- in-chief of the department, who had his headquarters in St. Louis. As soon as he heard of the battle at Pittsburg Landing he went there and took command in person of both Grant's and BuelPs armies. General Pope soon joined him with twenty-five thousand men and a few regiments came from Curtis's army, so that Halleck had under him in the beginning of May more than one hundred thousand men. He soon showed that he was prejudiced against General Grant, for he issued an order re- arranging the army, giving General Buell command of the cen- tre, General Pope of the left, and General Thomas of the right, while a fourth division, called the reserve, was given to General McClernand. General Grant was given the honorary position of "second in command" of the whole army, which gave him no authority at all. Though this was really an insult to the successful commander of the army, Grant kept his usual silence and attended to what was required of him without complaint. The Grand Army of the Tennessee, as it was called, began to move toward Corinth on the 3d of May, but so cautious was its advance that it did not get into position before the Confed- erate works until the 28th. Beauregard had been reinforced by Generals Price and Van Dorn and by troops from the South, and had then under him about sixty-five thousand men; but seeing that he had no hope of opposing successfully so great a force, he blew up his magazines, destroyed everything of value, and retreated southward. Halleck entered Corinth the next 216 SH1L OH. —MEMPHIS. [1861 day, May 30, and was surprised to find that the defences were mostly shams, mounted with Quaker guns like those found at Munson's Hill. If he had not been so tardy in his advance from Pittsburg Landing he might have struck Beauregard a heavy blow. Indeed, military writers think that if Halleck had stayed a week longer in St. Louis, Grant would have crushed Beauregard's army and captured all his supplies. After the fall of Island Number Ten Commodore Foote and his gunboats and General Pope with his army on transports moved down the Mississippi to attack Fort Pillow, a very strong work built for the defence of the city of Memphis. Its walls were mounted with forty heavy guns, and it was defended by six thousand men and by a fleet of ar- mored gunboats, some of which were rams — that is, they were fitted in front with strong beaks, plated with iron, to be used in ramming in the sides of an enemy's vessel. General Pope was soon called away by General Halleck, who was getting ready to march on Corinth, and Commodore Foote was left to carry on the siege alone. He kept up a bombardment until May 9, when the painfullness of his foot, wounded at Donelson, obliged him to give up duty and he was succeeded in the command by Commodore C. II. Davis. On the next day after Foote left the Confederate gunboats and rams attacked the Union fleet. The Cincinnati had her side stove in by the ram McRea, and the Mound City was badly injured by the ram Sumter. The Union gunboat Benton at last sent a shell through the boiler of the McRea, many of the ere av of which were scalded by the escaping steam. The ram floated down with the current and succeeded in getting away, the Cincinnati and the Mound City being too much injured to chase her, and the Cincinnati soon after sunk. The remainder of the Confederate boats then left and the battle ended. Stern-wheel Ram. 1862.] CAPTURE OF MEMPHIS. 217 During the next three weeks a slow bombardment of the fort was kept up by the Union mortar-boats, and some rams, under command of Colonel Charles Ellet, Jr., were added to the fleet; but when Commodore Davis was ready for another fight no Confederate gunboats were to be seen. Fort Pillow, too, was evacuated on the night of June 4, and the next morning the stars and stripes were hoisted over its walls. The Union fleet then steamed down to Memphis, where the Confederate fleet, consisting of eight rams and gunboats, was found ready for action. The battle began at half-past five o'clock in the morn- ing (June 6) and lasted only an hour and a half, ending in the destruction or capture of seven of the eight Confederate vessels, only one, the Van Dorn, escaping. Of the others, the General Lovell, the General Beauregard, and the General Price were sunk, the Jeff Thompson was blown up, the Little Rebel was disabled and run ashore, and the General Bragg and the Sumter were taken afloat. The flag of the Union was hoisted on the Bragg and the Sumter, and they afterward came to anchor with the rest of the fleet in front of Memphis. The city was taken possession of, and shortly afterward General Lewis Wallace was sent with his division to take command of it. Windlass. CHAPTEE XVIII. NEW ORLEANS. Expedition against New Orleans.— Ship Island.— Farragut and his Fleet.— Defences of the City.— Mortar Vessels Disguised.— Fire-Rafts.— A Furious Bombardment.— Far- ragut Passes the Forts.— The Varuna Sunk.— A Brave Boy.— An Awful Sight.— The Hartford in Flames.— Sinking of the Gunboats.— The Manassas Explodes.— New Orleans Amazed.— Ships and Cotton Burned.— General Loyell.— Mumford and the Flag.— The Forts Surrender to Porter.— A Fat Man Grows Lean.— Butler in New Orleans.— Hanging of Mumford.— Butler's Accusers.— Farragut Passes the Vicks- burg Batteries.— Battle at Baton Rouge.— The Arkansas Destroyed.— Capture op Galveston. DUKING the month of April, 18G2, which witnessed the hattle of Shiloh and the fall of Island Number Ten, Fort Pulaski, and Fort Macon, the Confederates met with a far heavier blow in the loss of New Orleans. As early as Septem- ber, 1861, General Benjamin F. Butler had been sent to New England to raise men for an expedition the object of which was to be kept secret. He was successful, and in December several thousand men, under command of General J. W. Phelps, were landed on Ship Island, a small sandy island in the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Mississippi. Before the war the United States Government had an unfinished fort on this island, which the Confederates had made quite strong and named Fort Twiggs; but they abandoned it in the autumn of 1801, and it was soon after taken possession of by some Union troops and renamed Fort Massachusetts. General Phelps and his troops occupied the fort and remained on the island all winter. On the 2d of February, 1802, a large fleet, under command of Commodore David G. Farragut, sailed from Hampton Eoads for the Gulf of Mexico. A fortnight afterward this fleet was fol- lowed by a large number of transports, carrying fifteen thou- sand troops under General Butler, who had been appointed commander of the Department of the Gulf. The place of meeting was Ship Island, where the troops were landed, after a stormy passage down the coast, toward the end of March. Com- modore Farragut, who had been put in command of the West- ern Gulf Squadron, was joined by Commodore David D. Porter, with a fleet of twenty-one mortar-schooners, each of which car- 1862.] FARRAGUT AND HIS FLEET. 219 ried a 15-inch mortar — that is, a mortar large enough to fire a 15-inch bomb-shell — and two 32-ponnder rifled cannons. The approaches to New Orleans had been very strongly for- tified by the Confederates. The city, which is on the eastern bank of the Mississippi, is about a hundred miles above the mouths of the river. Seventy miles below, or about thirty miles above the passes, at a bend in the river, are Forts Jackson and St. Philip, each mounted with heavy guns. Prom Port Jack- son a raft made of the hulls of vessels and of cypress logs, fas- tened together by six chains, was stretched across to the oppo- site shore and defended by a battery at each end. Under the guns of the fort lay a fleet of thirteen gunboats, an iron-clad floating battery called the Louisiana, and the ram Manassas. Fire-rafts, to be sent down to burn the vessels of an enemy's fleet, had also been made ready. Above the forts were many batteries along the river's banks, and in and around the city was a force of ten thousand men, under command of General Mansfield Lovell, a former United States officer, dis- tinguished in the Mexican War. Commodore Farragut's fleet, besides the mortar- schooners, consisted of seven large steam sloops-of-war, sixteen gunboats, and several other vessels. The flag-ship was the Hartford, a large and powerful steamer. By the 17th of April the whole fleet was in the river. Commodore Porter disguised his mortar-vessels by daubing their hulls with mud and covering their masts and rigging with green boughs, so that they could not be told from the forest-trees, and moored them along the river banks, the nearest ones being a little more than a mile and a half from Fort Jackson. The bombardment opened on the morning of April 18, and was kept up for six days and nights, during which six thousand shells, each weighing nearly three hundred pounds, were thrown. The David G. Farragut. 220 NEW ORLEANS. [1862. forts answered vigorously day after day, and during the night great fire-rafts came blazing down the river, the Confederates hoping that some of the vessels of the fleet, which lay below the mortar-boats, might be destroyed by them; but they were easily caught by small boats sent out from the ships, and towed to v the banks, where they burned harmlessly. At last Farragut, thinking that there was but little chance of taking the forts in. this way, made up his mind to run by them. The river was very high, and the water was rising all the time. Part of the raft had been carried away by the flood, but enough still re- mained to keep vessels from passing up when under fire from the forts. On a dark and windy night several of the gunboats ran up to the raft, and succeeded in cutting the chains, so that one end swung round, leaving a clear opening through it. Commodore Farragut divided his fleet into three parts, one of which, led by Captain Theodoras Bailey, in the Cayuga, was to fight Fort St. Philip; the second, led by himself, in the Hartford, was to fight Fort Jackson; and the third, under Cap- David D. Porter. . . _ „ I tain Bell, was to pass on and attack the Confederate fleet. Every plan that could be thought of for saving the vessels from the enemy's shot was tried. Bags of sand were packed around the boilers, and chain- cables were hung along the sides of each vessel to protect the engines, while the insides of the bulwarks were packed with hammocks and other things to keep splinters from flvingincase they should be struck by shot. Commodore Farragut had in- tended to wait for a dark night before making the attempt, but the Confederates seemed to know what he was going to do, for they kept the river lighted by blazing rafts and by bonfires on shore. The signal for the fleet to move was given at two o'clock in the morning of April 23, and the Cayuga weighed anchor 1862.] PASSING THE FORTS. 221 and led on the column. At the same time the mortar -boats rained shells into Fort Jackson, to keep the men from the guns, and several steamers also kept up a heavy fire on the bat- tery near the end of the raft. The vessels were discovered at the raft, and the forts soon opened fire on them; but the Cayuga passed Fort Jackson, and did not answer until opposite Fort St. Philip, when she opened fire with grape and canister, to drive the Confederate cannoneers from their guns. She was soon past the fort and amongst a fleet of gunboats, which at- tacked her on all sides. Among these was the ram Manassas and the iron-clad battery Louisiana, which was armed with twenty heavy guns. She kept them off by skilful steering, and crippled or destroyed three of them. The Cayuga was followed by the Varuna, the Oneida, the Pensacola, the Missis- sippi, and the Portsmouth, the last, a sailing vessel, being in tow. The Oneida passed safely, nearly cutting in two one of the enemy's gunboats, but the Varuna, after disabling and running ashore several of her oppo- nents, w r as struck by an iron-clad ram, and had her side stove in. Finding the ship sinking, her com- mander, Charles Boggs, ran her into the bank, where she went to the bottom in fifteen minutes, leaving part of her bow above water. The guns were kept at work to the last moment, no man leaving his post until driven away by the water. Among the bravest and coolest of the crew was Oscar Peck, a lad thir- teen years old, who was acting as powder-boy to one of the rifled guns. During the hottest of the fire he was busily engaged in - passing ammunition, narrowly escaping death when one of the Confederate gunboats poured a broadside into the Varuna. Com- mander Boggs seeing him, all begrimed with powder, running along the deck, asked him where he was going in such a hurry. " To get a passing-box, sir; the other one was smashed by a ball!" Mortar Vessels Disguised. 222 NEW ORLEANS. [1862. When the Varuna went down the boy was missed, and it was feared that he was among the victims of the battle. But pres- ently he was seen swimming toward the wreck. He had stood by his gun until swept away by the swash of the water as the vessel sank. Clambering up to where Commander Boggs stood, he raised his hand to his forehead with the usual salute, and said, "All right, sir. I report myself on board!" Commodore Farragut had followed with the Hartford and the other ships closely after Captain Bailey, and running within half a mile of Fort Jackson poured in a heavy fire. Farragut described the scene as one of the most awful sights he ever wit- nessed. " The smoke was so dense that it was only now and then you could see any- thing but the flash of the cannon and the fire ships or rafts, one of which was pushed down upon us (the Hartford) by the ram Manassas, and in my ef- fort to avoid it ran the ship on shore, and then the fire-raft was pushed alongside, and in a mo- ment the ship was one blaze all along the port side, half-way up to the main and mizzen tops. But, thanks to the good organization of the fire department by Lieutenant Thornton, the flames were extinguished, and at the same time we backed off and got clear of the raft. But all this time we were pour- ing the shells into the forts, and they into us, and every now and then a rebel steamer would get under our fire and receive our salutation of a broadside. "At length the fire slackened, the smoke cleared off, and we saw to our surprise that we were above the Forts, and here and there a rebel gunboat on fire. As we came up with them, try- ing to make their escape, they were fired into and riddled, so that they ran them on shore; and all who could, made their escape to the shore." f Theodorus Bailey. 1862.] THE RAM MANASSAS. 223 The Eichmond followed the flag-ship, hut the Brooklyn got entangled with part of the raft, which delayed her awhile. As soon as she got clear and had begun to move up stream, she was attacked by the Manassas, which ran at her, firing her for- ward gun into her when only a few feet away, and then butted her heavily with her ram. Fortunately the shot was stopped by the sand-bags around the Brooklyn's boiler, and the ram glanced harmlessly off from the chain cables hung along the ship's sides. The Brooklyn next set on fire a Confederate steamer with shells, and pouring a broadside into Fort St. Philip as it passed, nearly silenced its guns. Of the other vessels, the The Hartford. Itasca was disabled by the fire from the forts, and the Kennebec and Winona were driven back. After the Manassas left the Brooklyn, she had an exciting fight with the Mississippi, which ended in her being driven ashore, where her crew set her on fire and escaped. She was boarded and found to be riddled with shot, and was left to drift down the river. Commodore Porter, who was below with the mortar-boats, tried to save her, but just as she had been hauled in to the bank she exploded faintly, and with a puff of flame and smoke gave a plunge, like some huge sea monster, and went down hissing beneath the muddy waters of the Mississippi. The Manassas was the last of eleven rams and gunboats destroyed by the fleet in passing. 224 NEW ORLEANS. [1862. The people of New Orleans, trusting in what the Confeder- ate commanders had told them — that the city could not be taken — had felt no alarm at the bombardment of the forts; and thousands had gone down the river to view from the levee the beautiful sight of the bombs flying through the air in graceful curves and then exploding in the soft swamp mud into which most of them fell. Everybody believed that the forts were im- passable, and thought that Farragut would soon retire from the hopeless attack. The city was given up to gayety, the opera and the theatres were crowded nightly, and balls and parties were given as usual, in contempt of the invaders below. But on the morning of the 24th of April there came a change. Word had been received that the fleet had passed the forts and was actually on the way up to the city. The news spread like wild- The Manassas on Fire. fire. The people, wonder-stricken and stunned, crowded the streets, running about, scarcely knowing what they did. Some refused to believe the report, but soon flames were seen to rise from the ship-yards in Algiers, on the opposite side of the river, where the great iron-clad Mississippi and other vessels were building, and then all hope was given up: the Confederate offi- cers were burning the government property to save it from falling into the hands of the enemy. In the afternoon General Lovell, who had been down the river near the forts, returned and began to make preparations for leaving. The ships at the wharves and many steamboats were set on fire and set adrift in the river, in hope that some of Farragut's fleet might be destroyed by them. Thousands of bales of cotton and hogsheads of sugar were carried to the levee and burned, the Confederate officers seizing upon vehicles of 1862.] NEW ORLEANS EXCITED. 225 every kind to cart them from the storehouses. Fires blazed for miles along the levee, and dense columns of smoke hid the sun- light. The day was warm, and the air, made hotter by the fires, was almost unbearable. Drums were beating and troojis moving in the streets, the church-bells were tolling, and above all was heard the dull boom of Farragut's cannon engaging the batteries at Chalmette, about three miles below the city, the scene of General Jackson's great victory in 1814. The Approaches to New Orleans. Commodore Farragut had passed the forts safely with thir- teen vessels, though several of them had been struck by shot many times. The Union loss was thirty-seven killed, and one hundred and forty-seven wounded; the Confederate loss in the gunboats is unknown, but about fifty men were killed in the forts. The fleet steamed rapidly up the river through the blazing fire-rafts and cotton ships, and after silencing the bat- 226 NEW ORLEANS. [1862. f teries at Chalmette, came to anchor opposite New Orleans on the afternoon of April 25. Captain Bailey was sent ashore to demand its surrender. General Lovell* had left with his troops, and the city was in the hands of the civil authorities. The Mayor tried to avoid a surrender because the forts not having yet fallen, he hoped that the city might be saved. Farragut sent ashore a body of marines, who hoisted, amid the hootings of the crowd, the Union flag over the United States Mint. No guard was left, and as soon as the marines were gone a man named William B. Mumford, aided by some young men belong- ing to a military company, tore down the flag and dragged it through the mud of the streets amid the cheers of many of the lookers-on. Marines were again landed and flags were hoisted over both the Mint and the Custom House left untouched. These flags were The Louisiana. After Farragut passed the forts, Porter sent some of the mortar fleet up the bayous in the rear of Fort Jackson, while Butler landed some troops for the purpose of attacking them from the land side. On the 26th Porter demanded their sur- render, telling their commander of the fall of New Orleans; but the latter bravely refused, saying that he had had no official news of the capture of the city. The garrison, cut off from all supplies or aid and unable to get any news from the city, mutinied and spiked the guns in Fort Jackson in the night; and * General Lovell, though born in Washington, had lived long in New- York, where he had been commissioner of public works. Much fun was made of him in the Northern newspapers of the time on account of his hasty departure from the city; but there was really nothing else for him to do. A ballad about him is given in the Appendix, page 565, 1862.] BUTLER IN NEW ORLEANS. 227 on the 28th the forts were given up to Commodore Porter. The iron-clad Louisiana, which the fleet in its passage had unharmed, was fired by her officers and set adrift, probably in hope that she would blow up among the mortar fleet, but she exploded with a great noise when opposite Fort St. Philip, some of her fragments killing a soldier in the fort, and sank to the bottom. The other Confederate steamers then surrendered. When Fort Jackson was taken possession of, the flag which had floated over it could not be found. The flag-officer, who looked like a very fleshy man, pretended that he knew nothing of it. But some of the Union officers thought that his appearance was suspicious, and on searching him the flag was found wrapped round his body. When relieved of it he grew thin quite suddenly. General Butler landed with some of his troops and took possession of New Orleans on the 1st of May. Strict orders had been given that the soldiers should not resent any insults as they marched through the crowded streets, and they there- fore passed in silence to the Custom House, though assailed on every side by the most offensive cries by the roughs of the city. But no fight took place, the public property was taken posses- sion of and guarded by cannon, and New Orleans passed once more into the power of the government after a little more than a year of Confederate rule. General Butler's course while in command in New Orleans was the cause of a great deal of bitter feeling among the Con- federates, who commonly spoke of him as " Beast Butler." Their anger was chiefly provoked on account of an order called the "woman order," which gave the soldiers liberty to treat as bad women any females who should insult them in the streets. This was denounced almost everywhere as brutal, and the Southern people called it an insult to their wives and daugh- ters; but General Butler claimed that the order had no refer- ence to ladies, and that it was necessary because common women continually insulted officers and soldiers in the streets, sometimes going so far as to spit in their faces. Whatever may be said for or against it, it seems to have had the desired effect, and to have prevented the recurrence of the acts complained of. Another act of Butler's, called by his enemies a crime, was the hanging of Mumford, the man who had pulled down the Union flag from the United States Mint. The people of New Orleans 228 NttW ORLEANS. [1862. said that Mumford had done this before the city had surren- dered, and that it was only an act of war. But the court-martial which tried him declared that it was an act of treason, and Gen- eral Butler determined to hang him for the sake of the example, for the mob was becoming so daring that it began to be uncer- tain whether it or the authorities sbould rule. But the Confederates accused Butler of many other mis- doings while in command of New Orleans. They said that he permitted his officers and friends to seize the houses of respect- able citizens and to use their contents at will. A Southern historian of the war says: "They plundered the wardrobes of ladies and gentlemen; they sent away from the city the cloth- ing of whole families; they 'confiscated' pianos, libraries, and whatever articles of luxury and ornament pleased their fancy, and sent them as presents and souvenirs to their friends at home A trade was opened in provisions for cot- ton, and Butler's own brother was made banker and broker of the corrupt operations, buying confiscated property, trading provisions and even military stores for cotton, and amassing, out of the distress of an almost starving people, fortunes of princely amount and villanous history." Butler was accused specially of stealing silvenvare, and many pictures of him were printed in the illustrated newspapers of the time marching with a spoon over his shoulder or carrying bundles of spoons in his arms. General Butler's friends deny these charges as base and silly slanders of his enemies, and assert that he did more for the prosperity of New Orleans than had ever been done by any one before him; that he gave the city good government, and made life and property safe; that he thoroughly cleansed its streets and saved it from yellow fever, from which it had suffered almost yearly; that he used the money collected by fines from the rich in the public service, or applied it to the wants of the city; and that he gave food and work to the poor, and saved them from oppression. Whether the stories told about him were true or false, it is evident that his conduct was not alto- gether satisfactory to the government, for in the following November General Banks w T as ordered to take command in New Orleans, Butler getting the first news of his recall from Confederate newspapers. - Commodore Farragut, after Butler's arrival in New Orleans, 1862.] FARRAGUT AT VICKSBURG. 229 went up the Mississippi, and kept a strict watch to prevent sup- plies from being sent across to the Confederate armies east of the river, which had drawn a large part of their food from Texas. He took Baton Rouge, the capital of Louisiana, and went up to Vicksburg, where he arrived on the 18th of May. Farragut made a demand for the surrender of the city, but the brave Mayor replied, " Mississippians do not know how to surrender." There were only five heavy guns mounted on the works at the time, and if Farragut had had a few soldiers he might easily have taken the place. A bombardment was begun a few days afterward, and it was kept up with intervals until near the end of July, but little damage was done by it. During the night of the 28th of June he ran safely by the batteries with the Hartford and six other vessels, and met the fleet of Commodore Davis, who had come down from Memphis — the flag of the Union thus being carried through the whole of the Mississippi, from the free States to the Gulf of Mexico. But Vicksburg still remained untaken, and as it was useless to attack its formidable batteries without the aid of a strong land force, Farragut was ordered to go down the river again. Before leaving, he sent the Carondelet, Tyler, and Queen of the West up the Yazoo River to look after a very strong iron-clad vessel, named the Arkansas, which he heard was building there. After a severe battle, in which the Carondelet was badly injured, the gun- boats were driven off, and the Arkansas steamed down to Vicks- burg, and took shelter under its guns. Farragut, who in the meantime had been made a rear-admi- ral, then ran by the Vicksburg batteries again with his fleet, and after another unsuccessful attempt to destroy the Arkansas, went down the river. He bombarded and nearly destroyed Donaldsonville, Louisiana, because his vessels were fired on by guerrillas, and then went to Baton Rouge, where he landed General Williams and some troops to hold the place. Fortu- nately, part of the fleet was left there, for a force of about five thousand Confederates, under General John C. Breckinridge, attacked the city, August 5, and might have taken it but for the aid given by their guns. General Williams was killed in this battle. The Confederates had expected the Arkansas to help them, but for some reason she did not appear, and the next day Captain Porter went with the Essex, Cayuga, and 230 NEW ORLEANS. [1862. Sumter to look for her. She was met about five miles up the river, and after a short fight was driven ashore, where she was set on fire by her crew and abandoned. In a little while the flames reached her magazine, and the great sea-going monster, with which the Confederates had hoped to retake New Orleans, was blown into a thousand pieces. Admiral Farragut, on leaving the Mississippi, went to Pen- sacola, which, after being evacuated by the Confederates, had been made the station of the Western Gulf Squadron instead of Ship Island. In September he sent part of his fleet to the coast of Texas, and took possession of Corpus Christi and Sabine Pass; and in October Galveston was captured, but it was re- taken by the Confederates in the following January. Capstan. CHAPTEE XIX. MERRIMACK AND MONITOR. Iron- Clads.— The Merrimack.— She Steams to Hampton Roads.— An Iron Storm.— Sinking of the Cumberland.— The Congress Surrenders.— The Minnesota in Danger.— The Merrimack Leaves her Prey.— A Dismal Night.— Arrival of the Monitor.— A Cheese- Box on a Plank.— Explosion of the Congress.— A Sunday Visit.— The Monitor in Waiting.— The Cheese-Box is Made of Iron !— Lieutenant Worden Wounded.— The Merrimack Retreats.— The Minnesota Saved.— Honors to Ericsson.— Joe's Dead. THE first iron-clad vessels built during the war were those used on the Western rivers. Among these were the St. Louis, Carondelet, Cairo, Mound City, Louisville, Cincinnati, and Pittsburg, built by James B. Eads, a civil engineer of St. Louis, who has since become famous as the constructor of the great bridge across the Mississippi at St. Louis and of the work for deepening the channel at the mouth of the Mississippi. The Confederates had early turned their attention to the building of armored vessels, and had met the Union gunboats with the Manassas and several other iron-clad rams and gun- boats. They had also begun to build some larger and still more formidable war-ships, such as the Louisiana and the Mississippi at New Orleans and the Virginia at Norfolk, the last-named being better known as the Merrimack. It will be remembered that the Merrimack, one of the finest steam-frigates in the United States Navy, had been set on fire and scuttled when the Gosport Navy Yard was abandoned in April, 1861. The noble vessel sank to the bottom before the flames had injured her much, and the Confederates soon after raised her, cut down her upper deck and built upon her a very strong timber covering, with sloping sides, like the roof of a house. The outside of this was plated with iron thick enough to be proof against shot from the most powerful guns then in use. Her bow and stern were both under water, and her bow was made sharp and fitted with a cast-iron beak, to be used as a ram. This novel war vessel, which was finished early in March, 1862, and renamed the Virginia, though her new name did not stick to her, was armed with ten heavy guns, four on each side, one in the bow, and one in the stern, put under the 232 MERRIMACK AND MONITOR. [1862. command of Captain Franklin Buchanan, formerly of the United States Navy. The Confederates hoped that this formidable war-vessel would enable them to open Hampton Roads, which the ships of the Union had kept closely blockaded since the beginning of the war, and which had been the starting-place of the naval expeditions which had done so much damage to their coasts. Vague rumors of this new engine of war had found their way North, and created no little fear, for it was suggested that she might easily ascend the Potomac and destroy Washington, or steam into the harbor of New York and fire the city with her shells, or force the inhabitants to buy safety with a vast sum of money. These rumors probably had the effect of hastening the govern- ment in building iron- clads, several of which had already been planned. At last, without any warning, the dreaded sea monster made her appearance in Hampton Eoads. About noon of Saturday, March 8, 1862, a large black steamer, accompanied by two smaller vessels, was seen coming down the Eliza- beth River. It was at once thought to be the long-expected Merrimack, and her approach was signalled to the fleet. The Union vessels then in the Roads were the sailing vessels Cum- berland, 24 guns; Congress, 50 guns; and St. Lawrence, 50 guns; the steamers Roanoke and Minnesota, each of 40 guns; and several small steamers. The Cumberland and the Con- gress lay off Newport News; the others were off Fortress Mon- roe, about six miles distant. Captain Marston, of the Roanoke, who commanded the fleet, at once started with his steamer and the St. Lawrence for Newport News. The drums of the Cumberland and the Congress beat to quarters and the ships were prepared for action. Their crews Franklin Buchanan. 1862.] SINKING OF TEE CUMBERLAND. 233 watched curiously every movement of the Confederate battery, of which they had heard such terrible reports. On she came, steaming slowly toward them, her chimneys belching black smoke, and her flag fluttering defiantly in the breeze, while the two little steamers followed close behind. When she was about a mile distant the Cumberland opened fire upon her, but the "house afloat," as some of the sailors called her, came on with- out replying. As she passed the Congress, that vessel poured a broadside into her, but the balls bounded from her mailed sides as if they were made of India-rubber. The Merrimack, conscious of her strength, steamed grimly on through the iron storm which would have sunk any common vessel, and steered directly for the Cumberland, which lay with her side toward her so as to bring her broadside to bear. The Cumberland opened a heavy fire on the monster which she could not escape, and the Merrimack, amid the flash and roar of her guns and enveloped in a pall of smoke which nearly hid her from view, went with a crash through the side of the doomed ship. The Cumberland shivered from end to end, and when the Merrimack drew slowly back it was found that her iron beak had passed through her, making a ragged hole into which the water rushed fast. The Merrimack then fired broadside after broadside into her sinking foe; but the gallant men of the Cumberland, never dreaming of surrender, stood by their guns to the last. In three quarters of an hour after she was struck the noble ship went down in fifty-four feet of water, with her flag flying at the peak. The dead and the wounded sank with her; of the rest of the crew some swam to the shore and some were picked up by small boats; but of three hundred and seventy-six men, one hundred and twenty-one were lost. Meanwhile the two little vessels, the Beaufort and the Raleigh, had been firing into the Congress. Three other small gunboats, the Patrick Henry, the Jamestown, and the Teazer, joined them in the attack. The Congress replied bravely to their fire until the fate of the Cumberland showed her com- mander what he had to expect, and he ordered her to be run ashore, so that the enemy could not ram her. The Merrimack then fired shells into her with great effect, dismounting her guns, and killing many of her men. At last, her commander. Lieutenant Joseph B. Smith, and a large part of her crew hav- 234 MERRIMACK AND MONITOR. [1862. ing fallen, and the ship being on fire in several places, her colors were hauled down. Some of her men were taken, prisoners by one of the Confederate steamers, and some escaped to the shore; but many were killed and wounded, and only about half of her crew of four hundred and thirty-four answered the roll-call next morning. But where were the three frigates which had left Fortress Monroe to go to the aid of these unfortunate ships? They had grounded in the shallow water, and had watched the unequal struggle more than a mile away, powerless to help. After the destruction of the Cumberland and the Congress, the Merrimack and the gunboats bore down to attack the others. The Roan- oke by this time had got off, with the aid of tugs, but her machinery being damaged she returned to Fortress Monroe. The Merrimack drew so much water that she could not get within a mile of the stranded vessels, so she fired shells at them from a distance, the gunboats helping her with their fire. The Minnesota was struck several times, and had many men killed and wounded. At last the St. Lawrence was pulled off by tugs and taken back to Fortress Monroo, but the Minnesota remained fast in the mud. She kept up a fire on the enemy, but without any effect on the armor of the Merrimack, and it seemed as if she must soon suffer the fate of the Congress. But the day was fast waning, and at length about seven o'clock the Confederates left their prey and steamed slowly back toward Norfolk. Saturday night was a dismal one at Fortress Monroe, and few eyes closed in sleep. The return of the Merrimack on the morrow was a certainty, and there seemed to be little chance of saving the Minnesota. What the monster would do next was a question which no one could decide. General Wool, the com- mander of the Fortress, telegraphed to Washington that prob- ably both the Minnesota and the St. Lawrence would be cap- tured, and that it was thought the enemy's vessels would pass the Fortress that night. What would be the next object of attack no one could foresee. But the Merrimack did not appear again that night. About nine o'clock in the evening a queer-looking vessel came into Hampton Eoads, and anchored near the Fortress. It was a novel steam-battery — the now famous Monitor — which 1862.] TEE YANKEE CHEESEBOX. 235 had been building near New York under the eye of her invent- or, John Ericsson, a Swede by birth, but long a resident of the United States. Much had been heard of this vessel, and a great deal had been promised for her by her builder, but when she came into the Roads everybody was disappointed. What could this puny thing do against the great Merrimack, more than five times her tonnage! Her sides were but little above the water, and nothing was to be seen on her deck but a kind of round iron box in the middle, a pilot-house forward, and a small smoke- stack aft. At a mile's distance she might be taken for a raft — indeed, the Confederates well described her when they called her a "Yankee cheese-box on a plank." But when one went on board, her great strength was seen: her deck was plated with shell-proof iron, and her round box, called a turret, was made of iron plates eight to nine inches thick. Inside this turret, which was made to turn round, were two eleven- inch Dahlgren guns, placed side by side, so that both could be fired together at the same object. Ordinary ships have to be turned so as to bring their guns to bear on an enemy, but by revolving the turret of the Monitor her j0HN ER rcssoN. guns could be fired forward, backward, or sideways without changing the position of the ship. Her bow, too, 1 was made strong and sharp, so that she could ram in the side of an enemy's vessel. This odd-shaped craft had been named by her inventor the Monitor because, he said, he expected that she would be a monitor to the great nations of Europe, and teach them that the days of old-fashioned ships had passed away for- ever. The authorities at Washington, frightened at the prospect of a visit from the Merrimack, had telegraphed to have the Monitor sent there as soon as she should arrive at Fortress Monroe; but Captain Marston, thinking it important to do what he could to save the rest of the fleet, ordered Lieutenant 236 MERRIMACK AND MONITOR. [1862. John L. Worden, her commander, to go to the aid of the Min- nesota. The little vessel therefore went up during the night and took a position alongside the Minnesota, between her and the Fortress, where she could not be seen by the Confederates but could be ready to slip out in case the Merrimack and her gunboats came to finish their work. The whole bay and the shores were lighted up by the flames of the Congress, which had been burning many hours. Her guns went oft' one by one as the fire reached them, and at last, a little after midnight, her magazine, which contained five tons of gunpowder, went off with a grand explosion, which threw the blazing fragments of the ship over the waters a great distance around. Inside of the Monitor's Turret. The Monitor did not have to wait long, for early on Sunday morning the monster was seen coming down again, followed by two gunboats crowded with troops. The Confederates evidently hoped to board the Minnesota and capture both her and her crew, and this is probably the reason why they did not destroy her the night before. As the Merrimack approached, the Monitor slipped out from behind the Minnesota and steamed straight at her. She looked like a pigmy beside the great mailed battery, whose black sides roso up higher than the top of her turret. The crew of the Merrimack did not know what to make of the odd little craft, that had appeared as suddenly as if it had risen from the depths of the sea, but they soon 1862.] MONITOR AND MERRIMACK. 237 found out that it had teeth, for when the Monitor had come within a hundred yards of her foe, she opened fire with her great guns. The Merrimack, astonished at her reception, threw open her ports and poured into her several broadsides such as had sunk the wooden ships; but the steel shot glanced as harm- lessly from her turret as had the balls of the Cumberland and the Congress from her own armor the day before, and her crew cried out in wonder, " The cheese-box is made of iron!" From eight o'clock until noon the battle raged. The Monitor, more easily managed than her antagonist, sailed round and round the Merrimack firing and receiving her broadsides in return, the two being often so near to each other that their sides touched. Once the Merrimack got aground, but getting afloat ngain she turned Battle Between the Merrimack and the Monitor. savagely upon the Monitor and ran directly at her, hoping to run her down. But though she struck her so hard that the Monitor's crew were nearly thrown off their feet, she did not damage the vessel in the least. The Merrimack, finding that she was only wasting her am- munition on the Monitor, fired a shell into the Minnesota, setting her on fire. Another shell struck the boiler of a tug- - boat near the Minnesota and blew her up. But the Monitor was not to be cheated in this way. She steamed up between the Minnesota and the Merrimack and renewed the battle. The Merrimack now trained her guns on the Monitor's pilot house, which was built of wrought-iron beams a foot thick. A solid 238 MERRIMACK AND MONITOR. [1862. shot broke one of these beams in two, and drove it inward an inch and a half. Lieutenant Worden, who at the time had his eyes close to a slit between the bars, watching the Merrimack, was severely wounded in the face so as to lose his eyesight for a long time. He was therefore obliged to give up the command to Lieutenant Greene, who continued the fight. But after a few more broadsides, the Merrimack, finding that she could do nothing with her enemy, gave up the battle and steamed back to Norfolk, followed by her gunboats. The breaking of the beam in the pilot-house was the only damage the Monitor received, although she was struck twenty- two times. The injuries of the Merrimac in the two days' fight were al- most as trivial; her iron beak was twisted, some of her armor plates dam- aged, her smoke and steam pipes riddled, and her anchor and flag-staffs shot away. Two of her guns also had their muz- zles shot off. The Moni- tor returned to Fortress Monroe and remained there on the watch for her rival, but the Merri- mack did not see fit to try her mettle again. The Minnesota was lightened and put afloat again during the following night, to the delight of her captain and crew, who had fought her so nobly and under such trying circumstances. Honors were showered on Ericsson, the inventor, and on Worden, the commander of the Monitor, for all felt that to them were due our deliverance from great peril. Chief Engineer Stimers, who was on the Monitor during the battle, wrote to Captain Ericsson as follows: " I congratulate you on your great success. Thousands have this day blessed you. I have heard whole crews cheer you. Every man feels that you have saved this place to the nation by furnishing us with the means to whip an iron-clad frigate that was, until our arrival, having it John L. Worden. 1862.] JOE'S DEAD. 239 all her own way with our most powerful vessels." But the Monitor did far more than save a few ships and a fortress — it settled the question of naval power in favor of the Union and taught the nations of the Old World who wished to see our country divided that it would be dangerous for them to inter- fere in the quarrel. The government, which had built the Monitor on trial, recognized her great value and at once began to construct other vessels of the same model, and by the next year the United States bad a fleet of iron ships afloat able to defend their coasts against the navies of all the rest of the world. Lieutenant Worden was so shocked by the concussion of the shot which had so nearly blinded him that he was insensible for some time. When he came to himself, his first question was, "Have I saved the Minnesota?" "Yes," was the reply, "and whipped the Merrimack." "Then I don't care what becomes of me," he answered. McKean Buchanan, brother of the commander of the Mer- rimack, was a paymaster on the Congress at the time of the battle; but desiring to do active duty, he asked the commander to give him a place on the upper decks. He served gallantly through the action, and in his report to the Navy Department he said, " Thank God, I did some service to my beloved country." Lieutenant Joseph B. Smith, the commander of the Con- gress, who was noted for his bravery, fell before the ship sur- rendered. When his father, the veteran Commodore Joseph Smith, who was on duty at Washington, saw by the first de- spatch from Fortress Monroe that the Congress had raised the white flag, he only remarked quietly, "Joe's dead." The feel- ing that his son would never surrender his trust while alive was well founded. The ship's flag was not lowered until his son had fallen. CHAPTER XX. PENINSULA CAMPAIGN. The Grand Army of the Potomac— Washington and Richmond.— McClellan III.— Ed- win M. Stanton. — Plans for Taking Richmond.— President Lincoln's Order.— Opposi- tion to McClellan.— The Confederates Leave Manassas.— McClellan's Command Changed.— Stonewall Jackson in the Shenandoah Valley.— General Banks Opposes him.— The Potomac free.— The Army Goes to the Penlnsula.— The French Princes.— Mr. Lincoln and the Politicians.— Siege of Yorktown — Big Nigger, Come Down !— Old Seth.— Joseph E.Johnston.— Torpedoes.— Battle of Williamsburg.— The Chicka- hominy.— Norfolk.— Drury's Bluff.— Pa>ic in Richmond. WE must return once more to the Grand Army of the Poto- mac, which we left in winter quarters around Washing- ton, but little more than a day's march from the camp of the Confederates at Manassas. Before following the movements of these two great forces, let us look for a few moments at the task which the Union army had to accomplish, and the several ways of doing it. Its first duty was to protect Washington, which unfortunately was situated on the borders of one of the Confederate States, where it was open to attacks from the enemy, who could easily march against it either from Manassas or from the Shenandoah Valley. Its second duty was to take Richmond, the Confederate capital, which lies about a hundred miles south-south-west of Washington, on the north bank of the James River. * The nature of the country between the Potomac River and Richmond is such as to make the passage across it of an invad- ing army very difficult. If you will look at any large atlas you will see that it is crossed by several rivers, all having a gen- eral southeasterly course. The first of these rivers, beginning at the north, the Occoquan, which flows into the Potomac, is formed by the union of Bull Run and Cedar Run. The next, the Rappahannock, whose waters reach the Atlantic through Chesapeake Bay, is formed by the junction of the North Fork and the Rapidan. Then come the Mattapony (made up of four small streams, the Mat, the Ta, the Po, and the Ny) and the Pamunkey (formed of the North Anna and the South Anna), which unite and form the York River, flowing also into 1862.] WAYS TO MCBMOND. 241 Chesapeake Bay. South of all these is the Chickahominy, which pours its waters into the James River below Richmond. The Confederates made lines of defence behind most of these rivers during the war, and for four long years repelled the at- tempts of the Union army to drive them back. There were several ways by which Richmond might be at- tacked from Washington: the army might march directly against Gerieral Joseph E. Johnston, whose forces still lay be- hind Bull Run, which Beauregard had chosen in the beginning of the war for his line of defence; or it might move through Maryland down the east bank of the Potomac to a point oppo- site Fredericksburg, and crossing the river march by the direct road from that city to Richmond; or it might go by water to the lower part of the Rappahan- nock River or to Fortress Monroe, from both of which places roads led to Richmond. After a long time of inactivity the Army of the Potomac was at last considered read v to move -o> ', "[ */>*■* against the enemy. It x'^^^^^^^P will be remembered that General McClellan had had not only the duty of Edwin m - Stanton - organizing this great force, which numbered nearly two hun- dred thousand men, but also general charge of military opera- tions in all parts of the country. It was under his directions that the successful movements were made in Missouri, Ken- tucky, and Tennessee, and it was he who planned the expeditions which resulted in the occupation of the inland waters of North Carolina, the capture of the forts on the coasts, and the fall of New Orleans. While attending to these difficult duties Gen- eral McClellan was seized with a serious illness which lasted several weeks. When he recovered, about the middle of Janu- ary, Mr. Cameron, the Secretary of War, had been succeeded in his office by Edwin M. Stanton, an able lawyer, and a man of 242 PENINSULA CAMPAIGN. [1862. great energy, but without any military knowledge. General McClellan laid before him his plan to move the greater part of the army to Urbana, on the Rappahannock River, leaving behind enough to defend Washington. This, he claimed, while being the best route to advance against Richmond, would force General Johnston to leave Manassas in order to prevent the Union army from getting between him and Richmond. But President Lincoln, who was always in great fear lest Washing- ton should be taken, disapproved of this plan, and .insisted that the army should move directly on Manassas; and on the 27th of January he issued an order that all the armies, including those in the West as well as the Army of the Potomac, and the fleets in the Mississippi and in the Gulf of Mexico, should make a general movement against the enemy on the 22d of February. Of course this very singular order, made without consultation with any of the officers in command of the armies and fleets, and without any regard to the circumstances by which each was surrounded, could not be obeyed. General McClellan made a statement in writing to the Presi- dent showing why the proposed movement against Manassas was not so good as the one suggested by him, and Mr. Lincoln, apparently convinced that he was in the wrong, ordered the Secretary of War to get together vessels enough to carry the army to the Rappahannock. But even after the vessels were making ready, Mr. Lincoln, still uneasy and dissatisfied, asked General McClellan to submit the two plans to a council of the principal officers of the army. This was done on March 8th, and General McClellan's plan was approved by eight out of the twelve generals present. So it was finally decided that the advance should be made according to this plan, but the President and Mr. Stanton were still so opposed to it that McClellan was not allowed to use the army which he had made as he thought best, nor even to select his own officers. The army was divided, without consulting him, into four corps, under the command of Generals Keyes, Sumner, Heintzelman, and McDowell, the last three of whom were among the four generals who had voted against his plan. His movements were tied in other ways, which we have not room to discuss here; it is sufficient to say that the President, though acting as he believer! for the best interests of the coun- 1863.] MARCH TO MANASSAS. 243 try, was influenced by political friends who were enemies of the young general because they believed that he was becoming too popular with the army. These men brought such a pressure to bear on the President, by talking to him, by articles in the newspapers, and in other ways, that he was forced to do many things which his reason told him was wrong. If he was not satisfied with General McClellan, it was his plain duty to remove him and put some one in whom ho had more confidence in his place; and if he was satisfied with him, he ought to have given him all the aid in his power to carry out the plans which he had formed for ending the war. But Mr. Lincoln did neither. lie agreed to his plans only when he was forced to do so by a vote of two to one in the council of officers, and even after he had accepted them he did not allow him to execute them in his own way, but bound him with so many re- strictions that it was impossible for him to do as he wished. The question of the movement against Richmond was soon settled in an unexpected way. In February the Confederates made up their minds to leave Manassas for a position below the Rappahannock, where they would be better able to oppose McClellan in case he attacked by way of Fredericksburg or the Rappahannock. They began to move their provisions and war stores February 23, and on the morning of March 10 the rear guard of the army set fire to the storehouses and huts and left the place for the Rappahannock, destroying the bridges as they went. As the vessels were not yet ready, General McClellan marched the army to Manassas and sent Stonemans cavalry after the enemy, but the roads were found to be in too bad a condition to pursue, and leaving a force to hold Manassas, the bulk of the army returned to Alexandria. While absent from Wash- ington, General McClellan heard through a newspaper that he had been removed from the office of general-in-chief and ordered to command only the Army of the Potomac. This change was made without consulting him, but although the way in which it was done made it almost an insult, he accepted it cheerfully, and he wrote to the President that "no consideration of self will in any manner interfere with the discharge of my public duties." Stonewall Jackson had been left by the Confederates in the 244 PENINSULA CAMPAIGN. [1862. Valley of the Shenandoah to watch General Banks and prevent him from sending any men to McClellan's army. Jackson, who had only a small force, fell back before Banks, who was advanc- ing up the valley. Part of Banks's force, under General Shields, followed him, and Banks with the rest of his troops marched toward Manassas, he having been chosen to defend Washington while McOlellan moved against Richmond. Jackson, hearing that Banks had withdrawn part of his force, attacked Shields at Kernstown, near Winchester, but met with a severe repulse and again retreated southward. Banks, hearing of this, re- turned with his men to the Valley, and General Wadsworth was placed in command at Washington. The evacuation of Manassas by General Johnston led to another change in the plan of attack. The movement to the Rappahannock would not now cut off the Confederates from Richmond, so it was determined to transport the army to For- tress Monroe and to march on Richmond by way of the Penin- sula, the long isthmus lying between the York and the James rivers. The Confederates had removed their batteries from the banks of the Potomac at the time they withdrew from Manassas, and as this left the river free, the vessels to carry the troops came directly up to Washington and Alexandria. Nearly four hun- dred steamboats, schooners, and barges were employed in the work, and by the beginning of April more than one hundred and twenty thousand men, many thousand horses, mules, and wagons, forty-four batteries of cannon, and large quantities of supplies of all kinds, were reported to have been landed at For- tress Monroe. This immense work was done in little more than a month. Among the officers on General McClellan's staff were the two French princes, Louis Philippe d'Orleans, better known as the Comte de Paris, and his brother, Robert d'Orleans, com- monly called the Due de Chartres. The Comte de Paris, the heir of the claims of his grandfather, King Louis Philippe, to the throne of France, was then twenty-three years old, and his brother was twenty-one. The princes came to the United States in 1861, in company with their uncle, the Prince de Joinville, and in September were commissioned as captains of volunteers in the service of the United States, and given posi- tions as aids-de-camp under General McClellan. They accepted 1862.] FRENCH PRINCES. 245 the positions on condition that they should receive no pay, as their object was only to see something of military life, and they served gallantly through the whole of McClellan's cam- paign against Richmond. The Prince de Joinville also accompanied General McClel- lan, and as he had had much military experience in Algeria and elsewhere, his advice was of great value. He was a grave, dig- nified man, fond of rambling around by himself and seeing what was going on, and the soldiers soon got to know him well. But soon after his arrival at Fortress Monroe, while taking a stroll on the wharf, he was stopped by a sentry who did not recognize him, and who demanded to see his pass. The Prince shrugged his shoulders, and with a look of annoyance took out the paper and handed it to him. The sentry examined it care- fully, pronounced it all right, and told the prince to "pass on." Just then a comrade of the sentry, who had seen the affair, came up, and said, "Do you know who that is you just stopped?" " Hang me if I do. I never saw the chap before." " Well," continued his friend, " that chap is the Prince de Joinville." The sentry gave a loud whistle, and for several moments seemed to have discovered something about the lock of his musket which needed close inspection. General McClellan reached Fortress Monroe on the 2d of April. It seemed as if he were about to be permitted to carry out his plans without further interference from Washington; but on the day after his arrival he received a despatch that by the President's orders the command of Fortress Monroe, which had been put under his control before leaving Washington, was taken from him, and he was forbidden to take any of the troops from there without General Wool's leave. On the next day (April 4) another despatch was sent to him informing him that, by direction of the President, General McDowell's corps was re- moved from his command. These changes cut down General McClellan's army to about eighty-five thousand men, and caused a change in his plan of operations. General McDowell was made commander of a new Depart- ment of the Eappahannock. The President gave as his reason for making the change that General McClellan had not left troops enough behind to protect Washington; but, according to 246 PENINSULA CAMPAIGN. [1862. that general's report, there were then seventy-three thousand men in and around Washington who could have been used to defend it in case of an attack. But the politicians in Washing- ton had persuaded Mr. Lincoln that the capital was in danger, and he was thus induced to withdraw forty-five thousand of the best troops from McClellan's army when he was on the eve of making the most important movement of the war. The State of Virginia, too, instead of being made a department in command of one officer, was divided into five or six departments, under as many generals, each independent of the other. General McClellan's plan was to make a combined land and naval attack on Yorktown, which General Magruder, then in command there, had strongly fortified, and after taking that place to move up the York River to West Point, about twenty-five miles from Richmond, and to make that the landing-place of his sup- plies, and the point from which to move against the enemy. The James River would have been a more direct route, but it was blockaded by gunboats and batteries. The army reached the Confed- erate lines, which stretched from Yorktown nearly across to the James River, on the 5th of April. General McClellan had counted on taking Yorktown quickly by the aid of gunboats in the York River, but he was informed that no naval vessels could be spared. It had been a part of his plan, too, to land McDowell's corps above York- town, but that too was defeated by the keeping of that portion of his army in front of Washington. The works before the place were pronounced by General Barnard. Chief Engineer of the Army of the Potomac, too strong to be carried by assault. General McClellan was therefore obliged to lay regular siege to them. Trenches were dug, and redoubts and batteries built, and after a month's toil, during which many men were disabled J. B. Magruder. 1862.] SHARPSHOOTING. 247 by sickness, preparations were made to open fire on Yorktown on May 6. The enemy were not idle while this work was going on in the trenches, but kept up a continual fire from rifle-pits in front of their works. The Union sharpshooters replied, and any one on either side who showed any part of his body was pretty sure to be hit. One of the most skilful of the Confederate marks- men was a large negro, who used to perch himself in a tree and lie there all day, firing whenever he saw a chance for a good shot. . He had in this way killed several Union soldiers, and the sharpshooters had watched a long time for him. At last the Union trenches, which were gradually being dug nearer and nearer, reached a place only about twenty rods from the tree. One morning the darky came out early and took his accustomed place in the tree. The sharpshooters might have easily killed him as he came out, but they did not want to frighten others who were coming. He was followed soon by several Confeder- ate pickets, on whom the men fired, killing some and driving the others back. The darky, of course, was now "in a fix," or, in other words, was "up a tree," for he could not get back without running the risk of being shot. "I say, big nigger," called out one of the Union marks- men from the trenches, "you'd better come down from there." "What for?" he asked. "I want you as a prisoner." "Not as this chile knows of," he answered. "All right. Just as you say," called out the marksman. In about an hour Mr. Darky, hearing nothing from in front of his tree, concluded that it was safe to take just one peep; so he poked his head out far enough to get a look at the Union lines. But the sharpshooter had not taken his eye from the tree for an instant, and no sooner did the head appear than he pulled the trigger of his rifle. A little puff of blue smoke — a flash — the whiz of a bullet — and down came the negro to the ground shot through the head. Among the Berdan Sharpshooters was a queer old fellow known to his comrades as Old Seth. He was a crack shot in the regiment, and seldom missed his aim. One night at roll-call Old Seth did not answer to his name, and this being an unusual 248 PENINSULA CAMPAIGN. [1SG2. thing, a sergeant went to hunt him up. "While looking beyond the picket-line, where Seth was wont to post himself every day, the sergeant's attention was arrested by a soft "halloo!" "Who's there?" inquired the sergeant. " It's me," replied Seth. " I've captured a Secesh gun." "Bring it in," said the sergeant. "Can't do it," answered Seth. It's over there." The sergeant then saw that Old Seth had the exact range of one of the enemy's heaviest guns, and the gunners could not load it for fear of being picked off by him. "Fetch me a couple of haversacks full of grub," continued the old man. " This is my gun, and the varmints shan't fire it again while the scrimmage lasts. The old man was given his "grub," and he kept watch over his gun until Yorktown was evacuated. As soon as the Confederate authorities knew that McClellan was moving on Yorktown, General Johnston, who had before commanded only the Army of Northern Virginia, as the force at Manassas was called, was given charge also of the troops in the Peninsula and at Norfolk. General Magruder, who was in com- mand of the defences at York- town, had only thirteen thousand men when McClel- lan arrived, but his force was soon increased to fifty-three thousand, and on April 17 General Johnston himself took command of it. Finding that McClellan was mounting heavy rifled guns to bombard his works, and having only old-fashioned smooth-bore guns to defend with, Johnston determined to retreat. This he did on the night of May 3, and the Union army took possession of the works the next morning. In doing this several men had their feet blown off or were otherwise wounded by torpedoes buried in the ground by the Confederates. They were so made that the pressure of a man or a horse's foot would explode them. Other Joseph E. Johnston. 1862.] BATTLE OF WILLIAMSBURG. 249 kinds of torpedoes were hidden in carpet-bags, in flour barrels, and in places where men would be likely to go. General McClcl- lan made some Confederate officers, who were prisoners, search for and remove them all. The retreating enemy was vigorously pursued by the Union cavalry under General Stoneman, followed by the infantry divi- sions of Generals Hooker and Kearney. The Confederates had another line of works across the Peninsula at Williamsburg, the principal part of which was called Fort Magruder. Stone- man's advance was stopped by these works, and he was obliged to wait for the infantry to come up. Heavy rain was falling, and the roads were very muddy, but Hooker pressed on, and attacked the Confederates early in the morning of May 5. Gen- eral Johnston had not intended to try to hold this line, but finding himself closely pursued, turned back part of his forces, under General Longstreet, to check McClellan until the main body and the baggage trains could cross the Chickahominy. Hooker fought against superior numbers until late in the afternoon. At last Kearney's division came up and allowed Hooker, who had lost seventeen hundred men and was out of ammunition, to retire. In the meantime General Sumner, who was the commanding officer in the field, had sent i|(fi| General Hancock with his brigade far to the m\ right, where he took a strong position Torpedo. which commanded the rear of the Confederate lines. As soon as this was found out by the enemy he was attacked, but he repulsed them gallantly, and at evening was strongly rein- forced. The Confederates, having held their works long enough to save their baggage trains, left during the night, and marched toward the Chickahominy. The total Union loss during this fight, Avhich is commonly called the battle of Williamsburg, was more than two thousand; that of the Confederates about eighteen hundred. General McClellan had remained during this advance at Yorktown, making preparations to send General Franklin's division up the York Eiver to West Point. This was part of McDowell's corps, which had finally been sent to him at his earnest request. He was left in ignorance that an important 250 PENINSULA CAMPAIGN. [1862. fight was going on at the front until one o'clock, when he went to the field and promptly reinforced Hancock. On the next morning Fort Magruder and Williamsburg were occupied; and in a few days the army moved forward both from that place and from West Point, which had been taken possession of and made the general landing-place of supplies. The roads were very muddy, and it was not until the 20th of May that the ad- vance reached the banks of the Chickahominy. Meanwhile two new army corps had been formed — the Fifth, under com mand of General Fitz John Porter, and the Sixth, under Gen- eral William B. Franklin. General Johnston had crossed the Chickahominy, meanwhile, and taken a position about three miles from Richmond, where a strong line of fortifica- tions had been thrown up. By his advice the Confederates evacuated Norfolk, after removing the stores and burning the dock-yards, and the troops there were added to his army. As soon as the news reached Gen- eral Wool, commanding at Fortress Monroe, he sent up some troops and . took possession of the place. The Merrimack had been ordered to go up the James River to aid in the defence of Richmond, but she drew too much water and was blown up, May 11, by order of her commander, Commodore Tatnall. This relieved the Union fleet from any more fears on her account, and sev- eral vessels, under command of Commodore John Rodgers, at once moved up the James. The flag-ship of the squadron was the iron-clad Galena, and she was accompanied by the Monitor, Aroostook, Port Royal, and Naugatuck. As there were sup- posed to be many batteries along the banks, the vessels moved with great caution, a strict watch being kept from an armored lookout at the mast-head of the leading vessel. This lookout was a kind of square box, made of iron plates thick enough to protect the man in it from rifle balls. But the vessels met Armored Lookout. 1862.] PANIC IN RICHMOND. 251 with no obstructions until they reached Drury's Bluff, about eight miles below Richmond, where the river bank is nearly two hundred feet high. There they were stopped by a barrier across the river made of sunken vessels, held in place by piles, and de- fended by a strong work called Fort Darling on the top of the bluff, and by rifle-pits along the banks. The vessels opened fire on the morning of May 15, but the Confederate batteries were too high to be reached by the Monitor's guns, and about noon, the Galena having been badly damaged and the Nanga- tuck disabled by the bursting of one of her guns, Commodore Rodgers withdrew, and went down the river to City Point. The advance of the fleet up the James and the arrival of McClellans army on the Chickahominy caused the greatest fear in Richmond. Most of the people believed that the city would fall within a few days, and the Confederate authorities sent away the government records and made preparations to leave. The stores and shops were ordered to be closed at two o'clock each afternoon, to gjve time for all able-bodied men to drill. The streets were filled with anxious women and children, and many got ready to go into the country at the approach of danger. Snare Drum. CHAPTER XXI. SHENANDOAH VALLEY.— CHICKAHOMINY. McDowell at Fredericksburg.— Porter at Hanover Court-House.— McDowell Or- dered to WASHINGTON.— Stonewall Jackson.— Jackson or a Rabbit.— Jackson's Praters.— Bankc Driven into Maryland.— Jackson Repulses Fremont.— Defeats Shields.— Turner ashby.— a Gallant Deed.— Floods in the .Chickahominy.— The Union Army Divided. -Seven Pines and Fair Oaks.— General Johnston Wounded.— Robert E. Lee in Cgmmamd of the Confederates.— The Swamps of the Chickahom- iny. — BALLOONS IN WaR - HOW ARE YEES, BYES ?— JEB STUART.— THE RIDE AROUND McClellan.— White Housu.— Washington's Marriage.— Stonewall Jackson and the Farmer. WHEN General McClellan's advance reached the Chicka- hominy, General McDowell, with about forty thousand men, was at Fredericksburg, on the Rappahannock River, where he could either protect Washington or move against Rich- mond. McClellan, who believed Washington to be in no danger, had often asked to have this force sent to him by water. If that had been done he could have moved against Richmond, after leaving Williamsburg, up the James River, where the gun- boats could aid him, and where he could assist the gunboats in taking Fort Darling. At last the President ordered McDowell to march and join McClellan, not in the way he wanted, but by land, following the line of the railroad from Fredericksburg. This obliged McClellan to go up the York, instead of the James River, because the latter would have been too far away from McDowell. At this time McClellan had, according to his own report, about eighty thousand men fit for action. He was very anxious to receive McDowell's reinforcement, because he be- lieved that the Confederates had a larger force than his* own and were defended by strong earthworks. Hearing that a strong body of Confederates was at Hanover Court House, and fearing that it would interfere with McDowell's advance, he sent Por- ter's corps (May 27) to attack it. Porter drove this force from its position and destroyed its camp, inflicting considerable loss upon it in dead and wounded, and capturing more than seven hundred prisoners. The way was thus cleared for McDowell's junction with the army, but after that general had started from Fredericksburg news was received in Washington that General 1862.] STONEWALL JACKSON. 259 Banks had been defeated by Stonewall Jackson in the Shenan- doah Valley, and the President, fearful that Jackson would move against Washington, stopped McDowell and ordered him to turn back. Let us pause a moment to look at Stonewall Jackson, who soon afterward became one of the foremost figures in the war. Thomas Jonathan Jackson was born a poor boy in Clarksburg, Virginia, and managed in some way to get to West Point, where he was graduated in 1846. He served bravely in the war in Mexico, and became a captain and finally a major for gallant conduct. In 1852 he resigned from the army and became a professor in the Virginia Military Academy in Lexington. There he became a deacon in the Presbyterian Church, and was noted for his piety and for his shyness and eccentricity. He was so awkward and absent-minded that he was the laughing-stock of the students, who nicknamed him " Fool Tom Jackson." In April, 1861, he became colonel of a vol- unteer regiment and went to Har- per's Ferry. All at once he seemed to find out what he was made for, and the awkward, absent-minded Tom Jackson showed such aptness for com- mand that he soon became a brigadier-general. As such lie took part in the battle of Bull Run, and saved the day by his firmness, winning the now famous name of " Stonewall," which will live in history as long as the world lasts. Stonewall Jackson soon became the idol of his men, and whenever he appeared among them he was always received with cheers. When a distant yell was heard in camp, men would say, "That's Jackson or a rabbit!" both being generally re- ceived by the soldiers with equal delight. He was a man of few words, but when he was in the society of elderly ladies or of clergymen he would talk by the hour on religious subjects. It was his custom to pray often, and always when about to enter upon any duty, especially before battle. His black body-ser- " Stonewall" Jackson. 254 SHENANDOAH VALLEY.— CHICKAHOMINY. [1862. vant, who had closely noted his habits, generally knew what to expect when he saw his master more devotional than usual, and made his preparations accordingly. A gentleman once asked him if he could tell by his master's habits when a battle was coming off. " Oh yes, sir," he replied; "the general is a great man for praying — night and morning, and all times. But when I see him get up several times in the night besides to go off and pray, then I know there is going to be something to pay; and I go straight and pack his haversack, because I know he will call for it in the morning." * After Stonewall Jackson's repulse by General Shields he had retreated up the Valley, where he was soon reinforced by Gen- erals Ewell and Edward Johnson, increasing his army to about fifteen thousand men. General Banks, who was in command of the Department of the Shenandoah, was at Harrisonburg with about six thousand men. General Milroy, with a small force from Fremont's army, had crossed the mountains into the Valley and was moving toward Banks. Jackson sent part of his force against Milroy, defeated him at a place called McDow- ell, and then marched against Banks, who had retreated to Strasburg, followed by Ewell. Banks fell back hastily to Win- chester, near which he made a stand, but was put to flight again and driven across the Potomac into Maryland, leaving about two thousand prisoners in the enemy's hands. General McClellan telegraphed to the President that the object of Jackson's move was probably to prevent reinforcements being sent to him, but Mr. Lincoln and his advisers were sure it was a movement against Washington, and ordered McDowell to send half his force under Shields to the Shenandoah Valley to act with Fremont against Jackson, and another portion to Harper's Ferry. McDowell obeyed with a heavy heart, for he felt that this new movement would spoil McClellan's plans and result in the failure of the operations against Bichmond. As he expected, he was too late to catch Jackson, who escaped be- tween Shields and Fremont and returned up the Valley again. The Union forces pursued, and Jackson, watching his chances, turned and repulsed Fremont (June 7) at Cross Keys, and de- * See Appendix, page 566. 1862.] TURNER ASHBY. 255 feated Shields (June 8) at Port Republic, capturing his artillery and many prisoners. Fremont then retreated down the Valley, and Jackson, having accomplished his purpose of preventing troops being sent to McClellan, soon marched to Richmond to take part in the great battles around that city. The Confederates met with a severe loss in the battle of Port Republic in the death of General Ashby, the commander of Stonewall Jackson's cavalry. Turner Ashby was a Virginian who believed in his native State above all other things on earth. When he went to Harper's Ferry in 1861 as a member of his brother Richard's cavalry company, some one said to him: " What flag are we going to fight under, Ashby? the Palmetto?" " This is the flag I intend to fight under," replied Ashby, taking off his hat and showing inside of it a small piece of silk stamped with the arms of Virginia. His brother Richard was killed early in the war, and Turner succeeded to the command of the company. He had loved his brother dearly, and after his death he seemed like another man. He was in the saddle night and day, now in one place watching the enemy, the next day many miles away cutting off some de- tachment or supply train. He always rode a white horse, and wherever that horse was seen men knew that there was work to do. When Jackson retreated from Winchester, Ashby, then a colonel in command of the cavalry, was the last to leave. As the Union cavalry rode into the town, he was seen riding alone down the street as calmly as if no enemies were near. He waited until the pursuers fired on him and then galloped off, waving his hat in defiance. All at once two cavalrymen, who had been sent round by the back streets to cut him off, appeared in front of him; but Ashby charged them, shot one with his pistol, and seizing the other by the throat dragged him from the saddle and carried him off before the eyes of the advancing cavalry. When Shields and Fremont were pressing hard upon Jack- son in his retreat down the Valley, Ashby held the rear with his cavalry and horse artillery. While falling back one day near New Market, with the Union cavalry hard upon him, his fa- mous white horse was mortally wounded by a bullet. His men looked upon this as a bad omen, and so it turned out to be, for Ashby survived him but a few days. . His last cavalry fight was 256 SHENANDOAH VALLEY.— CHICKAHOMINY. [1862 just before the battle of Cross Keys, when he captured Colonel Percy Wyndham, of Fremont's cavalry, and sixty-three of his men. Shortly after, while leading the Fifty-eighth Virginia in a charge, his horse was shot under him. He sprang to his feet, and waving his sword, shouted, " Virginians, charge!" At that moment a bullet pierced his breast and he fell dead. The Con- federates greatly mourned his loss as one of the best and most fearless of their cavalry leaders. By the 25th of May, just before McDowell's corps was or- dered back, McClellan had crossed the Chickahominy with two corps, under Keyes and Heintzelman. The Chickahominy rises in the highlands northwest of Richmond, and flowing in a gene- ral southeasterly direction at last turns south and empties into the James. Its course around Rich- mond is through a heavily wooded swamp. In dry seasons it is little more than a brook, but in wet weather it overflows its banks and floods all the swamp and bottom land which border it. McClel- lan at once began to bridge the stream and to build log roads to move his artil- lery through the swamps, but heavy rains came on and raised the water to a greater height than had been known for twenty years. The bridges built were carried away and others had to be constructed, higher and stronger than the first. This took much time, and mean- Avhile, the remainder of the army being prevented by the flood from crossing, the two corps on the Richmond side were in much danger of being cut off by the enemy. General Johnston, seeing McClellan's error in thus dividing his army, prepared, on the morning of May 31, to attack Keyes and Heintzelman, in hope of defeating them before McClellan could get his other men across the Chickahominy. But rain fell all night and made the roads so muddy that the movement Samuel P. Heintzelman. 1862.] BATTLE OF FAIR OAKS. 257 could not be made until afternoon. The first division of Keyes's corps, commanded by General Casey, was stationed about six miles from Kichmond, on the Williamsburg road, in front of Seven Pines, a country tavern near seven large pine trees; and Couch's division of the same corps was at Seven Pines and Fair Oaks, the latter a station on the Richmond and York River Railroad. Generals Longstreet and D. H. Hill attacked Casey with a largely superior force, and after a severe fight drove him back, capturing six of his guns. Casey's dis- ordered troops fell back upon Couch's line at Seven Pines, where a stand was made. Some time after four o'clock, part of Kearney's division of Heintzelman's corps came to their aid, but the Confederates again broke their lines and drove them back more than a mile, when night finally ended the fight. In the meantime General Couch had moved toward Fair Oaks to attack the Confederates on their left. To his surprise he was met by large bodies of fresh troops, who attacked him fiercely and cut him off from the main body of his division at Seven Pines. These were the troo|:)S of General G. W. Smith, and General Johnston himself was with them. It seemed then as if the Confederates would succeed in destroying or capturing the whole of the army on that side of the Chickahominy, but when Conch was hardest pressed another force came into the field. General Sumner, whose corps lay on the opposite side of the river, had succeeded in getting part of it over by means of two scarcely finished bridges, and about six o'clock the division of General John Sedgwick reached a place near Fair Oaks where Couch was struggling hard to hold the enemy back. The Con- federates made several desperate attempts to break the line, but were each time repulsed, and at last General Sumner ordered a charge, and they were forced back in confusion. This saved the day and the army, for night then put an end to the fight- ing at this place also. About seven o'clock General Johnston was wounded by a musket-ball in the right shoulder, and a few minutes afterward a large piece of. a shell struck him in the breast and knocked him from his horse. He was carried from the field in an am- bulance, and the command of the army fell to Major-General G. W. Smith. The two armies occupied their positions during the next day (Sunday). An attack was made on part of Hill's 258 SEENAKDOAU VALLEY.— CHICK AIIOAIINY. [1862. line in the morning by some of the Union troops, but it was repulsed, and Hill's men picked up and removed from the field nearly seven thousand muskets and rifles, and a large quantity of tents and stores. At noon of Sunday, General Eobert E. Lee was appointed commander of the Army of Northern tVir- ginia, and on Monday morning the troops were all marched back to their camps near Richmond. This battle, which was claimed as a victory by both parties, was called by the Confed- erates Seven Pines, and by the Unionists Fair Oaks; but there were really two separate engagements, the one at Seven Pines being a Confederate success, and that at Fair Oaks a Union suc- cess. The loss of the two in the double battle was about equal, each having nearly seven thousand killed, wound- ed, and missing. Among the Union wounded at Fair Oaks was General 0. 0. Howard, who lost his right arm. As he was being carried from the field he called out to General Kearney, who had no left arm, " Kear- ney, we'll buy our gloves together!" The first successful ex- periment of telegraphing from a balloon was made during this battle. It had been tried near Washington the summer before, but, although the newspapers were filled with accounts of the "wonderful experiment," it was almost a failure. This time, however, Professor Lowe, who had charge of the army balloons, succeeded in sending messages during the battle from his balloon when more than a third of a mile above the heads of the enemy. From that height he could see the Con- federate columns moving to the attack, the smoke and confusion of the battle, and the long lines of ambulances, wagons, and carts carrying the dead and wounded into Richmond, the streets and houses of which were plainly visible in the distance. Bal- loons were much used during McClellan's campaign, but after- Robert E. Lee. 1862.] WAR BALLOONS. 259 ward they fell into disuse. They were kept in position by means of a strong cable held by men, though sometimes several cables were used, as shown in the picture. One day, when General Fitz John Porter was watching the enemy from a bal- loon, the cable broke and he was carried by the wind over the Confederate lines. By pulling the valve-string he let out some of the gas, and the balloon coming- down into a current of air blowing the other way, he landed safe within the Union lines. After this General McClellan remained in the swamps of the Chickahominy nearly a month, repair- ing his bridges and making ready to move forward. Bain fell frequently and the whole of the bottom lands were flooded three or four feet deep. On the 15th of June he had with him one hundred and fifteen thousand men fit for duty, but he was still undecided when to move. During all this time the pickets of the two armies were often so near as to talk together. Although gener- ally ready to shoot each other at sight, they often mutually agreed to sto}) hostilities for a time, and to meet on neutral ground be- tween the lines to exchange newspapers or to talk over the war and the prospects of peace. Some ^m funny stories are told of these % y . picket interviews. On one :„;_ ^ , ■'.". '<- occasion, while the army was lying in the Chickahominy swamps, some Union pickets'! were cooking their breakfast, : when they were startled by a voice near by: " Hoav are yees, byes ?" The men looked up and saw peeping over the bushes the face of a jolly-looking Irish- man, enlivened by a broad grin which stretched his mouth almost from ear to ear. " An' what are yees afther doin', gintlemen?" " Making coffee. Have some?" Army Balloon. 260 SHENANDOAH VALLEY.— CHICKAHOHINY. [1862. " Yees won't be afther shootin' or captivatin' me?" asked Pat, with a glance at their guns hard by. "Not a bit of it. Comedown." " By me sowl, an' it's very temptin' ye are," he replied, step- ping from behind the bushes, and showing one of the raggedest specimens of a Butternut the well-clad Union men had ever put eyes on. "Its ilegant manners ye've got intoirely; an' it's meself that likes the company of gintlemen as can affoord to have their bite an' their sup of the caw-fy ivery day. Sure an' it's beautiful that yees make it." " Well, take another cup." " An' I jist will. Sure it's splendid caw-fy. The ribbles — bad cess to them! (lowering his voice to a confidential whisper) — don't give me a taste of the stuff." " Well, take another cup." " Yees won't call it bad manners if I do? Sure an' ye're so polite. Ye seem to be comfortable intoirely — ye've ilegant clothes an' the hoight of good livin'." "That's so." " Well, byes (with an insinuating smile), I belave I'll stay by the caw-fy and quit the ribbles intoirely." Pat was as good as his word: he stayed by the " caw-fy " and the Union and proved himself a good soldier. In the meantime General Lee had been largely reinforced by troops from Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, so that he had under him then about eighty thousand effective men. He determined not to wait for McClellan to advance, but to attack him where he was. McClellan had all this time been throwing up earthworks, and Lee, desiring to know how far these extended, sent General J. E. B. Stuart, with a body of cavalry, to find out. Stuart, the most famous of the Confederate cavalry leaders, was familiarly called by his classmates at West Point Jeb Stuart. When his native State, Virginia, seceded, he resigned his posi- tion as first lieutenant in the United States army, and soon became a colonel of cavalry in the Confederate army. He was only twenty-seven years old at the time, and full of youthful enthusiasm. Indeed, he was always a boy, ready for fun and mischief, or for reckless adventure, who looked upon war as an exciting game, never giving a thought to the bitter side of the 1862.] JEB STUART. 261 question. While other leaders dressed soberly, as befitting the times, Stuart wore the gayest of costumes: his gray uniform was resplendent with buttons and gold braid, his brown felt hat was looped up with a golden star and ornamented with a black ostrich plume, his waist was bound with a yellow silken sash, his buff gauntlets reached to the elbow, and his spurs were of pure gold. Stuart loved horses and dogs: he was always well mounted, and gave his steeds fanciful names, such as Skylark and Star of the East, and his two setters, Nip and Tuck, shared his tent and his rations. He had a great love for music, and kept with him, whether in tent or field, a banjo player, who was frequently called upon to strum his instrument, Stuart himself often joining in the chorus with uproari- ous merriment. Many people thought this was undignified, but Stuart never played until busi- ness was done, and no one could complain that he ever shirked a duty for pleasure. John Es- ten Cooke, a Virginian writer, tells of him that he never drank intoxi- cating liquors, never ut- tered an oath, nor per- mitted any profanity at his quarters, and carried his mother's Bible on his person Avherever he went. Such was the man whom General Lee chose for this danger- ous duty, afterward known as the "ride around McClellan." Stuart started on the night of June 12, with twelve hundred cavalry and two pieces of horse artillery. He rode north from Eichmond, and swept round in McClellan's rear until he reached Hanover Old Church, where he dispersed some Union cavalry and burned their camp, losing one of his captains in the fight. This was as far as General Lee had ordered him to go, but the alarm had been given and he was confident that a large force would be sent to cut him off. Stuart saw only one way of es- J. E. B. Stuart. 262 SHENANDOAH VALLEY.— CHICEAHOMINT. [1862. cape — to ride entirely round MeClellan's army, running the risk of meeting large bodies of the enemy. A friend afterward said to him: "If the enemy had come down on you, you would have had to surrender." " no," he replied, "there was one other course left." "What was that?" "To die game." His mind once made up, Stuart rode on, burning wagons and army stores and capturing prisoners and horses, until at last the Chickahominy was reached below MeClellan's lines. But the river was flooded and the ford where he hoped to cross was impassable. The enemy were expected behind every minute, and no time was to be lost. The men were half dead for want of sleep, for they had ridden all night long, but Stuart, never despairing, turned the column down stream, where there was an old bridge. Alas! the bridge was gone, and only the stone abutments were left to show where it had been. An old store-house stood near. Stuart ordered it torn down, and in a few minutes the men were laying its beams on the abut- ments and covering them with its planks, the General himself working as hard as any one. Thus a bridge strong enough for the horses and artillery was built and the stream safely crossed. Just as the rear guard disappeared in the swamp on the other side, a body of mounted "blue-birds," as the Confederates sometimes called the Union troops, galloped down to the bank of the river and gave the "gray-backs" a parting salute with their rifles. But Stuart had escaped, and on Sunday night, June 15, he reached Richmond and gave General Lee valuable information which resulted in his attacking General McClellan on the north side of the Chickahominy. Lee's idea in crossing the river was to cut off McClellan from his base of supplies. The reader will remember that the expectation of being joined by General McDowell from Freder- icksburg had caused McClellan to make his depot of supplies at West Point, on the York Eiver. This was afterward changed to White House, a place further up, on the Pamunkey River, and on the line of the Richmond and York River Railroad. This place was so called from the White House, the home at the beginning of the war of part of the family of General Lee. It stood on the site of a dwelling of the same name in which 1862.] STONEWALL JACKSON. 263 once lived Mrs. Martha Custis, afterward Mrs. George Wash- ington, and the marriage of the illustrious pair took place beneath its roof. Mrs. Robert E. Lee, who was the great- granddaughter of Mrs. Washington, left the White House on the approach of the Union army. McClellan had gathered at this place great quantities of provisions and ammunition, which were Qarried from there to the Chickahominy in wagons. It was some of the wagons engaged in this work which Stuart had burned in his raid, and Lee saw that if he could cut off McClellan entirely from White House, he would have him at his mercy. To deceive the authorities at Washington, and to keep them from sending troops to McClellan, General Lee sent reinforce- ments to Jackson, taking care to let it be known; but at the same time he ordered Jackson to march as rapidly as possible to his aid, and before it was known that he had left the Shenan- doah Valley, Jackson had reached Ashland, twelve miles from Richmond, with twenty-five thousand men. This brought General Lee's forces up to about ninety thousand men, or not quite as many as in the Union army arrayed against him. Stonewall Jackson's victories in the Valley had won him great renown and everybody was anxious to see him, but he was so modest and retiring in his habits that he shunned the public gaze; and his dress was generally so shabby that many did not know him even when he did appear riding awkwardly along on his old sorrel horse. It is said that once, about the time he joined Lee's army, he was riding with some of his officers through a field of oats. The owner, seeing the trespassers, ran after them in a rage, and angrily addressing Jackson demanded his name, that he might report him at headquarters. "Jackson is my name, sir," replied the general quietly. "What Jackson?" inquired the farmer. " General Jackson." "What! Stonewall Jackson!" exclaimed the man in aston- ishment. " That is what they call me," replied Jackson. " General," said the man, taking off his hat, "ride over my whole field. Do whatever you like with it, sir." CHAPTER XXII. SEVEN DAYS' FIGHT. Lee Attacks McClellan.— Beaver Dam Creek.— Battle of Mechanicsville.— A Change of Base.— Battle of Gaines's Mills.— General McCall's Escape.— McClellan's Re- treat to the James River.— The White Oak Swamp.— Battle of Savage's Station. — Battle of Frazier's Farm. — McCall a Prisoner.— Battle of Malvern Hill.— McClel- lan at Harrison's Landing.— End of the Seven Days' Fight.— Departure of the French Prlnces.— President Lincoln Visits McClellan.— Three Hundred Thousand More Volunteers. S soon as Jackson arrived, General Lee, leaving about twenty-eight thousand men, under Magruder and Huger, to guard the defences around Richmond, crossed the Chicka- hominy above McClellan's army, with about thirty-five thousand men under the two Hills and Longstreet. His plan was to join Jackson, which would increase his force to sixty thousand men, and then to attack Porter, who had only about thirty thousand men, the rest of McClellan's army being the other side of the river, getting ready to advance toward Richmond. Jackson was delayed a day, and after waiting till about four o'clock in the afternoon of June 26 for him, the Confederates made an attack on Porter, whose corps was strongly posted behind earthworks on the bank of a little stream called Beaver Dam Creek. Every effort was made to storm this position, but the Union troojjs, fighting behind their defences, on which were mounted large siege guns, repelled every attack, and at night the Confederates retired with a loss of more than three thousand men, while Porter's loss was only as many hundred. This battle, the first of the famous seven days' fight before Richmond, is sometimes called the battle of Beaver Dam Creek, and sometimes that of Mechanicsville, because it was not far from the village of that name. Some writers think that McClellan ought to have crossed the Chickahominy with the rest of his troops as soon as Lee showed that he was trying to get between him and White House, and marched directly against Richmond, which might have easily fallen into his hands. He would thus have crushed Magruder's force and cut off Lcc from his supplies, which he 1862.] BATTLE OF GAINES'S MILLS. £65 drew from Richmond, after which he would have stood a good chance of defeating him. But McClellan, who believed that Richmond was held by a very large force, says he did not have provisions enough for such a movement, and so he decided to "change his base" to the James River — that is, to move his army across to the James, so that his provisions could be sent to him by that river instead of by the York, from which Lee was cutting him off. But this was a very difficult thing to do, for Porter's corps had to be taken across the Chickahominy in the face of an ever watchful enemy. On the night following the battle of Mechanicsville most of the heavy guns and the wagons were carried from Beaver Dam across the river, and in the morning the troops fell back to a new position on a range of low hills between Cold Harbor and the Chickahominy. The object of this was to keep back the enemy long enough to give time to save the stores and to cross the river by the bridges, which were just behind. The Con- federates followed Porter closely, but he had taken a firm stand on the hills before they attacked him, they having waited for Stonewall Jackson to come up. About two o'clock in the after- noon, A. P. Hill began the battle on the right of the Union line, but many of his troops being men who had never been under fire before, he was repulssd after a fight of two hours and driven back with great loss. Longstreet then attacked on the Union left, and Stonewall Jackson and D. H. Hill coming up an attack was made all along the line. General McClellan had sent to Porter all the reinforcements he could spare, but Ma- gruder, who commanded the Confederate troops on the Rich- mond side, made a great show of moving his troops from one place to another, and the Union generals on that side, thinking that he had a very much larger force than he really had, and not knowing when he was going to attack, were afraid to let many of their men go. So it happened that Magruder with only twenty-eight thousand men kept in check seventy thousand Union troops on one side of the Chickahominy, while Lee with sixty thousand men fought thirty-five thousand Union troops on the other side. At last, when all the Confederates attacked at once, Jackson stormed the height on the Union left, capturing fourteen pieces of artillery. The Union line began to give way at all points, and the soldiers retreated in much confusion 266 SEVEN DAYS' FIGHT. [1862. toward the bridges. About dusk two fresli brigades came over from the other side and made a stand, and encouraged by them the broken lines were reformed. Night soon set in and the Confederates stopped the pursuit, and under cover of the dark- ness the weary soldiers silently retreated across the river, destroy- ing the bridges behind them. Thus ended the battle of Gaines's Mills, so named from a flouring-mill and saw-mill which stood near the field. The Confederates called it the battle of the Chickahominy. The loss of each side is not accurately known; but it is thought that the Unionists had about six thousand killed and wounded and two thousand taken prisoners. They also lost twenty-two cannons. The Confederate loss in men was probably about the same. General McCall had a narrow escape while riding over the field the night after the battle. He and Major Lewis of his staff mistook the road in the darkness, and after riding some dis- tance were greeted by the sharp "halt" of a sentry. "Friends," answered the officer. "Advance, friend, and give the countersign," said the sen- try. An orderly — that is, a soldier who attends an officer to carry messages, etc. — who attended the General, rode forward at com- mand and answered: "Escort with the General." "General what?" "General McCall." "Of what army?" asked the sentinel. "The Army of the Potomac," replied the General himself, riding forward. "Yes, yes," responded the sentinel, "but on what side?" " The command of Major-General McClellan," said the Gen- eral. "What!" yelled the sentry, and he and others with him raised their rifles. Major Lewis, who had noticed by their voices that the men were Southerners, had wheeled around, and seiz- ing the General's horse by the rein, he sank his spurs into his horse's side, and dashed off, followed by the rifle balls of the Confederate pickets. Though fired at more than twenty times, they got back safe to their own lines; but all their horses were hit, and one was killed. 1862.] BATTLE OF SAVAGE'S STATION. 267 On Saturday, June 28, McClellan began the march toward the James Eiver, but Lee knew nothing of the movement until the night of that day. The Confederates opened an artillery fire in two or three places, but finding the Union works fully manned, they concluded that McClellan's army was still within its intrenchments. Two days before, a large quantity of stores had been moved from White House to Savage's Station, south of the Chickahominy, on the line of the Kichmond and York River Railroad. What could not be carried away had been burned, and the vessels there had been sent round to the James River. When the retreat began, the commanders were ordered to load the wagons at Savage's Station with only necessary things, and to destroy the rest; so vast quantities of clothing and provisions were burned. About twenty-five hundred sick and wounded had to be left behind in the hospitals. The line of retreat lay across a great morass called the White Oak Swamp, through which the trains of wagons and the troops had to pass by one narrow road. All day and all night long lines of wagons laden with stores, and droves of beef-cattle intended for food, passed over this causeway, followed by men and horses. Gen- eral McClellan himself left Savage's Station on the morning of the 29th, and about the same time Lee, who had stayed on the north side of the Chickahominy, because he thought that McClellan intended to cross the lower Chickahominy and move down the Peninsula toward Yorktown, crossed the river and began the pursuit. Magruder, who had been ordered to follow the Union army, attacked Sumner's corps, which was guarding the rear. The fighting was severe from four o'clock in the afternoon until eight in the evening, but Magruder was re- pulsed, and Sumner crossed the swamp in the night, destroy- ing the bridge behind him. This is commonly called the bat- tle of Savage's Station. Stonewall Jackson followed through the swamp on the morning of June 30, but the Union troops had stopped on the other side and planted cannons which commanded the site of the bridge, so that he could not rebuild it. He tried to force a passage, but was repulsed. While he was trying to advance by this route, Longstreet and A. P. Hill were marching by a road west of the swamp, which crossed the road on which the Union troops were retreating. The Confederates attacked about 268 SEVEN DAYS' FIGHT. [1862. three o'clock in the afternoon, and the battle raged furiously until darkness put an end to it. Sometimes one side prevailed and sometimes another, but during the night the Union troops left the field in the possession of the enemy, and withdrew to Malvern Hill, where the remainder of the army was strongly posted within reach of the James Kiver. This is sometimes called the battle of Glendale, but the Confederates called it the battle of Frazier's Farm, having it having been fought mostly on a farm owned by a man of that name. General McCall, who so narrowly escaped cap- ture after the battle of Gaines's Mill, fell into the hands of the enemy in this battle, and was carried a prisoner to Eichmond. Malvern Hill forms a kind of table land sloping toward Rich- mond. In front the ground is open, and be- hind that is a broken and thickly wooded country, with a long swamp passable at only a few places. General McClellan posted the left and centre of his Battle of Malvern Hill. -.* i tth army on Malvern Mill, and the right in a line through the woods running back to the James Eiver at a place called Haxall. The positions of the dif- ferent commanders are shown in the accompanying map. As Lee was expected to attack on the left, the most troops were placed there, and the gunboats were so stationed in the river that they could give their aid if necessary. General Lee got all his forces together again in the morning of Tuesday, July 1, and followed the TJnjon troops, but on ac- 1862.] BATTLE OF MALVERN HILL. ' 269 count of the difficulty of the ground he did not get ready to attack until late in the afternoon. He had made up his mind to carry the heights by storm, and to "drive the invaders into the James." The battle began by an artillery duel, which was followed by an unsuccessful attack of infantry on Couch's divi- sion, the Confederates being driven back in confusion. Another heavy attack on Porter's corps, on the left of the Union line, was also repulsed, and for a short time there was a lull in the fighting. But about six o'clock still another determined effort was made to storm the positions held by Porter and Couch. After a heavy fire from artillery, the Confederates rushed up the hill with fixed bayonets, but they were met with a fire of cannon and musketry which cut them down by hundreds. At the same time the gunboats in the river were throwing into their lines heavy shells, which burst with a dreadful noise, tearing up the earth and trees, and doing great execution. The Con- federates struggled bravely, but the effort was too much for them, and by nine o'clock they were repulsed at all points and driven from the field. This battle, which is called the battle of Malvern Hill, ended in a loss to the Confederates of about five thousand men, while the Union troops did not lose more than a third as many. But although it was a victory for the Union arms, it had all the effect of a defeat, for General McClellan, feeling that his position was not a safe one, again ordered a re- treat. During the night the troops took up once more their weary march. The next day was rainy, hut as soon as McClel- lan's purpose was discovered, Lee prepared to follow again. The Union army had disappeared into a thickly wooded swamp, and it was soon found out that it had crossed the morass by a single narrow road, and taken a position at Harrison's Landing, on the James Eiver, where it was protected by the gunboats, and where provisions could be safely brought to it. On the 8th of July, General Lee withdrew his army within the defences of Eichmond. Thus ended what is commonly called the seven days' fight before Eichmond, but the fighting really ended at the close of July 1, the sixth day. McClellan's retreat continued during the seventh day, and he was not entirely settled in his new position until July 3, the eighth day after Lee's attack began. General McClellan gives his whole loss during this movement 270 SEVEN DAYS' FIGHT. [1862. as 15,249. But General Lee in his report estimates it as much greater, and claims that he took ten thousand prisoners, thirty- five thousand stand of small arms, and fifty-two pieces of artil- lery. The Confederate loss is not fully known, but it is sup- posed to have been more than nineteen thousand. As soon as the army reached the James, the Prince de Join- ville and his nephews, the Comte de Paris and the Due de Chartres, left by a gunboat for Fortress Monroe. They were sorry to leave, as they had made many friends, but urgent mat- ters called them to Europe, and they were obliged to bring their military service in the United States to a sudden close. The young princes had performed their duties nobly during the seven days' fight, and had especially distinguished themselves in the battle at Gaines's Mills, where, attached to the staff of General Porter, they freely endangered their lives in aiding to reform the broken lines. In courage, fidelity, and activity they were excelled by none, and their brother officers who had shared the privations and dangers of the field with them saw their departure with regret. The news of the retreat of the Army of the Potomac from its position before Richmond to the James River caused great excitement and anxiety throughout the loyal States, and Presi- dent Lincoln decided to call for an additional force of three hundred thousand men. Desirous of learning the exact condi- tion of affairs on the James, he visited the headquarters of General McClellan. July 8, and reviewed the army, which he found to consist then of eighty-six thousand men. Mr. Lin- coln was fearful that General Lee's retirement toward Richmond meant an advance on Washington, and he suggested that the army should leave the Peninsula and return to Washington. But General McClellan opposed this, for he believed that with proper aid from the government Richmond might easily be taken from his new position. CHAPTER XXIIL POPE'S CAMPAIGN. General Pope and the Army of Virginia.— Pope's Address to his Soldiers.— Halleck as General-in-Chief.— Lee's Strategy.— Battle of Cedar Mountain.— Stuart's Ride around Pope.— Pope's Uniform.— Stonewall Jackson behind Pope.— Fight at Bris- tow Station.— The Second Battle of Bull Run.— Pope Deceived.— Battle of Chan- tilly.— Pope Shows his Back.— Death of Phil Kearny.— Pope Resigns and Goes West.— McClellan again.— Pope's Charges against Porter.— Lee's Successful Cam- paign.— The Confederates Cross the Potomac— Cool Reception in Maryland.— Barbara Frietchie and Stonewall Jackson. WHILE these things had been taking place before Rich- mond, the forces under Fremont, Banks, and McDowell had been brought together and consolidated into the Army of Virginia, the command of which had been given to Major Gen- eral John Pope. As Fremont objected to serving under an officer who had been under his command in the West, his corps was given to General Sigel. General Pope, who had had some military experience in General Halleck's department, had come to Washington with singular notions about the methods of fighting in the East and the West, and soon after taking com- mand he issued a bombastic address to his army, in which he cast reflections on the generals who had preceded him, and boasted of what he himself intended to do. "I have come to you," he said, "from the West, where we have always seen the backs of our enemies — from an army whose business it has been to seek the adversary, and to beat him when found." This made him unpopular with the Eastern soldiers, and created ill- feeling against him among the officers. It soon became evident that General Pope's ideas of con- ducting the war were so different from those of General McClel- lan and other officers in command of his army that they could not act in harmony unless they had some officer over them; so Major-General Halleck was called from the West and made general-in-chief of all the armies of the United States. In this position of course he outranked both officers, and both had to obey his orders. He agreed with General Pope in criticising McClellan's movement to the James River, and insisted that the Army of the Potomac should be removed from the Penin- 272 POPE'S CAMPAIGN. [1862. sula and brought back before Washington. This was precisely , what General Lee wished to bring about, for McClellan's army was still very strong and, while holding a position almost im- possible to be successfully attacked, continually threatened Eichmond. President Lincoln had promised to send General McClellan twenty thousand men from Burnside's department in North Carolina, and with this addition to his army McClel- lan intended to advance once more against Eichmond. Lee finally concluded that the best way to get rid of McClel- lan would be to attack Pope's army and thus threaten Wash- ington again, for he knew through his spies of nearly every- thing going on there, and he felt that such a movement would frighten the politicians and bring such a pressure to bear on Mr. Lincoln that he would be forced to recall the Army of the Potomac. He therefore sent Stonewall Jackson to Gordonsville, toward which Pope appeared to be mov- ing. Gordonsville was an important railroad place, on the line of the railway connecting Eichmond with the Shenandoah Valley and with southwestern Virginia. Pope was then on the other side of the Eapidan with about forty thousand men, and Jackson, finding him too strong to attack, w r aited at Gordonsville for reinforcements. He was soon joined by A. P. Hill, and he then crossed the Eapidan in search of Pope. On the 9th of August part of his force, under General Ewell, attacked General Banks's corps at Cedar Mountain, and after a hard fight defeated it. Banks fell back, pursued by the enemy, and Jackson, after holding the battle-field two days, recrossed the Eapidan to Gordons- ville. He was soon after joined by Lee with Longstreet's divi- sion and Stuart's cavalry, and moved forward again across the Eapidan. Pope then fell back behind the Eappahannock. Lee followed, and tried to find a place to cross the river, but all Henry Wager Halleck. 1862.] JACKSON BEHIND POPE. 273 the fords were so strongly guarded that he could not force a passage. In the mean time Stuart, with fifteen hundred cavalry, rode around behind Pope's army one dark and stormy night (Aug. 22), with the intention of cutting the railroad. By chance he struck Pope's headquarters at Catlett's Station, and captured his baggage and his official papers, which gave General Lee full information about the number of his troops, his position, and his designs. Stuart burned a few army wagons and carried off about three hundred prisoners and some booty. Among the spoils was General Pope's dress uniform coat, which Stuart said paid him for his hat and cape which some Union Cavalry had captured a short time before. On his return he dressed up a negro in Pope's uniform, shoulder-straps and all, and made him ride on a mule beside him through the streets of Warrenton, bearing on his back a placard with the inscription: NO RETREAT ! ON TO RICHMOND ! The information that Lee had obtained from Pope's papers induced him to divide his army and send part of it to cut off Pope from Washington. This dangerous duty was given to Stonewall Jackson, who marched rapidly up the river and, pass- ing the Bull Run Mountains through Thoroughfare Gap, reached Bnstow Station, on the Orange and Alexandria Rail- road, on the evening of August 26. This was behind Pope and between him and Washington. From there he sent Stuart with his cavalry to Manassas Junction. Stuart reached there before midnight, surprised the post, captured three hundred prisoners, eight guns, ten locomotives, seven trains of cars, and immense quantities of stores. All of the stores and other things that could not be used were burned. Pope had been deceived by Jackson's movement, but as soon as he understood it he began to fall back toward Manassas in three columns. General Hooker's column had a light near Bristow Station with a part of Jackson's force, under Ewell, and defeated it. Pope ordered McDowell to move from Gaines- ville toward Manassas on the morning of August 28, saying "we shall bag the whole crowd." Jackson's position was now a very dangerous one, for the main body of Lee's army was still two days' march away and Pope was closing in on him with a greatly superior force. He 274 POPE'S CAMPAIGN. [1862. moved quickly through Centreville and then turned westward toward Thoroughfare Gap in order to meet Longstreet, who was coming from that direction. Toward evening of August 28 Jackson reached the old battle-ground of Bull Bun. The ad- vance of McDowell's corps, which was close behind, was attacked furiously by Jackson. The fight raged until night, with con- siderable loss to both sides, but the advantage was with the Confederates. General Ewell was badly wounded in this battle and lost a leg. On the next morning the battle was renewed by General Sigel's corps. Sigel gained ground until about ten o'clock, when Jackson was reinforced by Longstreet's corps, which had marched from Thoroughfare Gap. At noon Kearny came to Sigel's aid, and soon after other parts of the Union army arrived, and the struggle continued until night fell. Pope wrote to Washington that a terrific battle had been fought, which "lasted from daylight until dark, by which time the enemy was driven from the field, which I now occupy." Deceived the next morning by the appearance of the retreat of Lee's troops, he ordered McDowell to pursue, telegraphing to Washington that the enemy was "retreating to the mountains." But General McDowell soon found out that this was a mistake, and the movement resulted in a bloody battle in which the Union forces were defeated. During the night the army fell back across Bull Bun to Centrevillle, where it was joined by the corps of Franklin and Sumner from the Army of the Potomac. These two battles (Aug. 29 and 30) are sometimes called the Second Bull Bun or Second Manassas; but the name is some- times given only to the second battle, the first (Aug. 29) being called the battle of Groveton, from a hamlet near by. Lee sent Jackson around again toward Fairfax Court-House, so as to cut off Pope from Washington. But Pope, fearing such a movement, had fallen back, and on September 1st Jack- son attacked his right at a place called Chantilly. He was re- pulsed after a short but severe fight, and on the next day, by order of General Halleck, the army was marched back to the Potomac and withdrawn within the defences of Washington. One of the greatest losses suffered by the Union army in this campaign was that of Major-General Philip Kaarny, who was killed at Chantilly. He was born in New York (1815), and 1862.] DEATH OF KEARNY. 275 studied law, but when twenty-two years old became a lieutenant of dragoons in the United States army. Being sent to Europe to study the French cavalry tactics, he went to Algeria, where he served in the Chasseurs d'Afrique and received the cross of the Legion of Honor for bravery. He was a captain of dragoons in the Mexican war, was made a major for gallantry at Contreras and Churubusco, and lost his left arm in a charge before the city of Mexico. After the war he again went to Europe to study, served in the French army in the great battles of Magenta and Solferino, and was a second time decorated by the Emperor Napoleon III. with the cross of the Legion of Honor. He hastened home when the Civil War broke out, was made a brigadier-general, and distinguished himself at Williamsburg, Seven Pines, Frazier's Farm, and at Second Bull Run. At Chantilly he rode forward to the front to reconnoitre, and by mistake got within the Confederate lines. He asked a Confederate soldier where a certain regiment was posted, and seeing his blunder turned to ride away, Avhen the soldier shot him dead. His body was left on the battle-field, and was sent the next day by General Lee, who had known him well in the old army, to General Pope with a flag of truce. He was much loved by his soldiers, and those who had served under him Avore in his memory a decoration formed of a golden Mal- tese cross bearing his name, suspended by a red ribbon. While the army of Pope was thus falling back in disorder upon Washington, the capital of the nation was believed to be in the greatest danger. The politicians, who had done their utmost to bring about the downfall of McClellan, were terror- stricken and knew not which way to turn. They had no advice to give, no leader to suggest. Some even made preparations for flight. In anxiety and fear President Lincoln turned for Philip Kearny. 276 POPE'S CAMPAIGN'. [1862. aid to the only man whom he felt could save the army and the government. In company with General Halleck he went at half-past seven o'clock in the morning (Sept. 2) to General McClellan's house in Washington. "Will you," asked the President, "dare you take the com- mand in such a dangerous crisis?" McClellan, notwithstanding the many affronts which had been put upon him, promised to do what he could to save the army. He at once rode to the front and set about the task of reorganizing the troops. His old comrades received him with shouts of welcome, and every soldier felt again the confidence which Pope had never inspired them with. That general had come among them with the proud boast that he had always seen the backs of his enemies, yet he had done little else than show his own since he took command of them. General Pope, at his own request, was sent back to the West, and the Army of Virginia was united with the Army of the Potomac. During his short but disastrous cam- fitz John Porter. paigI1 General Pope had lost about thirty thousand men, while the Confederate loss had not been more than half as many. General Lee claimed that he had taken nine thousand prisoners, thirty pieces of artillery, and about twenty thousand stand of arms. General Pope asserted that his failure was due to want of help from Wash- ington and especially to the conduct of General Fitz John Porter, who, he said, "from unnecessary and unusual delays, and frequent and flagrant disregard for my orders, took no part whatever, except in the battle of the 30th of August." Pope afterward made charges against Porter, who was tried by a court-martial, and in January, 18G3, that officer was dismissed from the service and "forever disqualified from holding any office of trust or profit under the Government of the United 1862.] LEE IN MARYLAND. 277 States." General Porter's friends denied the justice of this, and claimed that he was made a sacrifice to satisfy the politi- cians at Washington. This would seem to be true, for in 1880 a new investigation was made of the charges against him, and they were proven to be false. General Lee's campaign had been thus far very successful. Only three months had passed since he took command of the army for the defence of Richmond, then menaced by a force considerably larger than his own. Yet in that short time the positions of the two armies had been completely reversed: instead of Richmond being menaced, it was now Washington, and the great force which had threatened the Confederate capi- tal was on the defensive behind its earthworks. More than that — another army, scarcely inferior to his own in numbers, had been driven back from position to position until its disor- ganized masses had been merged with the Army of the Poto- mac. No Union soldiers remained between Washington and Richmond, and the Confederates were free to gather the rich harvests of the Shenandoah Valley and of all northern Virginia. It is not to be wondered at that the Confederacy rejoiced at the tidings of Lee's successes, and that the friends of the Union were anxious and despondent. Lee knew that it would be useless to attack the strong de- fences of Washington, so he determined to move up the Poto- mac and cross that river into Maryland, which State he be- lieved was ready to rise in aid of the Confederacy if an oppor- tunity were given. He therefore marched to Leesburg, and between the 4th and 7th of September the whole Confederate army crossed the Potomac by the fords near there, and en- camped not far from Frederick in Maryland. A proclamation was at once issued in which he told the inhabitants that it was his mission to aid them in "regaining their rights" and "to restore the independence and sovereignty of their State." But Lee soon found out his mistake; the people of Maryland did not look with any favor on the " army of liberation," who were probably as ragged and dirty a force as ever marched. " Thou- sands," says Lee, "were destitute of shoes;" some wore gray uniforms and some butternut, some had caps and some felt hats. The sight of these ragged and filthy soldiers, veterans though they were of many a hard-fought field, did not excite 278 POPE'S CAMPAIGN. [1862. any enthusiasm among the people of Maryland, and the stirring notes of " Maryland, my Maryland "* fell upon deaf ears. Lee's recruiting offices were empty, and he lost more men by deser- tion than he gained for his ranks. The advance guard, led by Stonewall Jackson, entered Frederick City on the morning of Saturday, September 6, and left there on the following Wednesday. Their reception, says an account written at the time by a United States army sur- geon, who was there in charge of a hospital, "was decidedly cool; all the stores shut, no flags flying, and everything partook of a churchyard appearance." But a story has since been told that many Union flags were flying over the town when Jackson marched in, and that he ordered them all to be hauled down. Among those so treated was one on the house of an old woman named Barbara Frietchie, who patriotically displayed her flag again, hanging it by its staff from her attic window. But the story is best told by Whittier, in his stirring poem called "Barbara Frietchie." " Up rose old Barbara Frietchie then, Bowed with her fourscore years and ten; Bravest of all in Frederick town, She took up the flag the men hauled down; In her attic window the staff she set To show that one heart was loyal yet. Up the street came the rebel tread, Stonewall Jackson riding ahead. Under his slouched hat left and right He glanced: the old flag met his sight. 'Halt! ' the dust-brown ranks stood fast. 'Fire! ' out blazed the rifle-blast. It shivered the window, pane and sash; It rent the banner with seam and gash. Quick, as it fell from the broken staff, Dame Barbara snatched the silken scarf; She leaned far out on the window-sill, And shook it forth with a royal will. ' Shoot, if you must, this old gray head, But spare your country's flag,' she said. * See Appendix, page 567. 1862.] B ABB ABA FBIETCEIE. 279 A shade of sadness, a blush of shame, Over the face of the leader came; The nobler nature within him stirred To life at that woman's deed and word: ' Who touches a hair of you gray head Dies like a dog! March on! ' he said. All day long through Frederick street Sounded the tread of marching feet. All day long that free flag tost Over the heads of the rebel host." It is almost too bad to spoil so pretty a story, but a regard for the truth of history makes it necessary to say that it is probably only a fable. There was such a person as Barbara Frietchie living in Frederick at the time, but she was bedridden and helpless, and could "only move," writes her nephew in 1879,* " as she was moved, by the help of her attendants." She died about three months afterward (Dec. 18, 1862), aged ninety- six years. Her nephew says also that Stonewall Jackson's troops did not pass her house at all in the march into Freder- ick, but entered by a back street; and this is corroborated by General Ewell of the Confederate army, who was present. But it makes little difference whether the story is true or not; the patriotic Barbara Frietchie of Whittier's genius will live in the hearts of all true Americans as long as the nation shall survive. * Southern Historical Society's Papers, Vol. VII. , No. 9. CHAPTER XXIV. SOUTH MOUNTAIN.— ANTIETAM. McClellan Marches against Lee.— Welcome in Frederick.— A Fortunate Discovery. — Stonewall Jackson goes to Harper's Ferry.— Battles op South Mountain and Crampton's Gap.— Fall of Harper's Ferry.— Lee Hard Pressed. — His Position near Sharpsburg.— The Battle of Antietam.— Death of General Mansfield.— Hooker Wounded.— Summer Holds his Ground.— Burnside Attacks on the Left.— Lee Re- crosses the Potomac— A Drawn Battle.— Good-by, Sammy — I'm a Bold Sojer Boy.— Jeb Stuart in Pennsylvania.— McClellan Follows Lee.— Superseded by Burnside. — McClellan's Farewell.— A Question for General Halleck. AS soon as it was known that Lee had crossed the Potomac, General McClellan moved against him with about eighty- seven thousand men, leaving General Banks in command of the defences of Washington. As it was not known whether Lee intended to march toward Baltimore or into Pennsylvania, McClellan had to advance cautiously in such a way as to guard both Washington and Baltimore. But his movements, careful as they were, did not suit the authorities in Washington, who were still troubled with their old fears for the safety of the capital, and Halleck kept telegraphing his belief that the move- ment into Maryland was only a feint to draw the army away toward Pennsylvania, and that it was Lee's plan to turn McClel- lan's left flank and get between him and Washington. On the 12th of September McClellan reached Frederick, two days after Lee had left. A gentleman who witnessed the entrance of the Union troops from the top of a house says the sight was magnificent — nothing but moving masses of men and gleaming bayonets being visible as far as one could see. The people gave them a reception very different from that given to the Confederates: flags were displayed everywhere, stores and houses were opened, and the tired soldiers were fed with the best of food. When McClellan rode in, cheers were given on every side, handker- chiefs were waved and bouquets thrown, and men, women, and children crowded around his horse with wishes for his welfare and success. Such a welcome was very inspiring to both officers and men, for it showed that most of the people were still loyal to the Union. 1862.1 SOUTH MOUNTAIN. 281 Fortunately, one of General Lee's orders, showing the whole plan of his campaign, was found in the quarters occupied by General D. H. Hill when in Frederick, and this gave General McClellan all the information he wanted of the enemy's move- ments. General Lee's intentions in invading Maryland were to keep open communications with Richmond through the Shen- andoah Valley, and by moving through Maryland toward Penn- sylvania to draw the Union army away from Washington. He supposed that when he crossed the Potomac and advanced to Frederick Harper's Ferry would be evacuated by the Union troops there; but they still held the place, and as that cut off his supplies, which he expected to reach him through the Val- ley, he had to divide his army and send part of it under Stone- wall Jackson to capture it. McClellan, who saw how useless it was to try to hold Harper's Ferry after Lee had crossed into Maryland, had advised that its garrison should be ordered either to retreat into Pennsylvania or to cross over to Maryland Heights, on the opposite side of the river, and hold them until he came; but General Halleck thought otherwise and ordered the place to be held. General McClellan found out from Lee's lost order that Lee had thus divided his army, and immediately marched in pursuit of him. While Jackson was engaged at Harper's Ferry, Lee moved with the rest of his army toward Boonesboro. A continuation of the Blue Ridge of Virginia runs in a northeasterly direction from the Potomac through Maryland, where it is called the South Mountain range. There are two passes through this range, one called Turner's Gap, on the route from Frederick to Boonesboro, and the other Crampton's Gap, about six miles south of it. Lee hoped, after passing these gaps and getting on the west side of the mountains, that he would be rejoined by Jackson before McClellan could reach the passes, which he did not intend to defend. But McClellan pushed for- ward so fast that his advance was seen approaching South Mountain on the afternoon of September 13. Lee then saw that he would have to defend the passes in order to gain time for Jackson to come up. So he recalled his troops and prepared to resist the passage of the Union forces. On the next day a severe fight took place, the right wing of the Union army, under General Burnside, attacking Turner's Gap, and the left, 282 80 UTH MO UNTAIN. —ANTIETAM. [1862. under General Franklin, Crampton's Gap. The fight at Tur- ner's Gap is commonly called the battle of South Mountain, the other the battle of Crampton's Gap. The ground near Turner's Gap was so difficult that little artillery could be used; but the Confederates had the advantage, for their riflemen fought from behind trees, rocks, and stone walls, as the Union soldiers pushed their way up the steep hillsides. By four o'clock in the afternoon there was heavy fighting all along the mountain, the Confederates falling slowly back, bravely contesting every foot of the ground. By sunset the Union troops had won the crest of the mountain, but with a less of fifteen hundred men, among whom Was General Reno, command- er of the Ninth Corps. The Confederate loss was about twice as many, one half of whom were prison- ers. Among their killed was General Garland. During the night the Confederates, seeing that they could no longer hold the pass, withdrew, and the next morning the right and centre of the Union army marched through to the west side of the moun- tains. At Crampton's Gap General Franklin forced his way in a similar manner to the top of the mountain, with a loss of about five hundred, the Confederates losing as many, and by night his advance had reached Pleasant Valley, west of the mountains. Crampton's Gap is only four or five miles from Maryland Heights, opposite Harper's Ferry, and General Franklin was now able to go to the aid of Colonel Miles, who commanded at Harper's Ferry. By General McClellan's orders he moved in that direction at daylight the next morning, but the time gained by Lee in defending the passes had been sufficient to enable Jackson to effect his purpose. Although Colonel Miles had sent word to McClellan on the morning of the 14th that he William B. Franklin. 1862.] SURRENDER OF HARPER'S FERRY. 283 could hold out for two days, he surrendered at eight o'clock on the morning of the 15th, and when Franklin advanced toward Maryland Heights he was met by the Confederates in such force W / i ^ lO ^■^s&Yx k ^ I NATIONAL. I CONFEDERATE Plan of the Battle of Antietam. that he did not dare to attack them. Colonel Miles was killed by a cannon-shot just as he had hoisted the white flag in token of surrender. He had with him about fourteen thousand men, 284 SOUTH MOUNTAIN— ANTIETAM. [1862. of whom twenty-five hundred were cavalry; the cavalry escaped on the night of the 14th, but the remainder, eleven thousand five hundred men, fell into Jackson's hands. Among the other captures were seventy-three guns, thirteen thousand small-arms, many wagons, and large quantities of supplies. Jackson left A. P. Hill to arrange the terms of the surrender, and started at once to rejoin Lee, who was anxiously awaiting his coming near Sharpsburg, for the Confederate commander, hard pressed by McClellan, had been forced to fall back toward the Potomac so as to effect a junction of his divided army. On Monday, Sep- tember 15, he took up a position on the west side of Antietam Creek, between that stream and Sharpsburg. On the next morning Jackson reached him with part of the troops which had captured Harper's Ferry, but even then, so great had been his losses, his whole force did not amount to more than forty thousand men. But he occupied a very strong position on rocky heights, with his right and centre on Antietam Creek and his left resting on the Potomac Eiver. The few fords of the stream were difficult to cross, but there were four stone bridges, three of which were strongly defended by batteries and rifle-pits. McClellan's advance reached the cast side of the Antietam on the same afternoon, but not in sufficient force to make an attack. During the next morning the rest of the Union army arrived, and preparations were made for battle. The upper bridge, marked No. 1 in the map, was found to be unguarded, and over this Hooker's corps crossed in the after- noon of the 16th. A sharp skirmish took place, which lasted until dark, when both armies rested for the night. The two lines lay so near each other that six Confederates were captured by the Union pickets. The men did not sleep much, for there were frequent alarms during the night, and when morning dawned both sides were ready to renew the fight. Between the two were open fields and cornfields, and here and there a patch of woods. During the night General Mansfield's corps crossed by the same bridge and took a position about a mile behind Hooker's troops. At dawn the battle opened furiously and raged all along the line with varying success, the Union forces at one time advancing a little and then falling back again before the Con- federate fire. Many of the Union troops were the same men 1862.] HOOKER WOUNDED. 285 who had retreated with Pope from Manassas, but they had con- fidence in Hooker and kept to their work with a will. Across a cornfield, over fences, and into the woods beyond they drove the enemy, closing up their shattered lines and cheering as they went. But at the edge of the woods they were met by fresh troops, who poured a volley of musketry into their ranks, and as they fell back sullenly, leaving the fields covered with their dead and dying, the Confederates pressed them back in turn with loud yells. Again fresh brigades of Union troops drove their foes through fields and into the woods, but the Confederates still kept up a deadly fire. General Hartsuff was soon severely wounded, and General Mansfield, whose corps had come into the fight,fell mortally wound- ed. General Hooker saw the necessity of taking the woods, from which the musketry fire grew hotter and hotter. He rode for- ward to a little hill, dis- mounted and went to the front on foot. Having seen all he wished, he returned to his horse and remounted. He was a conspicuous sight, for he rode a white horse, and he had gone but a few paces when he was shot by a ball through the foot. Three men fell close beside him. He kept on his horse for a few minutes, but pain soon forced him to leave. Shouting his orders to carry the woods and hold them, he was carried from the field just as Sumner came up with his corps. General Sedgwick's division was. in advance. That gallant soldier did his best to force back the Con- federate line, and succeeded in winning the woods as far as the Dunker Church, seen near the middle of the map, but again the enemy rallied and attacked in force, and his division was driven back in confusion, and he hi-mself was three times wounded. At one o'clock everything looked gloomy. Hooker was wounded and Mansfield killed, and their corps were too badly Edwin V. Sumner. 286 SOUTH MOUNTAIN.— ANTIET AM. [1862. cut up to be relied upon; and Sumner, who had also lost heavily, was unable to advance. A lull took place in the fight, for the Confederates on their side seemed unable to advance. But soon after Franklin's corps came upon the field, and the fresh troops dashed forward and drove the enemy from the fields and woods in gallant style. Franklin wished to push further, but Sumner thought the movement too dangerous. When night fell the Union troops held the ground they had won, but the Confederates were still in force in their front. Both sides were nearly worn out by the long and terrible struggle, and the ground which had been won and lost many times during the day was thickly strewn with the dreadful evidences of the fight. While the battle had been raging so furiously on the right of the Union line, what had been doing on the left, where Gene- ral Burnside was in command? General McClellan had ordered Burnside to hold himself in readiness to take the bridge (No. 3) in his front and to drive the enemy from the heights beyond. From early dawn both Porter, who was in the Union centre, and Burnside, on the left, had kept up a cannonade on the ene- my's positions across the creek. The Confederates replied, and one of their first shots went through a house where Burnside had his headquarters, covering him and his staff officers with a shower of plaster. About eight o'clock in the morning McClellan ordered Burnside to take the bridge, carry the hills in front, and ad- vance toward Sharpsburg; but he attacked so cautiously, to save his men, that it was nearly one o'clock before he was able to cross. He then advanced slowly up the hills in front, and by four o'clock had driven the Confederates nearly to Sharpsburg. But the close of the battle on the Union right enabled Lee to send reinforcements from that part of the field, and Burnside was soon forced back nearly to the bridge, where the pursuit was stopped by the fire of the Union artillery on the east side of the Antietam. Darkness soon set in and ended the battle in this part of the field also. It is thought that if Burnside had succeeded in crossing earlier, while the fight was raging on the Union righc, Lee, unable to spare any troops from that part of the field, would certainly have been captured with his army; for if Burnside had got to the rear of Sharpsburg, Lee would have been cut off from the ford of the Potomac. mt] LEE'S RETREAT. 287 Both parties slept on their arms, ready to renew the fight in the morning. The Union troops slept where darkness found them, but the Confederates drew their lines during the night a little nearer to Sharpsburg. The Union loss during the day was about twelve thousand five hundred; that of the Confeder- ates was probably nearly the same. General McClellan concluded that his army was not in a condition to renew the battle on the 18th, so the day was spent in removing the wounded, burying the dead, collecting strag- glers, and making preparations to open the fight again on Friday, the 19th; but when Friday came there was no enemy to attack; Lee had crossed the river during the night and was, with all that was left of his army, safe in Virginia. Part of General Porter's corps was sent in pursuit across the Potomac, but after advancing a short distance it was attacked by the rear guard of the Confederates under A. P. Hill and driven back across the river with great loss. Thus ended the battle of Antietam, called by the Confeder- ates the battle of Sharpsburg. It is generally looked upon as a victory for the Union, because it ended Lee's invasion of Mary- land and forced him back into Virginia; but it was really a drawn battle, for neither side had gained anything on the night of the 17th. General Lee fought the battle with about forty thousand men, all of whom were engaged in the fight. McClel- lan had under his command more than twice as many, but only about fifty-five thousand took part in the battle. General McClellan, in his report, estimates the Confederate army at ninety-seven thousand, and his belief in Lee's superior numbers was probably one of the principal reasons which induced him not to continue the battle on the morning of the 18th. His failure to do this has been severely criticised, and it is generally thought that Lee's army might have been captured or destroyed had he done so. But McClellan says that his troops were not in fit condition to fight again on the next day; that they were overcome by fatigue, that the supply trains were in the rear, that ammunition was nearly out, and that many of the men were suffering from hunger. Indeed, both armies were unfit for a further struggle, and while McClellan waited to recruit his men near the scene of the battle, Lee retired to "Winchester for the same purpose. Lee's entire loss during the campaign SOUTH MOUNTAIN— ANTIETAM. [1862. in Maryland was about twenty thousand men. He also lost thirteen cannon, fifteen thousand small-arms, and thirty-nine flags. Among the incidents of the battle of Antietam is a story told of General Sumner. Having occasion to send an aid to one of the most exposed parts of the field during the thickest of the fight, he selected his son, then a captain on his staff, for the duty. Knowing the danger he would pass through, and feeling that he might never see him again, the old general em- braced him and said, " Good-by, Sammy." " Good-by, father," was the answer, and Sammy, who was only twenty-one years old, rode away. He came back safe, and the fond father met him with a shake of the hand and, "How d'ye do, Sammy?" as if he had not seen him for weeks. Another story is told of a Union soldier, a private of the First Maryland regiment. A gentleman visiting one of the hospitals at Alexandria, where the wounded were sent, found him sitting by a window with a bandage over his eyes and sing- ing at the top of his voice, " I'm a bold sojer boy." "What's your name, my good fellow?" said the gentleman. "Joe Parsons, sir." "What is the matter with you?" "Blind, sir, blind as a bat; shot at Antietam; both eyes at one clip." Poor Joe, who was only twenty years old, had been in the front, and had been shot by a ball directly through both eyes, destroying his sight forever; yet he seemed to be as happy as a lark. "It might ha' been worse," he said. "I'm thankful I'm alive, sir." At the gentleman's request, he told his story. " I was hit, yer see, and it knocked me down. I lay there all night, and in the morning the fight began again. I could stand the pain, but the balls were flyin' all round, and I wanted to get away. At last I heard a feller groanin' beyond me. ' Hello ! ' says I. " ' Hello yourself,' says he. " 'Who be yer?' says I, 'a Rob?' " 'You're a Yank,' says he. " 'So I am,' says I. ' What's the matter with you?' 1862.] JEB STtTAttTS BIDE. 289 " ' My leg's smashed/ says he. " ' Canyer see?' " 'Yes.' " 'Well,' says I, 'you're a Reb, but will you do me a little favor? ' " 'I will,' says he, 'if I kin.' " ' Well, old Butternut, I can't see nothin'. My eyes is shot out, but I kin walk. Come over yere and let's git out o' this. You pint the way and I'll tote yer off on my back.' " ' Bully for you,' says he. " So we managed to git together, and shook hands on it. I took a wink outer his canteen and he got on to my back. I did the walkin' for both, and he did the navigatin'. An' if he didn't pilot me straight to a Beb colonel's tent, a mile away, I'm a liar. But the colonel knew I couldn't do any more shootin', and didn't care to keep me; so, after three days, I came down here with the wounded boys, where I'm doing pretty well." "But you will never see the light again, my poor fellow," said the gentleman. "That's so; but can't help it, yer notice. That's my misfor- tin', not my fault, as the ole man said of his blind hoss — ' I'm a bold sojer boy,' " and the gentleman left poor blind Joe singing away as merrily as if nothing had happened. While McClellan still remained in Maryland, General Jeb Stuart, with fifteen hundred cavalry, recrossed the Potomac at Williamsport and rode entirely around the Army of the Poto- mac again, as he had done before in the Peninsula. He went as far as Chambersburg, in Pennsylvania, where he destroyed a large quantity of military stores, including five thousand mus- kets, burned the railroad buildings and machine-shops and several trains of loaded cars, and recrossed safely into Virginia. McClellan took possession of Harper's Ferry after Lee had gone down the Shenandoah Valley. By the 2d of November the whole army had crossed into Virginia and begun its march southward, passing down east of the Blue Ridge, while the Confederates marched west of it. McClellan had then more than a hundred thousand men, while Lee's force amounted to about eighty thousand. On the 7th of November the Union army was near Warrenton. Late that night, during a heavy 290 SOTJTB MOUNTAIN.— ANTIETAM. [1862. snow-storm, General McClellan was sitting in his tent talking with. General Burnside, when a messenger arrived from Wash- ington with a despatch, which he handed to General McClellan. McClellan opened and read it, and, without any change of coun- tenance or of voice, handed the paper to General Burn side, say- ing calmly: "Well, Burnside, you are to command the army." It was an order from the Secretary of "War, by direction of the President of the United States, that General McClellan be relieved of the command of the Army of the Potomac and that General Burnside should take his place. General Burnside was loth to take the command. Twice before the position had been offered him, but he had declined it because he did not feel that he was competent to manage so large an army. Besides, he had confidence in McClellan, who was his friend, and he expressed the opinion that "he could command the Army of the Potomac bet- ter than any other general in it." But the orders of the government obliged him to obey, and he re- luctantly took the com- mand (November 10). McClellan wrote a farewell address, which was read to Ambrose E. Burnside. ftjg so ldierS. In it he Said: "In parting from you, I cannot express the love and gratitude I bear you. As an army you have grown up under my care. In you I have never found doubt or coldness. The battles you have fought under my command will proudly live in our nation's history. * * * We shall ever be comrades in support- ing the constitution of our country and the nationality of its people." The soldiers of the Army of the Potomac loved "Little Mac" better than any commander they ever had, and rousing cheers were given for him when he took his departure. The old regiments who had served under him longest were especially attached to him, and even the new ones, who had lately come 1862.] LITTLE MAG. 291 to the army, shared in the feeling. " Come back, Little Mac," was the almost universal cry, as he rode by for the last time. His picture was pinned up in barracks, songs in his honor were sung around every camp-fire, and the health of Little Mac was drunk at every feast. For a long time after his removal from command the soldiers kept up a firm faith that he would yet come back to lead them. But it was not to be. Though McClellan had done noble duty in building up the army and making it ready for the great work it had yet to do, and though he was very able in planning campaigns, he was wanting, his enemies said, in executive ability — that is, the power of carrying out his plans and making them a success. Mr. Lincoln, it is said, had long felt this, but was loth to remove him, and it was not until after the seemingly unnecessary delay in following up the enemy after Antietam that he finally concluded to do it. The President never gave any reason for doing it, but he was doubt- less influenced by Mr. Chase and Mr. Stanton, both of whom were jealous of McClellan's popularity, and by the opinion of General Halleck, who had shown much opposition to McClellan, as he had also to Grant in the West. But the friends of Mc- Clellan say, on the contrary, that he was right in refusing to move after the battle of Antietam, and that Halleck was wrong in saying that all the supplies he asked for had been sent to him. This seems to be true, for even when the army finally moved, many of the men were obliged to march to Warrenton barefoot. The feeling in regard to Halleck's action in the matter is shown in the following scpiib, which went the rounds of the newsjmpers at the time: "A Question which Major-General Halleck won't Answer. If before Corinth you lay thirty days, Pleasing the foe ■with masterly delays, Failing, at last, to beat 'em; How long should you have given 'Lutle Mac,' To make all ready for a grand attack, From the day he won Antietam?" CHAPTER XXV. FREDERICKSBURG. Burnside's New Plan.— The March to Fredericksburg.— Lee Holds the Hills.— Pon- toon Bridge-building.— Sharpshooters.— The Town Shelled.— A Dangerous Cross- ing.— The Gratbacks Hunted out of their Holes.— A Brave Drummer-Boy.— The Army Crosses the River.— Battle of Fredericksburg.— Hooker's Gallant Assault. — Burnside Retreats.— Confederate Hopes.— Burnside Resigns, and Hooker Takes Command of the Army.— Winter Quarters.— Sad Condition of the Confederates. — The Ladies at Work.— Confederate Manufactures.— Wooden Shoes.— Southern Books.— A Home-made Christmas.— Picket Talks.— My Mother! my Mother!— Jackson's Resigned! LEE had sent abtrat half his army, under Longstreet, to Culpepper to head off McClellan's advance toward Rich- mond in that direction, but had kept Jackson in the Shenan- doah Valley so as to still threaten Maryland. McClellan was just about moving between these two parts of the Confederate army when he was deprived of the command. If he had been permitted to do this, it probably would have proved fatal to Lee, for he would have been unable to combine his forces in time to oppose the Union army, which, says McClellan, was never "in such excellent condition to fight a great battle." Burnside, who took command on the 10th of November, acted still more cautiously than McClellan. His army had then grown to one hundred and twenty-five thousand men, but instead of moving forward to bring on a battle with Lee, as McClellan had intended to do, he spent several days in reor- ganizing it, and then made an entirely new plan of operations. His plan was to march to Fredericksburg, and then to move from there toward Richmond. Lee saw through his design, and while the Union army marched toward Fredericksburg on the upper side of the Rappahannock, the Confederates moved in the same direction on the other side. Burnside had several days the start, and the advance of his army, under Sumner, reached Falmouth, nearly opposite Fredericksburg, on the 17th of November. The bridges had been destroyed, but there were several fords, and Sumner wanted to cross at once and take possession of the heights behind the townj but Burnside did 1862.] PONTOON BRIDGES. 293 not think it best to do it so soon. The consequence was that before the end of November Lee's army had possession of all the hills, and had strongly fortified them, so that it was impos- sible for the Union army to take them without fighting a great battle. By the 10th of December Burnside was ready to cross the river, and during the night of that day about a hundred and fifty cannons were posted on Stafford Hills to protect the men who were to build the pontoon bridges — that is, floating bridges built on flat-bottomed boats, or anything which will bear up a road platform. The engineers began to work during a heavy fog early the next morning, but the Confederate riflemen, who were posted behind stone houses and walls along the river, soon discovered them and kept up so hot a fire that they could not work. It was soon seen that little could be done unless the sharpshooters could be driven away, and at ten o'clock the bat- teries were opened on the town. Fifty rounds were fired from each gun, but it was so foggy that for a long time no one could see that any damage was done; but by and by columns of smoke rising above the mist showed that the town had been set on fire by the shells. Another effort to build the bridges failed, and at last volunteers were called for to cross over in boats and drive out the riflemen. A Michigan and a Massachusetts regiment were selected for the dangerous duty. The men ran down the steep river-bank and hid for a while behind the piles of lumber collected there to build the bridge with, exchanging shots with the sharpshooters opposite, whom they could now easily see. In a few minutes they made a rush for the pontoon boats, twenty-five or thirty men getting into each, and pushed off. The oarsmen bent to their oars, while crack! crack! crack! went the rifles all along in front of them. But the men stooped low, and in a few minutes the boats were under the shelter of the opposite side. Another rush up the opposite bank, and the gray- backs scampered out of their holes like so many rats, and away they went through the streets followed by the bluebirds. Many of them got away, but more than a hundred were sent back on the pontoon boats as prisoners. Among those who crossed to attack the sharpshooters was the drummer of the Michigan regiment, who was just twelve years old that day. He jumped into one of the boats with the 294 FREDERICKSB URG. [1862. rest, with his drum slung on his back, but his captain ordered him back, saying, "You are too small for such business." "May I help push off the boat, Captain?" asked the boy. " Yes," was the answer. But the boy, not to be cheated out of going, purposely clung to the side of the boat when it slid off into the stream, and was dragged into the water, and the men had to take him in. Sev- eral in his boat were killed, and as he went up the river-bank his drum was torn in pieces by a piece of shell, but he bravely seized a musket belonging to one of his dead comrades and Scene in Fredericksburg after the Bombardment. fought until the Confederates were all driven out of their hiding-places. He was much praised for his gallantry, and was given a beautiful new drum; but friends who took an interest in him procured his release from the army, gave him a home, and had him educated. The bridges were now finished, and on the 11th and 12th the army crossed the river. General Franklin had meanwhile built two more bridges further down the river, near the site of the house where George Washington lived in his childhood, and marched a great part of his troops over, and during the night of December 12 the Army of the Totomac lay on its arms 1862.] BOMBARDMENT OF FREDERICKSBURG. 295 ready to open the battle in the morning. Fredericksburg pre- sented a sad appearance. Many buildings had been badly dam- aged during the bombardment, several houses were still smok- ing, and the streets were filled with furniture, which had been Plan of the Battle of Fredericksburg. carried out of the dwellings after they had been set on fire by the shells. The few inhabitants who remained in their houses had taken refuge in their cellars, and fortunately none had been killed. 296 FREDERICKS!! URO. [1862. The Army of the Potomac was now composed of three grand divisions, under the command of Generals Sumner, Hooker, and Franklin. The position of each division after crossing the river and the sites of the several bridges ave clearly shown in the map. The Confederates occupied the range of hills back of the town, their artillery commanding all the open ground in front over which the Union troops would have to pass. Stone- wallJackson commanded on their right and Longstreet on their left. The morning was very foggy, and it did not clear until about eleven o'clock. General Franklin then opened the battle by sending General Meade to attack Jackson, but through some misunderstanding of orders he used only a small part of his fifty- five thousand men. Meade forced the enemy from their first lines and reached the top of the hills, but not being aided in time, was driven back with great loss. In the mean time Sumner on the right had attacked the enemy in his front. Just back of the town is a height called Marye's Hill, from Mr. Marye, whose residence ~. was on it, which was crowned by Kg strong batteries, among them the famous Washington Artillery, of New Orleans. Along its base is a sunken road with a stone wall bor- dering the side nearest the city. In this road, which was unknown to the Union commanders, was posted a strong body of Confederate riflemen, protected by the wall, which was about four feet high. Several attempts were made to storm this hill, but in vain. The plain in front of the hill was swept by the fire from the Confederate batteries, which made great gaps in the Union lines and compelled the survivors to fall back in disorder, amid the yells of the enemy. Again the lines were formed, and again the brave boys in blue rushed into the iron hail. The stone wall was reached, and in an instant a fringe of flame leaped from the rifles behind it, while batteries placed at the ends poured grape and canister into Washington Artillery. 1862.] DESPERATE ASSAULTS. 297 the surging mass in its front. A canopy of smoke hung like a pall over the struggle, hiding it from view, but in a few min- utes the Union lines, crushed by the dreadful fire, came reeling back and sought shelter in a little ravine that crossed the plain. A third assault was repulsed in like manner, and most of the Union generals saw that it would be useless to' sacrifice more lives in attacking so strong a position. General Burnside had watched the struggle from a hill on the other side of the river. When he saw the result of the attacks he rode down to General Hooker, whose division had not yet crossed the river, and exclaimed in desperation: " That crest must be carried to-night." Under his orders Hooker crossed over, but after consulting with the other officers, all of whom agreed with him that such an attack would be only send- ing the men to certain death, he rode back and. tried to per- suade Burnside not to try it again. But Burnside insisted, and ordered a fresh assault. Hooker began with a fierce artillery fire, hoping to silence the Confederate batteries on the hill, and about sunset ordered General Humphrey to assault the hill with four thousand men. The soldiers laid aside their, knapsacks and overcoats, and moved forward with empty muskets, ex- pecting to storm the works with the bayonet. They rushed forward bravely, and reached the stone wall, where they were met with a fire such as had thrown their comrades into confu- sion before, and the whole column was driven swiftly back, more than seventeen hundred of their number being left behind killed or wounded. Night now put an end to the battle, in which the Unionists had lost more than twelve thousand men, while the Confederate loss had been little more than five thou- sand. General Burnside was determined to continue the fight in the morning, and was only prevented from doing so by the opinion of all his principal officers that the enemy's position was too strong to be taken. The army lay two days in and around Fredericksburg, and on the night of December 15, during a violent storm of wind and rain, recrossed the river and again occupied its old position on Stafford Hills. When the news of the victory reached Eichmond there was great rejoicing, and it was fully expected that General Leo would destroy Burnside's army, which was supposed to be in a very perilous position with the river at its back. Indeed, Burn- 298 FREDERICKSB UHG. [1862. side was in much the same predicament as Lee himself had been at Antietam, although he was much stronger in numbers than the Confederate general had been at that time; and Lee has been blamed nearly as much as McClellan for not following up his success on the following clay. But Lee says that Burn- side's attack had been so easily repulsed that he expected it would be renewed on the next day, and he thought it best to keep his strong position, where he was sure of victory, rather than go down into the plain, where his men would have been under the fire of the Union guns from Stafford Hills. He knew, too, that Burnside was stronger than he was, and he did not know how much he had suffered in the at- tack. About a fortnight later General Burnside planned another move- ment against Kichmond, intending to cross the river lower down, when he was suddenly called to Washington by President Lincoln. The President told him that he had heard from officers in his army that there was much dissatisfaction among the troops, and that it was feared that another large forward movement would end in a great disaster. General Burnside was thus placed in a very unfortunate position : he had the con- fidence of neither his officers nor his men, yet he was kept by the government in a command for which he felt he was not fitted, and which he had been obliged to take against his wishes. To his honor be it said that he took upon himself all the responsibility for the great disaster which had befallen the Union arms. But his disagreements with his officers continu- ing, he prepared shortly afterward an order dismissing from the army some of its principal generals, including Generals Hooker and Franklin, and asked the President either to approve it or to accept his resignation. As it was impossible to dismiss Joseph E. Hooker. 1862.] WINTER QUAETEB8. 299 all the best officers of the Army of the Potomac, General Burn- side's resignation was accepted and the command was given to Major-General Joseph Hooker. At the same time General Franklin was relieved from duty and General Sumner was ap- pointed to the command of the Department of the Missouri, but the latter soon after died. General Burnside was given command of the Department of the Ohio. The Army of the Potomac now went into winter quarters on the banks of the Rappahannock, where the soldiers built huts and cabins and made themselves as comfortable as they could. The Confeder- ates followed their example, and the two armies lay inactive, within sight of each other, but with the river rolling between them, until spring once more made military movements prac- ticable. But how different was the condition of these two great bodies of men! The Union army was as well provided for as any which ever took the field: it was furnished with good clothing, warm blankets, and the best of food, and what the government did not supply the soldiers was sent to them by sanitary commissioners and kind friends at home. Indeed, so careful were people at home of their brave defenders in the field that not only necessities but even luxuries, such as sweet- meats and preserves, were freely sent to them. The govern- ment carried all these things to the army free of expense, tak- ing care only that liquor should not be sent. But a great deal was smuggled into the camps in queer ways, packed in clothing or in little flasks hidden in loaves of bread or of cake. A story is told of an Irish woman in a Western city who went through the market one day looking for a very large chicken. On being shown one, she asked if it would hold a pint flask. The market- man was curious to know why she wanted a chicken for such a purpose, and she finally explained to him that she intended to cook the chicken, put the flask in full of whiskey for stuffing, and send it to her husband in camp. The sutlers, or men who follow the army to sell provisions and other things to the soldiers, often supplied them with liquor, and the soldiers were very clever about hiding it from the officers. One day a soldier wasuseen coming from the sut- ler's with a tin coffee-pot in his hand. "What have you there?" asked an officer whom he met. 300 Fredericksburg. [m& "Milk, sir," replied the soldier. " Let me see. Pour out a little." The soldier did as he Avas ordered, and the officer, seeing milk run out, said "All right," and passed on. But when the man reached his tent, he showed his friends, who were awaiting him there, his coffee-pot full of whiskey. He had stopped the bottom of the spout with a cork and filled only that part with milk. The poor Confederates, on the contrary, had very few of the comforts of life. Many of them were without suitable clothing, hats, or shoes, and few of them had decent blankets to protect them from the sleet and snow. Their food, too, was seldom what it should be. So many of the Southern ports had been closed during the year either by capture or by the strict enforcement of the blockade that fewer supplies than usual had been brought in. General Lee had Imped to make up for this by captures in Maryland and elsewhere in the North, but the campaign had proved a failure and the shattered army had fallen back into Virginia only to be called upon for fresh efforts against its better-clad, better-fed, and better-armed enemy. It is almost impossible to toll the sufferings of the poor privates who trudged through that terrible campaign that lasted from the time of leaving Richmond until it went into winter quar- ters on the Rappahannock. In an appeal to the people of the South for aid they were likened to those endured by the French in their dreadful retreat from Moscow. This appeal was bravely answered, especially by the ladies. Carpets were taken up from the floors of hotels and private houses and made into overcoats and blankets, and beds were stripped of their coverings and sent to the soldiers on the Rappahannock. Women, young and old, rich and poor, went to knitting socks and mittens, and many plans were devised for furnishing shoes and hats. Much food, too, was collected and sent to the suffering soldiers at the risk of want at home; for the South had already begun to feel severely the privations brought on by the war, and only the rich could buy anything more than the bare necessities of life. It is interesting to note some of the means taken to supply the daily wants of the people, thus nearly cut off from the world around them. It must be remembered that the South- ern States had been engaged almost exclusively in planting and 1862.] CONFEDERATE WANTS. 301 had depended on Europe and on the Northern States for manu- factured articles. They therefore felt greatly the need of such useful things as cloth, leather, and paper. All sorts of ways were devised to supply these. Old-fashioned looms were set up and ladies wove homespun cloths in their homes. Cotton cloths were easily made, but wool was scarce, and the fur of rabbits and other animals was sometimes used instead of it. A lady in South Carolina made very handsome cloths, says a Charleston newspaper, with a warp of cotton and a woof or filling of rab- bit's or of coon's fur. Leather is hard to make, requiring skill and time, so the people set about finding substitutes for it. A Savannah newspaper of the time says: "It is only by custom and convenience that we are confined to leather in the making of our shoes. Any substance which will exclude water and which will endure the rubs and thumps given by the foot will do for shoes. A hatter can make an excellent shoe out of the same felt and by the same process which he uses in making hats; using one other mould and some waterproof mixture in the sole to keep out the wet." It then goes on to show how a far- mer may make very good shoes out of an old wool hat, and how soft shoes for a lady may be made out of a pair of squirrel-skins. It suggests, too, that a coarse linen called osnaburg may be pre- pared for upper leathers by boiling it in linseed oil and wax, and then blackening it, and that good soles maybe made out of old saddle-skirts, leather machine-belts, or double thicknesses of heavy cloth, with thin pieces of white oak or hickory or of birch bark between them. A factory for making wooden shoes was opened in Raleigh, North Carolina, the soles being made of gum or poplar wood and the uppers of leather. Paper, too, was very difficult to get. As soon as the stock on hand was used up, efforts were made to manufacture it; but only a very poor kind was made at first, the color of which soon changed to a splotchy gray, much like mildewed paper. Peo- ple had to use for letter-writing common brown paper and wall- paper, and even newspapers were printed on straw paper and paper hangings. Some of the books published in the South during the war are curiosities of literature; but they were con- sidered at the time very creditable specimens of home-made work. They were sold at very high, prices, but such was the demand for them that the few booksellers could not keep a suf- 302 FREDERICKSB UBG. [1862. ficient supply. The general price was $5, Confederate money, a volume. The Confederate Government had then issued so much paper money that a dollar could be exchanged for only ten cents in gold, but as it was the only money to be had it was taken freely by everybody and so was really worth a little more than that. Wood could be bought for $15 a cord, and almost everybody could keep warm. Turkeys were $10 to $12 a piece, so that all but the very poor had their Christmas feast that year; but luxuries were very high and only the wealthiest could afford wines. Home-made liquors, such as apple, peach, and black- berry brandies, sold for $30 a gallon. Fire-crackers, which every Southern boy expected at Christmas, were worth $5 a pack, so many of the children had to go without. That Cbristmas was an unfortunate one also for the colored people. They had always been accustomed to look forward to the holiday season — the week between Christmas and New Year's — as an exceptional time, when they were free to do as they pleased. On Christmas morning it had been their wont to go to Massa's or Missus's house for their "Chris'mus gifs," which had been duly provided in every household, and which were given out with a lavish band amid the smiles and thanks of Uncle Ned and Aunt Dinah. But this year, for the first time, few presents were made, for Uncle Ned's shoes had to go to the soldiers and Dinah's head - handkerchief — the gay striped or plaided hand- kerchief which the South- ern negroes so loved to bind round their hair — was missing, for none could be bought in the Confed- eracy. Indeed, the Christ- mas of 1862 was a home- made holiday in the Con- federacy, and was enlivened by few of the comforts to which the people had been accustomed. But worse was in store for them, and in the two following years they learned to look back upon it with something of pleasure, as a time when ML Newspaper Boat. 1862.] PICKET TALES. 303 they had no thought of being reduced to the straits with which they had then grown sadly familiar. During most of the time when the two armies thus lay with only the river between them, the pickets talked freely with each other while watching along the banks. They also exchanged newspapers and other things, sending them across on little boats with paper sails, and sometimes even made visits. One day a Confederate hailed some Union pickets from across the river: "I say, Yanks, if a fellow goes over there will you let him come back again?" The Union men answered " Yes," and he proceeded to pad- dle himself across on a log. In reply to a question, he said he belonged to the " Georgia Legion." One of the pickets said, "I met quite a number of your boys at South Mountain." "I suppose so, if you were there," replied the Confederate, his face growing very sad. "We left many of our boys there, among them my poor brother Will. It was a very hot place for a while, and we had to leave it in a hurry." ''That's so, Georgia, your fellows fought well there, but the Keystone boys pressed you hard. By the way, I have a likeness here" (takingit out of his pocket) " that I picked up the next morning. I have carried it ever since. You may know something about it." He handed the picture to the Confederate, who, as soon as he glanced at it, pressed it to his lips, exclaiming, "My mother! my mother!" When he had recovered from his emotion he said that his brother had the picture and must have lost it in the fight. He then asked the name of the Union man who had so kindly given him his mother's picture, saying: " There may be better times soon, and we may know each other better." He took from his pocket a small Bible in which to write the address, when another of the Union men, who had -not before said anything, cried out, "Let me see that book! It looks like one I lost at Bull Eun!" "There's where I got it, Mr. Yank," said the Confederate, as he handed it to the speaker. The Union man hastily opened it and read on the fly-leaf: "My Christmas gift to Alex. , December 25, 1860. Ella." 304 FREDERICKS!! URO. [1862. "Ah!" said he, "if I could only see the giver of that book to-day, there's but one other gift I would Avant." " What's that, Alex. ?" asked one of his comrades. " The rebellion played out and my discharge in my pocket." Just then a horseman was seen coming and the Confederate paddled himself back across the river, for the Union pickets had been ordered not to talk with those on the other side. But this order was hard to obey, and when there were no officers in sight the men daily called out to each other, cracked jokes, and even met half way to exchange tobacco, coffee, and other soldiers' necessities. "How are you, Rebs?" called out a Union picket one cold morning, a< he blew his fingers to keep them warm. "Oh! not very well to-day," was the reply. "We have suf- fered an awful loss. Jackson has resigned." "Jackson resigned!" cried the astonished Yankee. "Why, how was that?" " They removed his commissary-general* and he wouldn't stand it; so he resigned." "His commissary-general? Who was he?" "Banks," was the answer. The Union picket felt the sarcasm, for it was a common joke among the Confederates that Jackson captured all his sup- plies from Banks, and he turned away and asked no more questions. * A commissary -general is the officer having general charge of provid- ing troops with provisions, clothing, tents, etc. Spherical Case Shot. CHAPTEE XXVI. BRAGG IN KENTUCKY.— MURFREESBORO. Grant and Sherman.— Grant again in Command.— Sherman's Cotton Monet.— General Bragg Succeeds Beauregard.— Morgan's Raid into Kentucky.— Forest in Tennes- see.— Kirby Smith Enters Kentucky.— Battle of Richmond.— Bragg Captures Union Troops at Mumfordsville.— a Long Wagon Train.— Buell Marches against Bragg. Battle of Perryville.— Bragg Retreats into Tennessee.— Rosecrans Succeeds Buell.— Battle of Iuka.— Van Dorn Attacks Corinth.— Defeated by Rosecrans.— Pemberton Succeeds Van Dorn.— Bragg at Murfreesboro.— President Davis's Visit. —Cowardly Soldiers.— The Battle of Murfreesboro.— Bragg's Retreat. WE left General Halleck at Corinth, which place he had entered May 30, 1862, after its evacuation by General Beau- regard. General Halleck did not follow Beauregard, who had taken a new position at Tupelo, in Mississippi, but soon scat- tered his army in various directions. General Sherman, who was then in General Thomas's division, thinks that this army was one of the best we ever had, and that Halleck might easily have marched it to Mobile or to Vicksburg and solved with it the whole question of the war in the Mississippi Valley. He thinks that it was Halleck's plan to make a forward campaign with it, but that he was prevented by interference from Wash- ington. However this may have been, General Pope was called to Washington, General Buell was sent with the army of the Ohio toward Chattanooga, General Thomas being sent with him, and General McClernand was ordered to move toward Memphis. About this time General Grant, who had become tired of his position, asked for thirty days' leave of absence, which was given him. General Sherman, who knew that he was chafing under Halleck's slights, called on him and found him all ready for a start. He asked him why he was going away. " Sherman, you know," replied Grant. " You know that I am in the way here. I have stood it as long as I can, and can endure it no longer." "Where are you going to?" asked Sherman. "St. Louis." "Have you any business there?" "Not a bit," 306 BEAOG IN KENTUCKY.— MURFREESBORO. [1862. Sherman then begged him to stay, told him that if he went away events would go right along and he would be left out, but that if he remained some happy accident might restore him to favor and give him his true place. Grant listened to this friendly advice, and told Sherman that he would think it over, and that he would at any rate put off his journey a few days. Shortly afterward Sherman received a note from him, saying that he had concluded to take his advice; and thus Grant's services were probably spared to the Union. Soon afterward Grant was given the command of Western Tennessee, with headquar- ters in Memphis, and in July, when General Halleck was called to Washington to take McClellan's place as general-in-chief of the armies of the United States, Grant succeeded him in com- mand of the Army of the Tennessee. At the same time Sher- man was sent to take Grant's place in Memphis. When General Sherman arrived at Memphis he found the city "dead," as he says; stores, churches, and schools were closed, and no business was doing. He caused all to be opened, and started the theatres and other places of amusement again, and in a short time Memphis began to look prosperous once more. Sherman also restored the city government and set up a good police. Business men were much troubled for want of good money, and the Common Council of the city proposed to issue a kind of paper currency, some bills as low as ten cents, to help merchants to make change. But General Sherman told them this would be unlawful, and that they would soon be supplied with the "postal currency" which the United States government was about to issue. For use until this arrived, he suggested a novel kind of small change. Cotton was then worth fifty cents a pound, and he proposed that the people should put it up in pounds and parts of a pound, so as to make packages of five, ten, twenty-five, and fifty cents' worth. He told them that in Mexico soap is money, and that people do their marketing with cakes of soap. "If cotton is king," he asked, "why not use cotton for money?" Meanwhile the Confederates had not been idle. The disas- ters they had met with at New Orleans and in the West during the early part of the year had roused them to new energy. Every man who could carry a musket was forced into the ranks, even boys of sixteen years of age being taken from school and 1862.] MORGAN IN KENTUCKY. 307 sent to the camp. Their armies were therefore soon largely increased, and order and discipline was enforced in the most rigid way. General Beauregard's health having failed, he was relieved from command of the army at Tupelo, and General Bragg appointed in his place. Bragg was an officer of great ability and energy, but was not as popular as Beauregard among his troops. In July John H. Morgan, the Confederate cavalry leader, made a raid into Kentucky. He issued a proclamation, calling on the young men of Kentucky to join him, saying that he had come as the liberator of the people, and that his force was the advance of the Confederate armies which were coming. He was soon joined by several hun- dred recruits, and with more than two thousand horse- men roamed through the State, causing the greatest excitement, and plundering and destroying public prop- erty as he went. He cut telegraph wires, burned rail- way bridges and tore up rails, and advanced so near to Cincinnati as to cause great fear lest he shoi^d at- tack it. At the same time General INT. B. Forrest, the same who escaped with his cavalry from Fort Donelson, made a raid through Tennessee, captured at Murfreesboro General T. L. Crittenden and a large quantity of stores, and seriously threatened Nashville. When General Buell moved toward Chattanooga, General Bragg marched in the same direction on the other side of the Tennessee River. Bragg, who had about sixty thousand well- trained men, reached the goal first, and in the latter part of August set out to invade Kentucky. His object in this was to draw off the Union forces from Western Tennessee and Ala- bama, and to take Louisville if possible. The advance of his army, led by General E. Kirby Smith, entered Kentucky through the Cumberland Mountains from East Tennessee, and Braxton Bragg. 308 BRAGG IN KENTUCKY.— MURFREESBORO. [1862. marched northward through the State. Near Richmond he fought a battle with a superior Union force under General Man- son. The Union troops, many of whom were raw volunteers, were defeated after a three hours' fight and utterly routed, leaving nine pieces of artillery and ten thousand small-arms in the hands of the enemy. The Confederate cavalry got in the rear of the flying Unionists and took about five thousand pris- oners, among them being General Manson, who was wounded. Smith pushed on rapidly with his victorious army to Lexing- ton. The people of the State were greatly alarmed, the Legis- lature fled from Frankfort to Louisville, and many of the banks sent their specie there for safety. Smith pressed on toward Cincinnati, but finding that that city had been put in a thorough state of defence by General Lew Wallace, he turned to Frank- fort, the State capital, and waited the coming of Bragg with the main army. Bragg crossed the Cumberland River with the corps of Generals Hardee and Leonidas Polk, and entered Ken- tucky on the 5th of September, at the same time that General Lee was crossing the Potomac into Maryland. "When Bragg began to move northward Buell at first thought he intended to attack Nashville, and marched to Lebanon so as to get between him and that city; but he soon found that the Confederates were bound for Louisville, and hastened in that direction. At Mumfordsville, a station on the line of the Lou- isville and Nashville Railroad, Bragg captured a Union force of about four thousand men, and on the 1st of October joined Kirby Smith at Frankfort. Assuming that Kentucky was one of the Confederate States, he appointed a provisional governor and began to force into his army all men able to bear arms, just as had been done under the conscription law in the States controlled by the Confederates. His cavalry scoured the whole country, collecting horses, cattle, sheep, and hogs. Goods of all kinds were taken from the stores, worthless Confederate paper money being given in exchange, and the farmers were robbed of their wagons to carry southward the spoil of their own meat-houses and granaries. It is said that the wagon train that moved out of Kentucky was forty miles long, and that this was only a small part of the property taken while the army of "liberators" (as Bragg called his forces) was in the State. 1862.] BATTLE OF PEBBTVILLE. 309 While Bragg was collecting supplies Buell had marched on to Louisville, where his army was soon increased to a hundred thousand men. He then began to move toward Bragg, who fell back toward Tennessee, guarding his great trains, which moved slowly. On the 7th of October, finding that Buell was close upon him, Bragg turned, and on the next day gave him battle at Perryville. The fight was a desperate one and lasted until night put an end to it. It resulted in a repulse at all points of the Confederates, who hastily retreated during the night, leaving behind much of the property they were carrying off. In this battle, which is commonly called the battle of Per- ryville, but sometimes of Chaplin's Hills, the Union loss was 4,348, and that of the Confederates probably nearly the same. Bragg succeeded in getting into Tennessee with a large part of his spoil. The United States Govern- ment, thinking that Gen- eral Buell might have destroyed his army if he had pursued him more vigorously, soon after re- moved him from com- mand and appointed Gen- eral Rosecrans in his place. The name of the army was changed at the same time from Army of the Ohio to that of Army of the Cumberland. When General Bragg had moved northward to invade Ken- tucky, Generals Van Dorn and Price, who had been on the other side of the Mississippi Eiver, were ordered across to look after Grant. They collected their forces at Holly Springs in Mis- sissippi, and soon had there an army of forty thousand well-drilled men. Grant had his headquarters at Corinth, but part of his army was at Memphis and other parts were guarding the rail- roads in various places. In the early part of September Price seized Iuka, a little place southeast of Corinth. Grant thought he intended to cross the Tennessee to go and join Bragg, and Don Carlos Buell. 310 BRAGG IN KENTUCKY— MURFREESBORO. [1862. sent General Eosecrans after him. A battle was fought near Iuka, September 19, in which about seven hundred men Avere lost on each side, and Price retreated during the night and joined Van Dorn again. Van Dorn soon after marched with his whole force against Corinth, which had been strongly forti- fied by Generals Halleck and Grant. This was then a very important place, for it was the key to the Union line of defence through Tennessee, which lay between the armies of Van Dorn and Bragg, and prevented their junction. An immense amount of stores, of which the Confederates were much in need, was also collected there. The place was then under com- mand of General Eosecrans, who had about twenty thousand men. The Confederates attacked Eosecrans, who had taken a position three or four miles from Corinth, early in the morning of October 3, and after a hard fight captured two guns and drove his troops within their intrenchments. Van Dorn calculated on capturing the whole army the next day, and he telegraphed to Richmond that he had won a victory. But he did not know how strong the Union works were. The attack was renewed early the next morning, and the Confederates, though mowed down with grape and canister, assaulted with such desperate valor that they drove the Unionists out of one of their forts and pushed their way to the public square in the middle of the town. A hand-to-hand fight took place in the streets, and even in the yard of General Rosecrans's headquarters; but soon more Union troops came to the rescue, and the Confederates were driven in headlong flight out of the works. By noon they were repulsed on all sides, and retreated, leaving their dead and wounded where they lay. Their loss was about six thousand, while that of the Unionists, who fought mostly behind their earthworks, was little more than a third as many. General Grant, supposing that Rosecrans would win a vic- tory, had sent orders for him to pursue the enemy at once, while he sent out other troops from Jackson, under General Ord, to strike the Confederates on their flank. General Ord. attacked them in the morning of October 5, at the Hatchie River, and captured two batteries and three hundred prisoners. Gen- eral Rosecrans did not pursue Van Dorn at once, but waited until the next morning, when it was too late, for Van Dorn escaped to Holly Springs. Grant was displeased with Rosecrans 1862.] BRAGG AT MURFREESBORO. 311 for this, for lie thought that if he had pursued hotly Van Dorn's whole army might have been ruined; and many military writers think the same. Soon after this Eosecrans was transferred to the army of General Buell, of which he was given the command when that officer was removed. But the battle of Corinth was regarded as a great disaster by the Confederates, and for a time it closed military operations in that region. Van Dorn was removed from his command and his place given to Lieutenant- General John C. Pemberton. The army of General Buell had reached Bowling Green in the pursuit of Bragg, when General Buell was superseded in command by General Rosecrans. At that time the Union gar- rison which had been left in Nashville was closely beset by a Confederate force under Generals For- rest and Breckenridge; but they were driven away by General Negley, then in command there. Gen- eral Rosecrans hastened forward to relieve the place, which was still threatened, but had to re- pair the railroad to Louis- ville, over which his sup- plies were sent, and it was not until the end of No- vember that his whole army was collected at Nashville. In the meantime Bragg had marched through Knoxville to Chatta- nooga, when he was again ordered to move northward. He marched toward Nashville until he reached Murfreesboro, about forty miles from that city, and took there a strong posi- tion, which he fortified by intrenchments. Bragg was visited in Murfreesboro by President Davis, and the occasion was cele- brated by many balls and parties. Among the festivities was the marriage of General John H. Morgan, of Kentucky, to Miss Ready, of Murfreesboro. The ceremony was performed by Bishop Polk, of Louisiana, who for the time laid aside his uni- form for his clerical dress, in the presence of President Davis William S. Rosecrans. 312 BRAGG IN KENTUCKY.— 3IURFREESB0R0. [1862. and the principal officers of the army. It is said that the wed- ding guests danced on a floor covered with Union flags as a car- pet, to show how much they despised the once loved emblem of our common country. If the story is true, it is probable that those who took part in so childish a proceeding have since had cause to be ashamed of it. Bragg did not suppose that Rosecrans would move against him in winter, but the latter had been gathering provisions in Nashville and making ready for a campaign. The Confeder- ate cavalry under Morgan and others were very active, some- times capturing a supply train, and sometimes a detachment of troops. Morgan at one time took fifteen hundred prisoners, surprising them in their camp early one morning. Cowardly men often allowed them- selves to be captured in this way, for they were generally parolled by the enemy — that is, permitted to go after promising not to serve again until exchanged for Confederate prisoners — and they thus got home without the danger of deserting. General Rosecrans deter- mined to put an end to this business, if possible; so be collected about fifty men who had disgracefully surrendered, and putting night-caps adorned with red tassels on their heads, had them paraded through the streets of Nashville, preceded by drums and fifes playing the ■" Rogue's March." The sidewalks were crowded with people, who hooted them as they passed, and the cowards were glad enough when they had finished their march. Other punishments, some of which are well shown in the picture, were inflicted in the various armies during the war for drunken- ness, thieving, and other bad conduct. On the day after Christmas, 1862, General Rosecrans began the march from Nashville toward Murfreesboro, in a cold, drenching rain-storm, and on tbe 30th of December, after heavy skirmishing with the Confederate cavalry and other outposts, he took up a position on Stone River, about four miles from Punishments in the Army. 1862.] THOMAS STANDS FIRM. $\% Murfreesboro. Bragg's army occupied a long line on the other side of the river, between it and the town. Stone River, which thus separated the two armies, is only a shallow stream, fringed with cedars. The lines were so near each other that their camp-fires were in plain sight, and both lay on their arms that night in expectation of a great struggle on the morrow. The Union army numbered forty-three thousand; the Confederates probably very nearly the same, though Bragg says that he had but thirty-five thousand men of all arms. Eosecrans intended to attack Bragg early the next morning, but Bragg did not wait for him. As soon as day dawned he crossed the stream and furiously attacked the right of Rose- crans's army, which was commanded by General McCook. The valley of the river was covered with a dense fog, and the Con- federates rushed upon the Union lines from the woods so unex- pectedly that some of their guns were captured before they could be fired — the horses having just before been unhitched and led down to the river to drink. Two divisions of the right wing were driven in rout from the field, leaving their artillery and many prisoners in the hands of the enemy, and the victo- rious Confederates threw themselves with a yell on the third division. This was commanded by General Philip Sheridan, who made a brave fight against superior numbers; but at last, when nearly surrounded, he fell slowly back, having lost his train and used up all his ammunition. The right wing was thus entirely crushed, and at eleven o'clock it looked as if all of Rosecrans's army would be destroyed. It had been driven from half the ground it held in the morning, had lost many guns and prisoners, and Bragg's cavalry was in the rear destroy- ing its supply trains. The brunt of the fight now fell on General Thomas, who commanded the centre. He held the Confederates in check while Rosecrans formed a new line of defence in the rear. The artillery was quickly posted on a little hill where it could sweep the whole plain, and as the gray-coats charged out of the cedar thickets across the open ground, they were met with a storm of canister shot and lead, which hurled them back into the thickets again. Again and again they swept on, only to be driven back with immense slaughter. At last Bragg brought his reserve of seven thousand frosh men across the river, and 314 BRAGG IN KENTUCKY.— MURFMEESBOItO. [1862. made two more efforts to storm the position-, but in yam; and when night fell the two armies lay where darkness overtook them, ready to renew the fight in the morning. While the fight was raging in the cedar thickets, the birds and small animals that lived among them were nearly paralyzed with fright. Wild turkeys ran between the lines and tried to hide among the men, and many hopped over the ground like toads, apparently as tame as household pets. Some even sought protection from the men who were lying down to escape the cannon-shot, nestling under their coats and creeping among their legs, as if seeking a place of safety. Flocks of little birds, too, fluttered and circled about the field over the combatants in a state of bewilderment, as if not knowing which way to fly. When night put an end to the fighting, Bragg was sure of victory. He telegraphed to Eichmond, "God has granted us a happy New Year," and claimed that after a tea hours' battle he had driven the enemy from nearly every position, and had captured four thousand prisoners, thirty-one pieces of artillery, and two hundred wagons and teams. He had evidently ex- pected to find Rosecrans in full retreat toward Nashville in the morning, and when day dawned he was surprised to see him in order of battle. That day (New Year's) there was little fight- ing, excepting some cavalry skirmishing and artillery firing. The two armies watched each other closely, each waiting for the other to make a move, and that night they again slept on their arms. The next day Rosecrans sent a division across Stone River to try to cut Bragg off from Murfreesboro. Bragg sent Breekenridge with orders to drive the Unionists back. He partly succeeded in this, the Union troops being forced in con- fusion to the river; but there the Confederates were met by a heavy artillery fire, and in twenty minutes they lost two thou- sand men. The Union men then made a charge, forcing the Confederates back in turn, and this ended the battle. The morning of January 3 opened with a violent rain- storm, which prevented further fighting, and during that night Bragg left Murfreesboro and retreated to Tullahoma. Rose- crans was too crippled to follow, and contented himself with taking possession of Murfreesboro, where the army went into winter quarters. The losses in these dreadful battles were nearly twenty-five thousand men, of which the Union loss, in- cluding prisoners, was about fourteen thousand. CHAPTER XXVII. EMANCIPATION.— CONSCRIPTION. The Union and Slavery.— The Abolitionists.— New Ideas about Slavery.— Massa Lin- kum's Sojers.— Butler and Contrabands.— Fremont's Proclamation.— Hunter's Oit- der.— President Lincoln Proposes to Buy the Slaves.— His Letter on the Subject- Lincoln Changes his Views about Slavery.— His First Emancipation Proclamation.— His Vow.— The Second Emancipation Proclamation.— Its Effect in the South and in the North.— Arbitrary Arrests.— Spies.— Colored Soldiers.— The Conscription Bill. —Drafting.— Riots in New York. WHEN President Lincoln took the oath of office in 1861, he considered it to be his duty to save the Union with- out reference to slavery; and it was the general opinion through- out the North that slavery as an institution should not be interfered with. There were some, commonly called Abolition- ists, who wished from the beginning to destroy slavery even at the expense of the Union, but they were looked upon as fanatics by the greater part of the people. In the course of time, however, the question began to be looked at in an entirely different light. It soon became evident that slavery gave strength to the Confederacy, because slaves were used not only to raise food for the soldiers, thus permitting many white men to join the army who without them would have to cultivate the plantations themselves, but also for building forts and intrench- ments, thus lightening the labor of the soldiers and making them better able to fight. Accordingly, the President, August 6, 1861, approved an act to make free all slaves used by their owners for military purposes. As the war went on many slaves escaped from their masters and came into the Union lines. They naturally expected to be protected, for the idea had grown up in them that the war was on their account, and for their benefit. This idea they had got partly from agents of abolition societies, and partly from their own masters, who in their private talks and in public meetings before the war had freely said that "the election of Lincoln meant the abolition of slavery. They had therefore learned to look upon Mr. Lincoln as their coming saviour, who was to set them all free; and when "Massa Linkum's sojers" appeared 316 EMANCIPATION.— CONSCRIPTION. [1862. they flocked iu great numbers to the armies, with their wives and their little ones, expecting to be fed and taken care of. They were cruelly disappointed in most cases, for some Union officers refused to let them come within their lines, and some even per- mitted their masters to search for them in the camps and to carry them back into slavery. But General Butler, when in command at Fortress Monroe, saw that the keeping of runaway slaves was a military necessity, because in sending them back to their masters he was giving the Confederates valuable aid in carrying on the war. He therefore declared all such negroes "contraband of war" — that is, forfeited by the rules of war, like any other property captured from an enemy — and set them at work building fortifications for the Union instead of for their disloyal masters. General Butler's act was approved, and he was ordered to retain all slaves coming within his lines. General Fremont went much further than this. When he took control of the Department of Missouri he issued an order proclaiming all the slaves of rebels in arms in the State of Mis- souri to be free. The President did not approve this, because it was contrary to the Act of Congress of August 6, 1861, and ordered him to so change it as to make it include only slaves used for military purposes. When General David Hunter took command at Hilton Head, he issued a similar order (May 9, 1862) declaring free all slaves in Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina; but this also was annulled by order of President Lin- coln, who thought that the time had not yet come for such action. In the spring of 1862 (March 6) President Lincoln sent a message to Congress proposing that the United States should aid any State willing to agree to the abolition of slavery by buy- ing its slaves. In making this proposal he had especially in mind the Border States, in which there were comparatively few slaves. He believed that if this plan could be carried out it would end the war, beeause slavery was the real tie which bound the Border States to the other slave States, and if those States should become free States their interests would naturally lead them to ally thomselves with the other free States. Mr. Lin- coln also argued that it would be cheaper to buy and pay for the slaves at a fair rate than to continue the war. His ideas on this point are well shown in the following letter, never before 1862.] LINCOLN'S LETTER. 317 printed, which was written by him a week after his message was sent to Congress: Executive Mansion, ) Washington, March 14, 1862. J Hon. , IT. S. Senate. My dear Sik: As to the expensiveness of the plan of gradual emanci- pation with compensation, proposed in the late message, please allow me one or two brief suggestions. Less than one half day's cost of this war would pay for all the slaves in Delaware at four hundred dollars per head: Thus, all the slaves in Delaware, by the census of 1860, are. . . 1,798 400 Cost of the slaves $719,200 One day's cost of this war $2,000,000 Again, less than eighty-seven days' cost of this war would, at the same price, pay for all in Delaware, Maryland, District of Columbia, Kentucky, and Missouri. Thus, slaves in Delaware 1,798 "Maryland 87,188 " " District of Columbia 3,181 " Kentucky 225,490 " "Missouri 114,965 432,622 400 Cost of the slaves $173,048,800 Eighty-seven days' cost of the war $174,000,000 # Do you doubt that taking the initiatory steps on the part of those States and this District would shorten this war more than eighty-seven days, and thus be an actual saving of expense? A word as to the time and manner of incurring this expense. Suppose, for instance, a State devises and adopts a system by which the institution absolutely ceases therein by a named day — say January 1st, 1882. Then let the sum to be paid to such State by the United States be ascertained by tak- ing from the census of 1860 the number of slaves within the State, and mul- tiplying that number by four hundred — the United States to pay such sums to the State in twenty equal annual instalments, in six per cent bonds of the United States. The sum thus given, as to time and manner, I think would not be half as onerous as would be an equal sum, raised now, for the indefinite pros- ecution of this war; but of this you can judge as well as I. I enclose a census-table for your convenience. Yours very truly, A. Lincoln, 318 EMANCIPATION.— CONSCRIPTION. [1862. But the Border States did not then wish to give up slavery, and although Congress passed the resolution as recommended by the President, none of those States ever offered to give up their slaves and become free States in the way he suggested. So firmly did President Lincoln believe in his plan that he called a meeting of all the members of Congress from the Border States, and tried to prove to them that it would be to their in- terest to accept the offer, but they could not see what they were to gain from such a sacrifice. During the summer of 18G2 Mr. Lincoln's opinion concern- ing slavery gradually changed. The Confederates, having the slaves to work their plantations and to do other hard work, had been enabled to put into the field all the able-bodied white men in the seceded States. In this way their armies had been greatly increased, and they had been able to defeat McClellan's Penin- sula campaign, to overthrow Pope, and even to invade Mary- land and threaten Washington. As it thus became evident that slavery was a source of strength to the enemy, Mr. Lincoln at last made up his mind to strike a blow at slavery as a mili- tary necessity, believing that such an act would greatly weaken the Confederacy. He therefore prepared a proclamation warn- ing the revolted States that unless they should return to their allegiance before or by January 1, 1863, he would declare the slaves in those States to be free men. His own account of this is interesting. He says: "Things had gone on from bad to worse, until I felt that we had reached the end of our rope on the plan of operations we were pursuing; that we had about played our last card, and must change our tactics, or lose the game. I now determined on the emancipation policy: and without consulting with or the knowledge of the Cabinet, I prepared the original draft of the proclamation, and. after much anxious thought, called a Cabinet meeting on the subject." All the members of the Cabinet approved of it, but Mr. Seward suggested that it should not be published until the army had met with some success, because if it were issued then, just after the greatest disasters of the war. it would be con- sidered "our last shriek on the retreat." Mr. Lincoln saw the wisdom of this advice, and put aside the proclamation to wait for a victory. When General Lee crossed the Potomac, and 1862.] EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION. 319 General McClellan started in pursuit of him, President Lincoln believed that the time had come. "I made a solemn vow be- fore God," he says, " that if General Lee was driven back from Maryland, I would crown the result by the declaration of free- dom to the slaves." General Lee left Maryland during the night of the 19th of September, 1862, and two days afterward (Sept. 22) President Lincoln issued his proclamation declaring that all persons held as slaves in any State which, on the first day of January, 18G3, should be in rebellion against the United States, should be then and forever after free. He also declared that any State not then in rebellion should be free from the operation of the proclamation, and announced that he should recommend that all citizens who had remained loyal throughout the war should be paid for any loss in slaves. But this proclamation had no more effect than the Presi- dent's previous plan of buying the slaves in the Border States. Indeed, it rather made the seceded States stronger in their hos- tility to the government, for the principal men in those States pointed to it as proof of what they had already said — that the war was begun for the destruction of slavery and to rob them of their property in slaves, and not simply to re-establish the Union, as the Northern leaders had claimed. There was much dissatisfaction with the proclamation in the Army of the Poto- mac and among the people of the Northern States, and in the autumn elections the Democratic party, which believed that such an act was not authorized by the Constitution, gained largely. As none of the slave States paid any heed to the proc- lamation, President Lincoln issued, January 1, 1863, his second Emancipation Proclamation, in which he declared the slaves in the rebellious States to be forever free. The effect of the proclamation was at first rather different from what had been expected. The Southern people were animated to make renewed and more desperate efforts to win their independence, for all saw that there was no longer any hope of a reconstruction of the old Union — that is, of a Union with slavery in it. In a message to the Confederate Congress sent by President Davis, January 12, he declared that it had quenched the last feeling of respect for the Union which still 320 EMANCIPATION.— CONSCRIPTION. [1862. lingered in the breasts of the Southern people, and that it would unite them more resolutely than ever to sustain the Confed- eracy with money, arms, and prayers. The Emancipation Proclamation met with much opposition also in the Northern States, where there was a large party who did not believe in carrying on the war by what they considered unconstitutional means. They complained, too, of the many arbitrary acts of the government, such as the arrest of citizens without any form of law, the suppression of newspapers, and the opening of letters in the mails. There was undoubtedly great cause for complaint, and good citizens now look back with surprise at those dark days and wonder that a people call- ing themselves free should ever have been willing to submit to such abuses of their liberties; but in judging of those times we must recollect that the country was on the verge of destruction, and that every Northern city was full of Confederate spies and of people acting in the Confederate interest. There is no doubt, however, that many innocent people were imprisoned in United States forts and other prisons, and kept there for months without even being told for what they were arrested. The country was filled with spies and informers who reported every indiscreet word to the authorities in Washington. Even the army was subjected to the same treatment, camp sutlers and newspaper and letter carriers being employed to play the eaves- dropper around officers' tents, and pick up bits of conversation which were duly retailed at the headquarters of the Secret Ser- vice; and many a valuable officer lost his promotion on a charge of disloyalty, when his only crime was the making of some thoughtless remark or jest about Secretary Stanton or some of his favorites. The employment of colored soldiers in the Union armies began in earnest after the issue of the Emancipation Proclama- tion, although a few had been used previous to that. There was at first a good deal of prejudice against them, but this gradually died out, and by the end of 1863 more than fifty thousand were in the service, and before the end of the next year more than three times that number. In the spring of 1863 Congress found it necessary to follow the example of the Confederate Congress and to pass a conscrip- tion bill. Up to that time about one million two hundred 1862.] DRAFTING. 321 thousand men had volunteered in the war for the Union, but scarcely seven hundred thousand were then left in the service. So many men had been lost in the bloody battles of 18G2 and from sickness and other causes that a large number were needed to fill up the ranks, but enthusiasm for the war had died out and few volunteers came forward to take the places of the fallen and disabled. Congress therefore passed an act (March 3) for the enrollment of all able-bodied citizens, irrespective of color, between the ages of eighteen and forty-five years; and in May a draft of three hundred thousand men was ordered to be made from this enrollment. The picture shows the manner in which the draft was made. The names of all persons enrolled in the place from which soldiers were to be drafted were written on Drafting Soldiers. cards and put into a large round tin box arranged to turn like a wheel. The cards were thoroughly mixed up by turning the wheel round a few times, when a person, blindfolded, put his hand in through the door, and drew out one of the cards. This was handed to an officer, who read the name aloud, and it was then recorded in a book by the clerk. This was repeated until enough names had been drawn to make up the quota or number needed from that place. The passage of the conscription act created a great deal of ill-feeling, especially among the lower classes. It permitted those drafted to buy a substitute on payment of three hundred dollars, and this was claimed to be unfair, because, while the rich man if drafted could easily buy himself off, the poor man EMANCIPA TIOK— CONSCRIPTION. [1862. who was unfortunate enough to be chosen would have to go into the army. When the drafting began there was so much excitement in regard to it that it led to riots in different parts of the country. The worst of these was in New York city, where the place of drafting was attacked by a great crowd, composed mostly of Irish, who broke the windows with paving-stones, drove out the officers, and burned the building. Raising the cry that the war was all on account of the "naygurs," they chased colored people through the streets with club"> and stones, killing or maiming many, drove colored servants out of hotels and restaurants, sacked and burned a colored orphan asylum, and destroyed all the property of colored people they could find. For four days the city was in the hands of the mob. Eailroads and telegraphs were cut, street cars and omnibuses stopped, factories, work-shops, and stores closed, and all busi- ness put an end to. The police were overpowered and most of the militia regiments had gone to the seat of war; but finally enough soldiers were sent to the city to put down the rioters, of whom more than five hundred are thought to have been killed. At least two million dollars' worth of property was destroyed by the mob in its four days' rule. Riots occurred also in Jersey City, Troy, Boston, and in some other places, though none were so bad as the one in New York. But so much dislike was shown everywhere to the draft that only about fifty thousand of the three hundred thousand men wanted were raised, the remainder paying their three hundred dollars instead of going. In the next October, however, three hundred thousand more men were drafted and were got with- out trouble. Sp^ingiteld Rifle Cartridge. CHAPTER XXVIII. VICKSBURG. Vicksbitrg.— Its Great Importance.— Grant's Plans.— Capture op Holly Springs.— Sher man Defeated.— Fort Hindman Taken.— Arrival op Grant.— Canal Digging.— Joseph E. Johnston.— Running the Batteries.— Grierson's Raid.— Grant Lands at Bruins- burg.— Battle of Port Gibson.— Grand Gulf Evacuated.— Sherman Joins Grant.— Taking a Rest.— Battle of Raymond.— Capture of Jackson.— A Good Union Man.— Jeff Davis's Book.— Battle of Champion Hills.— Battle of Big Black River. —Bridge Building.— Vicksburg Surrounded.— Two Repulses.— Calibre 54.— Cave Life. —Mines and Countermines.— Scarcity of Food.— Grant and Pemberton.— The Surren- der.— Effects of the Bombardment.— The Hotel de Vicksburg.— The Vicksburg Citi- zen.— What was Gained at Vicksburg.— Grant and the Steamboat Men. SOON after General Grant succeeded General Halleck in command of the Army of the Tennessee, he began to turn his attention to the capture of Vicksburg. Before the war Vicksburg was a little city of between four and five thousand population, but its position on the Mississippi River soon made it one of the most important places in the Confederacy. Its situation can be best understood from the map, which gives a view of the city and the country around it, as far on the east as Jackson, the capital of the State. The Confederates drew a large part of their supplies of cat- tle and grain, needed for food for their armies, from Western Louisiana and Texas. When they controlled the whole of the Mississippi River from Columbus, Kentucky, to New Orleans, a brisk trade was carried on by steamboats on the Mississippi and the rivers flowing into it from the west; but after the fall of Memphis and New Orleans, the Union gunboats patrolled all the upper and lower parts of the Mississippi, and the Confed- erates were confined to the part between Vicksburg and Port Hudson, the latter about twenty-five miles above Baton Rouge, Louisiana. As their supplies had to be brought across the river between these two places, it became of the greatest importance that they should be held, and both Vicksburg and Port Hudson had been strongly fortified. It was no less important that the Union troops should capture these places both to cut off its food supplies from the Confederacy and to open the great Mis- sissippi to navigation. We have seen how Farragut steamed up the river with his fleet, bombarded Vicksburg for many 324 VICKSBURG. [1862. days, and finally passed and repassed the batteries. At that time the defences were unfinished and only a few guns were mounted, but the Confederates labored earnestly at the works, and by the end of 1862 had made a second " Gibraltar" of it. Besides its river batteries, it was surrounded by a long line of fortifications on the land side, capable of holding many thou- sand men. The Confederate forces for the defence of Vicksburg were under the command of Lieutenant-General John C. Pember- pOROONEf GALLATIN O Vicksburg and its Vicinity. ton, who had succeeded Van Dorn. Grant's plan for taking Vicksburg was to have Sherman go down with his force in boats from Memphis and make an attack on the place in connection with the gunboat fleet. General McClernand was ordered at the same time to go down from Cairo and aid Sherman, while Grant himself was to move against Pemberton, who was then in the rear of Vicksburg. As both Grant and Sherman had more men than Pemberton, it was hoped that Sherman would be able to capture Vicksburg, while Grant held Pemberton in check. But just as Sherman had started down the Mississippi, Grant met with a disaster which spoiled his plan. He had made 1862.] HOLLY SPRINGS DISASTER 325 Holly Springs, a small town on the line of the Mississippi Cen- tral Railroad, his chief depot of supplies, and had gathered there all the food and medicines needed for his army. Grant knew the great importance of keeping clear his connection with this place, and he took care to repair the railroad as he moved toward Vicksburg; but Van Dom, with a force of Confederate cavalry, made a long raid round the east of Grant's army and captured Holly Springs (Dec. 20) and the two thousand men who were guarding it. All the railroad buildings and the immense storehouses, rilled with clothing and other supplies, were burned; the government property alone was valued at- more than two million dollars. This great loss forced Grant to fall back to Holly Springs, and to get more supplies from Memphis. He then determined to give up the movement by land against Vicksburg and to send his army in boats down the Missis- John C. Pemberton. sippi. Grant's retreat ena- bled Pemberton to use most of his force against Sherman, who, not know- ing of the disaster at Hol- ly Springs, had landed his troops near the mouth of the Yazoo River, which flows into the Mississippi just above Vicksburg. Sherman found the Confederate lines of works behind the city were strong, while the country was swampy and so cut up by creeks and bayous as to make it very difficult to approach. He made an attack on the works, but found it im- possible to take them, and after suffering a loss of nearly two thousand men, he made up his mind to wait for Grant. In the beginning of January, General McClernand came, and being the senior officer, took command. The name of the army was then changed from Army of the Tennessee to Army of the Mississippi. At General Sherman's request, a naval and military expedition was sent up the Arkansas River against Fort 326 VICESBURG. {\m. Hindman, at a place called Arkansas Post, where the Confederates kept several steamboats that used to come down into the Mis- sissippi and capture supply boats. Sherman commanded the troops and Admiral Porter the gunboats. After a bombardment by the gunboats, by which the Confederate sharpshooters were driven out of their rifle-pits, the troops pushed their way through half-frozen swamps, and bivouacked for the night. In the morn- ing they advanced under a heavy fire, in which nearly a thou- sand men were lost. They were about to storm the fort when a white flag was hoisted and the place surrendered with about five thousand prisoners. Sherman then returned to Milliken's Bend on the Mississippi, where Grant soon after arrived and took command of the whole army in person. A glance at the map will show that Vicksburg is situ- ated at the end of a long bend in the Mississippi. In July, 1862, when Admiral Farra- gut went up the river from New Orleans, an attempt had been made to cut a canal across the Peninsula made by this bend, which was only a mile wide. If this could be done, the Mississippi would make a new and shorter chan- nel through the canal, and vessels could go up and down the river without passing Vicks- burg, which would thus be left inland. Grant concluded to open this canal, which had never been finished, but after labor- ing at it for several weeks the river rose and broke through the dam at its mouth, and the work had to be given up. Several attempts were then made to open passages through the bayous, but after long labor in pushing the vessels through dense swamps, where the limbs of moss-covered cypresses broke the chimneys and upper works of the steamboats, and amid stag- nant waters filled with wild-fowl and infested by alligators and moccasin-snakes, to say nothing of Confederate sharpshooters along the banks, the attempt had to be given up. Grant then John A. McClernand. 1863.] RUNNING THE BATTERIES. 327 made up his mind to march his army down the west bank of the Mississippi below Vicksburg, to run by the batteries with his gunboats and transports, then to cross the river by their aid and get into the rear of Vicksburg. At that time General Joseph E. Johnston, who, it will be remembered, had been so badly wounded in the battle of Seven Pines that he was obliged to retire for a time from service, was in command of all the Confederate forces in Mississippi. He collected all the troops he could in his department for the pur- pose of relieving Vicksburg, or at least of saving Pemberton and his army. Grant's object was to prevent a junction be- tween Johnston and Pemberton and to keep the former out of Vicksburg while he forced tbe latter into that place, so as to capture him and his army. The march down the west side of the Mississippi was made with great difficulty, for much of the country was flooded and the roads were almost impassable. The country passed through was lower than the river, which was all the time rising, and there was danger that the waters might break through the levee and drown the troops. There was danger too that the enemy might cut the levees, which had to be guarded night and day for more than twenty miles. But at last the army reached a plantation called Hard Times. Means had now to be found to get the army across the river and to provide it with supplies enough for an advance against Vicksburg. As the canal had proved a failure, the only way left for the fleet, then under command of Admiral Porter, to get below Vicksburg was to pass the batteries. On the night of April 16, seven iron-clad s, one wooden gunboat, and three transports laden with supplies, made this perilous voyage. The plan was to start after dark, the iron-clads ahead in single file and so far apart that there should be no danger of running into each other. If discovered by the batteries, which extended eight miles along the river's bank, the gunboats were to open fire, and the transports were then to run by under cover of the smoke. Bales of cotton and of hay were piled up around the machinery of the boats, and iron chains and timbers Avere hung along their sides to protect them as far as possible from shot. When the time came the fires were hidden and all lights put out, and the boats began to move silently down the river. A haze had settled over the water and for a time all went well, 328 YICKSBURO. [1863. but presently the loud booming of cannon told that they had been discovered. In a few minutes more a great bonfire was kin- dled on the bluff, lighting tho whole river with its blaze, and all the heights appeared to be alive with the flash and roar of cannon. The gunboats returned the fire and the transports steamed on as fast as they could. One of them, the Forest Queen, was so badly injured that she had to be towed, and an- other, the Henry Clay, was set on fire by the shells. She was soon in a blaze, and, abandoned by her crew, floated down with the current — a mass of roaring flame — until she sunk. The other boats, though often struck, went safely by, and a few days afterward six more trans- ports ran the batteries, with the loss of only one. While Grant was thus get- ting ready to attack Vicks- burg from below, he ordered Colonel Benjamin H. Grier- son, of the Sixth Illinois Cav- alry, to make a raid through Mississippi, around Yicks- burg, and to destroy all the railroads leading from that place eastward. This was one of the greatest cavalry raids of the war. Grierson started from La Grange, Ten- nessee (April 17), with seventeen hundred horsemen and a bat- tery of artillery, and rode six hundred miles in sixteen days, reaching Baton Eouge on the 2d of May. The men were some- times in the saddle for nearly forty-eight hours without rest, and during the last thirty hours of the ride went eighty miles almost without food. When they reached Baton Eouge they were so nearly worn out that three fourths of them were asleep in their saddles. Great damage was done to the enemy during the raid, all the railroads and telegraphs along the route being torn up and cut, depots, cars, and bridges burned, and large quantities of supplies destroyed. Grierson's men had many adventures during their long ride. They were divided up into squads, some of which were sent iu \ Benjamin H. Grierson. 1863.] GBIERSOW'S RAID. 329 one direction and some in another. The scouts who were sent ahead were generally dressed in Confederate uniforms, but those of the main body, though wearing Union uniforms, often passed themselves off as Van Dorn's cavalry. When asked where they got their blue coats, they replied that they took them at Holly Springs from the Yankees. This always occasioned much laughter among the secessionists. At one place, where they were supposed to be Confederate cavalry, they were given a good supper by a secession lady, who scolded her negroes well because they did not wait upon her guests fast enough to suit her. Some of the scouts stopped one evening at the house of a wealthy plant- er to feed their tired horses. On their telling him that they were after the Yankees, the gentleman advised them to push on as fast as possible, as he had heard the rascals were doing much damage. While making ready to leave, they found two fine carriage horses in the stable, and thought, under the circum- stances, that they were justified in making an exchange. As they were taking the saddles from their own tired animals and putting them on the planter's horses, the owner came out and objected. They replied that if he was anxious to have the ras- cally Yankees caught, he ought to help them all he could. "All right, gentlemen," said the planter. "I will keep your animals until you return. I suppose you'll be back in two or three days, at the furthest. When you come, you'll find they have been well cared for." Some of the Confederate accounts represent many of the men as behaving very badly, stealing watches, jewelry, and plate, and tearing up ladies' dresses, parasols, and other things which were of no use to them. A squad of them is said to have stopped at a plantation house and asked for milk, and when it was freely given to them, to have dashed the glass goblets to pieces on the ground after drinking. Such acts of vandalism were too common during the war, but it must be remembered that there are bad men in all armies, and that the trade of war is very apt to bring out the brutish part of men's characters. Opposite Hard Times, on the east bank of the Mississippi, near the mouth of the Big Black River, lies Grand Gulf, where the Confederates had built some batteries. Admiral Porter at- tacked these batteries (April 29), but after a battle of five hours he saw that the place was too strong to be taken from the river 330 VICKSDURG. [1863. side. That night, however, he attacked again, and under cover of the fire the transports and gunboats passed safely down below Grand Gulf. Meanwhile the army had marched down to a place on the west bank opposite Kodney (see map). On the last day of April the troops were taken across the river by the gunboats and transports and landed at Bruinsburg, above Rodney. Grant marched at once toward Port Gibson. When within a few miles of that place he was met by a Confederate force of about six thousand men, under General Bowen, who had come from Vicksburg. After a sharp battle and loss of about eight hundred on each side, the Confederates were defeated and pur- sued to Port Gibson. During the next night they burned the bridges across Bayou Pierre and fled to Vicksburg, while the garrison at Grand Gulf blew up their magazine and followed them. Grant then made Grand Gulf the depot of his supplies. When Grant was about to attack Grand Gulf, he sent word to Sherman, who had been left above Vicksburg, to make a feint — that is, a make-believe attack — so that Pemberton might be puzzled to know what Grant's plans were, and might be pre- sented from sending all his troops against him. Sherman at- tacked at Haines's Bluff, on the north side of Vicksburg, and Pemberton, deceived by it, drew some of his troops from the lower side, where Grant was, and sent them to fight Sherman. His movement having succeeded, Sherman then crossed the Mississippi and marched down the west bank to join Grant. General Sherman says that he passed on this march many fine cotton plantations, one of which belonged to Mr. Bowie, brother- in-law of the Hon. Eeverdy Johnson, of Baltimore. The house was very handsome, with a fine lawn in front, and he stopped there to rest. On the front porch he found a Union soldier sitting in a satin-covered arm-chair, with his feet resting on the keys of a grand piano. On asking him what he was doing there, the man replied, "Taking a rest." General Sherman started him in a hurry to overtake his company. In the library, which contained many books, were fine full-length portraits of Eeverdy Johnson and his wife. After getting to camp he sent a wagon back to save the portraits, but before it reached the house it had been burned, whether by soldiers or negroes he could not find out. 1863.] CAPTURE OF JACKSON. 331 Grant waited at Hankinson's Ferry for Sherman to come up, and then pressed on toward Jackson on the route shown in the map. Near Raymond, General McPherson defeated a Confed- erate force under General Gregg after a three hours' fight, and then pushed on to Clinton, on the railroad leading from Vicks- burg to Jackson, while Sherman marched on the road from Raymond. The Confederates made another stand near Jackson, but were again defeated, and retreated on the railroad toward Canton (see map). Grant had heard that General Joseph E. Johnston was expected at Jackson, so he determined to reach it as soon as possible. The night (May 13) was very stormy. Much rain fell and the roads were deep with mud. But McPherson and Sherman pushed on early in the morning, and about ten o'clock found General Johnston near Jackson, ready to receive them. The battle, begun in a heavy rain, was a short one. The Con- federates, defeated, fled toward Canton, and Grant entered Jackson, the capital of Mississippi, with Sherman's column. The Governor and most of the officials had fled, carrying with them the State papers and the public moneys. While the Union troops marched through the streets, the citizens peeped at them from behind closed window-blinds, while the negroes crowded the sidewalks grinning with delight at the show. Leaving Sherman behind to destroy the railroads, machine- shops, arsenal, and other public property at Jackson, Grant moved rapidly back along the railroad toward Vicksburg, so as to prevent a junction between Johnston and Pemberton. Sherman was ordered on the next day (May 16) to follow, as a battle was likely to be soon fought. As he was about to leave the place a very fat man came to him and asked if his hotel, which stood near the railway station, was to be burned. General Sherman told him that no buildings would be burned excepting those which could be turned to hostile uses. The man said that he was a good Union man. "That is evident," re- plied Sherman, "from the sign of yoiir house," Avhich was called the ''Confederate Hotel," and on the sign of which the words " United States" had been faintly painted out and " Con- federate" put in their place. The General had no idea of burn- ing the house, but he had scarcely left when it burst into flames. He afterward found out that some Union prisoners taken at Shiloh had been brought through Jackson, and that 332 VICKSBUBG. [1863. their guard had permitted them to go to this house for supper. But as they had nothing but greenbacks to pay with, the man had called them harsh names and refused to let them have any- thing to eat. These men, now with Grant's army, had revenged themselves by burning the house. Near Bolton, General Sherman stopped at a log house to get some water. Seeing a book on the ground, he asked a soldier to hand it to him. It was a volume of the Constitution of the United States, and on the title-page was written the name cf Jefferson Davis. A negro told him that the place belonged to President Davis, and that his brother Joe Davis's plantation was not far off. Meantime Grant had pushed forward rapidly and soon came upon Pemberton and his army posted in a strong position on Champion Hills (see map). The battle began about eleven o'clock (May 16), and after a fierce struggle the Confederates were driven at all points with heavy loss, including much of their artillery. Among their killed was General Lloyd Tilgh- man, who had been taken prisoner at Fort Henry in 1862. Grant's loss was about two thousand five hundred. Among the Union troops who took a principal part in this battle was the Twenty-fourth Iowa, commonly called the Methodist Regiment, because many of its principal officers and men belonged to that denomination. The evening after the fight they held a relig- ious meeting in their camp and made the woods ring with the music of "Old Hundred." The next day, Sunday (May 17), the pursuit was kept up, and the Confederates were soon found again posted on both sides of the Big Black River, near the railroad bridge. They had built a line of earth-works on the opposite bank and armed it with heavy guns. The greater part of Pemberton's force was guarding these works, but a considerable body had been left on the east bank, behind a bayou defended by rifle-pits, to defend the passage. After skirmishing several hours a charge was made on these works and the whole captured, with eighteen guns and fifteen hundred prisoners. Many of the Confederates succeeded in getting across the river, burning the bridge over which they escaped. They then burned the railroad bridge and some steamboats, which obliged the Union army to halt to provide means of crossing. The Confederates did not stop to hold the 1863.] BRIDGE BUILDING. 333 eastern side, but fled in rout to the defences of Vicksburg, causing the greatest consternation among the inhabitants. That night the Union troops built two bridges, one on bales of cotton and one of timber, and early next morning the troops began to cross. During the same night Sherman, who had marched to Bridgeport, a place higher up the river, laid a pon- toon bridge and crossed with his troops. The soldiers marched over by the light of pitch-pine fires which were blazing on the banks. General Grant, who had ridden up to see Sherman, sat with him on a log and watched the passage as the bridge swayed and trembled under the heavy tramp of the men. The flicker of the fires on the water and the lon£ line of blue coats and tf|j° <■£ , „.. . . J|t_. HP Grant's Headquarters at Vicksburg. gleaming bayonets stretching away until lost in the gloom of the woods made a fine picture. At daylight Sherman pressed on, and turning toward the north took possession of the forts on Haines's Bluff, which the Confederates had left, and opened communication with Admiral Porter, who was in the Yazoo River with part of his fleet. McPherson came up and took a position next to Sherman's troops, while McClernand turned to the left. Thus the three corps entirely surrounded Vicksburg on the land side, and Pem- berton was cut off from Johnston. Johnston had sent word to Pemberton that if Haines's Bluff could not be held, Vicksburg could not; and that he had better leave Vicksburg and march 334 VICESBURO. [1863. north-east to join him. But Grant's quick movements had pre- vented this, and now from Haines's Bluff cannon could reach all parts of the city. The gain of this important point also enabled the Union gunboats to go up the Yazoo River to Yazos City, where the ram Arkansas had been built. The ship-yards and machine-shops there, and two iron-clad vessels, nearly fin- ished, were destroyed. The Confederates in Vicksburg had about twenty-seven thousand men, while Grant had about thirty thousand. As the Confederate defences were nearly eight miles long, the Union line around them was very weak, and as there was danger that Johnston might attack. from the rear, Grant determined to assault the works at once. Two assaults were therefore made (May 19 and 22), but the works were found to be too strong and too bravely defended to be taken by force. During the second assault General McClernand sent word to Grant that he had taken two of the enemy's forts, and asked for reinforce- ments. Grant said he did not believe that McClernand had gained any advantage, but sent him the aid. He also ordered attacks to be made at other places along the line, to keep the enemy from using all his troops against McClernand. This caused a large loss of men, nearly twenty-five hundred being killed and wounded. It was found out afterward that McCler- nand had not gained any real advantage, but he issued an ad- dress to his troops saying that he had failed because he had not been properly supported. For this he was removed from com- mand, and his place given to General Ord. During the assault, when General Sherman was at the front, a boy came up to him, limping and bleeding from a wound in the leg, and shouted: "General Sherman, send some cartridges to Colonel Malm- borg; the men are nearly all out." "What is the matter, my boy?" asked Sherman kindly. " They shot me in the leg, sir, but I can go to the hospital. Send the cartridges right away." "What is your name, and who are you?" "Orion P. Howe; I am drummer-boy of the Fifty-fifth Illinois." The shot were falling all round where they stood, for they were within two hundred yards of the Confederate works, and 1863.] VALIBRE FIFTY-FOUR. 335 Sherman, fearing the boy would be hit again, told him to go to the rear at once, saying he would attend to the cartridges. Orion limped away, but just before he disappeared over the hill he paused, and shouted back as loud as he could: "Calibre 54!" By this he meant that the cartridges should be of that size, as the calibre or bore of the guns for which they were wanted was 54. The General was much pleased that the brave boy, though suffering from a bad wound, and exposed to a hot mus- ketry fire, which was apt to make strong men lose their presence of mind, should have remembered all the important parts of his message. He recommended him to the care of the government, Caves near Vicksburg. and Orion was soon after appointed a cadet in the Naval Academy. General Grant now began a regular siege. He had received reinforcements, and had about seventy thousand men. He planted heavy guns on every hill around, from which shot and shell were thrown into the city day and night. Porter's gun- boats and mortar boats aided from the river, firing immense shells, which burst in all parts of the works. The Confederate batteries replied, and the incessant booming of the heavy guns and the howling of the shells made day and night hideous. No part of the city was safe, the shells often exploding in the streets or crashing through the houses. Many of the streets of Vicksburg are cut through hills, on the tops of which are houses, high above the street. In the clay banks formed by cutting 336 VICKSBURG. [1863. these streets many caves were dug by both soldiers and citizens in the beginning of the siege, and many families sought shelter in them from the terrible bombardment. Sometimes the bombs found their way even into these underground dwellings, yet, though the siege lasted more than a month, very few per- sons lost their lives. During all this time Grant's soldiers had been at work dig- ging trenches and making mines under the Confederate works. The Confederates dug countermines — that is, pits to destroy the mines — and sometimes the two parties were so near each other in their underground burrows that they could hear each others' picks and spades. The weather was very hot, and the work hard, but at last one of the great mines had been dug deep enough and far enough for its galleries to reach under one of the principal forts. Many barrels of gunpowder were placed in it, and in the afternoon of June 25 it was fired. The explo- sion was terrific. The ground trembled as if shaken by an earthquake, and a great breach was made in the fort. As the garrison expected it, but few men were in it at the time. The Union troops charged into the opening thus made, but the Con- federates gallantly met them, and after a bloody hand-to-hand fight they were driven back. Tbree days afterward another mine was exploded, and another struggle took place, with the same result. At last the want of proper food began to tell on the garri- son. Provisions began to give out, and the soldiers were re- duced to half rations of bacon and bean-bread. More than six thousand were sick in the hospitals, and the women and chil- dren suffered greatly. Pemberton, hearing that Grant was get- ting ready for a grand assault on the 4th of July, felt that it was useless to hold out any longer, and on the morning of July 3 he asked for an armistice — that is, for a cessation of hostili- ties — until terms of surrender could be made. Grant would give no terms but unconditional surrender. At three o'clock in the afternoon the two commanders met under a live-oak tree near the Jackson road, to talk over the matter. All hos- tilities had ceased, and thousands of soldiers, Union and Con- federate, were looking upon the scene. The commanders had both been educated at West Point, and had served together in 1863. J RALLY ROUND THE FLAG. 337 the war with Mexico. General Pemberton was a Pennsylvanian, but he had married a Southern wife, and in the beginning of the war had resigned from the army and joined the Confeder- ates. When they met they shook hands, but Pemberton was ill at ease, and during the conversation, which lasted more than an hour, played with the grass and pulled leaves. Grant smoked all the time. He finally agreed to let all the Confed- erate soldiers go on their parole, the officers being allowed to take their side-arms and one horse each. The terms were ac- cepted, and just before noon of the next day, July 4, 1863, the stars and stripes were hoisted over the Court-house of Vicks- burg, while the soldiers gathered round it sang " Eally Round the Flag, Boys." * The news had been sent to Admiral Porter, and by three o'clock his great fleet of gunboats, rams, trans- ports, and mortar-boats were at the levee. After dark the an- niversary of independence was celebrated with fireworks and music. The surrender of the men who had so long and so bravely held their intrenchments was a melancholy sight. They marched out of their works by regiments upon the grassy slope in front and stacked their arms, hanging their flags upon the middle one, and then took off their knapsacks, belts, and car- tridge-boxes, and laid them beside them. The men were dressed some in gray and some in butternut clothes, but their weapons were all good, mostly Enfield rifles. All looked sad and down- cast, and no words were spoken. As soon as the accoutre- ments had been laid off, they formed again in regiments and marched into the city. As there was but little food left in the city, all the prisoners and citizens had to be fed from the army rations. Before the surrender flour was sold at ten dollars a pound, sugar one dol- lar and seventy-five cents a pound, bacon five dollars a pound, corn ten dollars a bushel, and rum one hundred dollars a gal- lon. Medicines were very scarce, and the sick suffered greatly. During the siege, when the shells fell into the city almost all the time, day and night, there were many wonderful escapes from death. Some were buried under a shower of dirt thrown * See Appendix, page 569. YICKSBURG. [18G3. up by a bursting shell, others had their clothing torn off and their faces blackened with gunpowder, but were unhurt. The people learned in time how to dodge the shells, and even ladies ventured to walk the streets during the thickest of the bom- bardment. But generally, when a shell was seen coming the soldiers would cry, " Eats, to your holes!" and everybody around would scamper into the caves and bomb-proofs to await the explosion. Most of the shells fell into the earth and blew out craters like the cone of a volcano, but not so much damage was done to the houses as was expected. Many of them were shot through by cannon-balls, some bad a corner blown out, and some had their walls cracked and bulged; and it is said that there was not a pane of glass left within five miles of the Court- house. Some of the inhabitants had amused themselves by collecting all the fragments of shells that had fallen in their grounds, and in some places as much as a ton of iron had been thus piled up. During the last days of the siege some of the mules were killed and served as rations. It is said that the soup made from the meat was very good, and some of the ladies ate it without knowing what it was. Although reduced to such fare, the Confederates did not lose their spirits, bat cracked many jokes at the expense of their new food. The following bur- lesque bill of fare was found by the Union soldiers in one of their camps: Hotel de Vicksbukg. Bill of Bare for July, 1863. Soup. Mule Tail. Boiled. Mule Bacon with poke greens. Mule ham canvassed. Roast. Mule sirloin. Mule rump stuffed with rice. Vegetables. Pens and rice. 18631 HOTEL BE VICESBURG. 339 Entrees. * Mule head stuffed a Ja mode. Mule beef jerked a la Mexicana. Mule ears fricasseed a la gotch. Mule side stewed, new stj'le, hair on. Mule spare ribs plain. Mule liver hashed. Side Dishes. Mule salad. Mule hoof soused. Mule brains, a la omelette. Mule kidney stuffed with peas. Mule tripe fried in pea-meal butter. Mule tongue cold a la Bray. Jellies. Mule foot. Pastry. Pea-meal pudding, blackberry sauce. Cottonwood berry pies. China berry tart. Dessert. White oak acorns. Beech nuts. Blackberry leaf tea. Genuine Confederate coffee. Liquors. Mississippi water, vintage of 1493, superior, $3. Limestone water, late importation, very fine, $2.75 Spring water, Vicksburg brand, $1.50. Meals at all hours. Gentlemen to wait upon themselves. Any inat teution on the part of servants will be promptly reported at the office. JEFF DAVIS & CO., Proprietors. Card. — The proprietors of the justly celebrated Hotel de Vicksburg, having enlarged and refitted the same, are now prepared to accommodate all who may favor them with a call. Parties arriving by the river or Grant's inland route, will find Grape, Canister & Co. 's carriages at the land- ing or any depot on the line of intrenchments. Buck, Ball & Co. take charge of all baggage. No effort will be spared to make the visit of all as interesting as possible. In a copy of the Vicksburg Citizen, printed in the city only two days (July 2) before the surrender, the editor speaks of 340 VICKSBUEG. [1868. at that late day there was no talk of surrender, and the editor wrote as boastfully as if Grant and the Union army were of no consequence whatever. He said: "The great Ulysses — the Yankee generalissimo surnamed Grant — has expressed his intention of dining in Vicksburg on Saturday next, and celebrating the Fourth of July by a grand dinner, and so forth. When asked if he would invite General Joe Johnston to join him, he said, ' No! for fear there will be a row at the table.' Ulysses must get into the city before he dines in it. The way to cook a rabbit is, ' first catch the rabbit,' &c." When the Union soldiers entered Vicksburg they found the type from which this had been printed still standing in the office of the Citizen. Some printers among them set up the follow- ing, put it in the column after the above, and printed a few more copies of the paper: " Two days bring about great changes. The banner of the Union floats over Vicksburg. General Grant has 'caught the rabbit,' he has dined in Vicksburg, and he did bring his dinner with him. The Citizen lives to see it." The fruits of Grant's great victory were twenty-seven thou- sand prisoners, including fifteen generals, more than a hundred cannons, sixty thousand small-arms, and many engines and railway cars and other material. Some of the cannons were very fine ones of English make, of the Whitworth, Armstrong, and Brooks patterns. The entire loss of the Confederates from the time that Grant landed at Bruinsburg to the fall of the city was more than fifty thousand, while the Union loss was fewer than nine thousand. But the value of the capture of Vicks- burg is not to be figured by the mere numbers of prisoners and guns taken. What is of far greater importance, it opened the Mississippi Kiver once more to navigation from the free States to the Gulf of Mexico, and cut the Confederacy into two parts. The Confederate leaders felt that it was a terrible blow to their hopes, especially as it happened at the same time with the great defeat at Gettysburg, which will be told about hereafter. They tried to lay the blame on General Johnston, but that officer shows in his report that none of his orders were obeyed, and that he had no means of aiding the garrison. General Grant won great fame by his conduct of the siege, and was made a major-general in the regular army. Generals Sherman and 1863.] GRANT AND THE STEAMBOAT MEN. 341 McPherson also were made brigadier-generals in the regular army. After the fall of Vicksburg many officers and men were given furloughs — that is, leave of absence — to go home and visit their families. The steamboat men, who had come clown the river as soon as it was opened, took advantage of them and charged them high prices for passage up to Cairo, sometimes as much as thirty dollars. General Grant, hearing of this, was very indignant that the soldiers should be treated so, and sent a guard down to stop one of the boats just about leaving, with more than a thousand men and officers on board. He then ordered the captain to payback to each private soldier all he had charged above five dollars, and to each officer all he had charged above seven dollars, threatening to imprison him and take his boat if he did not obey. The captain did not like it, but the guard was there and he had to pay back the money, amid the cheers of the soldiers for General Grant. "I will teach them," said Grant, "that the men who have perilled their lives to open the Mississippi Eiver for their benefit cannot be imposed upon with impunity." Field Gun. CHAPTEE XXIX. PORT HUDSON.— CHANCELLORSVILLE. Sherman pursues Johnston.— Jackson Burned.— Siege of Port Hudson.— Whistling Dick. —A Bloody Repulse.— Mules and Rats.— The Surrender.— The Mississippi Opened.— Brashear City.— On de Lord's Side, Massa.— The Army of the Potomac— CoRrs Badges.— Mosby.— Capture of General Stoughton.— I Can't Make Horses.— Hooker's Advance. — Chancellorsville.— The Wilderness.— Frightened Deer and Rabbits.— Rout of the Eleventh Corps.— Death of Stonewall Jackson.— Remember Jackson.— Hooker Stunned.— Lee between Two Fires.— Sedgwick Driven Back.— Hooker's Re- treat.— Stoneman's Raid. — A Gallant Deed. THE flag had scarcely been hoisted over Vicksburg when Grant sent Sherman in pursuit of Johnston. The latter, who had only twenty-two thousand poorly-armed men, had marched toward the Big Black River, intending to attack Grant in the rear, but on hearing of the fall of Vicksburg he fell back to Jackson. Sherman with fifty thousand men appeared before that place, shelled it for a few days, and was making prepara- tions to attack it in force when Johnston withdrew in the night (July 16) and retreated eastward to Meridian, Mississippi, more than a hundred miles away. The conduct of the Union troops in Jackson was shameful: houses were plundered, furniture destroyed, books torn to pieces, paintings cut and defaced, and almost everything burned which could not be carried off. The city, one of the most beautiful in the State, was completely ruined. While Grant was besieging Vicksburg he had been obliged to withdraw most of the troops from many places around, and the Confederates took advantage of the weakness of those places to attack them. The post at Millikin's Bend, on the Mississippi River, was attacked by some Louisiana troops, and all the men there would have been captured if two gunboats had not come to their rescue. Helena, Arkansas, also was attacked by the Confederate General Holmes, but he was defeated with heavy loss by the Union troops under General Prentiss. The fall of Vicksburg was followed (July 9) by the surren- der of Port Hudson, which had been besieged by General Banks at the same time that Grant had invested Vicksburg. Banks, it will be remembered, had succeeded General Butler in com- 1863.] SIEGE OF PORT HUDSON. 343 mand in New Orleans at the close of 1862. In the following spring he sent an expedition into western Louisiana, defeating the Confederates at several places, and finally driving them from all that part of the State south of Ked River. He then returned to the Mississippi River, crossed to Bayou Sara, and laid siege to Port Hudson. At the same time General C. C. Auger marched up from Baton Rouge and joined Banks in the siege. The situation of Port Hudson may be easily understood from the map, in which the village, the Confederate fortifications, and the positions of the Union troops are clearly shown. The town stands on a high bluff at a bend in the river. It was Siege op Port Hudson. defended along the water by batteries extending nearly three miles and mounted with heavy guns, and on the land side by a long circle of strong earthworks, rifle-pits, and abatis. While the Union troops surrounded these defences on the land side, Admiral Farragut with the Hartford and other ships and gun- boats held the river, both above and below the town, and threw shells into the Confederate works day and night. On the twenty- seventh of May, Banks, having heard that 344 PORT HUDSON.— CHANCELLORSVILLE. [1S63 the Confederates were leaving Port Hudson, ordered a general assault. The heavy guns kept up a steady fire both from the river and from the land side during the morning, and about ten o'clock the troops attacked with great bravery; but the Confed- erate works were defended in front by rifle-pits and abatis (shown in the map), and after a severe struggle the Union men were repulsed with a loss of about eighteen hundred killed and wounded. Two regiments of negro troops took part in the assault, and they are said to have fought gallantly. The Con- federate loss was only about three hundred. Banks then began a regular siege, and day after day the great guns and mortars rained shot and shell into the works. The bombs from the mortars, falling and bursting at all times, gave the garrison no rest night or day; their medical stores soon gave out, and food began to get scarce, but the brave Confederate commander, General Frank K. Gardner, did not despair, and still hoped for aid from Johnston. One of Banks's guns, which did much damage within the works, was named by the Confederates " W-histling Dick," from the peculiar noise made by its shell. The country around Port Hudson is very uneven, cut by deep ravines through which the soldiers could creep up unseen quite near to the enemy's works. The men lived in these ravines, scooping out sleeping-places in the banks and making breastworks on the top. Behind and around was a thick mag- nolia forest. Some of the works of the besiegers were within two to three hundred yards of the Confederate line, so that the men could look into the muzzles of each other's guns, but as the sharpshooters were all the time on the lookout it was not safe to show one's head. Banks had only about twelve thoit- sand able men, and as there was danger that Johnston might attack him in the rear, he determined to make another assault. A despatch sent by General Gardner to General Johnston, saying that he was nearly starved out, fell into General Banks's hands. Hoping to save the further shedding of blood, he wrote a note to Gardner informing him that he knew of his condition and demanding an unconditional surrender of the place in the name of humanity. But Gardner, still hoping that Johnston would come to his aid, refused, and on Sunday, June 14, a second assault was made on the works just at daybreak. But the Con- federates were ready for them, and after a bloody struggle, in 1863.] PORT HUDSON SURRENDERS. 345 which seven hundred Union men were killed and wounded, the besiegers were repulsed. After this the siege went on in the usual way. Banks had gained a little ground, and his batteries were brought closer to those of the enemy. Mines had also been dug, and one under the citadel (see map) was ready to be exploded. The garrison was almost without food, and had begun to eat mules and rats. One day the Confederates were puzzled at the sound of loud cheering all along the Union lines; but soon the shouts, "Vicksburg has surrendered !" reached their ears, and they knew that their time had come. Two days afterward (July 9) Port Hudson surrendered to the arms of the Union. More than six thousand prisoners and fifty cannon, besides many small-arms and much ammuni- tion, were among the spoils of the victory. Thus was removed the last hindrance to the free navigation of the Mississippi, and the next week the steamboat Imperial went from St. Louis to New Orleans, the first boat between those cities in two years. On entering Port Hudson the Union troops were surprised to see how much havoc had been done by the cannon-shot and shell. The ground was plowed into furrows, and in some places trees twice as large round as a man's body had been cut in two. "Where the trees were standing, their bark had been almost en- tirely cut off by rifle balls. The church had been shot through and through, many of the holes being larger than the windows, and the floor was strewn with broken beams, laths, and plaster. All round the earthworks the enemy had burrowed holes in the ground to shelter themselves from the shells or the burning sun. Deep down in the bluffs caves had been dug for maga- zines, in which the powder was stored, the great thickness of earth above rendering it safe from shells. These caves were reached by long flights of steps, cut out of the earth. Many of the guns had been dismounted by the Union artillery, and still lay where they had been overturned. Among the others a few "Quaker guns" were found. Meanwhile the Confederates in Louisiana thought they had a good opportunity, while Banks was busy at Port Hudson, to make up for some of their losses. General Dick Taylor, son of President Zachary Taylor, gathered a small force and took Alexandria and Opelousas, and then moved toward New Orleans, hoping either to retake that city or to force Banks to give up 346 PORT HUDSON.— CEANCELLORSVILLE. [1863. the siege of Port Hudson to save it. Ta} T lor took Brashear City, where he captured nearly two thousand prisoners and much war material, but did not feel strong enough to attempt the capture of New Orleans. After the fall of Port Hudson, Taylor retreated westward again. While the Union and the Confederate forces were thus in turn overrunning parts of Louisiana, the blacks, though gen- erally favorable to the Union, had to be very careful about tak- ing sides with either party, and the pains which they took to hide their feelings were sometimes very laughable. One day, when some Union troops were on the march in Louisiana, a gray headed negro was seen perched on the top of a rail fence watching the movement with great interest. A soldier, thinking to have some fun, called out to him: "Well, uncle, are you for the Confederates or the Yankees?" A smile lit up his weather-beaten face, until it looked like illuminated India-rubber, as he replied: " Why, you see, massa, 'taint for an old nigger like me to know anything 'bout politics." The soldier said, rather sternly: "Well, sir, let me know which side you are on, any way." The old man kept up his smile for a moment, and then put- ting on a grave look which, under the circumstances, was quite laughable, answered: " I'm on de Lord's side, massa, and he'll work out his salva- tion; bress de Lord." It is said in the last chapter that the fall of Vicksburg took place at the same time with the great defeat of General Lee at Gettysburg. We must now go back to the East once more and study the movements of the Army of the Potomac before that battle. It will be remembered that we left it and General Lee's army in winter quarters on opposite sides of the Eappa- hannock, near Fredericksburg. General Hooker, called " Fight- ing Joe Hooker" by his men, who had more confidence in him than they had in Burnside, found the army in a bad condition, and much reduced by desertion. It is said that when spring came more than fifty thousand men were absent from duty. General Hooker at once set to work to reorganize his army and to get it ready for the field. Instead of the "grand divisions" into which Burnside had divided it, he made it into seven corps, 1863.J MOSBTS RAW. 347 to each of which he gave a badge, as follows: to the First Corps, a disk; Second, a trefoil; Third, a lozenge or diamond; Fifth, a Maltese cross; Sixth, a plain cross; Eleventh, a crescent; Twelfth, a star. Each corps was divided into three divisions, which were marked by the colors red, white, and blue. Thus, the First Division of the First Corps wore a red disk; the Second Division, First Corps, a white disk; the Third Division, First Corps, a blue disk, and so on through all the corps. The badges were worn on the top of the cap, which tipped forward enough to be seen in front. It could thus be told at a glance to what corps and division each soldier belonged. Each division head- quarters also was marked by a square flag, bearing its badge: thus, the First Division, First Corps, had a white flag with a red disk; the Second Division, First Corps, a blue flag with a Army Corps Badges. white disk; and the Third Division, First Corps, a white flag with a blue disk. The seven cor.ps, numbering in all about one hundred and twenty thousand men, were Under the com- mand of Generals Reynolds, Couch, Sickles, Meade, Sedgwick, Howard, and Slocum. Besides these, Hooker" had twelve thousand cavalry, under General Stoneman. Against this great force Lee could bring only about sixty thousand men. In the early part of the year the cavalry of both armies made frequent raids, and sometimes had fights with each other. Among the most notable exploits was the capture of the Union General Stoughton, at Fairfax Court-House, by Cap- tain John S. Mosby, who afterward became famous as a rough rider. Mosby was a graduate of the University of Virginia,and was practising law when the war broke out. He was then only 348 PORT HUDSON.— CliANCELLORSVlLLE. [1863. twenty-eight years old, but being of an adventurous disposition, he became leader of a band of scouts, or guerrillas, as they were often called, and soon showed himself to be a bold and daring leader. His capture of Stoughton was a very brave act, for the country around Fairfax Court-House was guarded by several regiments of cavalry and infantry. On a cold ; rainy Sunday night (March 8), he set out with only twenty-nine men, riding through the woods to avoid the soldiers, who guarded all the main roads, and after a delay of two hours from losing his way, entered Fairfax about two o'clock in the morning. Sending part of his men to get some horses from the stables, he went with six others to Stoughton's headquarters. M o s b y knocked loudly at the door of the house. "Who's there?" called a voice from a window above. " Despatches for Gen- eral Stoughton," replied Mosby. Not suspecting any- thing wrong, the door was unlocked from with- in, and the guerrilla and his companions went straight to Stoughton's sleeping-room. "What is that?" growled the General, as Mosby shook him by the shoulder. " Get up. I want you," replied Mosby. "Do you know who I am?" cried Stoughton, sitting up in bed. "I'll have you arrested, sir!" "Do you know who /am?" asked Mosby in turn. "Who are you?" "Did you ever hear of Mosby?" "Have you caught the rascal?" "No, but he has caught you." "What does this mean, sir!" cried the General furiously. "It means," replied Mosby, "that Stuart's cavalry is in John S. Mosby. 1863.] BOOKER AT CHANCBLLORSVILLE. 349 possession of the town, and that you are my prisoner. Get up quietly and come along, or yon are a dead man." Stoughton was obliged to obey, and was soon mounted on a horse and put under guard. Meanwhile Mosby's men had cap- tured the General's staff officers and others, and had taken from the stables sixty fine horses. The prisoners, thirty-five in number, were mounted on the horses, and the Confederates, some guarding them and some leading other horses, started on their return. They had to ride fast, for they had scarcely time to get out of the Union lines before daybreak, but they escaped safe with all their prisoners and booty. When Mr. Lincoln heard of this bold exploit, he said dryly: "Well, I am sorry about the horses. I can make brigadier- generals enough, but I can't make horses." Hooker's Headquarters at Falmouth. Toward the middle of April, General Hooker made up his mind to move from his position at Falmouth against Lee. He sent Stoneman up the Eappahannock with orders to cross and ride around behind the Confederates, and cut the telegraph wires and the railroad between them and Richmond; but a storm came on, and the river was raised so high by heavy rains that the movement was greatly delayed. Hooker's plan was to march up the river above the junction of the Rappahannock and the Rapidan, then to cross both streams and get behind Lee's position. To hide this movement from the enemy, he sent Sedgwick down the river with a large force, with orders to cross over and make a false attack. This was done so successfully that the main army, under Hooker himself, had §50 POBT BtlbSON.— CHANCELLORSVILLE. [1863. crossed at several fords above Falmouth before Lee knew of it, and taken position at a place called Chancellorsville, about ten miles west of Fredericksburg. Chancellorsville, or Chancellor's Villa, was only a brick house, with its outbuildings, so called because it belonged to a Mr. Chancellor. As soon as this was done, part of Sedgwick's force hastened up the river and joined Hooker, who then had more than seventy thousand men. On the 1st of May, Hooker was in a fine position, and he expected that Lee would retreat toward Eichmond, for while he was in his front with this great force, Sedgwick was behind him with more than thirty thousand men, and Stoneman was moving around with all his cavalry. But General Lee seldom did what was expected of him. Instead of falling back to get between Hooker and the Confederate capital, he left General Early with about ten thousand men to take care of Sedgwick, and hastened with the rest of his army to meet Hooker. Chancellorsville is surrounded by a region of thick woods called "the Wilderness," but toward Fredericksburg the coun- try soon becomes more open and fit for military movements. If General Hooker had advanced at once into this open country he would have secured a much better position from which to fight Lee; but, against the advice of most of his generals, he preferred to stop at Chancellorsville. Lee, who now understood Hooker's position, divided his army again, and, while he him- self held the front, sent Stonewall Jackson around to attack Hooker on the right flank. Jackson's men were seen on the march (May 2), but as the road they were on led southward it was supposed that they were retreating toward Eichmond. Jackson went around about fifteen miles, and at five o'clock in the afternoon reached a place on the right of the Union lines only six miles from where he had started. He moved to the attack under cover of the thick woods. The forest was full of game, and deer, rabbits, and other wild animals, frightened out of their hiding-places, ran before the advancing columns, and leaping the Union breastworks ran away into the woods behind. Jackson's men followed them with wild yells. The Union troops, surprised, broke and fled. The runaways swept others along with them, and soon the whole Eleventh Corps, under command of General 0. 0. Howard, was in confusion. Men, artillery, wagons, ambulances, and even mules and beef-cattle, 1863.] DEATH OF STONEWALL JACKSON. 351 which had been allowed to come to the front of the lines, were mixed up in the rout, and fled in a mass down the road and toward the river. At last some troops were got into line, and the Confederates, who had fallen into confusion as they charged through the woods, were checked. Though night had fallen, there was a full moon, and Jackson rode to the front to recon- noitre. The moon, partly hidden by fleecy clouds, gave but a dim light, and all around from the gloomy depths of the forest came the mournful song of hundreds of whippoorwills. Jack- son rode forward to within nearly two hundred yards of the Union lines, and paused to listen. No sound was heard from them, but there was danger that the batteries might open fire at any moment, and one of his staff officers said: " General, don't you think this is the wrong place for you?" " The clanger is over," he replied quickly. " The enemy is routed. Go back and tell A. P. Hill to press right on." The officer turned and rode back, but he had scarcely got out of sight when a volley of musketry was fired from the Con- federate lines behind. It was never known from whom the shots came, but it is supposed that the soldiers took Jackson and his escort for Union cavalry. Many of the staff and escort were killed, and fell from their horses. Jackson and the rest wheeled and galloped into the woods, but another volley was fired, and the General was wounded in three places, two balls passing through his left arm and a third through his right hand. His horse, frightened, ran between two trees, a limb of one of which struck him violently in the face, and threw him back on the horse. One of his officers caught the animal, and Jackson was lifted carefully from the saddle as he was about falling, faint with loss of blood. As the Confederates were advancing again, the Union artillery opened a terrible fire of shell and canister down the road. One of the men who were carrying Jackson from the field was killed by this fire, and the wounded general fell heavily to the ground. After the fire had slackened he was removed to the hospital in the rear, where his left arm was amputated; but he had lost too much blood, and after lingering about a week he died (Sunday, May 10). At one time he was reported to be doing well, and General Lee sent him this playful message: "You are better off than I am; for while you have lost only your left, I have lost my right arm." 352 PORT HUDSON.— CHANCELLORSVILLE. [1863. General Lee meant by this that in being deprived of Jack- son's services he had lost what was eqnal to his right arm. This feeling was shared by everybody in the South, and when Death claimed the great captain for his own it was felt that the Confederacy had received a blow which far out-balanced the victory which he had won for it at Chancellorsville. After Jackson was struck down, Hill renewed the attack, as his chief had ordered, but was himself wounded and driven back by the Union troops, who had succeeded in forming a line of defence. The command of Jackson's forces then fell to Gen- eral Stuart, the cavalry leader. At daylight the next morning (Sunday, May 3) he led his men to the attack with the battle- cry of " Charge, and remember Jackson!" Lee attacked at the same time in front, moving his men so as to get nearer and nearer to Stuart. About half-past nine o'clock their two forces were joined, and they pressed on toward Chancellorsville. The Union army was at this time without a head, for General Hooker had been knocked senseless by a cannon-ball which struck a pillar of the Chancellor house, against which he was leaning. No one seemed to be willing to take the responsi- bility of command, but each general fought as well as he could. By eleven o'clock the Union lines had been forced back, and the Confederates had won Chancellorsville. A new line of de- fence had been chosen and fortified the night before, and the Union troops now fell back to this, which was a strong posi- tion. Lee was about to attack again when news was brought him that Sedgwick, who it will be remembered was below Fred- ericksburg, had taken the heights there, beaten Early, and was advancing against Lee's rear with thirty thousand men. This danger had to be met at once. Rightly judging that Hooker would keep on the defensive, he withdrew a large part of his troops from the front and sent them back against Sedgwick, at the same time keeping up a heavy cannonade on the Union lines to deceive Hooker. Sedgwick was met about four o'clock, and after a severe fight his advance was checked. He had lost by this time nearly five thousand men. Monday morning found the armies still opposite each other, Hooker watching Lee from his strong position behind Chancel- lorsville, and Sedgwick unable to move forward from the place he had reached. About six o'clock in the evening Lee attackeu 1863.] BRAVE LIEUTENANT PAINE. Sedgwick with the purpose of cutting him off from the river, but though he gained some advantage, Sedgwick succeeded, during the night, in getting his army across the Rappahannock at Banks's Ford. Having thus rid himself of Sedgwick in his rear, Lee moved once more to attack Hooker, but a heavy rain- storm on Tuesday delayed his artillery. On Wednesday morn- ing he advanced to attack, but his enemy had gone. During the night of Tuesday, Hooker had silently crossed the river, the bridges having been covered with straw and earth to deaden the noise of the artillery and the wagons, and the Confederates were left in possession of the field of Chancellorsville, with all the Union killed and wounded, fourteen pieces of artillery, and nearly twenty thousand stand of small-arms. The Union loss, including prisoners, was more than seventeen thousand men; that of the Confederates about twelve thousand. In the meantime Stoneman had succeeded in making his raid in the rear of Lee's army. Though delayed at first by stormy weather and the rise of the river, he finally succeeded in cross- ing (April 27), and rode to within a few miles of Richmond, destroying much property, but the expedition was of very little military use, for the Confederates repaired the railroads at once. A very pleasing story connected with Stoneman's raid is that of the capture and release of Lieutenant Paine of the Union cavalry. He had command of the advance, and getting a con- siderable distance from the main body Avas captured with all his men by a superior force of Confederate cavalry. The pris- oners were hurried away as fast as possible to get them away from Stoneman, who was rapidly advancing, and in crossing a deep stream Lieutenant Henry, the commander of the Confed- erate force, was swept off his horse. As none of his men seemed willing to try to save him, Lieutenant Paine sprang off his horse, and seizing the drowning man by the collar swam ashore with him, thus saving his life. Lieutenant Paine was taken to Richmond and confined with the rest of the prisoners; but the story of his gallant deed having been made known to General Fitz Hugh Lee, he wrote a statement of it to General Winder, the Provost-Marshal of Richmond, and Lieutenant Paine was at once released and sent to Washington, without even being asked to give his parole. Shortly afterward Lieutenant Henry was captured and taken to Washington, and Lieutenant Paine had then the pleasure of showing him many acts of kindness. CHAPTER XXX. GETTYSBURG. CONFEDERATE HOPES.— NAPOLEON AND MEXICO.— ANOTHER INVASION OF THE NORTH.— TEF. Two armies. — Stuart's Review.— Ewell Surprises Milroy.— The Potomac Crossed.-^ Pennsylvania in a Panic— Hooker Follows Lee.— Meade in Command. — The Ey*es of an Army.— Gettysburg. — The First Day's Fight.— Death of Reynolds.— Hancock to the Front.— The Second Day's Fight.— Little Round Top.— Ewell on Culp's Hill. — The Third Day's Fight.— A Grand Bombardment.— Pickett and his Virginians.— A Dreadful Struggle.— Victory for the Union.— A Terrible Retreat.— Wasted Am- munition.— Old John Burns.— Jenny Wade.— The News in Richmond.— Meade Follows Lee.— "Winter Quarters. THE Confederates were greatly encouraged by their success at Chancellorsville, notwithstanding the loss of Jackson. They had now beaten the Army of the Potomac in two great battles, and Richmond seemed to. be safe for at least another year. In the West too their arms were successful: Yicksburg and Port Hudson still held out against Grant and Banks, Bragg was keeping Rosecrans in check at Chattanooga, and Galveston had been retaken. Good news too came from Europe, where the friends of the Confederacy were in hope of soon securing its recognition as an independent government by England and France. The French army which had invaded Mexico in 18G2 was then marching on the capital. The Emperor Napoleon III., believing that the power of the United States would be broken by the civil war, had thought this a good chance to se- cure many advantages for France. If the great republic could be divided and a strong empire established on the Gulf of Mex- ico, there might come in time an opportunity for France to re- cover Louisiana and the valley of the Mississippi, which had been sold by Napoleon I. The Confederate leaders welcomed this invasion of a sister republic, for they hoped it would insure their independence, and they were ready to offer the Emperor almost anything to secure his friendship and aid. Napoleon tried in vain to get Great Britain to join him in an offer to me- diate — that is, to try to bring about a settlement — between the North and the South. The government of Great Britain re- fused, rather from caution than from any love for the United States, to act with him, and in the beginning of ] SG3 (January 1863.] SECOND INVASION OF THE NORTH. 355 9) Napoleon offered alone to mediate between the parties, but the United States government declined and refused to permit any foreign interference in the quarrel. While the Confederate hopes were thus raised, the people of the free States were much troubled in mind and very anxious about the result of the war, the end of which seemed to be further off than ever. A large party had grown up in the North who were for peace at any price, even at the cost of los- ing the Southern States; and they had many sympathizers in the army, a large part of which had been opposed to the Eman- cipation Proclamation. The Confederate leaders, believing that this feeling was stronger than it really was, and hoping to get some aid from those who thus differed from the Union govern- ment about the way the war should be carried on, determined to cross the Potomac and to invade the North once more. If the Union army could be defeated in a great battle in Maryland or Pennsylvania, so strong a feeling might be stirred up in the North for peace and in Europe in favor of the victorious Con- federacy that independence might be won. As soon as this movement was decided upon, active prepara- tions were made for the campaign. The army was reorganized and divided into three corps. General Longstreet was recalled from North Carolina, where he had been acting since the begin- ning of the year, and given command of the first corps, while General Ewell was given the second and A. P. Hill the third corps. Lee's entire force numbered about seventy thousand men, all of whom had been hardened to military life and whose experience in their conflicts with the Union army had taught them to believe that they could not be conquered. Hooker's force, on the contrary, had been so much reduced by the end- ing of the time of service of many of the volunteers, that it numbered scarcely more than that of the Confederates; and it had met with so many reverses and had had so" many changes of commanders that the men had lost confidence both in them- selves and in their generals. Early in June, Lee sent the corps of Longstreet and Ewell to Culpepper Court-House, leaving that of Hill behind the works at Fredericksburg. Hooker was deceived by this, but in a few days he found out that the enemy was moving. Lee's cavalry, under Stuart, had a grand review in the plain east of Culpepper, 356 GETTYSBURG. [1863. which was attended by ladies from all the country around. Stu- art, on his iron-gray horse, nearly covered with flowers by bis fair admirers, watched the squadrons as they charged, amid the thunder of cannon and the music of bugles. At night there were festivities at the Court-house, and the cavalry officers entertained the ladies with a dance. Early the next morning (June 9), the Union cavalry, then under General Pleason- ton, crossed the Rappahannock to see what Stuart was doing in that neighborhood. A cavalry fight took place, which lasted nearly all day. Both sides fought with great gallantry,' and several prominent officers on both sides were killed. Among the badly wounded was Gene- ral Lee's son, General W. H. F. Lee. Pleasonton, satisfied that the main part of the Confederate army was near Culpepper, fell back to the river and recrossed about dusk. But Hooker was still uncer- tain whether Lee was moving against Washington or to cross into Maryland, so he moved northward from Fredericks- burg to keep between Lee and Washington. Hill then hastened to join Lee. In the meantime Ewell marched into the Shenandoah Valley to Winchester, where he surprised a Union force under General Milroy, and captured four thousand prisoners, twenty- nine guns, many wagons, and a large quantity of stores. Mil- roy and the rest of his men escaped to Harper's Ferry, and thence across the Potomac. Ewell pushed on to the river and took possession of the fords. A cavalry force of fifteen hundred crossed over, rode up the Cumberland Valley as far as Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, and carried off many cattle and sheep and other supplies. Maryland and Pennsylvania were now in a state of great alarm. Horses, cattle, and sheep were hurried away to places of safety, and valuables hidden to save them from the enemy. Even Philadelphia was in a panic, and money from George Gordon Meade. 1863.] MEADE IN COMMAND. 357 the banks and merchandise and household treasures were sent northward. president Lincoln called for one hundred and twenty thousand volunteers, but they were slow in coming from the States most threatened, while the regiments from New York City were nurried so promptly to the field by Governor Seymour that the Secretary of War publicly thanked him. Ewell's corps crossed the Potomac (June 21 and 22) and marched up the Cumberland Valley to within a few miles of Harrisburg, the State capital. Lee followed with the other corps, and by the 2Gth of June the whole Confederate army was over the river. Hooker, who had then about one hundred thousand men, also crossed the Potomac at Edward's Ferry and marched to Frederick. There were eleven thousand men on Maryland Heights, opposite Harper's Ferry. General Hooker asked to have these men, who, he said, were of no use there, added to his army; but Halleck, as before in the case of McClel- lan, refused and said the post must be held. Hooker then asked to be relieved from the command of the* army. His re- quest was at once granted, for Halleck did not like him, and General George Gordon Meade, commander of the Fifth Corps, was appointed in his place. General Meade was then forty-eight years old. He had been educated at West Point, and had served in the Florida war and in the war with Mexico. In 18G1 he was made a brigadier-gen- eral, fought through the Peninsula campaign under McClellan, was wounded at Antietam, and afterward commanded under Pope, Burnside, and Hooker. He was greatly surprised when he was appointed to succeed Hooker, for he had spoken so plainly about that officer's conduct at Chancellorsville that he expected to be arrested. When the order came he was asleep in his tent, for it was late in the night. Supposing that the messenger had the order for his arrest, he asked him if he had brought it. " Strike a light and see," said General Hardie, handing him his commission. He was utterly astonished when he found that not only the command of the army had been given to him, but also that he had been entrusted with power to do as he thought best in the emergency. In moving northward Lee had to keep open his communica- tions with Virginia; for, although he could draw food enough for his army from the country he passed through, all his mili- 358 GETTYSBURG. [1863. tary supplies had to be brought from across the Potomac. He was therefore alarmed when he heard that the Army of the Potomac had crossed the river and was marching toward him. for Meade might easily pass through the South Mountains and cut off his communications. But Meade, who wished to cover Washington and Baltimore, marched northward up the east side of the mountains, and on the same day (June 29) Lee, who was about to cross the Susquehanna and move toward Philadel- phia, turned his march eastward toward Gettysburg. Lee did not know as much as he ought to have known about the move- ments of the Union army. It is the business of the cavalry of an army to spy out the movements of the enemy, and for this rea- son this arm of the service has been called the "eyes of the army." But the Confederate commander had left Stuart and his horsemen behind to watch the Union army and harass it as much as possible while crossing the river. On the day when Lee turned toward Gettysburg, Stuart crossed the Potomac, and riding northward between the Union army and Washington, destroying much public property as he went, swept around Meade's front to Carlisle and then turned toward Gettysburg. But his men were nearly worn out with fatigue and want of sleep, and he did not reach, the battle-field until the evening of the second day. Meanwhile the Union army was moving toward the same point. Neither Meade nor Lee expected to fight just at that place, but each knew that a battle must soon take place, and each was moving to get a good position. The advance of Meade's army, under General Reynolds, was near Gettysburg, but the rear was twenty or thirty miles south of that place. Meade chose a place on Pipe Creek as a good position to await the at- tack of the Confederate army, and he expected Reynolds to fall back and join him at that place. To get a good understanding of the situation, let us look a snoment at the map, in which the observer is supposed to be standing on the east side of Gettysburg and looking toward the west. The town, a borough of about three thousand inhab- itants, stands in a kind of plain among several ridges of hills running nearly north and south. The ridge south of the town, which bends round somewhat like a fish-hook, is commonly called Cemetery Ridge, because the burial-place of the town, 1863.] AROTIND GETTYSBURG. 359 Evergreen Cemetery, is on its crest. Several small hills rise from it, among them Round Top and Little Round Top at its south end, Cemetery Hill at the bend of the fish-hook, and Culp's Hill near the barb or point. Half a mile west of the town is another ridge, generally called, from the Lutheran The- ological Seminary on it, Seminary Ridge, but sometimes Oak Ridge. Still further west, about a mile distant, are other ridges i J v/>'""«p»"/,' X Battle of Gettysburg. separated from Seminary Ridge by a little stream named Wil- loughby's Run. Many roads leading in nearly all directions meet at Gettysburg, so that it is much like the hub of a wheel with many spokes. In the morning of July 1st, the Union cavalry, under Gen- eral Buford, were west of the town on the Chambersburg road, watching for Lee, when it was attacked by the advance of Hill's corps. Buford, knowing that Reynolds's corps of infantry was 360 GETTYSBURG. [1863. in the town, held the enemy back as well as he could. Eey- nolds came up about ten o'clock and attacked the enemy, send- ing back orders for General Howard of the Eleventh Corps to come up as soon as possible. He had scarcely made these ar- rangements when he was mortally wounded by a shot through the neck. Howard arrived about noon and took command, and the Confederates were driven back little by little, losing many prisoners. But they were soon reinforced by more of Hill's troops from Chambersburg and by some of Ewell's, who were seen advancing in a long gray column on the Carlisle road. The Union troops were now outnumbered, and being attacked fiercely on the right flank by Ewell, fell back in much disorder through the town. The Confederates pushed them hard and captured about five thou- sand prisoners and sixteen guns. The whole Union loss in the fight w as near- ly ten thousand men. Howard, thus pressed back, took a strong posi- tion on Cemetery Hill, while the enemy took possession of the town. The Confederates did not follow up their success, and so the battle ended for the day, in the defeat of the Union army. General Meade, who was at Taneytown, about thirteen miles south of Gettysburg, sent General Hancock forward, as soon as he heard of the death of Beynolds, to take command and to de- cide whether it would be better to fall back to Pipe's Creek or to fight at Gettysburg. Hancock, in whom the troops had great confidence, soon restored order in the Union lines and aided in strengthening the position on Cemetery Eidge. He saw at once that this was the proper place for the battle, and advised General Meade to bring forward the whole army as soon as pos- sible. Meade arrived soon after midnight, and before morning all of the Union army excepting the Sixth Corps of General John F. Reynolds. 1863.] THE ARMIES IN POSITION. 361 Sedgwick, which had about thirty-five miles to march, was in place along Cemetery Kidge. The line reached from Little Round Top around Cemetery Hill and then curved backward across the Baltimore road to Rock Creek, where were deep ravines near Wolf Hill. The positions of the different corps may be seen on the map. Cannons were placed all along the rocky crest of the ridge, and the soldiers strengthened the line by putting up hasty breast- works aud stone walls. The rest of Lee's army came up during the night and the next morning and was posted along the crestof Seminary Ridge, Avhere the troops were hidden in the thick oak and pine woods. Longstreet was on the right, Hill in the centre, and Ewell on the left. Though the opposing armies were then very near- ly ecjual in number, the Confederate line was much longer than the Union line, because it had to stretch around Meade's army in an outer curve. It took longer, therefore, to get the men together at any one place than it did in the Union line, which held an inner curve. The Confederates posted their batteries along the crest of Seminary Ridge, aud thus, on the morning of July 2d, the two armies lay opposite each other with only the valley between them. In the valley were the spires and roofs of Gettysburg half hidden among the trees, and further toward the left Avere waving wheat-fields, and even cattle quietly feeding in the pastures. A lively firing was kept up all the morning by the skirmish- ers of the two armies; the men lying flat on the ground, in the meadows or wheat-fields in front of the lines, and shooting wherever they saw anything to aim at. From the hills their positions could be seen by the curling puffs of smoke that rose from their rifles. This was kept up until about four o'clock in the afternoon, when part of Longstreet's corps fiercely attacked GOUVERNEUR KEMBLE WARREN. 362 GETTYSBURG. [1863 Sickles, and another part under Hood, on the extreme right of the Confederate line, attempted to seize Little Round Top. A glance at the map will show that Sickles did not hold a place along the crest of the ridge, but had advanced his line to a peach orchard in his front. This was a mistake which Meade did not see until it was too late to make a change. Sickles was soon carried from the field with his leg shattered, and his troops were forced back little by little from the peach orchard until a new line was formed on the crest of the hill. The Confederates tried in vain to break through this, and at last Hancock succeeded in driving them back; but they held the line by the peach orchard, from The Summit of Little Round Top. which Sickles had been forced. Hood meanwhile had strug- gled hard to get possession of Little Bound Top, which had not been occupied by the Union troops, though it was really the key to their position; for if the Confederates had succeeded in taking it and in planting some cannon on it they could have shelled Meade out of his position. General Warren saw the danger and hastily ordered some regiments up the hill. They dragged some cannon with great labor up the rugged sides, and had just got them in position when Hood's Texans came swarm- ing up among the rocks and underbrush of the western slope. A fierce hand-to-hand fight took place. Bayonets were crossed, muskets were used as clubs, and even jagged pieces of rock were used as missiles. The battle raged for half an hour under the 1863.] SECOND DAY'S FIGHT. 363 rays of the fierce July sun, but at last the Texans were driven from the hill and the important place was secured. That night breastworks were built around it and a strong battery placed on its summit. Late in the afternoon General Ewell made an attack on Culp's Hill, where the Union line had been greatly weakened by the withdrawal of troops for the aid of Sickles. The assault was gallantly made, for these were Stonewall Jackson's men, and after a fierce struggle, in which cannon were won and lost again, the Confederates succeeded in gaining a foothold in the outer intrenchments. It was ten o'clock at night before the fighting ceased. Nearly forty thousand men had been killed or wounded in the two days' battle, and the great question of victory was yet undecided. But the Confederates had won some partial successes, and although they were really worth very little, they were sufficient to cause General Lee to hope that he might be enabled to carry the Union works by storm on the next day. During the night Ewell was strengthened in the position he had won, and Lee expected him to push on his success in the morning. But Meade was too quick for him: at early dawn the Confederates were attacked by a heavy force, and after a struggle of several hours, in which both sides lost heavily, Ewell's troops were driven from Culp's Hill, and all that he had won was regained. Lee had intended to make an attack on the centre of the Union position at the same time that Ewell pushed his success on the right, but the movement was much delayed, and so it happened that Ewell was driven out before Longstreet, who was to conduct it, was ready. At one o'clock the Confederates began the attack by a terrific bombardment of the Union position on Cemetery Bidge. More than a hundred and fifty guns had been brought together along Seminary Kitlge, and from them all kinds of shot and shell were thrown as fast as the cannons could be fired upon the Union position. Al- though Meade had more than two hundred guns in readiness, the ground along the ridge was so rough that only about eighty could be used to reply to this fire. Lee hoped to silence the Union batteries by this cannonade and to drive the troops from the crest of the hills so as to leave an opening for his troops to charge. Along the Union line the air was alive with shells^ 364 GETTYSBURG. [1863. which shrieked, moaned, and whistled over the ground where the men lay, protecting themselves as well as they could behind rocks and in hollows. The farm-house in the rear of the lines, where General Meade had his headquarters, was shot through and through and badly torn by the bursting shells, and sixteen of the staff officers' horses, which were fastened to the fence at the door, were killed. The oldest officers said they had never before seen so hot a fire. The graves on Cemetery Hill were plowed and torn and some of the stones and marble monu- ments shattered. For more than two hours the cannon- ade continued, but the Union troops were well sheltered and suffered but little. The fire of the Union batteries at last slack- ened for awhile, the chief of artillery thinking it best to reserve his ammunition to repel the expected charge of the enemy. General Lee, thinking he had nearly silenced the enemy's fire, kept up his firing and prepared for a charge. About three o'clock in the afternoon a long line of Confed- erate infantry was seen moving out from the thick cloud of smoke that overhung Seminary Ridge. With the steady tread of veterans the gray mass descended the slope and marched for- ward across the plain. Even the Union soldiers could not keep back a feeling of admiration as these men marched forward so bravely in the face of death. Their line was more than a mile long, and behind them was another line equally strong. Gen- eral Pickett with his Virginians led the attack. On the right was part of Hill's corps, led by General Wilcox, and on the left another part, mostly North Carolinians, under General Petti- grew. The whole line moved as regularly as if on parade. As soon as it came into the open plain the Union batteries opened fire, making great gaps in the ranks, but the men closed up and moved on without faltering. At last they came within mnsket- shot, but the Union troops withheld their fire until the enemy were within two or three hundred yards. The North Carolin- ians, many of whom were raw troops, had been told that the men before them were mostly militia, and marched boldly to the attack; but when, all along Hancock's line, the Union men rose up to fire, they recognized the bronzed faces of veterans, and the cry was raised, "It is the Army of the Potomac." The next moment a sheet of flame and smoke leaped out from the ranks before them, and their line was broken into fragments, 1863.] PICKETT AND HIS VIRGINIANS. 305 They fell back in disorder, leaving two thousand prisoners and fifteen battle-flags behind. Wilcox's men on the Confederate right had also fallen back, leaving Pickett and his five thousand Virginians to bear the brunt of the fight. Through a storm of shot and shell and a deadly musketry fire, right up the slope of Cemetery Eidge rushed these gallant men, leaving a long line of dead and dying behind them. A minute later and they were over the stone wall and among the Union batteries. Above the smoke were seen the Confederate battle-flags and a wild shout of victory went up. But the Union men rallied. For a quarter of an hour there was a deadly hand-to-hand battle among the guns. Both lines were in disorder, officers and men be- ing mingled together, each man fighting for himself. One after an- other the Confederate leaders were shot down — Garnett, Armistead, Kemper, only Pickett was left — and almost without officers and nearly surrounded, the Virginians fell back. Another volley, and part threw down their arms in token of surrender and the rest fled tumul- tuously from the hill. The Union men leaped forward upon the struggling mass, but the fighting was over, and all that was to be done was to gather in the prisoners and the flags. General Hancock, who com- manded the part of the Union line which had so gallantly re- pulsed the assault, was borne from the field severely wounded, and was not fit for service again until the next spring. It was now nearly sunset and the great battle of Gettysburg was over, for Lee sawf*how vain it was to try to carry the Union position. He was greatly cast down by the result, for he knew that it meant far more to the cause for which he fought than a lost battle. If he had won, he believed that Baltimore and Washington would have fallen and he could have made peace on George Pickett. 366 GETTYSBURG [1863. his own terms; but now lie had nothing before him but retreat and perhaps a greater disaster before he could recross the Poto- mac, and that meant the end of the Confederacy and of all his hopes. That night he made preparations to send his trains southward, while the soldiers threw up earthworks along their lines to guard against an attack by the enemy. About noon of the next day rain began to fall in torrents, and the face of the country was soon covered with water. The meadows became lakes and the roads were gullied by raging streams. Toward four o'clock the army wagons, ambulances, and artillery-car- riages began the retreat. The wounded, few of whom had had medical attendance and many of whom had had nothing to eat for thirty-two hours, were laid on the bare boards of the wagons, many without straw, and exposed to the cold drenching rain. The horses and mules were blinded by the violence of the storm and almost unmanageable, and the roar of the wind and the rushing waters made it nearly impossible to give orders; but above all the tumult were heard the heart-rending groans and wails of agony of the wounded as they were jolted along over the rocky roads. Some were praying, some cursing, and some sobbing; and while many called on their friends to kdl them and put them out of their misery, others thought only of home and their dear wives and children. General Imboden, to whom General Lee had given the care of the tram, says it was the most awful scene he ever witnessed. All night long the great train — it was seventeen miles long — moved rapidly on, for there was no time to lose, not even to give the wounded the water which they craved. The enemy might cut them off from the river, and that would end in the destruction or capture of the whole army. Williamsport was reached in the afternoon of Winfield Scott Hancock. 1863.] WASTED AMMUNITION. 367 July 5. No enemy was in sight, but the rains had raised the river ten feet and the fords were impassable. General Sedgwick, with the Sixth Corps, pursued the re- treating enemy and came up with the Confederate rear at the Fairfield Pass of the South Mountains, but the Pass was too strong to be taken, and General Meade ordered him to turn back, and marched with his whole army down the east side of the mountains, while the Confederates passed down the west side. He came up with them on the 12th, on the banks of the Poto- mac, but did not attack. Lee held his position until a pontoon bridge could be built, when the whole army crossed into Vir- ginia in safety, marched through the Shenandoah Valley, and retired behind the Eapidan Piiver. The Union loss in the battle of Get- tysburg was more ,; , ,, Austrian Musket Bent by Cannon-Ball. than twenty-three thousand; that of the Confederates nearly thirty thousand. There were picked up on the battle-field twenty-seven thou- sand five hundred guns, of which twenty-four thousand were loaded, half of them double-loaded. Many had five or six balls in to one charge of powder, and in one musket were found twenty-three balls and sixty-two buckshot all mixed up with the powder. In some cases the powder was found on top of the ball, and in others the cartridges were put in unopened.* Many of these guns were probably in the hands of men who were struck down before they had time to fire them, but the greater part of them were loaded by persons so excited that they did not know what they were doing. Few soldiers keep cool enough in battle not to waste any ammunition, and most of the shots fired generally go over the heads of the combatants. Indeed, it has been said that every soldier wastes his weight in lead before he kills a man. In the pictures are shown an Aus- trian gun which was struck, during the battle of Gettysburg, by a cannon-ball and bent out of shape, without being knocked * In those days, when guns were generally loaded at the muzzle and fired by percussion caps, the cartridges were made of paper, and the sol- dier had to bite off the end so as to open the powder before putting it into the gun. 368 GETTYSBURG. [1863. out of the hand of the soldier who held it, and the end of a Im- pounder brass cannon which was hit by a cannon-shot and wounded so as to imprison its own ball at the muzzle. Most of the people of Gettysburg left their homes on the' approach of the Confederates, but among the citizens was one old man named John Burns, a veteran of the war of 1812, who had no notion of running away. When he heard that the enemy was marching on the town, he took down his old State musket and began running bullets. "What are you going to do with those bullets?" asked his wife, who had anxiously watched his movements. " Oh," replied he, "I thought some of the boys might want the old gun, and I'm getting it ready for them." When the Union troops passed through the streets, he seized his gun and started out. " Where are you going?" called the old lady after him. " Going to see what is going on," he answered. He went to a Wisconsin regiment and asked the men if he might join them. They gave him three rousing cheers and told him to fall in. A rifle was given him in place of his old gun, and twenty-five rounds of cartridges. The old man fought bravely in the first day's fight, and received three wounds. When the Union troops fell back he Avas left with the other wounded on the battle-field, and was found there by the Confederates. As he was in citizen's dress, he knew they would shoot him 'if they found out that he had been fighting against them, so when they said to him, " Old man, what are you doing here?" he replied: " I am lying here wounded, as you see." "But what business had you here, and who wounded you, our troops or yours?" " I don't know who wounded me; I only know that I am wounded and in a bad fix." "Well, what were you doing here? What was your busi- ness?" He told "them that he was going home across the fields, and got caught in the scrape before he knew it. They asked him where he lived, and carried him home and left him there; they evidently suspected him, for they asked him many more questions, but old Burns stuck to his story, and they finally left 1863.] JENNT WADE. 369 him. After the battle a great many people went to see him and gave him many presents. There was a heroine as well as a hero among the people of Gettysburg. Before the battle, Jenny Wade was baking bread for the Union soldiers. She was in a house within range of the guns, and when the Confederates drove the Union troops through the town and forced them to take refuge on Cemetery Hill, they ordered her to leave. But she refused and kept at her work even while the battle was going on. While busy with her baking a Minie ball passed through her breast and killed her almost instantly. She was laid in a coffin which had been prepared for a Confederate officer, slain about the same time, and now lies on Cemetery Hill, where the battle raged hottest that day. When the first news from Gettysburg reached Eichmond it was reported that General Lee had won a great victory and had taken forty thousand prisoners. There was great rejoicing, and people congratu- lated each other that the bloody struggle ^_==^ was near its end and that the dream of in- dependence was soon to be realized. One wounded Cannon. of the Richmond newspapers imagined "the second city on the continent open to our armies, and already reckoning up the number of millions it must pay to ransom it from pillage and conflagration. ... In Philadelphia, how the Quakers quake this day. In AVashington, how the whole brood of Lin- coln and his rascal ministers turn pale." Another newspaper suggested as an epitaph for General Meade the following from the gravestone of an infant: " If so soon I'm done for, Wonder what I was begun for." But soon rumors that all was not as they could wish it to be began to fill the air. No one knew whence they came, but an uneasy feeling began to spread and people asked each other what they meant. At last the dread truth could be kept back no longer, and it became known to all that instead of marching as conquerors toward Philadelphia or Washington, Lee's shattered legions were falling back to seek safety once more across the 370 GETTYSBURG. [1863. Potomac. On the heels of this calamity came the dread news from Vicksburg, where Grant and Pemberton had settled the terms of surrender under the oak tree at the very hour when Longstreet had made his last grand charge on Cemetery Ridge. Up to this time people had had strong hopes of success, but now doubt began to fill their hearts. The whole Confederacy received a shock from which it never recovered, and by the close of the year the Confederate paper dollar was worth only two cents in gold. Culpeper Court-House. The joy throughout the North equalled the sorrow in the Confederacy, for every man felt that the Union had escaped the greatest danger which had ever threatened it; yet the peo- ple were not altogether satisfied with the result, for there was a very general feeling that the Confederate army should have been closely followed up and forced to fight again. On the 14th of July, after Lee had escaped across the Potomac, Halleck tele- graphed to General Meade that the escape of Lee's army without another battle had caused great dissatisfaction in 1863.] IN VIRGINIA AGAIN. 371 the mind of the President. General Meade replied by asking to be relieved of the command, bnt this was refused. Meade then crossed the Potomac and followed Lee to Culpeper Court- House, when Lee fell back across the Rapidan. The Confeder- ate government, believing that the campaign in Virginia was over for the year, sent Longstreet with part of Lee's army to the aid of Bragg, who was then opposing Rosecrans at Chatta- nooga. Meade's force was also much reduced, some troops being sent to aid in the siege of Charleston, some to put down the draft riots in New York, and finally, after Rosecrans's de- feat at Chickamauga, General Hooker was sent to Tennessee with the Eleventh and Twelfth Corps. After that, Meade and Lee watched each other closely, and though there were several fights, no general battle took place during the remainder of the year. In the latter part of November, Meade made preparations to move against Lee, but bad weather delayed him and the attempt was given up, and both armies finally went into winter quarters. Infantry Charge. CHAPTER XXXI. CHICKAMAUGA.— CHATTANOOGA.— KNOXVILLE. Rosecrans Moves against Bragg.— Cavalry Fights.— Van Dorn Attacks Franklin.— Streight's Raid.— John Morgan Across the Ohio.— Indiana and Ohio Aroused.— Mor- gan Defeated.— His Capture.— The Raiders' Plunder.— An Old Hero.— Chattanooga. —Bragg Falls Back.— Battle of Chickamauga.— Thomas's Bravery.— Rosecrans Re- treats to Chattanooga.— Johnny Clem.— Half Rations.— Grant in Command.— He Opens Communications.— Burnside in East Tennessee.— Arrival of Sherman.— The Battle above the Clouds.— Pulpit Rock.— Storming of Missionary Ridge.— Here is your Mule.— Bragg's Retreat.— Longstreet's Defeat Sherman's March to Knox- ville.— Starving on Roast Turkey. AFTEK taking Murfreesboro, General Rosecrans remained inactive for a long time. In the spring of 1863 he was urged to move against General Bragg, who with more than fifty thousand men was posted not far south of Murfreesboro. Rose- crans had about sixty thousand men, but was not so strong in cavalry as the Confederates. He had, too, to draw most of his supplies from Louisville over a single line of railroad, which required many men to guard, for the greater part of it ran through a hostile country. There were many cavalry raids during the early months of the year, so that both sides were kept busy. In February, Gen- eral Wheeler, Bragg's chief of cavalry, tried to capture Fort Donelson, so as to stop the navigation of the Cumberland River, by which some of Rosecrans's sujoplies came in steamboats to Nashville. The fort had not been repaired after its capture by Grant, but the village of Dover near it had been fortified, and it was then held by Colonel A. C. Harding with about six hun- dred men. The Union men fought bravely, and in the evening the gunboat Fair Play came up and opened a fire on the Con- federates, which drove them away in confusion, with a loss of more than five hundred men. Harding's loss was one hundred and twenty-six. Early in March, General Van Dorn appeared near Franklin with a large force of mounted men. Colonel Colburn, of the Thirty-third Indiana, moved southward from Franklin with twenty-seven hundred men. Van Dorn and Forrest met him, and after a fight of several hours Colburn had to surrender 1863.] CAVALRY RAIDS. 373 with thirteen hundred of his men. Soon afterward Colonel Hall with about fourteen hundred Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois troops had a fight with John Morgan. After a struggle of three hours the latter was defeated with a loss of three or four hundred killed and wounded. In April, Van Dorn again attacked Franklin, where General Gordon Granger was in command of about five thousand troops. Van Dorn, with a force nearly twice as large, assaulted a fort which the Union troops were building, but the few guns which had been mounted opened a destructive fire upon him in front, while the Union cavalry attacked his rear. He was obliged to fall back with a loss of five hundred prisoners and many killed and wounded; but he recovered most of jis prisoners, and re- tired safely to Spring Hill. Van Dorn was soon after shot in his tent by a Southern gentleman whose wife he had insulted. Though Van Dorn was surrounded by his staff officers, the gentleman succeeded in mounting a horse and escaping in safety to Nashville. In the latter part of April, Colonel A. D. Streight was sent with a force of about eighteen hundred men around Bragg's army, Avith orders to cut railroads and destroy bridges, depots of supplies, factories,and do everything that would tend to injure the Confederate cause. After doing a great deal of damage, Streight was overtaken near Borne, Georgia, by Forrest, with about four thousand cavalry, and obliged to surrender. They were all sent to Richmond, and shut up in Libby Prison, in which so many Union men were confined during the war. In the following February, Streight and about one hundred of his officers escaped by making a tunnel under the walls of their prison. But the most famous raid of this time was that made in July by John Morgan across the Ohio River. General Buck- ner was then in East Tennessee, near the borders of Kentucky, getting ready to make another dash toward Louisville, and Mor- gan went ahead to prepare the way. He crossed the Cumber- land River into Kentucky with about three thousand mounted men, sacked Columbia, captured Lebanon with four hundred prisoners, and rode on through Bardstown to Brandenburg on the Ohio River, plundering and destroying as he went. Many Kentuckians had joined him on the way, and he then had four 374 CEICKAMAUG A.— CHATTANOOGA.— KNOXYILLE. [1863. thousand men and ten pieces of artillery. The advance of Rosecrans's army just at that time prevented Buckner from joining him, and Morgan determined to cross into Indiana. There were two gunboats in the river, but he kept them off with his artillery while his men crossed on two captured steam- boats. Morgan then rode through Indiana toward Cincinnati, fighting home guards, tearing up railroads, burning bridges and mills, and capturing much property. The whole State was aroused by the danger, and thousands of armed men started after the bold riders. Morgan became alarmed, and after pass- ing around Cincinnati, almost within sight of its steeples, turned toward the Ohio to cross again into Kentucky. A large Union force was following, others were advancing on his flanks, and gunboats and steamboats filled with armed men were moving up the river to cut him off. The people aided the pursuers all they could by cutting down trees and barricading the roads to stop Morgan's march. He was so delayed by these and other things. that he did not reach the Ohio until July 19th. He hoped to cross at a place called Buffington Ford, but the Union men were upon him, and he had to turn and fight. After a severe battle, in which the Union troops were helped by gun- boats which cut off the raiders from crossing the ford, about eight hundred of Morgan's men surrendered, and the rest, with Morgan himself, fled up the river fourteen miles to Bellville, wdiere they tried to cross by swimming their horses. About three hundred men had succeeded in getting over when the gun- boats came up and opened fire on them. A fearful scene en- sued, for it was a struggle of life and death. Amid shots from the boats, the riders urged on their snorting horses. Some got across, some were shot, and some drowned. Morgan was not among the fortunate ones who escaped. With about two hun- dred men he fled further up the river to Xew Lisbon, where he was surrounded and forced to surrender. This was a wonderful raid, but it did not do the Confeder- ate cause any good. A large part of the property destroyed was private property, and this roused the anger of all the peo- ple of the Border States, a large part of whom had before taken little interest in carrying on the Avar. The battle-field and the roads leading from it were strewn with articles never seen in such places before. Mingled with broken arms, haversacks, and 1863.] AW OLD HERO. 375 cartridge-boxes, one could pick up almost any article of house- hold use or personal wear — crockery and tinware, cutlery, spoons, boots and shoes, hats, caps, and bonnets, pieces of calico and silk, ribbons, women's, men's, and children's cloth- ing, and all kinds of useful things. On the persons of the cap- tured were found many watches and much jewelry, and a good deal of money, both "greenbacks" and Confederate notes. Morgan and some of his officers were sent to Columbus and confined in the penitentiary, from which he and six others escaped in the following November by making a hole through the bottom of their cell and digging a tunnel under the foun- dations of the building into the prison-yard. Their only tools for doing this work were two small knives. They then scaled the walls by means of a rope made of their bed clothes, and traveled on the cars until near Cincinnati, when they jumped off the rear car, and, crossing the Ohio in a small boat, reached the Confederate lines in safety. Among the mortally wounded in the fight at Buffington Ford was Major Daniel McCook, the father of eight sons, all of whom Avere in the Union service, and four of whom became generals. One of his sons, General Robert L. McCook, had been murdered by guerrillas in Tennessee, while riding sick in an ambulance. The old gentleman, who was born in 1796, heard that the man who had killed his son was with Morgan, and hastened from Cincinnati with his rifle to join the pursuers. He was shot in the breast, and though tenderly cared for, died two days afterward. General Rosecrans began to march against Bragg on the 23d of June. His army was. divided into three corps, under com- mand of Generals Thomas, A. McDowell McCook, and Crit- tenden. Rosecrans's object was to capture Chattanooga, which, it will be remembered, General Buell had tried to take in 18C2. Chattanooga, which in the Indian language means Hawk's Nest, is a small town in one of the passes of the mountains which separate the Atlantic part of the Southern States from the Mis- sissippi Valley. There are several of these passes or gaps through the ranges of mountains, but that in which Chatta- nooga lies is one of the most important, because through it runs the Tennessee River and the railroads connecting the eastern with the western part of the Southern States. If the Union 376 CHICKAMAUGA.— CHATTANOOGA.— KNOXVILLE. [1863. troops could take Chattanooga, the Confederacy would be not only cut off from the Mississippi Valley, but would also be in danger of an attack in the rear. Heavy rains made the roads almost impassable, so that Bose- crans could move but slowly. Instead of waiting to fight in Tennessee, as Rosecrans expected, Bragg fell back before him to Bridgeport, in Alabama, losing many men by desertion in the retreat. Eosecrans followed, repairing the railroad as he went, and bringing forward his supplies. Bragg then crossed the Tennessee Eiver, and made his way to Chattanooga. Eose- crans, not feeling strong enough to attack him there, moved around the Confederate left as if he were going to leave Chatta- nooga and march into Georgia. In the first part of September, General Crittenden was at Wauhatchie (see map), General Thopaas at Trenton, and General McCook at Valley Head. To keep Eosecrans from moving on Eome and Atlanta, Bragg gave up Chattanooga, and fell back to Lafayette. Eosecrans, having thus manoeuvred his enemy out of Chattanooga, took possession of that place, and leaving a brigade to hold it, prepared to pur- sue Bragg, whom he thought to be retreating. But Bragg, who had been joined by Buckner's army and other reinforcements, and who knew that Longstreet was on his way to him from Vir- ginia, had made up his mind to fight, and was moving toward the Union forces. On the morning of September 19 the two armies were op- posite each other in the valley of tli3 Chickamauga, a little stream which flows northwardly until it empties into the Ten- nessee above Chattanooga. In the language of the Indians who used to live among these mountains, Chickamauga means the Eiver of Death. It was probably so called from its stagnant waters, which move so sluggishly as to make its neighborhood sickly, but it was soon to have another reason for its name. Bragg's plan of battle was to drive back Eosecrans's left, so as to get between him and Chattanooga. The battle began about ten o'clock and lasted all day, with no gain for either side, the Confederates failing to get possession of the road leading to Chattanooga. About midnight Longstreet arrived, and was given command of the left wing of Bragg's army, while Polk commanded the right wing. In the Union army McCook held the right, opposite Longstreet, Crittenden the centre, 1863.] CHATTANOOGA AND VICINITY. 377 Chattanooga and the Battle of Chickamauga. and Thomas the left, opposite the Confederates under Polk, or the end of the line toward Chattanooga. 378 CHICEAMAUGA.— CHATTANOOGA.— KNOXVILLE. [1863. The morning of September 20 opened with a thick mist, which hid the whole valley. But about ten o'clock this was driven away by the sun, and the struggle began. The battle was fought with great bravery on both sides. Thomas repulsed Polk's attack, but the Union right, where Rosecrans himself was, was badly beaten by Longstreet. The right and centre of the Union army broke and fled in confusion to Chattanooga. Rosecrans lost his presence of mind, and riding to Chattanooga telegraphed to Washington that his army had been defeated. Meanwhile Thomas held his position firmly. Sheridan suc- ceeded in rallying some of the fugitives and joined him. In vain the Confederates assailed him, but he repelled every attack until sun- set, when the battle ended. Under cover of the night Thomas with- drew in good order to Rossville (see map), where he remained dur- ing the next day; but he was not attacked again, and that evening he fell back to Chatta- nooga, where the rest of the army was. The battle of Chicka- mauffa thus ended in a Johnny Clem. great victory for the Confederates, but it was not worth much to them, as Rosecrans still held Chattanooga. The losses of the two armies were very nearly equal, about seventeen thousand on each side. All the Union dead and wounded were left in the hands of the Confederates, who took also many prisoners, fifty cannons, and about fifteen thousand small-arms. Among the incidents of Chickamauga the story of Johnny Clem is one of the most interesting. He was an Ohio boy, but was a volunteer in the Twenty-second Michigan, and was only twelve years old. He was with his regiment in the thickest of 1863.] GRANT SUCCEEDS ROSECRANS. 379 the fight, and had three bullets through his hat. During the confusion he became separated from his comrades, and was run- ning, gun in hand, across an open space, when a Confederate colonel on horseback rode after him, shouting: " Stop! you lit- tle Yankee devil!" Johnny, seeing that his pursuer would head him off, halted, and brought his musket to an order. The officer rode up to make him a prisoner, but in an instant the boy threw up his gun and fired, instantly killing the colonel. For this deed he was made a sergeant, and put on duty at head- quarters. The picture, which is from a photograph taken after the war, shows him in the act of bringing up his gun to fire. Eosecrans fortified Chattanooga, and made his position so strong that Bragg could not safely attack it; so the Confed- erate commander made preparations to starve out his enemy. He took pos- session of the Tennessee River and the roads lead- ing to Chattanooga, and soon Eosecrans had to draw all his supplies in wagons over one rough mountain road. Food be- came so scarce that the men were put on half rations, and thousands of horses and mules died. The autumn storms had begun, and the mud was so deep in the roads that travel was almost an impossibility; but, wrote one of the soldiers, "we get along pretty well by stepping from mule to mule as they lie dead by the way." After the sad news from Chickamauga the government saw that something must be done at once to save Eosecrans's army, thus cooped up in Chattanooga. The Eleventh and Twelfth Corps of the Army of the Potomac were sent, under command of General Hooker, to Tennessee, and the three Departments of the Ohio (Burnside's), of the Cumberland (Rosecrans's), and of the Tennessee (Grant's), were made into the Military Divi- sion of the Mississippi, and the whole command given to Gen- eral Grant. To General Thomas was given the command of the The Chattanooga. 380 CHICEAMAUGA.— CHATTANOOGA.— KNOXVILLE. [1863. Army of tlie Cumberland, in place of Rosecrans, who was sent to Missouri, and to General Sherman that of the Army of the Tennessee. Grant telegraphed to Thomas to "hold Chatta- nooga at all hazards," and started for that place. Thomas re- plied: "I will hold the town until we starve." Grant arrived on the 23d of October, and at once began operations to relieve the place. Within four days he had got possession of the Ten- nessee River to Bridgeport, and opened a road by which pro- visions could be sent safely into Chattanooga, A little steam- boat, which the soldiers had built, soon began to run regularly from Bridgeport with supplies, and thus Bragg's plan of starv- ing out the army was defeated. He tried to get back what he had lost by a night attack on the Union troops, but after a three hours' fight was driven back with heavy loss. =* Bragg's army was somewhat weakened in the first part of November. In the last of October, President Davis had made a visit to Bragg's camp. Thinking that the Union army was safely shut up in Chattanooga, he ordered Longstreet to go with his division to Tennessee to try to take Knoxville, which was then held by General Burnside. It will be remembered that Burnside, after leaving the Army of the Potomac, had been sent to take command of the Department of the Cumberland. His army of about twenty thousand men was stationed near Rich- mond, Kentucky, but in August, when Rosecrans moved toward Chattanooga, he marched across the mountains into East Ten- nessee. On the 9th of September he took Knoxville, with two thousand prisoners and fourteen cannons, Buckner, the Confed- erate commander, going southward to join Bragg's army. It was to retake this place and to regain possession of East Ten- nessee that Longstreet was sent northward early in November. When Grant heard of this movement he sent word to Burnside to hold his position firmly, and promised to send aid as soon as he could. On the 15th of November, Grant was joined by General Sherman, who had marched his army across from Iuka. Grant had then about eighty thousand men, while Bragg did not have more than fifty thousand. The situation of the two armies may be understood by looking at the map on page 377. Chatta- nooga, as will be seen, lies on the south side of the Tennessee River, in the mouth of the Chattanooga Valley, named from 1863.] LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN. 381 the stream which runs through it. This valley lies between two mountain ridges. The westernmost ridge is Lookout Mountain, a rocky, tree-covered height, about twenty-four hundred feet high. It is said that six States may be seen from its top. On the opposite side of the valley is Missionary Kidge, a chain of wooded hills so called because the early Roman Catholic mis- sionaries had schools and a chapel on it for the Cherokee Indians. The Confederate line extended twelve miles along the north end of Missionary Eidge, across the valley south of Chattanooga, and on Lookout Mountain. All along it was de- fended by earthworks, rifle-pits, and abatis. Of the Union forces, the centre, under General Thomas, held Chattanooga; Slope of Lookout Mountain. the right, under General Hooker, lay near the foot of Lookout Mountain; and the left, under General Sherman, lay on the north side of the Tennessee, just below the mouth of Chicka- mauga Creek. During the night of November 23, Sherman be- gan to build two pontoon bridges. These were finished by noon of the next day. his troops passed over, and by the middle of the afternoon he had taken possession of the north end of Missionary Eidge. In the mean time Hooker advanced up Lookout Mountain. His movements were hidden by a dense fog which covered the valley. The slope of the mountain was covered with boulders and rocky ledges and made more difficult to ascend by trees felled so that their limbs lay downward; but the hardy soldiers clambered overall obstructions, cutting away 382 CHICKAMAUGA.— CHATTANOOGA.— KNOXVILLE. [1863. the trees with axes as they went, under the very muzzles of the enemy's cannon, until an open space near the crest was reached. The troops had been ordered to halt on reaching the high ground, but they had been so successful that they could not be held back. They rushed on with cheers of victory, and after a few sharp fights the Confederates broke at all points and fled down the ravines into the valley. A drizzling rain had Lookout Mountain seen from Chattanooga. been falling all day, and the fog which had settled through the valley hid Hooker's movements from view below, so that this fight is commonly called the "Battle above the Clouds." In the morning, when the sun drove away the fog, the flag of the Union was seen waving*from Pulpit Kock,* on the crest of the mountain, and it was hailed with loud cheers by all the army * It is said that Jefferson Davis addressed the troops from this rock dur- ing his visit to Bragg's army. 1863.] Missionary ridgR 383 around Chattanooga. The next morning Hooker moved down the eastern slope of the mountain and drove the Confederates from the Chattanooga Valley. Bragg then stationed his whole army along the crest of Missionary Kidge. Early the same morning (25th) Sherman pushed forward on the north end of Missionary Kidge. Fighting continued steadily all day with various success. The Union troojis fought with the greatest bravery, but they did not gain a great deal, for Bragg sent the best of his troops to oppose them. Still they did not lose any ground. At last Grant, seeing that Bragg had greatly weakened his centre to fight Sherman, ordered Thomas to advance across the valley and drive the enemy out of the rifle- pits along the foot of Mission- ary Kidge. Under the lead of Sheridan, Wood, and Baird, the men charged in a line. The Confederates in the rifle-pits did not wait for their coming, but swarmed out and scampered up the hills. The Union men could not be held back, but pushed on steadily through a storm of canister from the bat- teries above and of bullets from rifle-pits in their front. Up the steep side of the ridge, which is about three fourths of a mile high at this place, the men ad- vanced with as much coolness as if on drill. But when within a hundred yards of the Con- federates they rushed forward with a whoop and a yell, and leaping over embankments, ditches, everything in their way, sprang into the enemy's works with the cry of " Chickamauga!" The Confederates gave way before them, and into the gap thus made the Union men poured as they came up the hill. Many prisoners and many pieces of artillery were taken. The cap- tured guns were at once turned on the flying enemy, who scat- tered in all directions. General Bragg rode among them, try Pulpit Rock. 384 CUICKAMAUGA.— CHATTANOOGA.— KNOXVILLE. [1863. ing to stay the rout. In vain he waved his sword and cried to them, " Here is your commander!" The men, who had no con- fidence in him, answered with one of the slang expressions used in the army, " Here's your mule!" and Bragg had to turn his horse and ride down the ridge among his fleeing troops. Sher- man also drove the enemy in his front, and by evening the whole Confederate army, forced from all its strong positions, was in full retreat. Bragg fell back to Dalton, Georgia, where he established a fortified camp. He was much blamed by the Southern people for his bad management of the campaign, and his command was soon after given to General J. E. Johnston. But President Davis, who was a strong friend of Bragg's, called him to Kichmond and made him general under him of all the Confeder- ate armies. The Confederate losses in the battle of Chatta- nooga were about ten thousand men, of whom six thousand were pris- The Union loss was nearly six James Longstreet. oners, and forty-two guns thousand. Longstreet, who had gone against Burnside, had been de- layed in his march from Chattanooga and did not assault Knoxville until November 17th. His attack failed, and, although it was necessary that he should return to Bragg as soon as possible, he made up his mind to besiege the place, hoping to starve out Burnside; but when news came of Bragg's disaster, knowing that Grant would send aid to Burnside, he felt that he had no time to lose, and determined to make another assault. On a hill commanding the road into the town was an earthwork called Fort Sanders. Its walls were about twenty feet high, with a ditch ten feet deep. In its front the trees had been cut so as to fall with their branches 1863.] STARVING ON ROAST TURKEY. 385 Hand-Grenade. outward, and wires had been stretched along from stump to stump to trip up an enemy advancing against it. On the 29th of November, Longstreet made an assault on this fort. The men. struggled through the abatis under a deadly fire from cannon and small-arms, and some crossed the ditch and tried to climb up the parapet; but they were hurled back by the be- sieged, and hand-grenades* were thrown into the ditch which burst among the struggling mass, killing and wounding a great many. A second assault was tried, but in vain; the Confeder- ates, though they fought with great bravery, could not carry the work, and the attempt was given up after more than five hundred of them had fallen. The pursuit of Bragg after Chatta- nooga was scarcely ended when Grant started Sherman toward Knoxville. Burnside had sent word that he was closely be- sieged by Longstreet, that his provisions were short, and that unless he were relieved by December 3, he might have to sur- render. Sherman's troops were nearly worn out by long marches and hard work, but he pushed on as rapidly as the bad roads would permit, and by December 5 his infantry were within fifteen miles of Knox- ville. There he heard that Longstreet had given up the siege and retreated toward Vir- ginia. Halting his army to rest, Sherman rode with his staff into Knoxville the next day. Within the lines he no- ticed a large pen full of live cattle, which, he says, "did not look much like starvation.'' On going to dine with General Burnside, he was surprised to find a dinner served in good style, with roast turkey among the meats. "Why," he exclaimed, " I thought you were starv- Block-House near Chattanooga. * Hand-grenades are commonly small shells loaded with powder and fitted with a fuse or slow-match, which is lighted just before they are thrown at an enemy. The picture shows another kind, fitted with a per- cussion-cap which explodes when the lower end strikes any hard object. The upper end has a shaft fitted with feathers, paper, or parchment to guide it when thrown. This kiml is often used in naval battles. 386 CHICKAMAUGA.— CHATTANOOGA.— KNOXVILLE. [1863. ing." Burnside explained that Longstreet had not entirely surrounded him, and that he had all the time been able to keep open communications with the country. " If I had known that," said Sherman, "I should not have hurried my men so fast. Leaving part of his troops Avith Burnside, Sherman returned with the remainder to Chattanooga. Cold weather soon set in, and military operations came to an end for the season. Earth- works were thrown up and block-houses built at the different places to be held, and the tired soldiers went into winter quar- ters. Some of the block-houses built by them were very picturesque. They were constructed of heavy logs, with walls three or four feet thick, and had a lower story for cannon and an upper story with holes for musket firing. Underneath was a bomb-proof magazine for the ammunition. ARMSTRONG GUN. CHAPTER XXXII. THE MONITORS. Loss of the Monitor.— The Montauk and the Nashville.— Fort McAllister.— The Con- federates Attack the Fleet off Charleston.— The Monitors Attack Charleston. — The New Ironsides.— Cables and Torpedoes.— A Terrible Bombardment.— Loss of the Keokuk.— Capture of the Atlanta.— New Confederate Flag.— I Don't Care About Your Torpedoes.— Gillmore at Charleston.— Fort Wagner.— Men Eighteen Feet High Wanted.— The Swamp Angel.— Sumter in Ruins.— Taking of Morris Island. —Assault on Sumter.— Loss of the Weehawken.— New Berne Attacked.— Little Washington.— Raids and Contrabands.— I'se Just Sam. THE success of the Monitor had induced the government to build other armored vessels of the same kind, and by the beginning of 1863 a number of them were on duty along the coast. The first Monitor had been lost at sea, but a few months after her famous fight, while on her way to Port Royal, where she had been ordered with two other monitors, the Passaic and Montauk. The three were being towed down the coast by steamers, and when off Cape Hatteras met a severe gale. The sea broke over the decks and pilot-houses of the iron-clads, and dashed in heavy masses against the bases of their turrets. This loosened the packing around the Monitor's turret, and she began to leak so badly that the crew had to work the pumps and to bale with buckets. At night the gale increased. A great wave would lift the vessel, and when she came down the flat under part of her deck would strike the water so heavily as to cause other leaks. Though the pumps were worked all the time, the water gained and put out the fires. Signals of distress were then made to ihe Rhode Island, which was towing her, and boats were sent. Part of the crew jumped in and were taken aboard the steamer. The rest crowded into the turret, for the water had driven them from below. The boats returned and most of the remaining crew got into them and were saved, but several were swept off by the waves and some others were so frightened that they would not leave the turret. At midnight her light was still seen from the Rhode Island, but a few min- utes after it disappeared: the Monitor had gone to the bottom of the sea, only eleven months after she was launched. The 388 THE MONITORS. [1863. Passaic was nearly lost in the same storm, but by hard work the men succeeded in keeping her afloat, and she and the Montauk arrived safe at their destination. In the following February (1863), the Montauk and several other monitors were lying in the mouth of the Ogechee, a river of Georgia, which flows into the Atlantic a little south of the Savannah River. A few miles up the river the Confederates had built an earthwork called Fort McAllister, to guard the bridge over which passes the railway running southward from Savannah, and to protect blockade-runners which might go in there. Near the fort lay the war-steamer Nashville, one of the privateers (page 140) fitted out by the Confederate government to prey on American commerce, waiting for a chance to run out. One day (Feb. 27) Commander Worden (the same who had fought the Merrimack), who was then in command of the Montauk, discovered that the Nashville was aground just above Wreck of the Nashvills:. the fort. The next morning Worden went up with his vessel and fired shells at her. The fort returned the fire, but, although the Monitor was hit several times, no damage was done. In a few minutes one of the Montank's shells burst inside of the Nashville, setting her on fire. Her guns went off one after an- other, and in a little while her magazine blew up, leaving noth- ing of the vessel but a few charred timbers and the iron skele- tons of her wheels. Admiral Dupont, seeing how well the Montauk had stood the heavy fire, then determined to make an attack on the fort itself. The monitors Passaic, Montauk, Ericsson, Patapsco, and Nahant, and some schooners with heavy mortars on board, steamed up the river (March 3) and opened fire on the fort; but, on account of piles and other obstructions in the river, they could not get near enough to do much harm. The great 1863.] NAVAL FIGHT. 389 shells tore up the sand around the fort and dismounted one of the guns in it, but no serious damage was done, and after wast- ing much ammunition the attempt was given up. A short time before this (Jan. 31) two Confederate iron-clad gunboats, named the Palmetto State and the Chicora, had run out of Charleston before daylight and attacked the blockading fleet. They rammed and disabled with shells the Mercedita and the Keystone State, both of which, having holes through their steam-chests, were obliged to surrender; but as soon as day dawned the other Union vessels came in and the Confederates were forced to retreat into the harbor. Both the injured ves- New Ironsides and a Monitor. sels were saved, but the Confederates proclaimed that the block- ade had been raised, and invited foreign nations to carry on commerce with the port of Charleston. No foreign vessels thought it best to accept this invitation, and only blockade- runners, which had always run in when they could, continued to steal through the Union fleet whenever they saw a chance. Preparations were then made for a naval attack on Charles- ton. It was not of much military importance, but as its in- habitants had begun the war there was a strong desire through- out the North to punish them, and it was hoped that the Union flag might take the place of the Confederate ensign on Sumter on the anniversary of its capture. In the beginning of April 390 THE MONITORS. [1863. the iron-clad fleet under Admiral Dupont was collected near the mouth of Charleston harbor. It consisted of seven moni- tors — the Passaic, Weehawken, Montauk, Patapsco, Cattskill, Nantucket, and Nahaut — the armor-plated frigate New Iron- sides, and the Keokuk, a lighter armored ram, with two sta- tionary turrets — that is, with turrets which did not turn round like those of the monitors. There were also some wooden gunboats. These vessels carried the heaviest armament which had ever before been used in naval warfare: the monitors car- ried each two to four 11 and 15 inch guns, while the great New Ironsides was armed with sixteen 11-inch guns and two 200-pounder Parrott guns. They carried in all thirty-two of these monster guns, but against them the forts could bring at least three hundred great cannons, some of them the most pow- erful English rifled guns. The works defending Charleston were then much stronger than when Sumter was taken in 1861 (page 50). The old forts had been strengthened, new batteries had been built, and the channels leading into the harbor had been obstructed by piles driven into the bottom, by chains and ca- bles stretched across, and by torpe- Barrel torpedo. does. Across the south channel was a row of piles in which had been left an opening wide enough for a vessel to go through; but woe to the enemy that tried the passage! On the bottom lay a mine of several thousand pounds of gunpowder, ready to be fired by electricity from the forts, which were connected with it by wires laid underwater. Across the main ship channel, between Sumter and Moultrie, was stretched a great cable, buoyed up by empty barrels, which held up a network of smaller cables and lines below fastened to tor- pedoes. These torpedoes were made chiefly of common bar- rels fitted with pointed ends of solid wood and filled with gun- powder, and were to be exploded by electricity when a vessel became entangled in the network of ropes. Another kind of torpedo was made like a double can with the two tops fastened together. The lower can was filled with gunpowder, and the upper one, which was hollow, acted as a buoy to float it. Above the top was a rod with a head. If a vessel struck one of these prongs, some percussion powder would be fired within the can 1863.] IRONCLADS AGAINST FORTS. 391 and this would explode the torpedo, which might blow a hole in the vessel's bottom. About noon of Tuesday, April 7, the Union fleet steamed up the main channel against the forts, the Weehawken leading. The sea was as smooth as glass; not a man was to be seen on any of the decks, the vessels moving slowly along like so many sea monsters swimming toward their prey. The captains had orders not to return any fire from the batteries on Morris Isl- and (see map, page 57), but to get as near to Sumter as possi- ble and then to aim their guns at it; but to their surprise all the outer batteries were silent as they passed by. The Wee- hawken had a kind of raft which it pushed ahead to explode torpedoes. One of these blew up, but did no damage, and she went on until she came to the network of cables stretched be- tween Sumter and Moultrie. She became entangled in this, and while she lay helpless in the tide, unable to advance or to retreat, Fort Sumter opened its batteries upon her. The other batteries quickly followed, and soon all along the low sand-hills of Morris and Sullivan's Islands the smoke leaped out from the throats of the great guns and the air was filled with their thunder and with the scream of shot and shell. The Wee- hawken and the other monitors which had come up, seeing that they could not pass the cable, turned back and tried to pass up the south channel, between Sumter and Cumming's Point, but were stopped again by the rows of piles. Com- mander Rodgers knew too much to trust his vessel in the open way through the piles, although he did not know of the powder- mine there which would have blown the Weehawken to atoms, and again turned back. Admiral Dupont then ranged the iron-clads as near Sumter as possible, and opened fire on it. The New Ironsides, in which he was, was caught in the tide and could not get into position at once, but he ordered the others to not mind her and to do as well as they could. They opened fire with all the guns they could bring to bear, and for about half an hour kept up the unequal fight. But the Confederate batteries were too strong for them, and soon the Keokuk, which had gone nearest to Sumter, was disabled and crept slowly out of the reach of shot. She had been struck more than ninety times. Both her turrets were shot through, and she had nineteen holes through her 392 THE MONITORS. [1863. hull, some large enough for a boy to creep through. She went into Light-House Inlet (see map) on Morris Island, and sunk there in the evening. Her guns fell into the hands of the Con- federates. Some of the monitors also were badly wounded and had their turrets jammed so that they would not turn, and the Ironsides received several bad shots. Admiral Dupont, seeing that it was impossible to take or to destroy Sumter with his monitors, withdrew, and gave up the attempt. Some thought that he ought to have made an- other attack the next day, but the most skilful of his officers said that a second trial could end only in disaster. The government was still determined to take Fort Sumter, if possible, and soon afterward General Gillmore,who had so success- fully attacked Fort Pulaski, was sent to take command of the De- partment in place of General Hunter. He arrived at Port Royal on the 12th of June, and at once began to make preparations for another attack on Charleston. About that time Admiral Dupont found out from some Confederate deserters that a powerful iron-clad, named the Atlanta, was about to come down from Savannah to raise the siege of Charleston. She was a British blockade-runner, the Fingal, which had run into Savan- nah in November, 18G1, with a valuable cargo of arms, hoping to run out again with a load of cotton; but being unable to escape after the fall of Fort Pulaski, she had been turned into an iron-clad. Fourteen months of hard work had been spent on her, the money to pay for it having been furnished, it is said, by the women of Savannah, who gave their jewelry for the pur- pose, and it was fondly believed that she was a match for any two monitors in the Union navy. The Weehawken and the Nahant were sent down to Warsaw Sound, below Tybee Island, to watch for her. Early in the morning of the 17th of June the Atlanta was seen coming down the channel toward the monitors, followed by two steamboats crowded with spectators, many of whom are said to have been ladies. The monitors at once got ready for action, and steamed up to meet her, the Weehawken leading. When within about a quarter of a mile of the latter, the Atlanta fired, but her shot fell short. Cap- tain Rodgers, of the Weehawken, then took aim himself with his fifteen-inch gun, and struck the Atlanta squarely, breaking the shutter of one of her port holes. The next shot from the 1863.] CAPTURE OF THE ATLANTA. 393 monitor carried away the pilot-house of the Atlanta, and another one went crash against her side, bending in her iron plates and shivering into splinters the solid wood-work behind them. One man was killed and thirteen wounded by the force of the blow, and immediately afterward a white flag was seen waving from the wreck of the pilot-house. The two steamboats which had come down to see the fun of capturing the Yankees then steamed hastily back to Savannah to tell the bad news, and Captain Eodgers sent Commander Harmony with a boat's crew on board of the Atlanta to take possession in the name of the United States. The new flag * of the Confederacy, which was flying at her stern, was hauled down, and the flag of the Union hoisted in its place amid the cheers of the crews of the moni- tors. Only five shots had been fired by the Weehawken and six by the Atlanta in the battle, which had lasted but fifteen min- utes. Every one of the monitor's shot struck, while she was not hit once. The Nahant took no part in the battle. The Atlanta was aground during the fight, which was one reason why she did so poorly. The Union officers did not know this, and when Commander Harmony went aboard he ordered his men to cast anchor. But Captain William A. Webb, the Confederate commander, exclaimed: "For God's sake, Captain, don't cast off those anchors! We have a torpedo under the bow!" Commander Harmony turned toward him and said, with the utmost coolness: "I don't care anything about your torpedoes. I can stand them if you can; but if you don't wish to be blown up with me, you'd better tell me how to raise the torpedo." Captain Webb called some of his men, who fastened ropes and pulleys to a large iron rod which ran out from the bow, and soon a huge torpedo Avas seen coming up out of the water at the outer end of the rod, which was about thirty feet long. The cap was carefully removed from it, and water poured in to wet the gunpowder, and the whole contrivance was then fastened so as to hang above the water in front of the * This was a white flag with the battle flag in the upper corner for a union. It was adopted May 1, 1863. See colored plate, page 563, num- ber 3. 394 THE MONITORS. [1863. bow. If the Atlanta had not run aground, she might have seriously injured the Weehawken with this, for the intention was to run straight at the monitor, and fire the torpedo by electricity as soon as the two vessels should touch each other. The torpedo would then have been under the monitor, and its explosion would probably have sunk her. The Atlanta looked much like the Merrimac, but she was a better and stronger vessel. She was, too, faster than the Mer- rimac, and if she had not got aground in the mud she might easily have run away from the monitors. She was fitted with stores and ammunition for a regular cruise, and her officers fully expected to go to Charleston with her, and perhaps fur- ther up the coast. But instead of steaming up as an enemy, carrying destruction to the block- ading fleets, she sailed under the flag of the Union to Philadelphia, where she was exhibited for the benefit of the soldiers. Admiral Dupont was an old-fashioned sailor, who believed in fighting his ship boldly on deck, instead of shut up in the dark caverns of a modern iron-clad. He was satisfied with his experience in this kind of warfare, and was unwilling to make another trial of the forts and batteries of Charleston. The government there- fore ordered Admiral Foote, who had shown great ability in the West in the management of iron-clads, to take his place; but he died in New York while on his way, and Admiral John A. Dahlgren was then sent to take command of the fleet. Admiral Dahlgren was the inventor of the Dahlgren gun, a cast-iron cannon, meant chiefly for firing shells, and used much in ships and sea-coast forts. Gillmore's plan for taking Charleston was to seize the south end of Morris Island (see map, page 57), and next, with the John A. Dahlgren. 1863.] ASSAULT ON WAGNER 395 aid of the monitors, to take Fort "Wagner and the battery on Cumming's Point. From Cumming's Point he could then bombard Fort Sumter, and even throw shells into Charleston itself. Folly Island, just below Morris Island, had been occu- pied by Union troops since the beginning of April. Hidden by the thick trees and bushes, which covered the island, strong earthworks were thrown up and heavy guns mounted, unknown to the Confederates. At daylight of July 10th the monitors moved in and opened fire on Fort Wagner. At the same time the trees in front of the batteries on Folly Island were cut away, and the defenders of the fort were surprised at receiving a heavy fire from the land side. Troops were landed, and soon all the Confederate works on the south side of Morris Island were in Gillmore's hands. The day was very hot and the men much exhausted, and the attack on Wagner was postponed until the next morning; but the bombardment was kept up. The next morning an assault was made on Wagner, but it was a failure. New batteries were then built on Morris Island, nearer to Fort Wagner than those on Folly Island, and they and the monitors kept up a steady fire. On the 18th of July another assault was made by about six thousand men, under General Truman Seymour. The men rushed to the attack just at twi- light, at the close of a heavy thunder-storm. In the front was a regiment of colored troops, the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts, under Colonel Eobert G. Shaw. They were received by a fire of shot and shell from Sumter and Wagner, and from Battery Gregg on Cumming's Point, but few were hit until they had nearly reached the ditch of the fort. Then the whole front of Wagner blazed with the fire of muskets and of howitzers, and showers of hand-grenades burst among the struggling mass of men. Across the ditch, in which there was three feet of water, rushed many of the Union men, and some even clambered up on the parapet of the fort; but they were hurled down again, and finally, after a struggle of half an hour, the assailants fell back, leaving their dead and wounded in the hands of the Con- federates. The Confederates did not lose more than a hundred men, while the Union loss was more than fifteen hundred. But few of the colored troops were left, their leader having fallen with them. 896 the monitors. [\m. Gillmore then laid regular siege to Wagner. Trenches were dug, and by the middle of August the batteries were within a quarter-mile of Wagner and within two and a half miles of Sumter. The work on these batteries had to be done mostly by night, for the forts kept up a heavy fire. Another battery was also begun in the marsh on the west side of Morris Island. The black mud there was so soft that it would not bear the weight of a man, and was at least sixteen feet deep. After the site was chosen, a lieutenant was ordered to superintend the work, and told to call for whatever materials he wanted. Being something of a wag, he sent to the quartermaster for a hundred men eighteen feet high, to work in mud sixteen feet deep; but as men of that height could not be had, he had to be Swamp Angel. satisfied with workmen of common stature. All the work had to be done in the dark, for it was within range of the guns of the forts. During fourteen nights piles were driven through the mud into the solid ground beneath, and on them were piled fifteen thousand bags of sand to form a parapet. After breaking down several trucks, a monster eight-inch Parrott gun, a 200-pounder, was dragged across the swamp and mounted, and about the middle of August the Swamp Angel, as the soldiers named it, was ready to throw shells into Charles- ton, nearly five miles away. On the 17th of August twelve land-batteries and the moni- tors opened fire on Sumter, Wagner, and Gregg. The heaviest of the fire was aimed at Sumter, as General Gillmore wished to 1863.] " SUMTER ASSAULTED. 397 silence it before he made another assault on Wagner. The bom- bardment was kept up for seven days, when Gillmore sent a dispatch to General Halleck, saying: "Fort Sumter is to-day (Aug. M) a shapeless and harmless mass of ruins." On the 21st of August, General Gillmore wrote to General Beauregard, who was in command in Charleston, demanding the evacuation of Fort Sumter and of Morris Island, threaten- ing, in case of refusal, to bombard Charleston. Not hearing from him, he ordered a few shells to be thrown into the city from the Swamp Angel. Some of them fell in the streets and frightened the people, but did little damage. Beauregard then wrote him a letter in which he accused him of barbarity in "turning his guns against the old men, the women and chil- dren, and the hospitals of a sleeping city," and called the act "unworthy of any soldier." General Gillmore replied that it was the duty of the commander of an attacked place to "see to it that the non-combatants were removed," and that he (Beau- regard) had had forty clays' time in which to do it. But the Swamp Angel was fired only a few times. At the thirty-sixth shot it burst and blew out the whole of its breech, and no other gun was mounted in its place. Gillmore then turned his attention once more to Fort Wag- ner, which he determined to assault again. To do this it was necessary to silence its guns and drive its defenders into the bomb-proofs; so a heavy fire was opened on it by the batteries, while the armored frigate New Ironsides poured eleven-inch shells into it from the sea side. The bombardment was kept up day and night, strong calcium lights being used by night to blind the Confederates and to show all parts of their works. The Confederates, driven from their guns, were obliged to fly for safety to their bomb-proofs. In the morning of September 7, the troops, under General Terry, were about ready to make the assault, when it was reported that the fort was empty. The garrisons of both Wagner and Gregg had fled during the night, and the whole of Morris Island was at last in possession of the Union troops. The next night an attack was made on Sumter by thirty boat-loads of men from the fleet. They reached the base of the walls and began to go up, thinking that the garrison was asleep; but before they reached the top a fire of musketry and hand-grenades was opened on them by the Confederates 398 THE MONITORS. [1863; within, aided by some gunboats outside, and the assailants were driven off with a loss of about two hundred. But little more was done against Charleston during the rest of the year. General Gillmore thought that, as Sumter's guns were silenced, the fleet might easily pass into the harbor and capture Charleston. But Admiral Dahlgren did not care to run the risk of the torpedoes and powder-mines over which he knew he would have to pass. Besides, General Beauregard had taken advantage of the long delay in taking "Wagner to strength- en the inner forts. Fort Johnson had been made into a pow- erful earthwork, and the fleet, even if Sumter were passed, would meet with as hot afire as had been experienced outside. General Gillmore therefore contented himself with repairing Wagner and Gregg and turning their guns on Charleston and the forts defending it. As they were a mile nearer the city than the Swamp Angel battery, a slow bombardment was kept up until near the end of the year. About half of Charleston was reached by the shells, and many buildings were greatly injured. As the wharves and most of the harbor were under fire, blockade-runners could no longer run in, and the business of the city was thus wholly destroyed. In December the Weehawken was unfortunately lost in a gale while lying at anchor off Morris Island. Her hatches being carelessly left open, the waves swept over her and filled her with water, and she went suddenly to the bottom, carrying down thirty of her crew. But little was done in North Carolina during 1863, the Union troops contenting themselves with holding the places along the coast which they had won. In March the Confeder- ate General D. H. Hill tried to retake New Berne, but was driven off. He then attacked Little Washington, on the Pam- lico Biver. General Foster hastened thither from New Berne. Hill, who had a large force, nearly surrounded the place and began a regular siege, and soon the garrison got out of supplies, excepting what could be brought to the town in small boats during the night. At last the steamboat Escort ran the block- ade of the batteries by night with a supply of provisions and ammunition. General Foster returned to New Berne in her at great risk, for she was struck by forty-seven cannon-shot as she went down the river, and putting himself at the head of seven 1863.] I'SE JUST SAM. 399 thousand men, marched back to raise the siege. But Hill did not wait for him, and Foster found the Confederates in full retreat. A few raids were made inland during the rest of the year, chiefly for the purpose of destroying railways, mills, machine shops, cotton, and whatever might aid the enemy in a military way. Many negroes followed the raiding parties hack to the coast, some bringing along their wives and little ones and all their household goods, as if intending to leave their old homes forever. They were received kindly and generally set at work to build earthworks or to raise food for the soldiers, but some of the able-bodied ones were formed into companies and drilled as soldiers. On arriving within the Union lines the contrabands were generally sent to headquarters, and funny scenes often took place when they were questioned by the officer in charge. One day a bright-looking negro came to report. "What's your name?" asked the officer. " Sam." "Sam what?" "No, sar, not Sam Watt. I'se just Sam." "What's your other name?" "Hasn't got no oder name, sar. I'se Sam, dat's all." " What's your master's name?" "Got none; massa runned away. Yah! yah! free nigger now." And Sam's mouth stretched from ear to ear, as if he enjoyed the situation. "Well, what's your father's or your mother's name?" per- sisted the officer. " Got none, sar. Nebber had none. I'se just Sam. Aint nobody else." "Haven't you any brothers or sisters?" "No, sar, nebber had none: no brudder, no sister, no fader, no mudder, no massa — nothin' but Sam. When you see Sam, you see all dere is of us." CHAPTER XXXIII. PRIVATEERS.— MOBILE BAT. Expedition to Florida.— Battle of Olustee.— Loss of Plymouth.— Raid of the Albe makle.— Her Destruction bt Cushing.— The Confederate Privateers.— The Ala- bama.— Captain Semmes.— The Fight with the Kearsarge.— Rescue of Semmes.— The Florida and the Wachusett.— The Shenandoah.— Whalers Burned.— The Last Hos- tile Act.— Rams for the Emperor of China.— The Stonewall.— The Alabama Claims. — Mobile Bay.— Farragut Passes the Forts.— The Admiral in the Shrouds.— Sinking of the Teccmseh.— Torpedoes.— Four Bells.— The Ram is Coming.— Fight with the Tennessee.— Ramming the Ram.— Save the Admiral.— Surrender of the Forts. Q'ENERAL GILLMORE, finding it impossible to do much more at Charleston without a larger force, determined to send an expedition to Florida. Early in February, 1864, a fleet of twenty steamers and eight schooners sailed from Port Royal, went up the St. John's River and occupied Jacksonville. From there the troops, about six thousand in number, marched westward on the railroad to Baldwin, when General Gillmore returned to Port Royal, leaving General Truman Seymour in command. On the 20th of February, Seymour had advanced to Olustee, where he fell into an ambuscade set for him by the Confederate General Finnegan, and was badly defeated with a loss of five guns and about fifteen hundred men, while that of the enemy was only about half as many. Seymour fell back to Jacksonville, burning large quantities of stores to keep them from falling into the hands of the enemy, and this ended the Florida expedition. In April, 1864, the Union General Henry W. Wessells was attacked in Plymouth, on the Roanoke River, North Carolina, by the Confederate General R. F. Hoke, with about seven thou- sand men. The place was well fortified and defended by twenty-four hundred men and three gunboats. Hoke first attacked Fort Warren, a small earthwork a little way up the river. He was aided in this by an iron-clad ram, named the Albemarle, which the Confederates had built up the Roanoke. The gunboat Bombshell went up to help the garrison, but the ram disabled and captured her. The Confederates next took Fort Wessells, a mile further down the river, and then laid siege to Plymouth. The Albemarle ran by Fort Warren, sunk 1864.] RAID OF TEE ALBEMARLE. 401 the Union gunboat Southfield and drove away the gunboat Miami, after killing her commander and wounding many of her crew. The ram then shelled the town, and the next day the Confederates assaulted it and the forts in such force that General Wessells was forced to surrender. Hoke took sixteen hundred prisoners, twenty-five cannons, and many valuable stores. The fall of Plymouth caused the evacuation of Little Washington by the Union troops, and Hoke then laid siege to New Berne. In May the Albemarle, accompanied by the captured Bomb- shell and the steamboat Cotton Plant filled with sharpshooters, went down from Plymouth and attacked the Union gunboats doing blockade duty off the mouth of the Roanoke River. The Cotton Plant soon went back, and the Bombshell, after receiv- ing a broadside from the Sassacus, hauled down her flag. The Albemarle was hit many times, but the shot glanced from her sides as those of the Mon- itor had from the iron plates of the Merrimac. The Sassacus finally ram- med her, striking her so heavy a blow as to nearly force her under water. At length the Albemarle put a shot through one of the boilers of the Sassacus, killing three men and wounding six. In a minute the vessel was filled with scalding steam, and the Sassacus became unmanageable. The Albemarle then retreated slowly to Plymouth, firing as she went, leaving the Bombshell in the hands of the Unionists. Hoke had expected the iron-clad to help him to capture New Berne, but she did not appear again, and he soon had to give up the siege and go to Virginia to aid in the defence of Petersburg. After this but little was done in North Carolina for several months; but the Albemarle still lay at Plymouth, and there was danger of her making another attack on the Union fleet. She William B. Cushing. 402 PRIVATEERS.— MOBILE BAY. [1864 was finally destroyed by a brave young lieutenant, William B. Cushing, who blew her up with a torpedo. Though only twenty years old, he was one of the most daring officers in the navy, and he had become noted for his fearlessness in the expe- ditions in the sounds and rivers of North Carolina. One dark night (Oct. 27) he set out from the fleet in a steam launch — a long open boat used by naval vessels — with a crew of thirteen officers and men. The launch was fitted with a toi^edo, which could be run out forward on the end of a long boom so as to be thrust under the vessel to be attacked. Cush- ing got within sixty feet of the Albemarle before his boat was seen. The guards then shouted the alarm, rang the boat's bell, and began firing their muskets at the launch. Fire-Ball. There w&g & ^ Q± ]ogg ^^ ^ ^^ around the Albemarle to protect her from just such attacks, but Cushing ran the bow of the launch upon the logs, lowered the boom so that the torpedo came right under the side of the vessel, and fired it. At the same moment a shot from one of the great guns of the ram crashed through the launch, and it was overwhelmed by a flood of water thrown up by the explo- sion of the torpedo. The Confederates called out to Cushing to surrender, but he refused, and ordering his men to save themselves as they best could, he sprang into the water amid a shower of musket balls and swam down the river. He succeeded in reaching the shore, almost exhausted, and hid himself dur- ing the next day in a swamp, where he was cared for by some negroes. From them he heard that the Albemarle had been sunk by his torpedo. The next night he found a small boat in a creek, paddled in it down the river, and before midnight was safe on board one of the vessels of the fleet. Only one other man of the party es- caped, all the rest being either drowned or cap- REEK " IRE Shell - tured. The Albemarle being thus put out of the way, Ply- mouth was recaptured a few days afterward. We must now go upon the high seas and watch the doings of the Confederate privateers. Some of the earlier of these are told about in Chapter XI. ; but the Confederates, with the aid of British ship-builders, soon sent out four more powerful vessels which drove American commerce from the ocean. These ships 1864.] THE ALABAMA. 403 were furnished with the best cannons known, as well as with shells filled with Greek-fire — a substance very hard to extin- guish when burning — others for firing melted metal, and fire- balls for burning vessels. The most famous of the privateers was the Alabama, which captured sixty-five vessels and destroyed property valued at ten million dollars. She was built at Liver- pool by Mr. Laird, who was then a member of Parliament, and, notwithstanding the protest of the American Minister, was allowed to go to sea (July, 1862), with a British crew on board and in charge of a British captain. She sailed to the Azores Islands under the name of "The 290." Another British ship followed her with her armament and supplies, and still another brought to her Raphael Semmes, the former captain of the Sumter (page 143). As soon as her guns and stores were put aboard she went to sea, and Semmes appeared on her deck in full uniform as her captain, and she was renamed the Confederate steamer Ala- bama. The Alabama, after a long cruise in the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans, during which she captured and burned many American ships, returned to Europe in the summer of 1864, and went into the French port of Cherbourg. Shortly afterward the United States steamer Kearsarge, Captain John A. Winslow, found her there, and lay off the port watching for her to come out. Captain Semmes sent a note to Captain Winslow, asking him not to go away, as he meant to fight the Kearsarge, and would delay him but a day or two. This was unnecessary, as Captain Winslow had been watching for some time for such an opportunity. On Sunday morning, June 19, the Alabama came out of Cherbourg and steered toward the Kearsarge. Captain Winslow steamed out to sea so as to draw the Alabama out of French waters; for every country owns the sea to a dis- tance of three miles from its shores, and if a fight should take Raphael Semmes. 404 PBIVATEEBS.— MOBILE BAY. [1864. place within that space the parties to it would be liable to be judged by the laws of France. When the Kearsarge was about seven miles off the coast she turned and steamed for the Ala- bama. When within about a mile the Alabama began to fire, and the Kearsarge received two or three broadsides before a shot was returned. The two steamers sailed round and round each other, about three fourths of a mile apart, firing at each other as they went. The Alabama's shots did not do much harm, although twelve or thirteen struck the hull of the Kear- sarge; but the guns of the Kear.-arge were aimed very carefully, and at the end of an hour the Alabama pulled down her flag, and she was seen to be in a sinking condition. Twenty minutes after- ward her stern settled in the water while her bow rose high in the air, and the Alabama went to the bottom of the English Channel, leaving her offi- cers and crew struggling in the water. An English steam- yacht, named the Deer- hound, which had come out of Cherbourg with the Alabama, assisted, by request of Captain Winslow, the boats of the Kearsarge in pick- ing up the survivors; but instead of delivering them up as prisoners she steamed away to the English coast and landed them there. Among those thus rescued was Captain Semmes and about forty of his officers and men. The Alabama and the Kearsarge were of nearly the same size and armament, and carried nearly the same number of guns. Some of the Confed- erate writers have tried to prove that the Kearsarge was partly iron-clad, and say that this gave her an advantage over the Ala- bama; but her only armor was her chain-cables which had been hung up and down on her sides to protect her engines from shot, a thing often done during the war. If Captain Semmes John A. Winslow. 1864.] THE FLORIDA. 405 had protected his ship in the same way, he might have come off better in the fight. Another British vessel built for the Confederates was the Oreto, afterward named the Florida. She was allowed to go to sea in spite of the protest of the American Minister, sailed to Nassau and then ran into Mobile, under the British flag. In December, 1862, she ran out, completely armed as a privateer, under the command of Captain John N. Maffitt, son of the famous Irish Methodist revival preacher. Like Semmes, Maf- fitt had formerly been in the naval service of the United States. After cruising along the Atlantic coast and among the West India islands, capturing and burning ships, the Florida at last went down the coast of Brazil and ran into the port of Bahia. The Alabama. The United States steamer Wachusett, Commander Napoleon Collins, was then lying there. Of course Commander Collins had no legal right to touch the Florida while she lay in port, but he made up his mind to take her at any risk. He tried to get her outside to fight his ship, as the Alabama had gone out to fight the Kearsarge, and failing in that, ran into her one day (Oct. 7, 18G4) under full steam, with the intention of sinking her where she lay. As this only damaged her a little, he de- manded her surrender, and the officer in charge, most of her crew being ashore, was obliged to give her up. Commander Collins then sent some men aboard of her, lashed her to the Wachusett, steamed out of the harbor before the Brazilian men-of-war knew what he was about, and took her to Hampton 406 PRIVATEERS.— MOBILE BAY. [1864. Eoads. This act created great excitement, and the Brazilian government complained of it to the United States. The govern- ment at Washington owned that the act was an unlawful one and apologized for it, and Commander Collins was susj>ended from duty for a time. The Florida was soon after sunk in Hampton Roads by being run into by another vessel. Other Confederate cruisers built in British ship-yards were the Georgia, the Tallahassee, the Olustee, the Chickamauga, and the Shenandoah. These captured many ships and drove American commerce from the seas; for great numbers of vessels not taken by them had to be sold by their owners at cheap rates and put under foreign flags to save them. The Shenan- doah was the last of the privateers on the ocean. After cruis- ing in Australian waters and the Indian Ocean, taking and destroying many American ships there, she went to Behring Strait, to look after the New England whale-ships "which go there every season. On the 28th of June, 1865, she took and burned eight of these vessels. This is said to have been the last hostile act of the war. In the following August her captain, hearing that the war was at an end, steered for England and gave up his vessel to the British authorities. The Confederates tried hard also to get some iron-clad vessels from Europe. Laird, the builder of the Alabama, constructed for them two powerful iron-clad rams, which were said to be for the Emperor of China. They were ready for sailing in the autumn of 1863, when Mr. Adams, the American Minister, in- formed the British government that their sailing on a hostile errand against the United States would be cause for war, and they were stopped. Another iron-clad, called the Stonewall, was built in France for the Danish government, it was said, but she was sold to the Confederates. She was at last surrendered to the Spanish authorities in Havana, who gave her up to the United States. The British government had to pay dearly in the end for its conduct in permitting the Confederate cruisers to fit out in its ports to war on the commerce of a friendly power. After the war the United States claimed that they ought to receive payment for the damage done. The question was left to arbi- tration — that is, was left to be settled by a court of persons called ai'bitrators, one each being chosen by the United States 1864] FORT MORGAN. 407 and Great Britain, and three others by the governments of Italy, Switzerland, and Brazil. This court decided that Great Britain had done wrong, and she was condemned to pay the United States fifteen million five hundred thousand dollars ($15,500,- 000). The claims thus paid are commonly called, from the name of the ship which did the most harm, the Alabama Claims. The only ports open to the Confederates in the summer of 1864 were Mobile and Wilmington, and it was determined to make an effort to capture or close them, so as to keep blockade- runners from carrying in any more supplies. The city of Mobile, the only seaport of Alaba- JS^Jf / ma, lies at the head of Mobile Bay, about thirty miles from the Gulf of Mexico. The entrance to the bay is narrowed by a long strip of sand extending from the east side of the mainland, on the end of which, called Mo- bile Point, is Fort Morgan, as shown in the map. Near the middle of the en- trance is Dauphin Island, with Fort Gaines on the eastern end, opposite Fort Morgan. Between these two forts, which are about four miles apart, is the main ship-channel. Another channel, called Grant's Pass, a narrow passage between two little islands, and deep enough for only small vessels, was defended by an earthwork named Fort Powell. The strongest of the forts was Fort Morgan, near which the main channel runs. It was mounted with very powerful English guns, and in front of it, at the edge of the water, was a battery of heavy guns. The channel had been narrowed by piles driven in the bottom, so as to make all vessels passing into the harbor go close to Fort Morgan, and many torpedoes had been planted in it. Fort Gaines was a smaller work than Morgan, and too far Entrance to Mobile Bay. 408 PRIVATEERS.— MOBILE SAT. [1864 from the channel to do much damage. Inside the bay lay the iron-clad ram Tennessee and three gunboats, under command of Admiral Buchanan, the commander of the Merrimac in the fight with the Monitor. In August, 1864, the Union fleet, under Admiral Farragut, consisting of fourteen wooden vessels and four iron-clads, lay off the entrance of the bay, three or four miles from the forts. The Union army, of only five thousand men, under General Gordon Granger, had been landed on Dauphin Island and had begun works to lay siege to Fort Gaines. The position of Farragut's fleet before starting to attack the forts is shown in the map. The wooden vessels were lashed together in pairs, side by side, with strong cables, in the following order, the first named one being in each case the ship on the starboard or right side, the side next to Fort Morgan in sailing into the bay: the Brooklyn and the Octorara; Hartford and Metacomet; Bich- mond and Port Bo} r al; Lackawanna and Seminole; Monon- gahela and Kennebec; Ossipee and Itasca; Oneida and Galena. The Hartford was the flag-ship, or ship which car- ried the Admiral. Farragut Avas anxious to take the lead himself with the Hartford, but at the council of officers it was decided that the Brooklyn, which was provided with a machine for picking up torpedoes, should go ahead. The iron-clads, which were ranged in a line by themselves, were the Tecumseh and Manhattan, each a monitor with one turret, and the Win- nebago and Chickasaw, each with two turrets. Admiral Farragut had determined to make the attempt on the forts on Thursday (Aug. 4), but he was delayed because the Tecumseh did not arrive. She came from Pensacola about sunset of that day, and orders were given for the fleet to move at dawn the next morning, notwithstanding the sailors' belief that Friday is an unlucky day to begin anything. The morn- ing oj)ened with a dense fog which hid land and forts from view, and made the great ships look like phantoms; but about sunrise the mist was scattered by a light breeze and the day became clear and beautiful. At about a quarter before six o'clock the whole fleet was underway, the monitors, which were slower than the wooden ships, having started in advance. The Brooklyn and her companion came next and the others fol- lowed in their order. Every ship had been made ready for 1864.] FARRAGUT IN THE) SHROUDS. 409 action, the crews stood beside their guns, and the officers were watching anxiously for the sound of the first shot. On steamed the fleet, getting nearer and nearer every moment to the forts, when presently the monitor Tecumseh opened on Fort Morgan. The fort soon replied, and one after another the ships of the fleet answered until the battle became general. The Brooklyn fired grape and canister shot,* which drove many of the men from the guns in the water battery before Fort Morgan, but the great guns of the fort itself began to make sad havoc among the ships. The Hartford, at which the Confederates chiefly aimed, was struck many times and her decks were soon slippery with blood. Admiral Farragut had taken his position in the shrouds — that is, on the rope lad- ders reaching from the sides of the ship to the tops of the masts — near the main-top, where he was high enough to see over the smoke of the guns. Captain Drayton, the commander of the Hartford, seeing him in this exposed place and fearing lest his body might fall into the water or on to the deck, if he should happen to be wounded, ordered a sailor take a rope's end and tie him to the shroud. The Admiral was not the only one in the rigging of the ship: above him, in the main-top, f was the pilot, in the foretop were * A grape-shot is made up of nine small cast-iron balls, fastened together between iron plates so as to be put into a gun at once. The firing of the gun bursts the plates, and the balls scatter as soon as they leave the gun. A canister shot is a sheet-iron canister tilled with small balls. The canis- ter bursts when it is fired from a gun, and the balls scatter and do great damage. f A ship has three masts— a front one called the foremast, a middle one called the mainmast, and a hind one called the mizzenmast. Each mast is made up of four pieces: the lower part, or mast proper, the topmast, the topgallant mast, and the royal mast. These parts are fastened to- gether with iron bauds; at the head of each of the lower masts is a kind of platform called the top, and at the head of each of the topmasts are cross- bars of timber called the cross-trees. These are named after the masts : thus, those on the mainmast are called the main-top, the main cross trees, and the main topgallant cross-trees; and those on the foremast the foretop, the fore cross-trees, and the fore topgallant nvss-trees. Canister-Shot. Grape-Shot. to 410 PRlVATEEliS.— MOBILE BAY. [1864. some sailors firing grape and canister shot at Fort Morgan from a short cannon called a howitzer, and above them, sitting on the fore topgallant cross-trees, and holding on to the mast with his left arm, was Lieutenant J. C. Kinney, one of the sig- nal officers, who had climbed up to this high place so that his flag could be more easily seen, above the smoke, from the other ships. While the ships were thus steaming into the harbor, and fighting the forts as they passed, the Brooklyn was seen to be stopping and signalling to the flag-ship. The signal officer read: "The monitors are right ahead; we cannot go on without passing them." As soon as the Admiral received the message he sent word to the signal officer to answer: " Order the monitors ahead, and go on." " The iron-clad ram Tennessee and the three Confederate gunboats, the Selma, the Morgan, and the Gaines, had now taken part in the fight. The Union vessels were answering their fire as well as that of the forts, when the monitor Tecum- seh, which was leading, was seen to careen on her side and almost instantly to go out of sight. She had run on a torpedo and had sunk with her commander, Captain Craven, and one hundred and thirteen men. The pilot had just time to leap out of the pilot-house and a few men in the turret to throw themselves out of the port-holes before she went down. They were picked up by a small boat from the Metacomet, the officer in < barge steering around" as coolly amongst the flying shot from the forts and gunboats as if he were on parade. The Brooklyn was still stopping ahead, and she signalled again: " Our best monitor is sunk." There was great danger that her pausing would throw the whole fleet into confusion, if not force the other ships ashore. Farragut called out to the pilot above him: "What's the matter with the Brooklyn? She must have plenty of water there. " "Plenty, and to spare, Admiral," replied the pilot. The Hartford was now close upon the Brooklyn. "What's the trouble?" was asked through a speaking- trumpet. 1864.] FIGHT WITH THE GUNBOATS. 411 "Torpedoes!" was shouted back in answer. "Damn the torpedoes!" cried Farragut; and then, leaning down through the shrouds, he shouted to the officer at the bell- pull on the quarter-deck: "Four bells!* eight bells! sixteen bells! Give her all the steam you've got!" The Hartford and Metacomet, which was still lashed to her, then steamed rapidly ahead past the Brooklyn and the moni- tors, and took the lead. The Confederate gunboats turned their fire on the flag-ship, and the ram Tennessee steamed toward her as if to run her down. The channel was narrow, and there was danger that the Hartford might be sank without being able to get out of the way, for her shot glanced from the iron- clad's side without doing any apparent damage. But the Ten- nessee soon steered around and went back to attack some of the other vessels. As soon as deep water was reached, the Admiral ordered Captain Jouett of the Metacomet, the fastest of the" ships, to chase the Confederate gunboats. The cables which fastened the two ships were quickly cut with axes, and the Metacomet steamed ahead amid hearty cheers from the crews. The gunboats steamed up the bay, but the Metacomet was too fast for them. The Gaines was soon crippled, and was run ashore by her crew and burned, and the Selma was captured and brought back in tow. The Morgan ran away for safety under the guns of Fort Morgan. The Tennessee did not suc- ceed in doing much injury to any of the ships, and followed the Morgan, and soon the rest of the fleet had passed the forts and come to anchor beside the Hartford in the quiet waters of Mobile Bay. As the men had only eaten some sandwiches and coffee be- fore going into battle, Admiral Farragut having announced his intention of breakfasting within the bay, preparations were now made for getting the morning meal, when a shout arose, "The ram is coming!" All hands were called to quarters again, and preparations made for another fight. The Tennes- * The engines on a war steamer are directed by means of a bell, the wires of which run from the engine-room to the quarter-deck, so that it can easily be rung by the officer in charge. One stroke of the bell means "go ahead;" two strokes, "stop;" three strokes, "back;" and four strokes, "go ahead as fast as possible." 412 PRIVATEERS.— MOBILE BAT. [\BU. ■tee came steaming up the bay, heading directly toward the Hartford. The walls of both the forts, which were out of reach of shot, swarmed with men, anxiously watching the movements of the vessels. There was every reason to believe that the ram would be able to sink the wooden ships, and perhaps show her- self to be a match even for the monitors. She was built much like the Merrimac, but was stronger, her sides being eight feet thick, and plated in her most exposed parts with iron six inches thick. She was armed with six large rifled guns of the best English make, and her bow was fitted with a ram to crush in the sides of an enemy's vessel. The signal " Attack the enemy" was hoisted on the Hart- ford, and the ships hastened to meet the coming monster. The Monongahela, which had an iron prow, was also signalled to "run down the ram." She steamed ahead at full speed, and struck the Tennessee a fair blow on her side, which, while it did not hurt the ram, broke the Monongahela's prow, and injured her otherwise. After striking her, she swung round and fired into the Tennessee her heavy guns at only a few feet distance from her, but the shot glanced off and fell harmlessly into the water. The Lackawanna then rammed her at full speed, crushing her own bow, but doing little harm to the enemy. As she swung round, the men on board the ram could be seen through the open ports. They called the Union men some hard names, and some of the latter threw a spittoon and a holystone* at them, and drove them away. The Hartford struck the ram next, but the Tennessee turned as she came at her, so that the blow was a glancing one. As the two vessels came side by side the Hartford fired her whole broadside of ten heavy guns at the ram, but the balls only dented her iron plates. At the same time a shell from the Tennessee passed through the Hartford, killing five men and wounding eight. When the vessels struck, Admiral Farragut stood upon the port or left-hand rail of the Hartford, holding on by the rig- ging, and he could easily have jumped on to the deck of the ram as she passed. The monitors then began to fire, and all the vessels of the fleet took part in the fight. The Hartford went at the Ten- * A stone used by sailors in scrubbing the deck of a vessel, 1864.] THE TENNESSEE SURRENDERS. 413 nessee again at full speed, but before she reached her the Lacka-. wanna ran into the Hartford, cutting through her starboard or right side nearly to the water's edge. Everybody thought the end of the Hartford had come, and there was a shout of " Save the Admiral!" Some boats were lowered, but the Admiral rushed to the starboard side, and springing into the rigging leaned over to see what damage had been done. Seeing that the hole was a little above the water, he hastily ordered the ship to steam for the ram again. The Tennessee was then in a sad plight. The monitor Chickasaw had broken her rudder-chains so that she could not be steered, the monitor Manhattan had smashed her iron armor and nearly forced a hole through her solid wooden sides, her smoke-stack had been shot away, and her commander had been badly wounded by a piece of a shell which burst in one of her port-holes. Several of the ships were coming at her at full speed to sink her, if possible. Although the blows from the ships did not appear to damage her much, the concussion from them was so great that her crew could not keep their lighthouse at ]■•„,.• ,■ n,,,,,^ .-> ,-,.. :■...« feet. Just as the Ossipee bardment. was about to strike her, a staff with a white flag was poked up through the iron grating on her deck. The great ram had surrendered. The Ossipee slowed her engines, the firing ceased, and cheers of victory went up from the fleet— such cheers as only sailors can give. The officer sent on board of the Tennessee to receive her .- 414 PRIVATEERS.— MOBILE BAT. 1864.] surrender was Captain Heywood, of the Marine Corps, who was one of those saved from the frigate Cumberland when it was sunk by Admiral Buchanan in the Merrimac. Buchanan lost a leg in the fight with the fleet, but only six of his crew were among the dead and wounded. Farragut lost more men in the fight with the ram than in passing the fort. His total loss, including those drowned in the Tecumseh, was one hundred and sixty-five killed, and abovit as many wounded. But the battle was not yet won, for the forts had been only passed, not taken. But the garrison of Fort Powell, discour- aged at the result of the Tennessee's attack, left their works and blew them up during the following night. The next day Fort Gaines was shelled by the Chickasaw, and forced to sur- render with eight hundred prisoners. The troops that had been besieging it were then taken across to Mobile Point, where works were built behind Fort Morgan. Guns were mounted, and the fort bombarded from land and sea, and forced to surrender (August 23). The fort itself was not very badly injured, but the light-house, which stood in range of the guns from the ships, was nearly demolished, as shown in the picture. By this victory the port of Mobile was closed against blockade-runners. The city itself did not fall until the next spring (April, 1865). Floating Battery. CHAPTER XXXIV. THE SOUTH AND WEST. Sherman's Meridian Expedition.— Jeff Davis's Neckties.— Sherman's Danger.— De Dat ob Jubilee.— Smith Defeated by Forrest.— Paducah Attacked.— Massacre at For'^ Pillow.— Forrest Defeats Sturgis.— A Ride into Memphis.— Sherman and Banks.— The Anvil Chorus.— The Red River Expedition.— Fort De Russey.— Kirby Smith and Dick Taylor.— Natchitoches.— Battle of Mansfield.— A Skedaddle.— Battle of Pleasant Hill.— Loss of the Eastport— The Dam at Alexandria.— Saving the Fleet. —Cotton Stealing.— Canby Succeeds Banks.— Steele's Defeat in Arkansas.— The Last Invasion of Missouri.— Pleasonton and Curtis.— Price's Flight.— John Morgan in Kentucky Again.— Burbridge Defeats Him.— Morgan's Death. WE left General Sherman with his army in winter quarters near Chattanooga, after his return from Knoxville (page 386). Near the end of January he was ordered to Vicksburg, to take command of an expedition about to start from there to destroy the railroads at Meridian, in Mississippi. Meridian was a small place, but it was the point of meeting of two im- portant railroads, the Mobile and Ohio, running northward from Mobile, and the Southern Mississippi, running eastward from Vicksburg. After the Confederates lost command of the Mis- sissippi River they had to depend largely on these railroads for the movement of troops and supplies. Sherman set out from Vicksburg (Feb. 3) with about twen- ty-three thousand men. But little baggage and no tents were carried, and the force pushed on rapidly, skirmishing with bodies of Confederate troops at different places. After passing Jack- son everything which might aid the enemy was utterly de- stroyed. Mills, railway stations, and machine-shops were burned and the railroads torn up with crowbars and clawbars, and so injured that they could not be used again without great labor. The railway ties were piled in heaps and set on fire, and the rails then laid across them. When heated red-hot the iron was twisted so as to be useless. A bent rail can be straightened again, but a twisted rail cannot. Sometimes the men twined the rails around trees, as shown in the picture. These were called by them Jeff Davis's neckties. Confederate cavalry hovered around the army during nearly the whole march, and once they came very near capturing Gen- 416 THE SOUTH AND WEST. [1864. eral Sherman. He stopped to get some supper at a small log house in Decatur, and being tired lay down on a bed and fell asleep. Presently he was awakened by shouts and pistol-shots outside, and an officer rushed in and told him that they were at- tacked by cavalry who were all around the house. Sherman ran out into the back yard and saw wagons going very fast down the road and horsemen dashing after them in a cloud of dust, yelling and firing pistols. He was just about going into a corn- crib in the rear with the few men he had around him to defend himself, when a Union infantry regiment, which had passed by shortly before, came back on a run and soon cleared the road of the cavalry. Meridian was reached in the afternoon of the 14th and found nearly deserted, the Confederates, under General Polk, having left it that morning. Five days were spent in destroying the arsenals, storehouses, hospitals, stations, and machine-shops there, nothing being left but the houses in which people were actually living. The railroads too, north, south, and east of Meridian, were so damaged that they could not be used again, says Sherman, for the rest of the war. It was a heavy blow to the Confederates, for through Me- ridian had been sent their troops and "sup- plies from Mobile northward. General Sher- man had ordered General W. S. Smith to march from Memphis with another force of nearly ten thousand men, mostly cavalry, and to be in Meridian by the 10th of February. Having waited for him until thr 20th, Sherman returned to Vicksburg. On the march back the army was followed by thousands of negroes, men, women, and children, some on foot, some mounted on horses or mules, and some in ox-carts. Some were dressed in their masters' cast-off clothes, some shivering in their scant plantation dresses; some of the women with gay bandana handkerchiefs around their heads, and others decked with bits of faded ribbons and discarded finery. Sometimes the father of a family strode in front carrying over his shoulder a stick hung with bundles and all kinds of trumpery, while behind trudged the mother with an infant in her arms, and perhaps another child on her back Jeff Davis's Necktie. 1864.] FORT PILLOW. 417 and still another clinging to her skirts. So they tramped along in crowds, laughing, shouting, and singing "Deday ob jubilee is come." The fugitives were a great incumbrance to the army, but they could not be left in that desolated country to starve, so they were sent forward with the trains in advance of the sol- diers to Vicksburg. General Smith, whom Sherman had ordered to meet him at Meridian, fell in with a force of Confederate cavalry, under General N. B. Forrest, atOkolona, lost five guns, and was forced to retreat to Memphis. Forrest then went on a raid into Ten- nessee and Kentucky with about five thousand mounted men. He captured Union City, Tennessee, with four hundred and fifty Union prisoners, and pressed on to Paducah, Kentucky, which The New Era. was garrisoned by about seven hundred men. Forrest demanded the surrender of Fort Anderson, in which the Union men were, and said that if he had to storm the works no quarter would be given. Colonel Hicks, the Union commander, refused, and Forrest made several attempts to take the place, but was re- pulsed, and left with a loss of about three hundred men. Forrest then went into Tennessee again and appeared before Fort Pillow, above Memphis (April 12). The garrison con- sisted of about five hundred and fifty men, half of whom were negroes. Forrest's men began the attack before sunrise, and after some hard fighting, in which Major Booth, the Union commander, was killed, the garrison was driven from the outer 418 THE SOUTH AND WEST. [1864 works into the inner fort. The gunboat New Era aided in the defence, but the river bank was too high to make her firing of much avail. About 1 o'clock the gunboat moved out into the river to cool and clean its guns. Forrest sent a flag of truce to the fort, demanding its surrender. The commander, Major Bradford, asked for an hour to consult with the officers of the gunboat. Shortly afterward Forrest sent another flag of truce, saying that he would give him twenty minutes to move his troops out, and that he should assault if it were not done within that time. During this time Forrest, contrary to the laws of war, which do not allow of any military movement under a flag of truce, was moving his men up into good positions. Major Bradford declined to surrender, and Forrest's men then made a rush upon the fort, with shouts of "No quarter!" The attack was so sudden and was made with such numbers that there was little chance for resistance. The Union soldiers, white and black, threw down their guns and tried to escape by running down the steep bluff to the river. Some hid behind logs and bushes and some jumped into the water, leaving only their heads out. But wherever they went they were sought out by the enemy and slaughtered, neither officers nor men, women nor children, being spared. Even the sick and wounded in the hospitals were dragged out of their beds and butchered. The huts and tents within the fort, into which many of the wounded had run for shelter, were set on fire, and the unfortunates shot or bayoneted as they ran out. The waters of the river and the banks of the bluff were red with blood and filled with the bodies of the slain. Between three and four hundred w r ere thus murdered, most of them after they had thrown down their arms. It is only fair to state that General Forrest says in his official report of the capture that the Union troops kept firing on his men as they retreated toward the river, probably expecting that the gunboat would shell the Confederates back and thus pro- tect those under the bank until she could run in and take them off. He also says that the flag of the fort was kept flying until some of the Confederates cut the halyards, and that when the flag came down the firing ceased. But this is not proved by the testimony taken by a committee sent by Congress to look into the affair, and the massacre must ever remain a blot on 1864.] RAID INTO MEMPHIS. 419 General Forrest's name. There is no doubt that great harm was done by it to the Confederacy both here and in Europe, and that many who had before been friendly to it became forever turned against it. Forrest then went into Mississippi. In June, General Stur- gis, with about nine thousand infantry and three thousand cav- alry, under Grierson, went to find him. He met Forrest near Gun Town, and was badly beaten and pursued nearly to Mem- phis, losing all his train and between three and four thousand men. Another expedition, under General A. J. Smith, was sent in July against this bold Confederate cavalry leader, with but little better result: a battle was f ought near Tupelo, and Smith, like Sturgis, was forced to retreat to Memphis. In about three weeks Smith start- ed again to find Forrest, but the latter eluded him, and riding around him with about three thou- sand horsemen, made a dash into Memphis. There were at the time in and around the city about six thousand Un- ion troops, but regardless of them the Confeder- ates rode boldly in early one morning (Aug. 21), and went directly to the Gayoso House, the principal hotel, then the headcpiarters of several generals. They failed to catch them, but carried away some of their staff officers and about three hundred privates. The Union soldiers were soon after them, and the Confederates had to leave the city, losing about two hundred men in a fight near by. As soon as General Sherman returned from his Meridian expedition, he hastened to New Orleans to see General Banks, who was about starting on an expedition up the Eed Kiver. He reached the city on the 2d of March, made with Banks a plan for the campaign, and went back the next day. Banks N. B. Forrest. 420 TUB SOUTH AND WEST. [1864 wanted him to remain to attend the ceremonies to celebrate the setting up of a civil government for Louisiana, and told him that the " Anvil Chorus" was to be performed by all the bands in the army, and that the church bells were to be rung and cannons were to be fired by electricity. But Sherman, who was made of sterner stuff, declined to delay his business to attend such a performance, which he considered out of place in time of war. He had promised Banks that he would send ten thou- sand men to meet his forces at Alexandria on the 17th of March. As soon as he got back he sent them, under General A. J. Smith, up the Red River, attended by Admiral Porter's fleet. Fort De Russey, below Alexandria, was taken, and the army and Map of the Red River Expedition. fleet reached Alexandria at the appointed time, but General Banks did not arrive until several days afterward. The main object of the expedition was the capture of Shreve- port, a town at the head of steamboat navigation on the Red River, near the boundary of Texas, which the Confederates had made a depot for army supplies, still sent in a stealthy way across the Mississippi. It was thought too that Shreveport was needed as a base for an expedition into Texas, which was believed by some of tbe politicians to be necessary on account of the movements of the French in Mexico. A third reason for the expedition was the hope that large quantities of cotton 1864/ RED RIVER EXPEDITION. 421 might be obtained in that region, where it is the principal crop. At this time the Confederate forces west of the Mississippi were under command of General E. Kirby Smith, who, it will be remembered, had given such timely aid in the first battle of Bull Run (page 98). Smith had in all about forty thousand men, but some of these were in Texas and some in Arkansas. General Dick Taylor, with the remainder, was at Shreveport, where he was waiting for more troops to join him. The Red River, which gets its name from the red earth which colors its waters at all times excepting in low-water sea- sons, is usually high in the spring, but at that time both it and the Mississippi were very .*■£*=- low. At Alexandria are /W 1 rapids over which steam- boats can pass only when there is plenty of water, and Porter's gunboats, which Banks felt that he could not do without, were stopped by them. After hard work about half of them were forced up. But few of the boats for carry- ing supplies could get over the rapids, and so the army had to take along a large wagon train. Gene- ral Franklin, who commanded the advance of the army, pushed on up the river and arrived at Natchitoches in the beginning of April. The troops had skirmished nearly all the way with bodies of Confederates, who retreated before them. Natchi- toches is on an old channel of Red River. Four miles nearly north of it is Grand Ecore, on the present channel of the river. The river, which had been expected to rise, was falling all the time, and the gunboats could go no further than Grand Ecore. Notwithstanding this, the army went on to- ward Shreveport, which is a hundred miles further up. The road thither from Natchitoches runs through a pine-covered, sandy country, but sparsely inhabited. E. Kirby Smith. 422 THE SOUTH AND WEST. [1864 On the 8th of April the main body of the Confederates, under General Taylor, was found strongly posted at a place called Sabine Cross Roads, near Mansfield, forty miles from Shreveport. Skirmishing had been going on all day, but as the Confederates had always fallen back before the Union advance, Banks's troops marched as if they had no fear of a serious attack. The cavalry were in front, followed by a long wagon train, and behind it came the infantry. The line was stretched out along a single road twenty or thirty miles. About four o'clock in the afternoon, General Taylor, wishing to camp for the night, sent some troops to drive back the Union advance guard. This brought on a fight, and in a few minutes it turned into a general battle. Banks tried to get up his infantrv but the road was blocked with the wagons. The Union men fought desperately for an hour and a half, but, over- powered by superior num- bers, they gave way and be- gan to fall back. A writer who was on the field tells very graphically what then took place: "Suddenly there was a rush, a shout, the crashing of trees, the breaking down of rails, the rush and scamper of men. It was as sudden as though a thunderbolt had fallen among us and set the pines on fire. What caused it, or when it commenced, no one knew. . . . We found ourselves swallowed up, as it were, in a hissing, seething, bubbling whirlpool of men. . . . The line of battle had given way. General Banks took off his hat and implored the men to remain; his staff-officers did the same, but it was of no avail. Then the General drew his sabre and endeavored to rally his men, but they would not listen. Behind him the rebels were shouting and advancing. Their musket-balls filled the air with that strange file-rasping sound that war has made familiar to our fighting men. The teams were abandoned by the drivers, the traces cut, and the animals ridden off by the frightened Nathaniel P. Banks. 1864.] PLEASANT HILL. 423 men. Bareheaded riders rode with agony in their faces, and for at least ten minutes it seemed as if we were going to destruc- tion together." After a flight of three miles, the Nineteenth Corps was found drawn up in line. The fugitives fled behind it, and the Confederates attacked the new line; but it held its ground until night, when the enemy ceased his efforts. Banks's loss in this battle, which is sometimes called the battle of Mansfield and sometimes of Sabine Cross Roads, was more than three thou- sand men, nineteen guns, many wagons and horses, and an im- mense amount of stores. During the night the army fell back to Pleasant Hill, where General Smith had arrived with the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Corps. The Confederate cavalry followed, picking up hundreds of stragglers on the way. From the battle-field to within a few miles of Mansfield the road was strewn with deserted wagons, ambulances, and caissons, burned or broken; with boxes of ammunition, crackers, and medicines; and with the bodies of men, mules, and horses. After skirmishing several hours the next day (April 9), the Confederates made a heavy attack on the Union lines about five o'clock in the afternoon. After a hard struggle the Union men succeeded in checking them, and drove them from the field. Banks was satisfied with this and made no attempt to follow up his success, but fell back to Grand Ecore, leaving his dead and wounded on the field. The Confederate cavalry followed him all the way to Alexandria, where he was obliged to make another stand to save his gunboats, as the river had fallen so that it was impossible to float them over the rapids. The ves- sels had comedown the narrow river with the greatest difficulty, for the banks swarmed with sharpshooters, who fired at the crews at every opportunity. Three days after the battle of Pleasant Hill a body of two thousand men opened fire with muskets on the Osage, which was fast aground. They also brought up two cannons, but the guns of the Osage soon knocked them over, and the men were put to flight by showers of canister fired among them. A large number of them were killed and wounded. Admiral Porter was nearly discouraged at the situation and could see no way of saving the fleet. One of the best gunboats, the Eastport, had been sunk by a torpedo, and though raised had finally got hard aground up the river and been blown up, 424 THE SOUTH AND WEST. [1863. and it looked as if the others would have to be treated in the same way to save them from falling into the hands of the enemy. But Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph Bailey proposed build- ing some dams across the rapids, so as to raise the water high enough to let the vessels pass. The best army engineers made fun of his plan and said it would prove a failure, but it was con- cluded to try it. The falls or rapids are about a mile long and are filled with rugged rocks very dangerous to a vessel when the water is low. Three thousand men were set at work cut- ting down trees and quarrying stone, and several hundred wagons and flatboats were employed in drawing the materials to their proper places. In eight days a dam three hundred feet long had been built and the water had risen enough to let sev- eral of the gunboats pass the upper falls. They had next to go through an open place left in the dam. The Lexington made the passage first. The water was rushing so furiously through the narrow opening that it looked as if destruction awaited her. There was almost breathless silence among the spectators along the bank as she steered directly into the current with all steam on. She gave two or three heavy rolls as she was carried along by the roaring torrent, bung for a moment on the rocks, and then swept into the deep water below. She was followed in safety by the Neosho, the Fort Hiudman, and the Osage, amid the cheers of the thousands looking on. An accident to the dam delayed the passage of the other vessels for a few days, but they were all finally saved, and the fleet returned again to the Mississippi. Banks's troops marched from Alexandria on the 14th of May, leaving the town in a blaze behind them. The Confeder- ates claim that but few cotton-gins, sugar-houses, or even dwell- ing-houses were, left by them in the country through which they passed. But the half has not yet been told of this most disgraceful affair, which was rather a great cotton-stealing raid than a military expedition. Men with passes from Washington followed the army, carrying with them bagging and ropes to bale the cotton which they expected to gather; and officers quar- relled over that which was captured, the navy men claiming that all taken within a certain distance of the river belonged to them. The army had several fights with the Confederates on the 1863.] STEELE'S DISASTER. 425 way down, but succeeded in repulsing them. The Atchafalaya Eiver was crossed on a bridge made by Colonel Bailey of twenty- six steamboats placed side by side (May 20), and Banks then gave up the command to General Edward R. S. Canby, who had been sent to take his place. After the battle of Vicksburg, Grant had sent General Steele with a force to Arkansas to drive the Confederates south of the Arkansas River. Steele was successful and took possession of the capital, Little Rock, on the 10th of September (1863). When Banks started on his expedition Steele had been ordered to aid him by marching from Little Rock toward Shreveport. He marched with twelve thousand infantry and three thousand cavalry to Camden, where he heard of Banks's failure through the Confederates, who, after their victory, had sent many of their troops against him. Gene- ral Price had at that time in southwestern Arkansas about twelve thousand men, and his force was nearly doubled by the ar- rivals from Louisiana. Steele was forced to retreat to Little Rock, which he reached on the 2d of May. He was followed up by the Confederates, who attacked him at every opportunity, and he barely succeeded in saving his army with the loss of some of his artillery and hundreds of wagons. Both men and horses were nearly starved when they reached Little Rock. A supply train met them near there, and passing along the road beside the columns of troops threw out piles of hard-tack, and the men scrambled for it in the mud and de- voured it as they marched. This disaster gave most of Arkansas back to the Confeder- ates, who soon became more troublesome. During the follow- ing August, Price invaded Missouri again with about ten thou- sand men. General Rosecrans, then in command there, was reinforced so that he had more men than Price, and it was ex- Edwabd R. S. Canby. 426 THE SOUTH AND WEST. [1863. pected that he would drive the Confederates out of the State, while General Steele cut off their retreat in Arkansas. Price roamed through Missouri, even threatening St. Louis and Jef- ferson City, and finally moved up the Missouri Eiver toward Kansas. General Curtis, who commanded there, gathered troops to fight him, and General Pleasonton, with Rosecrans's cavalry, followed the Confederates. Price then turned south- ward, but was overtaken in October and defeated at the Big Blue Eiver and again at the Little Osage River. In the latter fight the Union troops captured eight guns and a thousand prisoners, among whom were Generals Marmaduke and Cabell. With the rest of his men Price continued his flight, leaving the roads strewn with broken wagons and other abandoned things, and escaped into western Arkansas. This was the last invasion of Missouri. We left John Morgan safe in the Confederate lines, after his escape from prison in Ohio (page 3?5). He went to Rich- mond, where he was received as a hero, and was soon on duty again in Eastern Tennessee. For a time he helped Longstreet, who was still threatening Knoxville, but in the spring of 1864 Longstreet went back to Virginia, and soon afterward Morgan made another raid into Kentucky, which proved to be his last. He started with about twenty-five hundred poorly mounted men, but as he rode through the rich counties of that State he obtained fresh horses and moved so fast that he met but little resistance. He captured many wealthy towns, burned railway stations and tore up railway tracks, and plundered the whole country through which he passed. The Union General Bur- bridge pursued him with a strong force, surprised him at Mount Sterling, and badly defeated him at Cynthiana, taking from him more than a thousand horses. Morgan retreated with the remains of his force into Eastern Tennessee. • Early in September he was at Greenville, and had given orders to move against a Union force under General Gillem, about six- teen miles away. On account of rain at midnight he counter- manded the order, and went to bed in the house of a Mr. Williams, where he had made his headquarters. The Union troops, regardless of the storm, made an attack on his force, and surrounded the house about seven o'clock the next morn- ing (Sept. 4). Morgan, surprised, ran out of the house with- 1863.] DEATH OF MORGAN. 427 out his coat, and took refuge in a vineyard behind the house. A soldier called to him to halt, when Morgan pointed his pis- tol at him, and the soldier shot him through the heart. This is the common account of Morgan's death, but it is proper to add that his friends say that he had surrendered and was actu- ally a prisoner when a Union cavalryman rode up and killed him. Signal Station. CHAPTER XXXV. GRANT IN VIRGINIA. The Confederacy in 1863.— Poverty and Paper Money.— Christmas in Richmond.— Treat- ment of Union Prisoners.— Exchanges.— Negro Soldiers.— Prison Camps.— Libby Prison.— Belle Isle.— Efforts to Free Prisoners.— Ulric Dahlgren.— a Mine under Libby.— Grant made Lieutenant-General.— His Commission.— Grant with the Army of the Potomac— His Plan.— The Eapidan Crossed.— Battle of the Wilderness.— Lee in Danger.— Longstreet Wounded.— Fire in the Woods.— The March to Spotsylva- nia.— Sharpshooters.— Death of Sedgwick.— Battle of Spottsylvania.— I Propose to Fight it Out on this Line.— Hancock and Stewart.— Danger of the Confederate Army.— Terrible Musketry Fire.— Grant again Marches Southward. WE left the Army of the Potomac, under General Meade, and the Army of Northern Virginia, under General Lee, in winter quarters on the Eapidan at the close of 1863, the former on the northern, the latter on the southern bank of the river (page 371). The year had been a most unfortunate one for the Confederates. The previous winter had been somewhat cheered by the victory of Fredericksburg and the hope that for- eign powers would interfere in their behalf and put an end to the war; but the winter of 1863 came almost without hope and without resources. It is true a few advantages had been gained, but they had been more than balanced by losses. Chancellorsville had been won at the cost of Jackson's life, and had been followed by Gettysburg and Vicksburg; and the gain of Chickamauga had been wiped out by the disgrace of Chatta- nooga. The Confederacy had been cut in twain on the line of the Mississippi, and little could be done to prevent the division of the eastern half. There was a cry of scarcity everywhere. Most of the able- bodied men were in the army, but few being left to manufacture the necessaries of life. The strict blockade of the ports had nearly stopped all trade with foreign lands, so that the stores had little to sell; and many shopkeepers who had goods kept them back in hope of getting yet higher prices. Paper money was plenty, but it took twenty-eight Confederate dollars to buy one gold dollar's worth. The rich had become poor, and the poor had become paupers. Society was completely overturned, 1864.] CHRISTMAS IN RICHMOND. 429 so that the man who labored with his hands was better off than the most scholarly professional man; for the former could earn enough to buy bread and clothes, while the latter often went hungry and ragged. The only really happy ones were the colored people, who seldom let anything worry them. Christmas in Richmond that year came cold and raw, with cutting winds and skies as threatening as the fortunes of the Confederacy. There was little to make people joyful, for want showed itself at every board, and many a chair was empty. Even an ordinary Christmas dinner for a dozen persons cost $200 to $300. Flour was worth $125 to $150 a barrel, and sugar $5 to $10 a pound, according to its quality. Turkeys, which the year before had been worth $10 to $12 apiece, were very scarce, and cost $40 to $50 apiece. Apples were $80 a barrel; beans, $28 a bushel; cheese, $7 a pound; butter, $5.50 a pound; and coffee. $11.50 a pound. A boiled ham was a luxury, and roast beef was only for the rich. Many were grate- ful for a little bacon and corn-bread, and delicate women went to church that day faint with hunger who had never known the feeling before. During the early part of 18G4 there were no military move- ments in Virginia excepting some cavalry raids undertaken for the purpose of releasing the Union prisoners in Richmond, whose condition had excited much pity in the North. In the beginning of the war, the United States, not recognizing the Confederate States as a government, with the right to make war, had treated prisoners as felons. The shooting of a Union soldier was called a murder, and the capture of a United States vessel was called piracy. It will be remembered that the crew of the Savannah were thrown into prison as pirates, and it was even proposed to hang them as such (page 141). But the bat- tle of Bull Run threw many prisoners into the hands of the Confederates, and their threats of hanging some of them in re- taliation forced the United States to treat them as prisoners of war. For a long time the government, determined not to do anything which would seem to recognize the right of the Con- federates to carry on war, refused to exchange any prisoners; but in the summer of 1862 an arrangement was made by which Confederate prisoners were exchanged for Union prisoners of equal rank, man for man. Under this agreement many thou- 430 GRANT IN VIRGINIA. [1864. sand captives on both sides were released and returned to their homes. Exchanges went on, with some interruptions, until the issu- ing of the Emancipation Proclamation and the enrolling of negro soldiers in the Union army. The Confederate authori- ties then refused to exchange colored soldiers, and ordered that every white officer captured in command of black soldiers should be put to death, and that every black soldier taken in arms should be given up to the authorities of the State where captured to be dealt with according to law — that is, to be en- slaved again. On this President Lincoln issued another proc- lamation declaring that "for every soldier of the United States killed in violation of the laws of war, a rebel soldier shall be executed; and for every one enslaved by the enemy or sold into slavery, a rebel soldier shall be placed at hard labor on the Camp Chase. public works." This action of the United States government prevented the threatened execution of prisoners, but the Con- federates still refused to exchange the black soldiers taken by them. This put an end to the exchange of all prisoners, for the United States would not permit any difference to be made in the treatment of its soldiers, whether black or white. After this all prisoners were kept by each side, and so it happened that tens of thousands of poor captives pined in prison-camps, and that great numbers died from disease, bad food, and ill- treatment. Prison-camps were built by both parties for the detention of prisoners. There was a very large one near Chicago, called Camp Douglas, to which most of the Confederates captured at Fort Donelson and Shiloh were sent. Another one at Colum- bus, Ohio, was named Camp Chase. It was surrounded by a strong fence sixteen feet high, the outside of which with the 1864.] TREATMENT OF PRISONERS. 431 guard-houses is shown in the picture. On the inside were pro- vided barracks for the prisoners, so that none of them were without shelter. The first Union prisoners taken by the Confederates were confined in Kichmond in a large storehouse belonging to a Mr. Libby, and which was named from him Libby Prison. When this building was full prisoners were confined on a small island in the James Eiver, called Belle Isle, where a kind of camp was made, surrounded by a wall of earth and by ditches. It is said that the prisoners were penned up there like sbeep, without any shelter even in winter, and that many were frozen to death. It is also said that all the prisoners were given poor and insuf- ficient food, and that they were systematically starved by the Confederate authorities so as to make them unfit for further service. Southern writers say, on the contrary, that these stories are untrue: that the prisoners on Belle Isle were fur- nished with tents like those of the soldiers that guarded them, and that the food furnished to them and to those in Libby Prison was the same as the rations of their soldiers in the field. They also say that the healthfulness of the place and the good care taken of the prisoners is proved by the fact that out of more than twenty thousand prisoners confined on Belle Isle, only one hundred and sixty-four died between June, 1862, and February, 1865, or about five each month. But whether the stories of the cruel treatment of Union cap- tives in Richmond are true or not, they were generally believed at the time throughout the North, and in the early part of 1864 it was determined to make an attempt to rescue them. The first effort was made in the early part of February by about fifteen hundred cavalry and infantry under General Wistar, who moved rapidly up the Peninsula to the Cbickahominy River, intending to cross it and go into Richmond; but the Confederates heard of it and were prepared for them at the river, and the expedition returned. On Sunday, February 28, General Kilpatrick crossed the Rapidan with five thousand cavalry, and passing Lee's army, marched rapidly toward Richmond. After several sharp fights, he entered the outer line of the Richmond fortifications early on the morning of the 1st of March. Here he halted in hope of hearing from Colonel Ulric Dahlgren, son of Admiral Dahl- gren, who had left him at Spottsylvania Court-House with the 432 GRANT ffl VIRGINIA. [1864. intention of passing through the country above Richmond and of crossing the river and attacking Richmond from the south while Kilpatrick attacked from the north side. Not hearing the sound of Dahlgren's guns and finding the inner fortifications too strong to carry, Kilpatrick rode away toward Mechanics- ville and bivouacked for the night about six miles from Ricn- mond. But the Confederates attacked him and drove him from there, and he crossed the Chickahominy and retreated down the Peninsula, where he finally met a force sent to his aid from Fortress Monroe. Colonel Dahlgren was not so fortunate. He found the river too dee^ to ford, and so, after entering the outer fortifications of Richmond, and being stopped, as Kilpatrick had been, by the stronger inner works, turned and went down the north side. But Kilpatrick's appearance had roused the country, and he was beset by home-guards in every direction. After cross- ing the Mattapony River he was attacked by a body of militia, and was shot dead at their first fire. His men scattered and some reached Kilpatrick, but about one hundred of them were taken prisoners. Southern writers say that papers were found on Dahlgren's body showing a plot to free the Union captives in Richmond, and by their aid to burn the city and murder President Davis and other chief men. They also say that the plot was proved by the evidence of prisoners taken, and by the fact that a large number of knives and slung-shots were found among the pris- oners in the city, who had thus made ready to give their aid. "A mine was prepared under the Libby Prison; a sufficient quantity of gunpowder was put into it, and pains were taken to inform the prisoners that any attempt at escape made by them would be effectually defeated. The plan succeeded per- fectly. The prisoners were awed and kept cpiiet. Dahlgren and his party were defeated and scattered. The danger passed away, and in a few weeks the gunpowder was removed." This is the story as told by the Confederate writers. Union writers say, on the contrary, that the papers said to have been found on Colonel Dahlgren's body were forgeries and that they were made up by the Confederates themselves to excuse the barbarous treatment of his dead body, which was insulted and buried where it could not be found by his friends. They also 1864.] LIEUTENANT-GENERAL GRANT. 433 say that the gunpowder was put under Libby Prison in the night of March 1st, and could not therefore have been done on account of information of Dahlgren's intentions to rescue the captives, for Dahlgren was not killed until the evening of March 3d. Thus, while the Confederates looked upon Colonel Dahl- gren as a felon and treated him as such, his friends in the free States believed him to be a gallant officer, engaged in a lawful expedition in which he did not transgress any of the rules of warfare. Though only twenty-one years of age when he met his sad fate, he had already won fame for gallant deeds. In the July previous he had been wounded so badly in the foot that it had to be amputated, yet this loss did not prevent him from doing what he believed to be his duty. After the fall of Vicksburg it had been proposed to offer the command of the Army of the Potomac to General Grant, whose military genius began to be understood. But Grant felt that there was still much to be done in the "West, and he preferred to remain there, where he was well known, to going East, where already one Western general (Pope) had so signally failed. After the close of the Chattanooga campaign, however, it was felt that he was the right man to take charge of the most im- portant army of the Republic, and in the following spring he was made Lieutenant-General of all the armies of the United States. None but Washington had ever held this high posi- tion, for General Scott had been Lieutenant-General only by brevet — that is, he had had only the title, but not the pay belonging to the rank. Grant was summoned by telegraph to Washington to re- ceive his instructions. He was formally introduced (March 9) to President Lincoln, who handed him his commission, in the presence of the members of the Cabinet, with the following words : " General Grant : The nation's appreciation of what you have al- ready done, and its reliance upon you for what still remains to be done in the existing great struggle, are now presented with this commission, con- stituting you Lieutenant-General of the armies of the United States. With this high honor devolves upon you also a corresponding responsi- bility. As the country herein trusts you, so, under God, it will sustain you. I need scarcely add that with what I here speak for the nation goes my own hearty personal concurrence." 434 QBANT IN TIBGINIA. [1864 To this General Grant replied : "Mr. President: I accept the commission with gratitude for the high honor conferred. With the aid of the noble armies that have fought on so many fields for our common country, it will be my earnest en- deavor not to disappoint your expectations. I feel the full weight of the responsibilities now devolving on me, and I know that if they are met, it will be due to those armies, and, above all, to the favor of that Provi- dence which leads both nations and men." This rank made Grant second only to the President, who, under the Constitution, is commander-in-chief of the army and navy, and the superior of Major-General Halleck, then acting as general-in-chief of the army. Halleck was made chief -of- staff of the army, under the direction of the Secretary of War and of the Lieutenant- General. To General Sherman was given Grant's former place, the command of all the forces be- tween the Alleghany Mountains and the Mississippi, while to McPherson was assigned Sherman's place, the command of the Army of the Tennessee. While Grant thus took the direction of all the armies in the field, he made his headquarters with the Army of the Potomac, of which General Meade still held the immediate command. The Lieutenant-General at once made a plan of campaign, and prepared for a grand movement against the enemy both in the East and the West. His plan was to give up all small expedi- tions, and to strike at the two great Confederate armies — that of Lee on the Eapidan, and that of Johnston at Dalton, Georgia. With the destruction of these two armies he felt that the war must come to an end. The movements against them before had failed largely because they had been made at differ- ent times, thus giving the enemy the chance of sending troops from one to the other, reinforcing the army which was pressed hardest by the Union troops. In accordance with his new plan, Grant ordered Sherman to move against Johnston and break up his army, and then to get into the enemy's country as far as possible and do all the damage he could to property that would aid the enemy to keep up the war. How General Sher- man carried out these orders will be shown hereafter. We must now see what Grant did in his first campaign in Virginia. General Lee's army, which then numbered about sixty-five thousand men, was divided into three corps, under command 1864.] THE WILDERNESS. 435 of Ewell, Hill, and Longstreet. It was so strongly fortified in its position, extending twenty miles along the south bank of the Rapidan, that Grant had to move either up or down the river to cross. He decided to move down, and during the night of May 3d the Army of the Potomac left its winter quarters and marched for the lower fords of the Rapidan. The Union army had been formed also into three corps: the Second Corps, under Hancock; the Fifth Corps, under Warren; and the Sixth Corps, under Sedgwick. A fourth corps, called the Ninth, under Burnside, was to act for a time independently of Meade. All the cavalry was formed into a corps by itself, under command of Sheridan. The whole together numbered one hundred and forty thousand men, or more than twice as many as Lee had. On the same clay that Meade began his march, General Butler, who was at Fortress Monroe, was ordered to move toward Richmond, with about thirty thousand men, on the south side of the James River. The Rapidan was crossed without any interruption from the Confederates, and at night of May 4th Grant and Meade had their headquarters at the Old Wilderness Tavern, a roadside inn near the centre of the Wilderness, noted as the scene of the battle of Chancellorsville. Grant, not expecting an attack from Lee, intended to march out of the Wilderness the next day, and if possible get between Lee and Richmond. But Lee, who had been closely watching the movements of his enemy, had at once put his troops in motion, and by dark had taken a position within three miles of Grant's headquarters. The next morning (May 5) Warren was about to move, when he was at- tacked by Ewell. Grant and Meade thought at first that Lee was doing this to cover his retreat toward Richmond, but they soon found out that it was a real attack. Sedgwick was sent to aid Warren, and Hancock, who was marching down the Brock Road, was recalled, and ordered to attack Hill. The battle raged until night fell in the forest, when both sides drew back and began to fortify their positions. They were so near that the woods rang with the sound of each other's axes, as they felled trees for breastworks and abatis, but not a man could be seen on either side. On the morning of May 6th the two armies lay nearly as shown in the map. Hancock still lay in front of Hill, and 436 GRANT IN VIRGINIA. [1864. Burnside, who had come up with the Ninth Corps, was placed between him and Warren. The woods were so dense that can- non were of no use and cavalry could do little more than look on. The fighting had to be done by the infantry, who hunted their foes in the thicket much as savage Indians were wont to do in the colonial days. Grant, knowing that nothing could be done but hard fighting, ordered an attack to be made along the whole line at five o'clock in the morn- ing; but Lee was before him, and at- tacked ^Sedgwick about fifteen min- utes earlier. But this was meant only for a feint, the Confederate general meaning to make the real attack on Grant's left. Long- street, however, did not come up in time, and so it happened that Hancock at- tacked Hill in the morning, and drove him back a mile and a half, nearly to Lee's headquarters. The situation was a critical one for the Confederates. Lee dashed among the fugitives and called on the men to rally. At this time Longstreet came up, and seeing how things stood, pushed forward to win back the lost ground. The soldiers, see- ing that General Lee meant to advance with them, earnestly begged him to go to the rear, where his life would be less ex- posed, and promised that they would soon right things. Yield- ing to their fears, Lee withdrew, and Longstreet's men charged with such a will that they carried everything before them. The Battle of the Wilderness. 1864.] BATTLE OF TEE WILDERNESS. 437 Union line was forced back, Wadsworth was killed, and Han- cock lost nearly all he had gained. While the Confederates were pushing on, Longstreet went with his staff to the front to see how the battle was going. As he rode out of the woods he suddenly came upon a body of his own men, who, supposing the group to be Union cavalry, fired upon them, just as Stonewall Jackson had been fired on under like circumstances in another part of the same Wilderness. Longstreet shouted to them in vain to cease firing, and the next moment General Jenkins fell dead from his saddle and Long- street himself received a ball through the neck and shoulder. The General was carried to the rear, it was feared mortally wounded, and Lee himself took charge of that part of the field. He made another attack in the afternoon on Hancock, who had strengthened his front with a breastwork of trees. The under- brush in the forest caught fire, and the wind drove the flames and smoke directly in the eyes of the Union troops. The Con- federates, taking advantage of this, rushed over the breastwork, but after a hard fight they were driven back, and the battle ceased there for the day. But at the other end of the line, on Grant's right, the Confederates made an attack just at night- fall and captured Generals Seymour and Shaler and about three thousand men, with scarcely any loss to themselves. The terrible two days' battle in the woods, where there was scarcely air enough to drive away the smoke, had nearly ex- hausted both sides. The fire spread in the underbrush, and added to the discomfort of the hot and stifling night. The ground, some parts of which had been fought over several times, was strewn with the dead and wounded, friend and foe lying side by side. The battle had been a drawn one, for neither side could claim any advantage over the other. The Confederates, however, had captured about five thousand prisoners, making Grant's entire loss nearly twenty thousand, or twice as many as that of Lee. The next day passed with scarcely any fighting, though the two armies still held their positions. During the night (May 7) Grant, still determined to get between Lee and Richmond, marched for Spottsylvania Court-House; but Lee, discovering the movement, started in the same direction, and got there in time to intrench himself along the heights. When Warren's 438 GRANT IN VIRGINIA. [1864, advance arrived it was received with a heavy cannon and mus- ketry fire. The Union line wavered and fell back, and General Warren had great difficulty in keeping the men in order. Sedgwick with part of his corps came up, and amid almost con- tinual skirmishing the two sides prepared for another battle. By Monday (May 9) the whole Union army was in line in front of the Spottsylvania ridge on which Lee was posted. While the lines were forming the sharpshooters were busy on both sides. The Confederate riflemen, perched in high forest trees, where they were hidden among the leaves, played havoc along the Union line, picking off the officers wherever they showed themselves. About the middle of the day General Sedgwick, the loved commander of the Sixth Corps, walked out with _^_ Colonel McMahon, his =gg|_ : ^^s^ W^EL chief of staff, to the s^9k -;jjj|§i jffil Sl IIZIZ l-- - front of the line, where some of his men were placing a battery. The bullets of the sharpshoot- ers hummed like bees in the air, and made the soldiers dodge and duck their heads behind the breastwork which had been thrown up. The General smiled as he saw this, and said: "Pooh! pooh! men, who ever heard of a soldier dodging a bullet! Why, they couldn't hit an elephant at that distance!" Some of the men laughed at this, and the General was still smiling, when Colonel McMahon heard the buzz of a bullet which seemed to burst close beside him. "That must have been an explosive bullet, General," he said. There was no answer, and turning he was just in time to catch General Sedgwick in his arms as he fell. The ball had struck him just under the left eye, and passed out of the back of the head. He never spoke again. Sedgwick's death was greatly lamented by his men, with wiioni he was a great favorite. His loss, too, was a severe one Spottsylvania Court-House. 1864.] BATTLE OF SPOTTSYLVAMA.. 439 to the Union cause, for he was a fine soldier and one who could always be depended upon to do his duty. He was succeeded in command of the Sixth Corps by General H. G. Wright. The 10th of May was spent in artillery-firing and in sharp fighting, but without any gain to either side. General Grant, however, thought he saw a chance for success, and early the next morning he sent to Washington a despatch, saying: "We have now ended the sixth day of very hard fighting. The re- sult to this time is much in our favor. ... I propose to fight it out on this line if it takes all summer." But the Con- federates also considered that the result up to that time was in their favor, for the at- tacks on their position had been thus far re- pulsed. There was some skirmishing during the morning of the 11th, but in the afternoon rain be- gan to fall, and there was a lull in the fight- ing. Soon after midnight Hancock's corps was moved to a place oppo- site the centre of the Confederate line, shown near the middle of the John Sedgwick. map (page 440), where Grant thought there was a weak point. The night was so dark that the troops had to march through the woods by the aid of the compass. At dawn, under cover of a dense fog, the men marched toward the Confederate works. Silently they moved over the broken ground and through the thick woods until they were half up the slope. Then, with a wild cheer, they dashed forward through the abatis, and the next minute were over the intrenchments. The Confederates, who were breakfasting, were taken by surprise and, though they fought desperately with bayonets and clubbed muskets, soon overpowered. General Edward Johnson, of Ewell's Corps, was taken prisoner with nearly his whole com- mand, about three thousand men, and thirty cannons. 440 GRANT IN VIRGINIA. [1864. Among the prisoners was General George H. Stewart, of Maryland, who had been an old army friend of Hancock's. "When he was taken to the rear, Hancock cordially extended his hand to him, saying, "How are you, Stewart?" "I am General Stewart," replied the prisoner haughtily, " of the Confederate army, and under the circumstances I de- cline to take your hand." "And under any other circumstance, General," replied Hancock, "I should not have offered it." Battle of Spottsylvania Court-House. Hancock, though he did not know it at the time, had nearly cut the Confederate army in two by his capture of this posi- tion. General Lee saw the peril at once, and fresh troops were quickly moved up from the right and the left to repel the at- tack. Hancock's men pushed on through the woods toward Spottsylvania Court-House nearly a mile, when they were stop- ped by a second line, from which they were greeted with a ter- rible hail of deadly missiles. After hard fighting the Union 1864.] TERRIBLE MUSKETRY FIRE. 441 men were forced back to the works which they had captured. The Confederates, heavily reinforced, tried many times to re- capture the intrenchments. Eegardless of the rain, which fell all the afternoon, they attacked again and again, struggling hand to hand with the energy of despair, and not ceasing their efforts until near midnight. Meanwhile, in order to keep the Confederates from sending troops against Hancock, Grant had ordered an attack along the whole line. Many charges were made, with great slaughter on both sides, but with little gain on either side. Hancock still held what he had won, but the Confederates had another stronger line behind it. During this battle, which was one of the bloodiest of the war, about ten thousand men having fallen on each side, oc- curred one of the heaviest musketry fires ever known. The space in front of Hancock, where the hardest fighting took place, was covered with large trees, Avhich were so cut and scar- red by bullets that at least half of them were killed. In many cases large trunks were cut entirely in two by musket balls. In the War Department, Washington, is shown part of an oak tree nearly two feet thick which was thus cut down. During these battles the troops were changed many times from place to place along the lines. The first position held is shown in the upper part of the map, and Hancock's position in the battle of the 12th near the middle. After that battle nearly a week was spent in skirmishing, cutting roads in the woods, and in searching for a weak place in the Confederate line. The corps were gradually moved round toward the left until they came into the second position shown in the map. But wherever an attack was made the enemy were found in force, and at last Grant, finding that Lee's position could not be taken, deter- mined to march round him again. During this time Grant received large reinforcements from Washington, fully making up all his losses. On the night of May 21st Grant left the position before Spottsylvania, and after a two days' march reached the North Anna River; but Lee had suspected his design, and put his army in motion to head him off again, and when the Union troops reached the North Anna their old enemy was still in front of them on the opposite bank. Part of the army succeeded in crossing, but Lee was found too strongly posted to be attacked with success, and Grant with- drew his troops and continued his march southward. CHAPTER XXXVI. GRANT AND LEE. Butler at Bermuda Hundred.— Beauregard Attacks Him.— Bottled Up.— Crook's Raid.— Morgan Defeats averill.— Breckinridge Defeats Sigel,— Battle of Piedmont.— Hunter in West Virginia.— Sheridan and Stuart.— Battle at Yellow Tavern.— Death of Stuart.— Lee at Cold Harbor.— Cavalry Fight.— Battle of Cold Harbor.— Grant's Change of Base.— Terrible Slaughter.— The Army Crosses the James.— Petersburg Attacked.— Early Crosses the Potomac— Battle of the Monocacy.— Baltimore Ex- cited.— Capture of General Franklin.— His Escape.— Early Attacks Washington.— He is DRrvEN Back to Virginia.— Defeat of Crook.— Confederate Cavalry in Penn- sylvania.— Chambersburg Burned.— Sheridan in Command.— Battle of Opequan Creek. —Fisher's Hill.— Cedar Creek— Sheridan's Ride.— The Petersburg Mine— Hancock's Fight.— The Weldon Railroad.— Dutch Gap Canal. WHILE Grant is moving toward the old battle-grounds on the Chickahominy, let us leave him a short time to see what has taken place elsewhere in Virginia. It will be remem- bered that General Butler had advanced from Fortress Monroe toward Richmond on the same day that the Army of the Poto- mac crossed the Rapidan (page 435). His army, thirty thou- sand strong, went up the James River in transports and landed at City Point and Bermuda Hundred, about twenty miles south of Richmond. From there he moved against the Rich- mond and Petersburg Railroad, and after some fighting de- stroyed part of it. He might have captured Petersburg, but misled by false reports that Lee had been defeated and was re- treating toward Richmond, he made up his mind to move northward to aid Grant in taking that place. He drove back the Confederates and took part of the outer defences of Fort Darling at Drury's Bluff on the James River. As soon as Butler's movement toward Richmond was known, General Beauregard had been called from Charleston with all the troops he could bring. On the morning of the 16th, dur- ing a dense fog, Beauregard attacked Butler, and after a hard fight, in which he lost three thousand and Butler four thousand men, the latter was forced back to Bermuda Hundred. Beaure- gard threw up a line of earthworks in front of Butler, who thus found himself " bottled up," as he himself said, he being unable to move either way. This enabled Beauregard to send most of his troops to the aid of Lee, 1864] BATTLE OF PIEDMONT. 443 Besides Butler's movement, Grant's plan of campaign had included two other movements: one under General Crook from Charleston, in West Virginia, up the valley of the Kanawha Kiver, and another, under General Sigel, from Winchester up the Shenandoah Valley. Crook divided his force, sending General Averill with two thousand cavalry to destroy the works at the lead mines near Wytheville, and going himself with six thousand infantry to destroy the Virginia and Tennessee Bail- road. Averill was defeated by John Morgan, and Crook, find- ing the Confederates too strong for him, had to retreat. Sigel moved up the Shenandoah with about ten thousand men to Newmarket, where he was met by General Breckinridge and defeated (May 15), with the loss of seven hundred men and six guns. Sigel's com- mand was then given to General Hunter, who was ordered to move toward Staunton and destroy the railroad. Breckinridge hav- ing been called toward Eich- mond to aid Lee, had weak- ened the Confederates, so that when Hunter met them at Piedmont (June 5) he de- feated them badly, taking fifteen hundred prisoners and three guns. He was joined at Staunton by Crook and Averill, and with twenty thousand men marched toward Lynch- burg. But Lee sent troops there, and Hunter, finding the place too strong to take, had to retreat. Fearful of being cut off by the Confederates, he concluded to return through West Virginia. He was almost out of provisions, and having to pass through a country which had been nearly stripped of food, his men suffered greatly, but he saved his army. This retreat was an unfortunate one, for it left the Shenandoah Valley open to the Confederates. How they improved their opportunity to cross the Potomac again will be shown hereafter. When the Army of the Potomac arrived before Spottsyl- yania, Grant sent Sheridan with a large force of cavalry to cut Benjamin F. Butler. 444 Q&ANT AND LBR [1864. the railroads between Lee and Richmond. Sheridan moved first toward Fredericksburg to deceive the enemy, but soon turned around to the right of the Confederate army. The roads were dry, and the long clouds of dust soon told Stuart what was going on, and he sent some cavalry after the invaders. But Sheridan kept him off, and moving rapidly destroyed many miles of railway, with locomotives and trains of cars. He also recaptured four hundred Union prisoners on their way to Rich- mond from the battle-field of the Wilderness. He then rode quickly on toward Richmond, arriving on the 11th of May at a place called Yellow Tavern, a few miles north of that city. There he was met by Stuart, who by hard riding had got be- tween him and Richmond. Sheridan attacked at once, and after a hard fight defeated the Confederates and drove them from the field. Stuart fought with his usual reckless bravery, and in a desperate charge at the head of his men was mortally wounded. He was taken to Richmond, where, though he re- ceived the tenderest care, he died the next day. Among his last words were: "I am resigned, if it be God's will, but I would like to see my wife. But God's will be done." Several times, as death was drawing near, he roused up and asked if she had come. Unfortunately, she was away in the country at the time, and did not arrive until it was too late. And so the brave man passed away, as many another soldier before him had done, cheered by the presence of neither wife nor child. His loss was a sore one tothe Confederates, second only to that of Stonewall Jackson, and the memory of the rollicking Jeb Stuart, ever ready for fight or frolic, is still green in many a Virginia household. Sheridan, emboldened by his success, made a dash on the defences of Richmond. He passed the first line and took a hundred prisoners, but was repulsed at the second, and crossing the Chickahominy after some fighting, rejoined Grant (May 25). We left Grant moving southward from the North Anna River, where he had found Lee too strongly posted to be attacked. The Confederates marched at the same time to head him off again from Richmond, and when Grant reached the Chickahominy River near where the battle of Gaines's Mills had been fought by McClellan in 1862 (page 266), Lee was there before him. Grant felt that it would be useless to attack Lee 1864.] BATTLE OF COLD HARBOR. 445 in front, where he was strongly fortified, and made up his mind to march round Lee's right toward Cold Harbor* and cross the Chickahominy. Cold Harbor was taken by Sheridan, after a sharp cavalry fight (May 31). The next morning the Confed- erates tried to win it back, but Sheridan's men held it until the Sixth Corps came to their aid. General W. F. Smith, with sixteen thousand men whom Grant had withdrawn from But- ler's army at Bermuda Hundred, formed on the right of the Sixth Corps. At four o'clock in the afternoon of June 1st the Union troops attacked, but Lee had also sent reinforcements, and they were met by a heavy fire. At least two thousand men were lost in the struggle, but the first line of the Con- federate works was won with six hundred prisoners. The second line was attacked but the Confederates repulsed the Union troops, who fell back and held the first line. There was little rest that night, for the Confederates kept up an almost continual fire, from which some of the Union men sheltered them- selves by building bullet- proofs in the woods; but the held Cold Harbor and thus hominy. The next day was spent in getting the troops into position to force their way across the river. The corps were placed as shown in the map, Hancock being on the left nearest to the Chickahominy. Orders were given for an attack at half-past four o'clock in the morning (June 3). At dawn every man was up, and in a few minutes after the appointed time the assault was made along the whole six miles of front. But the Confed- erates. were on the alert, and the storming columns were received * This is sometimes called Cool Arbor, and it is so spelled in the ac- companying map, but most of the books give it as in the text. It is said to be a common name for places along roads in England where shelter with- out fire is given. A Bullet-Proof. result was that the Union men secured the way to the Chicka- 446 GRANT AND LEE. [1864. with a fire which caused a fearful loss in the Union ranks. The battle was soon decided; the Confederate works were found too strong to carry, and the Union men were repulsed at every point with great slaughter. Grant's loss was more than thir- teen thousand, while that of the Confederates, who fought be- hind their earthworks, was scarcely as many hundred. Later in the day an order was given for another assault, but the men, appalled at the fate of their comrades, whose bodies strewed the field before them, refused to move. Grant then began to throw up earthworks and to dig trenches to lay siege to Lee's position; and for more than a week the two armies lay opposite each other, the trenches being so near together that many men were picked off by riflemen. Battle of Cold Harbor, But the intrenching finally ceased, and Grant made up his mind to take his army to the south side of the James Eiver. It will be remembered that he had announced his intention at the opening of the campaign to fight it out on that line if it took all summer. By this he meant the overland route, or a line by which he could advance toward Bichmond, driving Lee before him, and always keeping his army between Lee and "Washington. He had fought it out on that line but little more than a month, yet such had been the skill of the Confederate commander that his antagonist was now forced to adopt an entirely different line of operations. It must be confessed that the outlook at this time was unfavorable for the success of the Union arms. Grant had not thus far equalled the expectations of the government or of the people. In those terrible thirty 1864] GRANT ACROSS THE JAMES. 447 days he had lost sixty thousand men, or as many as the whole of Lee's army, while the loss of the latter had not been more than one third as many. Lee's army still remained to defend Richmond, while the Union army, after all this immense labor and loss, had only reached a position which might have been easily won without loss if the army had been sent by water from Washington as McClellan's army had been in 18G2. We have not yet been given the whole history of those trying times, but when the records are published people may be surprised to know how near the President and his advisers were to despair. In judging General Grant, however, we must always bear in mind that his object was the destruction of Lee's army and not alone the capture of Richmond. On the 12th of June the army was ready to move again. Warren crossed the Chickahominy and made believe march toward Richmond, when Lee, thinking it to be a real move- ment, withdrew into the defences of the city. The army then marched for the James River, where part was ferried over and part crossed on a pontoon bridge wide enough for twelve men to march abreast. General Smith, who meanwhile had been sent back by water to Butler at Bermuda Hundred, was ordered to take Petersburg, if possible. This city, a place of eighteen thousand inhabitants, lies twenty-two miles south of Richmond, on the Appomattox River, which flows into the James below Richmond (see map, page 455). It is the meeting place of several railroads and other roads, and it Avas at the time one of the most important places in the line of defence around Rich- mond. Smith attacked Petersburg (June 14) and succeeded in taking part of the defences, capturing some guns and prisoners. He ceased his operations at nightfall, and Lee strongly rein- forced the garrison. The rest of the Army of the Potomac came up, and though every effort was made to take the place, the assault ended in failure. Grant lost in four days nearly ten thousand men, and he was then forced to lay siege to Peters- burg, which held out against him for ten long months. When General Hunter left the Shenandoah Valley and re- treated into West Virginia, he left the road to Washington open once more to the Confederates. Lee, seeing the oppor- tunity, sent General Early with about twelve thousand men to threaten Washington, in hope that it would force Grant to give 448 GRANT AND LEE. [1864. up the siege of Petersburg. Early marched rapidly down the Shenandoah Valley, and driving Sigel before him crossed the Potomac into Maryland and reached Frederick (July 7), from which place he could move either against Baltimore or Washing- ton. As soon as Grant heard of this, he sent the Sixth Corj)s by water to Washington, and the Nineteenth Corps, which had just arrived from New Orleans, after the failure of the Red River expedition, was ordered to follow it. General Lewis Wallace, then in command in Baltimore, advanced with what troops he could raise to the Monocacy River, where the rail- roads from Frederick and from Harper's Ferry crossed on an iron bridge. It was, too, the meeting-place of the turnpikes from Washington and Balti- more to Frederick. Wallace's men were mostly home- guards and "hundred days' men" — that is, men who had enlisted to serve for a hun- dred days — but hearing that the Sixth Corps was on its way to Washington, he de- termined to fight Early, in hope of detaining him until the veteran troops should ar- rive. No one then knew anything about the number or the destination of the Con- federate force, but it was be- lieved to be large enough to capture either Washington or Bal- timore. The authorities at the Capital were excited with fear, and the wildest rumors were set afloat and believed by every- body. Early reached Wallace's position on the Monocacy in the morning of July 9, and after a sharp fight, in which nearly two thousand Union men were lost, was victorious. Wallace re- treated to Baltimore, followed by the Confederate cavalry, which tore up the railroad track and destroyed the great Baltimore and Ohio Railroad bridge. The Union people of Baltimore were greatly excited by the news of the defeat and the report that the Confederates were approaching, while the secessionists Jubal Early. 1864.] GENERAL FRANKLIN'S ESCAPE. 449 could scarcely hide their joy. Drams beat in the streets, and thousands of loyal men armed themselves and went to help de- fend the earthworks around the city, while women anxiously packed their valuables and made ready for flight. The Con- federates, under General Bradley Johnson, of Maryland, reached the suburbs the next day, but found the works too strong to be taken by a dash, and contented themselves with destroying railroads and other property. Major Harry Gilmor, also a native of Maryland, was sent to cut the railways between Balti- more and Philadelphia. He stopped the train going north- ward, plundered the passengers and mails, and destroyed the cars. Among the passengers was Major-General Franklin, who had been prominent in McClellan's army. He was in citizen's clothes and might hare passed unnoticed if some secession women had not pointed him out to Colonel Gilmor. Gilmor took him prisoner and sent him off under guard. The men stojrped in a wheat-field to rest and fell asleep. Franklin also pretended to go to sleep, and as soon as his captors were snoring he got up, walked leisurely down the road past the sleeping sentinels, and escaped into a wood, where he hid himself until night. The Confederates searched for him in vain, and the next morning he reached the house of some Union people, who sent word to Baltimore, and a squadron of cavalry went out and escorted him in safety to the city. Meanwhile Early with the main body of his force had ad- vanced toward Washington. Had he pressed on rapidly after the battle at Monocacy, he might have taken the Capital and done much damage, but he had been so roughly handled by Wallace that he had been obliged to wait until noon of the next day (July 10). In the morning of the 11th he reached the outer fortifications of Washington, but it was then too late; the Sixth Corps had arrived, and shortly afterward it was followed by the Nineteenth. During the next day there was some sharp fighting, with a loss of about three hundred on each side ? and Lewis Wallace, 450 GRANT AND LEE. [1864. that night Early retreated and recrossed the Potomac at Edwards Ferry, carrying with him much booty gathered in Maryland. General Wright, commander of the Sixth Corps, who had been given charge of all the troops around Washington, pursued Early and had a smart skirmish with him at Snicker's Ferry on the Shenandoah Kiver (July 18); and two days afterward Averill defeated part of the Confederate force at Winchester. Grant, supposing that Early was in full retreat down the Valley, ordered the Sixth and Nineteenth Corps back to Petersburg, and directed General Hunter, who had finally got his army out of the mountains of West Virginia, to re- main in the Shenan- doah Valley. General Crook, who was in com- mand at Harper's Ferry, marched up the Valley about the same time, but was met by the Con- federates at Kernstown, defeated with a loss of twelve hundred men, and driven back to Martinsburg. Among the Union killed was General Mulligan, who had so bravely defended Lexington (1861) against Price (page 114). Early followed and drove Crook across the Potomac. About three thousand Confederate cavalry crossed again into Maryland, and riding into Pennsylvania entered Chambersburg, a town of about five thousand inhabitants. The invaders de- manded a ransom of five hundred thousand dollars in greenbacks for the town, threatening to burn it if the sum were not paid. While their officers were talking about the. tribute the sol- diers went through the houses, taking everything of value they could find. Watches, jewelry, silver-ware, hats, caps, boots, and clothing were carried off, and many people were robbed of watches and money in .the streets at the point of the pistol. The court-house bell was rung to call the people together to Philip H. Shj^kidam. 1864.] SHERIDAN IN THE SHENANDOAH- VALLEY. 451 discuss the question of the tribute, but no one came; all had resolved to pay no money. The Confederates, enraged, set fire to the houses, and in a short time the greater part of the town was in flames. As Averill was not far off, they retreated toward the Potomac after this barbarous act, and though they were closely pursued and suffered some loss, most of them got safe into Virginia. Grant then saw that it was necessary to leave some troops in the Valley to prevent raids upon Washington and into the loyal States, so he ordered the Sixth and Nineteenth Corps to re- main, and sent General Philip H. Sheridan to take the chief command (August 7). Sheridan made his headquarters at Harper's Ferry and spent several weeks in getting his troops ready to attack Early in the Valley. The Valley of the Shenan- doah was then rich in grain, fruit, cattle, sheep, and hogs; in- deed, it was so full of food that the Confederate army could march up and down it, living on the inhabitants, without the trouble of carrying a long wagon-train of supplies. Grant, feel- ing that the raids up the Valley, threatening Washington and Maryland and Pennsylvania, would continue as long as the Confederates could live on the country, ordered Sheridan to drive the enemy up the Valley and destroy everything that could not be consumed by his troops. Early was then with about twelve thousand men on the west bank of Opequan Creek, not far from Winchester. Sheridan, who had three times as many men, tea thousand of whom were cavalry, attacked him there in the morning of Sep- tember 19, and badly defeated him. Early, leaving in the vic- tor's hands two thousand five hundred prisoners and five pieces of artillery, retreated to Fisher's Hill, a strong position south of Winchester. On the 22d of September, Sheridan again fell upon him and routed him, taking sixteen more cannons and several hundred prisoners. Early retreated down the Valley, and Sheridan, after following as far as Staunton, returned and took a position on Cedar Creek near Strasburg. As he fell back from Staunton he laid waste the Valley, destroying more than two thousand barns filled with wheat and hay and farming tools, and more than seventy mills filled with flour and wheat; he also killed and fed to the troops three thousand sheep, and drove off before the army more than four thousand cattle and 452 GRANT AND LEE. [1864. many horses. This act is justified by some writers; but it is also sharply criticised by others, who think that the advantage gained was not equal to the suffering inflicted on the people of the Valley. Early was soon reinforced from Lee's army, and again marched down the Valley and took his old position at Fisher's Hill. At dawn of the morning of October 19 he surprised the Union army on Cedar Creek, during General Sheridan's ab- sence in Washington. The first line was routed at once, and soon the whole Union left and centre was falling back toward Winchester in a confused mass. Only the Sixth Corps stood firm, and this was used by General Wright to cover the retreat. AY right fell back beyond Middletown, where he formed in line of battle in a strong position and was ready to renew the fight when Sheridan reached the field. He had heard the noise of the conflict at Winchester, and had ridden post-haste to the front. His coming gave the Union men new spirit and energy. Hundreds of stragglers turned and followed him back to the field, and at three o'clock in the afternoon the enemy were charged so bravely that a bad disaster was soon changed into a brilliant victory. The Confederates, elated by their success in the morning, had broken their ranks and scattered in search of plunder among the Union camps. Taken by surprise in their turn, they fell back before the charge of Sheridan's men. In a few minutes their retreat became a rout. They fled through Middletown, across Cedar Creek, and on beyond Stras- burg, not halting until night put an end to the pursuit at Fisher's Hill. The Confederates had taken in the morning eighteen pieces of artillery from the Union troops, but in their flight in the afternoon they were obliged to abandon these and twenty-three more pieces. During his campaign in the Valley against Early, Sheridan had lost about seventeen thousand men, and Early nearly twenty-three thousand, of whom thirteen thousand were prisoners. This ended all important opera- tions in the Shenandoah Valley. Early retreated southward the next day, and what was left of his infantry soon after joined Lee at Petersburg. The Sixth Corps rejoined Grant, and some of Sheridan's cavalry were taken from him and sent to serve elsewhere. Let us now return to Petersburg and see what took place 1864.] THE PETERSBURG MINE. 453 there during Early's raids. For about a month the soldiers of Burnside's Corps had been busy digging a mine under one of the forts in front of the city, with, the intention of blowing it up. The men began to dig in a hollow out of sight of the Confederates, and made a gallery, four and a half feet high and about five hundred feet long, the top and sides being lined with timber and planks to keep them from caving. The earth was carried out in barrows made of cracker boxes and hidden under brushwood, so that the enemy might not find out what was going on. At the extreme end, under the fort, side galleries were cut, extending about thirty-five feet each way, as shown in the picture. In these were constructed magazines, in which were placed eight thousand pounds of gunpowder, the different parts being connected by tubes half-filled with gunpowder, and The Petersburg Mine, Showing the Galleries and the Outline of the Crater. with three fuses, or slow-matches, which extended through the main gallery. The plan was to explode the mine on the 30th of June at half-past three o'clock in the morning, and then to let one of Burnside's divisions rush through the breach thus made and storm a height called Cemetery Hill in the rear of the fort, which commanded the city. The fuses were lighted at the appointed time and everybody watched anxiously for the explo- sion, but in vain. After the lapse of an hour it became evident that something was wrong, and two brave men volunteered to go into the gallery to see what the trouble was. They found that the fuses had gone out at the places where they were spliced, only about fifty feet from the powder. They relighted them and ran from the gallery, just in time to escape the explo- 454 GRANT AND LEE. [1864. sion. There was a rumble underground like the shaking of an earthquake, and with a dull roar a large mass of earth rose into the air two hundred feet and then fell amid a cloud of black smoke. In that brief moment the whole fort and its garrison of three hundred men had been blown to atoms, and in the place where it had stood was left a crater of loose earth two hundred feet long and nearly a fourth as wide and deep. As soon as the mine had exploded, the heavy artillery opened on the enemy's works all along the line. The Confederate bat- teries were soon silenced, and the men selected for the assault moved toward the breach. But there was much delay in removing abatis and wires that had been stretched by the Confederates along the front of the fort to trip up assaulting parties, and when the men got into the crater they halted, though there was nothing to prevent them going forward. For more than two hours the troops huddled under the bank or behind the breastworks, and finally became mixed up and disordered. For a half -hour after the explosion the Confederates seemed paralyzed by the shock, and it is believed that Petersburg would have fallen if the Union troops had made a quick attack. But they soon recovered themselves and brought up infantry and artillery to defend the breach. General Burnside, seeing that the troops in the crater were not advancing, ordered a divi- sion of colored soldiers to try an assault. The colored troops passed through the crater and charged up the slope beyond, but they were met by a heavy artillery and musketry fire, and driven back. They rallied and advanced again, but were again repulsed, and fled in confusion through the white troops in the crater. The Confederates fired shot and shell into the disordered mass. The Union men struggled to escape, every man for himself seeking safety in flight. More than four thousand were killed or taken prisoners, while the Confederate loss was less than a thousand, including those blown up in the fort. Thus ended in disaster what promised, said General Grant, to be the most successful assault of the campaign. Shortly afterward General Burnside was relieved, at his own request, and the command of his corps (the Ninth) was given to General John G. Parke. It being settled that Petersburg could not be taken by a 1864.] RICHMOND AND PETERSBURG. 455 Defences op Richmond and Petersburg. 456 GRANT AND LEE. [1864. direct assault, Grant spent the greater part of August in strengthening his lines in front of the city. The positions of the two forces at this time can be more easily understood from the accompanying map, which shows the fortifications, railroads and other roads around Eichmond and Petersburg, and the fortifications built by Butler across the neck of Bermuda Hundred. The Confederates held both Rich- mond and Petersburg and the line of railroad between them; but Lee drew most of his supplies from the south by means of the Weldon Railroad and the Southside Railroad. Grant, who drew his supplies from City Point, at the junction of the Appo- mattox and James Rivers, had made several attempts to extend his lines around on the south side of Petersburg, so as to cut off Lee from the Weldon Railroad, but all his efforts had failed. On the 13th of August, General Hancock, whose troops had been sent up the James River to a place called Deep Bottom (see map), landed and marched toward Richmond as if to at- tack it. He soon came upon the Confederate intrenchments, which he attacked. There was sharp fighting for several days, but Lee having strongly reinforced his lines nothing was gained, and Hancock returned (Aug. 20) to his camp before Peters- burg. But this movement led to the capture of the Weldon Rail- road. Grant, taking advantage of the absence of Lee's men sent against Hancock, ordered Warren to move once more upon the railroad. Warren reached the road about four miles from Petersburg (Aug. 18) and began to intrench himself. On the next day Lee attacked him, but Warren held what he had won. Two days afterward (Aug. 21) Lee again attacked, but was driven back with heavy loss. By the 24th seven miles of the railroad had been destroyed so as to be useless to the Con- federates. Hancock, who had been ordered on his return from the north side of the James to aid in destroying the Weldon Railroad, had moved to Reams's Station, behind the position held by Warren. He had torn up several miles of the track, when he was attacked by Lee and defeated with the loss of five guns and more than a fourth of his men. But the Weldon Rail- road was held by Grant, and by the middle of September a branch railroad was built from City Point around to it, so that supplies and troops could be quickly moved from one end to the other of the Union lines. 1864.] DUTCH CAP CANAL. 457 Having secured the Weldon Railroad, Grant turned his at- tention to the capture of the Southside Railroad, on which Lee then chiefly depended for his supplies. An attempt was made to reach and cut it (Oct. 27), but it was defeated by the Con- federates, and from that time until the opening of the next spring but little was done by either side, excepting to hold and to strengthen the lines, though a constant fire was kept up throughout the winter by the pickets and artillerymen. The Confederates suffered greatly during the cold weather on ac- count of the want of proper food and clothing, for they had much difficulty in getting supplies. At the close of the year was finished the Dutch Gap Canal, which General Butler had been digging for several months across the narrow neck of an isthmus made by a bend in the James River (see map, p. 455). If the river could be made to flow through this, steamers could save six or seven miles of dis- tance and avoid obstructions in the river and Confederate for- tifications on the banks around the bend. The canal, which was only about five hundred feet long, was dug by negroes. The Confederates built a battery at Howlett's, on the south bank of the James, and annoyed the workmen greatly by throw- ing shells into the excavation. To escape these the men dug huts to live in and holes for shelter in the side of the river bank. The canal was finally finished with the exception of a narrow wall of earth at the upper end, which had been left to keep out the water. In this a mine was made and charged with twelve thousand pounds of gunpowder, but when it was exploded most of the earth thrown up fell back into the open- ing, which was not deep enough for vessels to pass through. The channel could not be dredged on account of the firing from the Confederate battery, and so the canal proved a failure as a military operation. But after the war it Was deepened, and steamers for Richmond now pass through and save going •round the long bend. CHAPTER XXXVII. ATLANTA CAMPAIGN. Johnston and Sherman.— The Two Armies.— Cars and Locomotives Wanted.— Thomas's Circus.— Dalton to Resaca.— Dallas.— New Hope Church.— Rome Taken.— Kenesaw Mountain.— Brave Engineer.— Death of General Polk.— Bad Weather.— Wood Ticks. —Sherman Repulsed.— Johnston Crosses the Chattahoochee.— Rousseau's Raid. — Are these Yanks?— Hood Succeeds Johnston.— Atlanta.— Hood's Sally.— He Fights Agaln.— Death of McPherson.— Raids on the Railroads.— Hood Strikes a Third Time.— Siege of Atlanta.— Hood Cut Off.— Evacuation of Atlanta.— Honors to Sherman.— Atlanta Desolated. — Davis Visits Hood. — Hood Marches Northward. — Allatoona.— Signalling.— A Duplicate Tunnel.— Atlanta in Ashes.— Glory, Halle- lujah !— Grant is Waiting for Us '. WHEN" Grant moved against Lee in Virginia lie ordered General Sherman, who had succeeded him in the West, to make a similar movement against General Joseph E. John- ston, who had taken Bragg's place in command of the principal Confederate army in the West. Johnston was then stationed at Dalton, in the northwest part of Georgia, in which position he guarded Atlanta, the meeting-place of railways and the site of many important manufactures. His army, which consisted of about fifty-five thousand men, was divided into three corps, under command of Generals Hardee, Hood, and Polk. To march against this force General Sherman had near Chattanooga about one hundred thousand men, or nearly two to one; but in calculating the relative strength of the two armies we must remember that Johnston was in his own coun- try," with his lines of communication open behind him, while Sberman had to draw all his supplies from Nashville, through a hostile country, over nearly a hundred and fifty miles of rail- way, all of which had to be kept strongly guarded against guerrillas; and as the army advanced still further southward from Chattanooga many more men had to be left behind to keep the roads open and to guard places taken. Besides the hun- dred thousand men, there were thirty-five thousand horses to be fed. General Sherman calculated that to feed this great army would require the delivery every day at Chattanooga of one hundred and thirty car-loads of provisions. As there were not enough cars and locomotives to do this work, General Sherman recpiested the authorities at Louisville to hold on to 1864.] SHERMAN'S ARMY. 459 all trains coming from the north, and to send them to him, and he soon had running to Chattanooga trains marked with the names of almost every railroad north of the Ohio River. By this means he succeeded in getting supplies enough for his army in time for the movement against Johnston. The army was made up of three different armies — the Army of the Cumberland, under General Thomas; the Army of the Tennessee, under General McPherson; and the Army of the Ohio, under General Schofield. In order to move as quickly as possible, Sherman ordered that but little baggage should be taken, K"o tents were al- lowed, except for the sick and wounded, and each offi- cer and soldier was obliged to carry on his horse or per- son food and clothing enough for five days. Sher- man himself set the exam- ple of going without a tent, and he and his officers, like the common soldiers, used , ,,. only tent-flies, or squares l'i\: //lO 1 * -.(\ I ■ '"^ \ '[■/., \ of canvas, which could be spread over saplings or fence-rails so as to make a shelter to sleep under. General Thomas only, who needed a tent, had a wagon-train, which the soldiers used to call in fun '"Thomas's Circus." On the 5th of May, 18G4, the army started on its march southward from Chattanooga, and the campaign was begun. Sherman could not go directly to Dalton on account of a chain of mountains, lying between it and Chattanooga, through which there was in front only one pass, too strongly fortified to be taken. So, while a false attack was made on this pass, McPher- son was ordered to march southward, through another pass in the rear of Johnston, to Eesaca, eighteen miles south of Dalton, and there to cut the railroad by which Johnston received his supplies. McPherson went to Resaca, but finding it too strong to be taken, fell back to the pass in the mountains and waited for the main army to come up. William T. Sherman. 460 ATLANTA CAMPAIGN [1864 Sherman was disappointed at the failure to cut the railroad, but sent more troops and ordered another movement against Resaca. Johnston, afraid of having his line of supplies cut, abandoned Dalton (May 13) and fell back to Resaca. Sher- man attacked him there on the 14th, and during that and all of the next day there was sharp fighting between the two armies. During- the night of the 15th Johnston left Resaca and re- treated across the Etowah River. Sherman followed, but feel- ing that Johnston would defend the Allatoona Pass, where the railroad passes through the mountains south of the river, he marched (May 23) toward Dallas. The country around there is very rough and thickly wooded, and the roads are few and poor. When Sherman reached New Hope Church, near Dallas, he found that Johnston had posted his army in a very strong position, his lines extending eastward nearly to Marietta. A severe battle took place near the church (May 25), in which nothing was decided, the Confederates still holding their posi- tion. In the meantime part of Thomas's army had taken Rome, destroyed the important mills and foundries there, and left a garrison to defend it. There was almost continual fighting for several days, which ended in Johnston's giving up Allatoona Pass, falling back from New Hope Church, and taking another strong position on Kenesaw, Pine, and Lost Mountains. These three mountains, which guard the railroad leading into Marietta, are peaks of one chain, but occupy nearly the points of a triangle, Kenesaw on the east and Lost Mountain on the west end of the base, and Pine Mountain forming the apex or point toward the north. Lost and Pine Mountains are almost perfect cones, but Kene- saw is a twin mountain, its top being divided into two peaks. About two miles south of Kenesaw lies Marietta, then a little town of nearly two thousand inhabitants. When Sherman reached Johnston's position he found his army posted on a line about ten miles long. On the tops of the three mountains were signal stations and batteries, and the sides were alive with men cutting down trees to form breast- works and abatis, and digging rifle-pits. Sherman had been reinforced by troops under General Frank Blair, so that not- withstanding his losses, he Avas as strong as when he left Chattanooga, and he now determined to drive the enemy from 1864] GENERAL POLK KILLED. 461 his position, rather than to try another flank movement. In the mean time the railroad bridge across the Etowah had been rebuilt, and loaded trains of cars followed the army nearly up to Kenesaw. One day an engineer ran his locomotive to a water-tank within range of the Confederate guns on the moun- tain. The batteries opened on him, but he coolly waited until he had filled his tank, and returned safe to his train, his engine whistling defiance to the enemy's guns, and the soldiers giving him hearty cheers and a " tiger " for his bravery. The army was soon in position opposite the Confederate lines, but this was not accomplished without great labor, for roads for the supply trains had to be cut through dense and tangled woods, and heavy rains fell almost daily. On the 14th of June the rain slackened, and General Sherman rode along the lines to look for a good place to attack. When near Pine Mountain he saw a battery on the crest, and near it a group of Confederates looking down with spy-glasses. Sherman ordered some gunners to fire on the Confederates to drive them back, and continued his ride. Soon after he heard the guns, and when he reached his headquarters at night he was told that Lieutenant-General Polk had been killed by the fire. It seems that Generals Johnston, Hardee, and Polk had ridden to Pine Mount in to reconnoitre. General John- ston, seeing the preparations to fire, told the soldiers who had gathered near him to scatter, and went himself behind the breastwork. But General Polk, who was fleshy and very dig- nified, walked slowly back, and was killed almost instantly by a shell, which struck him across the breast. On the next day Pine Mountain was abandoned by the Confederates, and a stake was found driven into the ground with a paper attached to it, inscribed: "Here General Polk was killed by a Yankee shell.'' On June 16th the Confederates gave up Lost Mountain, Johnston drawing back his lines so as to cover Marietta. Sher- man closed up after him, and fighting took place almost every day, notwithstanding the bad weather. It rained most of the time, and the roads were impassable, while the fields and woods were turned into quagmires. The bushes were filled with wood- ticks, a little insect that burrows under the skin and causes great irritation and itching, and the soldiers had all they could 462 ATLANTA CAMPAIGN. [1864. do to fight them and the Confederate sharpshooters, who were equally on the lookout for them. On the 27th of June, Sher- man assaulted the enemy's lines, but was repulsed with much loss, the enemy, who fought from behind breastworks, suffer- ing but little. Sherman then made up his mind to move round the enemy again. This obliged Johnston to leave Kenesaw and Marietta and fall back further, for fear that Sherman would cross the Chattahoochee River and get between him and Atlanta. Early in the morning of July. 3d the stars and stripes were unfurled on Kenesaw, and about eight o'clock General Sherman rode into Marietta. He ordered a vigorous pursuit of Johnston, and hoped to strike him a severe blow while crossing the Chatta- hoochee, which is only eight miles from Atlanta. But John- ston, who was too skilful a general to be caught in that way, had constructed strong works there to cover the bridges, so that he could cross safely when he pleased. General Sherman had now a very difficult task before him, for he had to pass a deep river guarded by a vigilant and strongly-fortified enemy. But he so marched his troops as to make Johnston think that he was going to try to cross below his position, and while the enemy was watching him there, other troops were sent above, who succeeded in getting over and taking possession of a strong place on high ground. By the 9th of July, Sherman had se- cured three crossing-places, with good roads to Atlanta, and Johnston retired with his whole army to the other side. In the meantime Sherman had ordered General Rousseau, who was at Decatur, Alabama, to make a raid from there to Opelika with a body of cavalry, and to cut the railroad between Atlanta and Montgomery. While on this ride, he came, one hot, dusty day, to a plantation near Talladega, and halting his column, he and his staff rode up to the house of the owner. Their uniforms were gray with dust, and the planter, taking them for Confederates, met them cordially at the front porch. General Rousseau asked for water, which was brought, and Avhile drinking he and his officers sat on the porch and talked with their host. At last the General, seeing some mules in the stock-yard, said: "My good sir, I fear I must take some of your mules." "I hope, General," remarked the planter, " that you won't 1863.] HOOD SUCCEEDS JOHNSTON. 463 take any more of my stock. I have already given very liber- ally to the good cause; only last week I furnished General Koddy Avith ten mules." "Well," replied Rousseau, "in this war you should be at least neutral— that is, you should be as liberal to me as to Roddy." Roddy was a Confederate cavalry general. The planter, see- ing his blunder, exclaimed: "What! ain't you on our side?" "No; I am General Rousseau, and all these men you see are Yanks." " Great God ! Is it possible ? Are these Yanks ? Who ever supposed they would come way down here in Alabama?" Rousseau, of course, took his ten mules. He struck the railroad near Opelika, and, mov- ing upward, destroyed twenty miles of its track, and joined Sher- man's army on the 22d of July. On the 17th of July Sherman began the march from the Chat- tahoochee River to At- lanta, within the forti- fications of which Johnston had withdrawn his army. On the same day General Johnston was removed from the command of the Confederate army by orders from Richmond, and General John B. Hood ordered to take his place. This was a very unfortunate move for the Confederates. General Hood, who was a graduate of West Point and a former officer in the United States army, was a brave but rash soldier, and far less skilful than General Johnston, who is regarded by military men as one of the best officers of the Confederacy. We shall see, by and by, how Johnston had to be recalled to the command, after Hood had nearly destroyed the army through his rashness. John B. Hood. 464 ATLANTA CAMPAIGN. [1864 Atlanta, now (1881) the capital of Georgia, with a popula- tion of 37,500, was then a city of about 20,000 people. It was one of the most important places in the Confederacy, for it was not only the meeting-place of several railroads, connecting cen- tral Georgia with the north, the south, the east, and the west, but the place chosen by the Confederates for great magazines, storehouses, arsenals, workshops, rolling-mills, and foundries. There and in the thriving towns around it were made cannon and small-arms, gunpowder, cartridges, and caps; machinery of all kinds, army wagons and ambulances, harnesses for the horses, and clothing and shoes for the men of the army. It was, too, the principal grain and grass producing district of the Confederacy, for the country west of the Mississippi, on which it had depended in the beginning of the war, was now cut off from it forever. Atlanta was so far from the seaboard, and was so strongly defended on the west by the lines of rugged mountains which lie between the Atlantic plain and the Missis- sippi Valley, that it was considered safe from all attempts of the enemy to reach it. Sherman's advance through the moun- tains, his successful pushing back of Johnston's army, and his crossing of the Chattahoochee, the last barrier outside of its earthworks, created the greatest consternation not only in the city but throughout the Confederacy. Up to that time no man had thought that the bayonets of the Union would gleam so soon in front of Atlanta. General Sherman, who looked upon General Johnston as a great soldier whom it was some credit to defeat, had a far dif- ferent opinion of General Hood. A Southern historian says that when Sherman heard that he had been given Johnston's command, he jumped up and exclaimed, " I know that fellow!" Sherman himself says that he made up his mind that the change meant "fight," and he at once cautioned his com- manders to be always ready for battle. To fight was just what he wanted, for he felt strong enough to defeat the Confeder- ates anywhere in the open field. It was General Johnston's method of fighting behind intrenchments that had kept him from Atlanta so long. He had not a great while to wait, for on the 20th Hood made a sally from the works around the city. After a two hours' battle the Confederates were repulsed, both sides having met with heavy losses. The Union troops then 1864.] death of Mcpherson. 465 closed in around the city. Sherman found the outer line of works abandoned, and thought the city had been given up. But a second and stronger line of in frenchmen ts was found within, fully manned. Sherman had not men enough to sur- round the whole city, but he pushed his left far enough to cut off the Augusta Railroad on the east. In the morning of the 22d of July, General Sherman was aroused by the sound of firing on the left. He asked General McPherson, who had ridden up with his staff a few minutes before, what it meant, and after consulting a pocket-compass, the two agreed that the firing was too far in the rear to be ex- plained by any known facts. McPherson hastily called for his horse, and rode off with his staff in the direction of the sounds, saying to Sherman that he would send back word what the firing meant. The sounds grew louder and louder, the roar of can- James B. McPherson. non being mingled with the crash of musketry. In a few minutes one of McPherson's staff dashed up to the house where Sherman was and reported that the Gen- eral was either killed or a prisoner. He said they had ridden across to the railroad, near which they found that the enemy had made an attack. McPherson, sending some of his staff to bring up troops, rode with a single officer into the woods, doubtless supposing that he was within the Union lines. He hud scarcely disappeared when the sound of muskets was heard, and McPherson's horse came running back, riderless and covered with blood. About an hour afterward an ambulance came to headquarters with General McPherson's body. A ball had passed through him near the heart, so that he must have been killed almost in- stantly. He is said to have been shot by one of his own name, Major McPherson of the Confederate army. General Sherman 466 ATLANTA CAMPAIGN. [1864. felt his loss greatly, for he esteemed him one of his hest officers. He says in his Memoirs: " McPherson was then in his prime (about thirty-four years old), over six feet high, and a very handsome man in every way, was universally liked, and had many noble qualities." Sherman soon found out what the Confederates were doing. Hood, leaving part of his army to hold the fortifications of Atlanta, had sallied out in tbc night (July 21), and, marching toward Decatur, had got into the rear of McPherson's troops on the left of the Union line. The woods were so thick that he was enabled to get quite near before he was discovered. The battle began about noon and raged for four hours. Again and again the Confederates attacked the Union lines, but after winning some successes, with heavy losses, they were repulsed at all points and finally withdrew within their works. Sherman had now cut all the railroads excepting the Macon road, which brandies from the Montgomery road at a place called East Point. He moved the Army of the Tennessee, then commanded by General 0. 0. Howard, who had taken McPher- son's place, round to the right, threatening that road, over which the Confederates drew most of their supplies, and sent out General Stoneman with five thousand cavalry and General McCook with four thousand more, with orders to destroy it if possible. But the expedition failed: Stoneman was taken pris- oner with many of his men; McCook, after damaging the road slightly, succeeded in getting back with some loss. On the 28th Hood made another desperate attack on the Union lines, hoping to strike the Army of the Tennessee before it had strengthened its new position on the west side of the city. But Howard was ready for him, and after a bloody battle of four hours the Confederates were repulsed and again forced to seek the shelter of their intrenchments. The siege went on slowly during the month of August, which was hot and sultry, but the country around was health- ful, and the army suffered but little from sickness. The sol- diers built good huts and cabins of timber, and made them- selves as comfortable as possible in every way. Most of the cabins were made of rough logs, but some were neatly built and had good chimneys and canvas roofs. From the skirmish- lines in front came a ceaseless crack of musketry, while some 1864 J ATLANTA WON 467 heavy guns, which had been mounted within range of Atlanta, kept up a bombardment which caused frequent fires in the city. On the 12th of August General Sherman received news that he had been made a major-general in the regular army, and heard of Farragut's success in Mobile Bay. As said before, Sherman had not men enough to surround Atlanta entirely without making his lines so thin that the enemy could easily break through them; and the works around the city were too strong and too well defended to be carried by assault. His only hope of taking the place, therefore, lay in cutting off its supplies. To do this he must send a sufficient force south of the city to take and to hold the Macon Railroad. Fortunately Hood at this time sent a large part of his cavalry toward Chat- tanooga to cut the rail- road behind Sherman; but Sherman had looked out for that, and had secured plenty of provisions at Allatoona, which he had strongly fortified. As soon as he knew that Hood's cavalry had gone he sent his cavalry to the Macon road ; then, taking pro- visions enough for fifteen days, he marched his whole army around by the west, and by the end of August had reached Jonesboro. on the Macon road, twenty miles from Atlanta. Hood now saw that a battle must decide the fate of the city, for he was cut off from his supplies on all sides. About noon of August 31st he attacked Howard's army, but was repulsed with heavy loss and had to fall back. During the next night the sound of heavy explosions was heard in the direction of At- lanta. Hood was blowing up his magazines and arsenals. In the morning the Confederates were in full retreat toward Ma- con. Sherman ordered a pursuit, but soon withdrew his troops and entered Atlanta. On the same day he telegraphed to Presi- dent Lincoln, "Atlanta is ours and fairly won." The glad news spread quickly through all the loyal States, and was Army Cabin. 468 ATLANTA CAMPAIGN. [1864. received everywhere with the ringing of bells and the firing of cannon. President Lincoln wrote the conqueror a letter of congratulation on his great success, and General Grant wrote from before Petersburg: "In honor of your great victory, I have ordered a salute to be fired with shotted guns from every battery bearing upon the enemy." In another letter Grant wrote: "I feel you have accomplished the most gigantic under- taking given to any general in this war, and with a skill and ability that will be acknowledged in history as unsurpassed, if not unequalled." During the whole campaign, from Chattanooga to Atlanta, Sherman had lost a little more than thirty-one thousand men, while he had inflicted on the enemy a loss of about thirty-five thousand men, more than forty guns, and twenty-five thousand small-arms. But the greatest loss of all to the Confederacy was Atlanta itself, proudly called the Gate City of the South, the key to all the railroads running to the Gulf States and to the granaries of the South, and its most important manufacturing centre and depot of supplies. The only drawback to Sherman's victory was the fact that Hood's army, forty thousand strong, still survived and was still capable of doing much mischief. He therefore resolved to make Atlanta a military post or garrison, and to remove all the families living there. In cities previously taken, such as Mem- phis, Vicksburg, and Natchez, the families of Confederate sol- diers had been left to be cared for and fed by the Union authorities, while acting as spies and doing all in their power to aid their husbands and brothers in arms against the govern- ment. On this account a much larger force was needed to hold these places, men actually wanted in the field having to be left to guard them. General Hood and the Confederate authorities protested against the removal of the families from Atlanta, and Southern writers have called it a barbarous act, but it seems under the circumstances to have been a necessity. General Sherman's act was approved by the government as justified by the laws and usages of war, and as necessary for the safety of his own army. The fall of Atlanta was a great blow to President Davis, who believed that Hood would be able to hold it against all Sherman's efforts to take it. As soon as the news reached him 1864] HOLD THE FORT. 469 he set out to visit Hood's army to plan with that general some new campaign which should make up for so great a loss. On his way thither he made speeches in the towns and cities he passed through, in which he declared that the failure of the campaign was due to General Johnston; he prophesied, too, that Atlanta would be recovered and that General Sherman "would meet the fate that befell Napoleon in the retreat from Moscow." He told the Tennessee troops to be of good cheer, for their feet should soon again press Tennessee soil. This made Sherman think that a movement was intended in that direction, and he at once took measures to guard against it. He had not long to wait. About the end of September he heard that Hood had begun to move his army northward, and he saw that it was his intention to get in his rear and cut his line of supplies. He at once began to send his artillery, wagons, and all the troops he could spare up the railroad toward Tennessee, under command of General Thomas. It will be remembered that he had fortified Allatoonaand other places on his way to At- lanta; indeed, all the important stations and bridges on the rail- road were guarded by troops in intrenchments or block-honses. Hood crossed the Chattahoochee River in the last two days of September, and on the 5th of October attacked Allatoona. Early in the morning of the same day General Sherman reached Kenesaw Mountain, from the top of which he had a magnifi- cent view of a great extent of nigged wooded country toward the north and west. Toward Dallas he could see the smoke of the enemy's camp-fires, and a line of smoke reaching many miles along the railroad told him that the Confederates were busy tearing up the track and burning the ties. A faint smoke, too, hung over Allatoona, eighteen miles away, and from that direc- tion came to his ears the dull boom of cannon. He had pre- viously telegraphed to General Corse to go from Rome with his division to the aid of the garrison at Allatoona, but now the telegraph wires had all been cut by the enemy. From the top of Kenesaw, however, his signal officers opened communica- tion with both Rome and Allatoona, and Sherman soon got a signal from the latter place saying " Corse is here." He sig- nalled back, "Hold the fort. I am coming with reinforce- ments;" and Corse answered, "I will do it." "He will hold on," said Sherman; " I know the man well." 470 ATLANTA CAMPAIGN. [1861 The method of signalling used during the war was invented by General Albert J. Myer, who was the head of the Signal Service of the United States from 1860 until his death (1880). After the war he had charge of all the weather-stations in the United States, where the changes of the weather are watched and telegraphed to all parts of the country. He was sometimes called in the newspapers " Old Probabilities." During the war signalling was done chiefly by flags in the day and by torches by night. The service was dangerous, for the signal party had often to go in advance of the army, in places made dangerous A Signal Party. by the nearness of the enemy. On Kenesaw Mountain Sher- man was signalling right over the heads of the enemy, who were between him and Allatoona. The signal-party may be made up of only three men, an officer, a flagman, and an orderly to hold the horses, as shown in the picture. The officer watches and reads the signals through a telescope, which he rests on the hilt of his sword. The flagman has on his horse (the black one) a case to carry the staff of his flag or torch in; and the orderly carries back of his saddle (see the white horse) a can of camphene or turpentine to fill the torch with. The 1864.] SIGNALLING. 471 flag may be of any color or shape which can be seen well at a distance. Now suppose there is another signal party, ten or fifteen miles away, on some high place within sight of the first party, and that the latter wishes to send a message. The flagman holds his flag upright, as in position 1 of the picture below, which means "Beady," and the officer looks through his tele- scope. As soon as he is observed from the other station, the flagman begins to signal. If he wave his flag to the ground on his right and bring it back quickly over his head again, as in position 2, the officer on the distant station will understand it to mean the figure one (1); if he wave to the left and back again, as in position 3, it will mean figure two (2); and if he wave to the ground directly in his front and back again, as in Signalling with Flags. position 4, it will mean figure three (3). We have thus the means of making the figures 1, 2, and 3, which may be com- bined or put together in a great number of ways; for instance, one may easily signal 123, 231, 1123, 1213, etc. Each flag- officer carries a little book, called a signal code, in which each combination of figures is given a certain meaning: thus, 123 may mean "send troops at once," "railroad bridge burned," or "out of pro visions," it being understood that the same meaning is always given to the same combination of figures in all the books, so that each signal officer may easily find it by turning to the number. Of course the books are kept very secret, and if one should fall into the hands of the enemy the whole code has to be changed and new meanings given to the numbers. In signalling by night the same motions are made by means of torches. Two torches are used — a foot-torch, which is placed 472 ATLANTA CAMPAIGN. [1864. on the ground at the flagman's foot, so that the party signalled may see where he stands, and a waving torch, which is used in the same way with the flags. The torches are lamps filled with camphene or turpentine, and fitted with a large wick, so as to give a bright light. General Sherman was greatly relieved to hear of Corse's arrival at Allatoona, for he knew that officer would hold the place. In the afternoon he received another signal telling him that the Confederates had been repulsed, but that Corse was wounded. His cheek bone and one ear were shot away, but he continued to cheer on his men and to give orders to the last. The enemy had badly damaged the railroad, tearing it up and destroying it for eight miles; but Sherman set ten thousand men at work, and in a week it was repaired and the trains were Signalling with Torches. running again. The Confederate soldiers began to think it was of little use to tear up tracks and burn bridges when the Yankees could repair them so easily and quickly, and it was reported that Sherman carried along with him duplicates of all the bridges on the railroad. A story is told of a party of "Butternuts" who were lying under a tree, one hot day in July, when Sherman was advancing on Atlanta. "Well," said one of them, "the Yanks will have to git up and git now, for I heard General Johnston himself say that General Wheeler had blown up the tunnel near Dalton, and that the Yanks will have to retreat, because they can get no more rations." "Nonsense!" said a listener. "Don't you know that old Sherman carries a duplicate tunnel along?" 1864.] BURNING OF ATLANTA. 473 General Sherman followed Hood until he became sure that he intended going into Tennessee, and then, leaving Thomas, who was in Nashville, to attend to him, returned to Atlanta and made preparations for his march across Georgia, to the Atlantic coast. The authorities in Washington were much troubled at Hood's march northward, and even General Grant thought that Sherman ought to destroy his army before going on his march; but Sherman believed that Hood's movement was meant to draw him out of Georgia, and knowing that Thomas was strong enough to keep the Confederate army from doing much damage, he determined to set out at once. He felt that his movement to the Atlantic was the surest means of striking a blow at Richmond, and he believed that it would end the war. He had already collected at Atlanta a large quantity of supjdies, and he now ordered all the sick and wounded, the refugees and camp-followers, and all the artillery and baggage not needed, to be sent back to Chattanooga. The railroads around Atlanta were utterly destroyed, and the en- gines and cars and even the rails were taken to Chattanooga for future use. The garrisons, too, of the places south of there were sent back to that post, and the country made unfit for the use of the enemy. Before leaving Atlanta all the public property in the city, including the railroad station, machine-shops, storehouses, and other buildings which had been used by the Confederates, were set on fire. In the night the burning buildings presented a grand and awful spectacle, lighting up the heavens with lurid flames and showers of sparks, and rolling away great clouds of smoke. Many of the houses had powder and loaded shells stored in them, and the explosion of these added to the horrors of the night; while above the crackling of the flames and the noise of the bursting shells could be distinctly heard the grand strains of the band of the Thirty-third Massachusetts. The scene was one to be remembered by every man Avho witnessed it. The next morning (Nov. 15), leaving Atlanta in ruins and enveloped in a pall of smoke, the army set out on its great march to the sea. General Sherman says that as the troops tramped out with a cheery look and a swinging pace, that made light of the thousand miles between them and Richmond, a military band struck up "John Brown's Body." "The 474 ATLANTA CAMPAIGN. [1864. men caught up the strain, and never before or since have I heard the chorus of ' Glory, glory, hallelujah!' done with more spirit or in better harmony of time and place." The soldiers fully believed that they were bound for Virginia, and as General Sherman rode with his staff along the lines of glisten- ing bayonets, many a group called out to him: "Uncle Billy, I guess Grant is waiting for us at Eich- mond!" After the Battle. CHAPTER XXXVIII. MARCH TO THE SEA. Anxiety in 1864.— Grant and Lee.— Secretary Chase and the Finances.— Greenbacks.— Gold.— Presidential Election.— News from Atlanta.— Copperheads.— Re-election of Lincoln.— Abolition of Slavery. — Hood Marches Northward.— Battle of Frank- lin.— Siege of Nashville.— Thomas's Victory.— Flight of Hood.— Sherman's Army.— Orders for Foraging.— Jeff. Davis's Neckties.— Contrabands.— Dey say you's Massa Sherman.— Bummers.— Marching and Camping.— Soldiers' Pets.— Pet Pigeon.— Old Abe, the War Eagle.— Milledgeville.— Beauregard Again.— Soldiers' Fun. — Cav- alry Skirmishes.— Prison Pen.— Andersonville.— Torpedoes.— Defences of Savannah. —Storming of Fort McAllister.— Savannah as a Christmas Gift. a BEAT as was the loss of Atlanta to the Confederates, its capture had far more important results than any we have yet related. When the glad news of its fall was flashed by the telegraph all over the land, the hearts of the people were sad, and many of the best men had begun to despair of the Union. The summer of 1864 was the darkest in the history of the war. In the spring Grant's splendid army had set out on its campaign followed by the hope and belief of the people of the North that it would soon end the struggle; but after four months of almost ceaseless fighting, in which more than a hundred thousand men had fallen, Lee's army was still in its front strong enough to bar the way to Eichmond. Nay, so sure was the Confederate leader of his ability to keep back Grant, that he had felt able at the same time to invade Penn- sylvania and even to attack the defences of Washington. People began to cpiestion Grant's ability, and to think that the fame he had won in the West was due to good fortune rather than to soldierly skill. Another source of great anxiety was the condition of the finances — that is, of the national money matters. Of course a great deal of money was needed to pay the cost of carrying on the war, and as the ordinary revenues of the government — derived from customs duties and other taxes — were only suffi- cient to pay the expenses in time of peace, money had to be raised by other means. When Mr. Chase, the Secretary of the Treasury, entered upon the duties of his office in 1861, he found the national finances in so bad a Avay that it was very 476 MARCH TO THE SEA. [1864 difficult to borrow money; but he soon made a change, and to his wisdom and skill is largely due the success of the Union over the Confederacy. He succeeded in borrowing large amounts of money, partly in this country and partly in Europe, which were used to pay the expenses of the war. The sum of all these moneys makes up what is called the national debt, which the United States is now trying to pay off. At the end of the year 1861 the banks in all the loyal States suspended specie payments — that is, they refused to pay gold any longer for bank notes. In the following spring (1862) Congress authorized Mr. Chase to issue Treasury notes, or paper money, which should be good for the payment of debts through- out the United States. These notes were commonly called "greenbacks," because their backs were printed with green ink. As a paper dollar is worth a dollar only when it can be exchanged at any time for a gold dollar, the value of paper money decreased after the suspension of specie payments. This value was continually changing during the war, going up or down according to the prospects of success or failure. It is customary to speak of these changes as changes in the value of gold, although it is the paper money and not the gold which changes. Thus, when gold is said to be worth 120, it is meant that it will take 120 paper dollars to buy 100 gold dollars. In the beginning of 1862 gold was worth about 104 — that is, it took 104 dollars in paper to buy 100 dollars in gold. . After the failure of McClellan's campaign gold went up to 120, and after Burnside's disaster at Fredericksburg to 160; but after the successes at Gettysburg and Vicksburg it fell to 123. From that time it began to rise again, until it reached 195 after the battles in the Wilderness (May, 1864). In the next month it rose to 252, and in July to 290, the highest point reached during the war. On the last day of June, Mr. Chase resigned his office as Secretary of the Treasury, and this added to the gloomy state of affairs, because people thought that even he despaired of bringing the war to a successful end. The year 1864 was a Presidential year, or year for electing a President. The two great political parties were still called Republicans and Democrats, but neither of them was closely united. In the Republican party was a faction calling themselves Eadical Republicans, who considered President Lin- 1864.] PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION. 477 coin too timid to deal with the great questions of the war, and who wished to treat rebels more harshly and to confiscate all their property and give it to the soldiers. This faction nomi- nated John C. Fremont for President. The Eepuhlicans proper renominated Abraham Lincoln, and in their platform declared that the Union must be restored, that slavery must be destroyed, and that no terms but unconditional surrender should be given to those in rebellion. The Democratic Convention did not meet until near the end of August. This was after the dreadful blunder of the mine at Petersburg and Sherman's repulse at Kenesaw, and after Secretary Chase's resignation. Gold was at 290, the public debt was more than two thousand million dollars, and in answer to several efforts to bring about peace the Confed- erates had declared their intention to fight until the last man fell. In the midst of the general gloom brought about by this state of affairs, another draft for half a million of men was called for. People began to inquire what had become of the half million called for in the spring, and to ask what was to be the end of the struggle which was thus draining the country of men and money. The Democrats, influenced by the public feeling, declared in their platform that the war had proved a failure, and that efforts should be at once made for peace on the basis of the federal union of the States; that the party in power had violated the Constitution and been guilty of many acts of oppression and tyranny, and that it was responsible for the sufferings of the prisoners of war. On this platform Gen- eral McClellan was nominated for President. He accepted the nomination, although he and many other Democrats did not believe in declaring that the war had been a failure. They were as strong for the Union as the other party, but they thought that the further shedding of blood might be avoided by making an armistice — or temporary peace — with the Con- federates, and settling the questions in dispute quietly. On the heels of the declaration that the war had been a failure came the news of the great victory at Atlanta. Bells were rung, cannon fired, and flags raised; national thanks were given to Sherman and to Farragut for Mobile, and a Na- tional thanksgiving was called for in all the churches. The gloom was dispelled and gladness lightened the hearts of the 478 MARCH TO THE SEA. [1864. people. In Washington the party in power were even more joy- ful, for they had felt on how slender a thread hung the chances of success, without which they could scarcely hope that the people would vote to sustain them. But the news of Sher- man's success changed everything and destroyed the hopes of the peace party. The election for President was a very bitter one, and many hard names were called on both sides. The Union men called the Peace Democrats " Copperheads," from a poisonous North American snake, and this name stuck to them during the rest of the war. General Fremont withdrew, and in the election Mr. Lincoln was again chosen President by a large majority. In the Congress which met in Washington after the election (Dec, 1864) was passed the Constitutional Amendment forever abolishing slavery in the United States, and it was afterward ratified by the votes of more than two thirds of the States and made a part of the Constitution. Let us now follow General Hood, who, under orders from Richmond, had turned northward, after the fall of Atlanta, to invade Tennessee. This was a very silly movement, for it left Sherman at liberty to march to the Atlantic with nothing to oppose him, while Thomas, who was at Nashville, was strong enough to keep him from doing much damage. "Had I had the power," wrote Grant, " to command both armies [that is, Sherman's and Hood's], I should not have changed the orders under which he seemed to be acting." In ordering the move- ment, President Davis supposed that it would force Sherman to leave Georgia and follow him, for fear of having his line of supplies cut; it never occurred to him that Sherman would cut the line himself and march eastward with what supplies he could carry. Though Hood lost many men by desertion, he had on his arrival at Florence, on the Tennessee River (Nov. 1), about forty thousand men, one fourth of whom were cavalry under Forrest. He crossed the river about the middle of November and marched northward, General Schofield, who had gathered together the garrisons of the different places fortified by Sher- man on his way to Atlanta, falling back before him. Hood followed Schofield closely, hoping to cut off his retreat. He attacked him at Franklin, eighteen miles south of Nashville, 1864.] HOOD BEFORE NASHVILLE. 479 and came near capturing his whole force, but was finally re- pulsed with a loss of about five thousand men, the Union loss being only about half as many. The Confederates lost several generals in this battle, among them General Cleburne, who was called the Stonewall Jackson of the West. During the night Schofield retreated, by Thomas's orders, and succeeded in reaching Nashville by noon of the next day. About the same time General A. J. Smith arrived from Missouri with part of the Army of the Tennessee, and General Steedman with more troops from Chattanooga, so that Thomas's army consisted of about fifty-six thousand men, or more than that of Hood. The spirit of Hood's soldiers had been much shattered by the result of the attack on Franklin, for they had hoped to cut off Schofield from Thomas and then to drive the lat- ter out of Nashville; but instead of that, Schofield had succeeded in check- ing their advance with heavy loss and in joining Thomas, whom they would have to attack at a disadvantage behind earthworks. But it was then too late for regrets, and on the 2d of December Nashville was reached, and two days later Hood had formed his lines for an attack on the Union positions. Cold weather came on, with rain and sleet, which covered the ground with ice, and little was done for more than a week. Both sides suffered greatly, but the Confederates far the most, for they were poorly clad and not prepared for such a change. The delay was advantageous to General Thomas, who, though he had more men than Hood, was deficient in cavalry, which he needed for pursuing the enemy in case he should defeat him. He improved the cold weather in mounting his men, and was soon in good condition for fighting. In the mean time General Grant, becoming impatient at Thomas's John M. Schofield. 480 MARCH TO THE SEA. [1864. delay in attacking Hood, who lie feared would cross the Cum- berland River and give much trouble, had started West to superintend matters himself ; but on receiving a despatch announcing that Thomas had attacked the enemy he returned, satisfied that matters were going right. General Thomas made his attack early in the morning of December 15th. His plan was for General Steedman to make a false attack on the Confederates' right, and under cover of it to move the greater part of his troops against their left. The movement was quite successful. The morning opened very foggy, and the ground was so broken that the Union troops were on the Confederates almost before they were aware that an attack was to be made. Hood, deceived by the assault on his right, sent men from his left and centre to repel it. As soon as this took place, Generals Smith and Schofield attacked the enemy's left and forced it back a considerable distance, capturing many prisoners and guns. The Union troops occu- pied through the night the ground they had won, and Hood reformed his lines along some hills two or three miles back of his former position. In the morning the attack was renewed, and though the Confederates fought with great bravery and repulsed the Unionists several times, their lines were at last broken, and they were driven from all their positions, leaving all their artillery and several thousand prisoners in General Thomas's hands. The Confederates fled in a panic, many throwing away their arms and everything that would impede their flight. Thomas's cavalry, under General James H. Wilson, pursued toward Franklin. Hood made a stand there, but was again driven southward. A vigorous pursuit was kept up, but rain soon came on, flooding the streams, followed by very cold weather, which froze the roads in ruts and made them almost impassable. Hood and the remnant of his wretched army, many of his men shoeless and hatless, and all suffering for want of proper food, fled toward the Tennessee, leaving their path strewn with broken wagons, small-arms, blankets, and every- thing else they could throw away. The sick were left by the roadside, and hundreds deserted and begged for mercy from their pursuers. At last Hood was joined by Forrest's cavalry, which had been off on a raid during the battles around Nash- 1864] HOODS RETREAT. 481 yille. Forrest formed a rear guard and kept off the Union pursuers, and the Confederates finally succeeded in crossing the Tennessee Eiver and reaching Tupelo, in Mississippi. Hood was much blamed for his conduct of the campaign, and he was relieved of command, at his own request, in the following January. His army had been almost entirely destroyed. Thomas had taken during the campaign about thirteen thou- sand prisoners, seventy-two cannons, and many small-arms. The whole Union loss had been about ten thousand, or less than half that of the Confederates, the number of whose killed and wounded is unknown. General Sherman's faith in Thomas had not been mis- placed. When he divided his army in two parts at Atlanta, he had calcu- lated that the part sent to Nashville under Thomas would be able to take care of Hood, while he him- self marched with the other portion through the Confederacy. We have seen how Thomas did his share of the work: let us now follow Sherman on his march to the sea. The army which left At- lanta (Nov. 15) num- bered sixty-two thousand men, five thousand of whom were cavalry, and about two thousand artillery, with sixty-five guns. These were all men fit for duty, for great efforts had been made to weed out all the sick and weak persons. The whole force was divided into two wings: the right wing, commanded by Major-General 0. 0. Howard, was formed of the Fifteenth Corps, under Major-General P. J. Osterhaus, and the Seven- teenth Corps, under Major-General Frank P. Blair; the left wing, commanded by Major-General H. W. Slocum, was formed of the Fourteenth Corps, under Major-General Jefferson C. Davis, and the Twentieth Corps, under Brigadier-General A. S. Williams. The cavalry, which formed a separate divi- George H. Thomas. 482 MARCH TO THE SEA. [1864. sion, was commanded bj Brigadier-General Judson Kilpatrick. The wagons taken were laden only with provisions and ammu- nition. There were thousands of mules with the expedition, for each one of the twenty-five hundred wagons was drawn by six, and there were also many pack mules laden with camp baggage and all the kitchenware needed for cooking. Orders were given to forage on the country during the march — that is, to take corn, oats, and other food for the horses and cattle, and meat and vegetables for the men. But soldiers were forbidden to enter dwellings or to commit any trespass on private prop- erty, the foraging being done by parties selected for the pur- pose. These parties were ~..V%^^M0§< ,; Ha also instructed to take also instructed to horses, mules, and wag- ons when needed. As the army marched eastward the railroad was torn up, the cross-ties be- | ing burned, and the rails being twisted into Jeff Davis's neckties (see p. 416). The blazing of these bonfires along the railroad and of the watch- Pack Mules. f reg j n the great pine forests by night, with the groups of soldiers flitting among the trees, made a very picturesque scene. In passing through towns the soldiers closed up their ranks, the color-bearers unfurled their flags, and the bands played patriotic airs. The people, white and black, came out to see the sights. The negroes were frantic with joy, and ran after General Sherman in crowds, shouting and singing. All wanted to follow the army, but Sherman told them that they could do him no good, and would only eat the food needed for the soldiers. He ex- jilained to them that his success would give them their free- dom, and that they could best aid him by staying quietly in their homes and await the defeat of the enemy. Though thou- sands followed him to the coast, most of the negroes took his good advice and remained on the plantations. We shall see hereafter how General Sherman was blamed for not taking 1864.] SHERMAN'S BUMMERS. 483 with him all the negroes he found, and how the politicians tried to make out that he did not favor the freeing of the slaves. One evening when Sherman was sitting in deep thought by a fire in a log cabin, he suddenly became conscious that an old negro with a tallow candle in his hand was watching him closely. "What do you want, old man?" he asked, looking up. "Dey say you's Massa Sherman/' answered the old man. General Sherman told him they were right, and again asked what he wanted. But he only wanted to look at him, and he kept on studying his face and muttering to himself, " Dis nigger can't sleep dis night." General Sherman asked him why he trembled so, and he said he wanted to be certain that they were " sure 'nuff Yan- kees." A while before, he said, some Confederate cavalry with blue overcoats on had passed themselves off for Yankees, and some of the negroes who had been deceived had been beaten for showing them sympathy. Each day of the march was much like the preceding one. Soldiers, teamsters, and camp-followers were up with the dawn, awakened by the bugle sounding the reveille. Fresh wood was piled on smouldering camp-fires, breakfast Avas cooked and eaten, the horses and mules meanwhile crunching their corn and fodder; then came the harnessing of teams, the buckling on of knapsacks and the shouldering of guns, and the soldiers fell cheerily into line for another stage of their journey. As they tramped along, the flankers ahead searched the woods and swamps for concealed enemies, and often the sharp crack of rifles told that a squad of Confederates had been driven out of their hiding-places. Meanwhile the parties of foragers, or " bummers," as they were called, visited' the plantations and collected grain, fodder, poultry, and vegetables. Some of these parties used to go miles away into the country, and Avould return laden Avith all kinds of poultry, pigs, sheep, calves, hams, baskets of honey, and pots of butter and lard. As the wagons passed along, these things Avere stoAved in as quickly as possible, the teams not being allowed to pause — for the stop- ping of one wagon would cause a stoppage of the Avhole line, Avhich Avas more than thirty miles long. "When a halt was to 484 MARCH TO TEE SEA. [1864. be made, the order was given by sound of bugle. Then the teams all stopped for a breathing spell, the soldiers broke ranks, stacked muskets, and unstrapped knapsacks, and while some stretched out on the grass by the roadside, munching hardtack or smoking pipes, others sought a brook to wash themselves or made a hasty cup of coffee. Soon the bugle sounded " For- ward" again, and in a few minutes the boys were in line and once more on the march. Ten or fifteen miles a day were passed in this way, when a final halt was made for the night, and the troops went into camp. The place had been selected beforehand by officers, who chose, when possible, slopes near wood and water. The leading division of soldiers stopped first, those behind them passing them and taking the next place, and those in the rear going still farther on, so as to take their turn in the advance next day. Major Nichols, in his " Story of the Great March," gives a fine picture of the camp at night: " As soon as the arms are stacked the boys attack the fences and rail piles, and with incredible swiftness their little shelter-tents spring up all over the ground. The fires are kindled with equal celerity, and the luxurious repast is pre- pared. After this is heard the music of dancing or singing, the pleasant buzz of conversation, and the measured sound of Sherman's March from Atlanta to the Sea. 1864] SOLDIERS' PETS. 485 reading. The wagons, meanwhile, are parked,* and the animals fed. " By and by the tattoo rings out on the night air. Its familiar sound is understood. ' Go to rest, go to rest,' it says as plainly as organs of human speech. " Shortly after follows the peremptory command of ' taps ' — ' out lights, out lights.' The soldier gradually disappears from the camp-fire; rolled snugly in his blanket he dreams again of home. The animals, with dull instinct, lie down to rest. The fires, neglected by the sleeping men, go out, gradually flicker- ing and smouldering, as if unwilling to die. All is quiet — the army is asleep. Perhaps there is a brief interruption to the silence as some trooper goes clattering down the road on an errand of speed, or some uneasy sleeper turns over to find an easier position. And around the slumbering host the picket- guards keep quiet watch." All soldiers love pets, and many of the regiments were accompanied on the march by one or more animals, of which the men took the best of care. Among these common pets were dogs, cats, goats, cocks, and even pigeons and eagles. The four-legged animals trotted quietly along beside their friends, while the birds generally travelled in a wagon or perched on a cannon or the back of a mule. Game-cocks were especial favorites, and often the pets of different regiments would be pitted against each other in a fight. The winners in these combats were greatly prized and were given such names as Billy Sherman and Johnny Logan, while the defeated would be dubbed Jeff Davis or Beauregard, and doomed to supply the mess. The keeping of pet animals was not peculiar to the men of Sherman's army, but was a common thing among the soldiers both in the East and the West. In the early part of the war a teamster of the Forty-second New York had a pet pigeon, which followed the train to which he belonged everywhere it went. It would often fly away great distances, but Avould always come back at night and go to roost in the teamster's wagon, where a place was provided for it. The men of the * To park wagons or artillery is to put them all together in one body or place, where they can be more easily guarded than when scattered. 486 MARCH TO THE SEA, [1864 regiment soon grew much attached to it, and it became a general favorite with all. It followed the army to Fortress Monroe and to Yorktown, where it used to fly far beyond the enemy's works. Thence it went all through the Peninsula campaign and then to Antietam and Harper's Ferry, witness- ing every battle fought by the regiment. It escaped the bullets which cut down many of its friends, and the teamster finally sent it home, where, it is hoped, it was well cared for. Another famous pet was the splendid eagle, " Old Abe," carried throughout the war by the soldiers of the Eighth Wisconsin. It was given to the regiment in 1SG1, when it was organizing at Camp Randall, at Madison, and was borne at its head in many of the hardest-fought battles in the West, such as Donelson, Vicksburg, Chickamauga, and Chattanooga. During a fight it was generally to be seen sitting on its pole at the head of Company D, but it would often fly off over the heads of the enemy, then return and seat itself on its perch, flapping its wings and screaming as if in delight at the carnage. The louder the roar of battle, the wilder and fiercer were the screams of the eagle. The soldiers were encouraged by its presence, and many and hearty were the cheers which greeted it as it came back to them after a review of the battle-field. Old Abe was twice hit by bullets, at one time having about a third of its tail feathers shot away, but went safe through the war. When the Eighth returned home, its famous pet was given comfortable quarters in a room in the basement of the State Capitol, at Madison, where it died in the spring of 1881. On the 23d of November, General Sherman rode into Milledgeville, the capital of Georgia. Most of the people remained in their houses, but the Governor and other State officers and the members of the Legislature had fled. General Sherman made his headquarters in the " Governor's Mansion," which he found nearly stripped of carpets, curtains, and furni- ture, the patriotic Governor having carried off in his flight even the vegetables from the kitchen garden, leaving behind his muskets and ammunition. From newspapers found in the city Sherman learned how much consternation his march had caused throughout the South. Their columns were filled too with appeals to the people, calling upon them to rise and destroy the invaders. "Let every man fly to arms! Remove 1864.] MILLEN PRISON. 487 your negroes, horses, cattle, and provisions from Sherman's army, and burn what you cannot carry. Burn all bridges and block up the roads in his route. Assail the invader in front, flank, and rear, by night and by day. Let him have no rest." Beauregard, who commanded in the Department, issued a proclamation calling upon all to arise against the enemy, and closing with, "I hasten to join you in the defence of your homes and firesides." But the people had lost confidence in Beauregard and in the Confederacy. Few responded to the appeal, and those who did seemed to have little heart in the business, and made but feeble resistance. Nor did the people destroy the food in the track of the army, for they knew that it would only result in ruin to themselves and their property. While in Milledgeville some of the soldiers gathered in the Hall of Representatives in the State Capitol, calling themselves the Georgia Legislature, and had much fun in electing a Speaker and in voting to repeal the Act of Secession. Little damage Avas done to private property in the city, but the Arsenal and other public buildings of which hostile use could be made were destroyed. On leaving Milledgeville (Nov. 24), Kilpatrick's cavalry moved toward Waynesborough, and Wheeler's Confederate cavalry, thinking they were going to Augusta to destroy the arsenal and workshops there, turned northward to head them off. This enabled Sherman to cross the Ogechee River with- out fighting. Kilpatrick had many skirmishes Avith Wheeler's men, in which he was generally successful. On the 3d of December, General Sherman entered Millen, a town on the Central Railroad, running from Macon to Savannah, and the site of one of the principal prisons for Union captives. General Sherman hoped to get there in time to release the prisoners, but unfortunately they had all been removed elsewhere. The prison pen, wherein so many thousand captives had languished and died, still remained to rouse the anger of the soldiers. It was a stockade, about three hundred feet square, built of logs driven into the ground, and had sentry-boxes along the tops for the convenience of the guards; but no shelter whatever was provided for the poor prisoners, who had been obliged to bur- row holes in the ground to protect themselves from sun, rain, and frost. A little way from the palisade, inside, was a rail 488 3TABCH TO THE SEA. [1864 fence, beyond which no one was allowed to pass. It was called the " dead line," for the guards were ordered to shoot down any prisoner who went beyond it. Part of Sherman's troops passed, on the great march, within sixty or seventy miles of Andersonville, the site of a still larger prison pen than the one at Millen, and far more noto- rious in the history of the war. It was built in the same manner, but covered many acres of ground, and was surrounded by earthworks mounted with cannon, to aid in quelling any attempt of the captives to escape. The first prisoners were put in it in February, 1864, and between that time and April, 1865, nearly fifty thousand men were sent there from all parts Prison Pen at Millen. of the Confederacy. There were as many as thirty-three thou- sand men shut within the stockade at one time, and more than twelve thousand died from diseases brought on by exposure, filth, and bad water and food. The Confederates say that the authorities in Washington were responsible for all the suffer- ings endured by the prisoners in their hands, "because they refused to exchange them for Confederate captives in Northern prisons (see Chap. XXXV.); that the place selected for the prison at Andersonville was as healthful as any iti Georgia, and that those confined in it received the same food as their guards. But after the close of the war (Aug., 1865) a military commission was appointed by the Secretary of War to try Major Wirz, the superintendent of the prison, and he was 1864.] TORPEDOES. 489 found guilty of injuring the health of the prisoners by keeping them in unhealthy quarters, where they had no shelter either in summer or winter, by compelling them to use bad water and by furnishing them with poor and insufficient food, and hung for his crime (Nov. 10, 1865). From Milieu, Sherman marched rapidly on toward Savannah. The roads were good, the weather fine, and the soldiers in capital spirits, and fifteen miles a day were made with ease. The cavalry skirmished frequently with bodies of the enemy, but the infantry found no foes in their way. When within fifteen miles of Savannah, however, the roads leading into the city were found barricaded with felled trees, and in some places with earthworks defended by artillery. Several men were wounded by the explosion of torpedoes buried in the ground. General Sherman tells of one poor young officer whose horse had been killed and whose foot had been blown off by one of these infernal machines. " This was not war, but murder," he writes, "and it made me very angry. I immediately ordered a lot of rebel prisoners to be brought from the provost-guard, armed with picks and spades, and made them inarch in close order along the road, so as to explode their own torpedoes, or to discover and dig them up. They begged hard, but I reiterated the order, and could hardly help laughing at their stepping so gingerly along the road, where it was supposed sunken torpedoes might explode at each step." Savannah was found to be defended on the land side by lines of earthworks, with deep ditches, canals, and bayous full of water. The country around it is swampy, and the city could be approached only by narrow roads. General Hardee, a good soldier, was in command, with a garrison of fifteen thousand men, and Sherman feared that he would have to sit down to a regular siege. The first thing to be done was to open com- munication with the fleet, which Sherman supposed to be awaiting him with supplies- in Ossabaw Sound, at the mouth of the Ogechee River; but he was prevented from going down the river by Fort McAllister, which, it will be remembered, stood a few miles above its mouth (see page 388). In the night of December 9th three Union scouts, who had got through the enemy's lines by hiding in the rice-fields, paddled by Fort McAllister in a canoe, and boarded the gunboat Flag 490 THE MARCH TO THE SEA. [1864. in the river below. They bore a despatch from General Howard, saying, " We have had perfect success, and the army is in fine spirits." This was the first news received directly from Sher- man's army after it left Atlanta, though tidings of its progress through Georgia had been obtained from time to time from Confederate newspapers ; but they had generally represented t*he expedition as a failure, and the army, defeated and starv- ing, as fleeing to the coast for safety. Sherman now sent General Hazen to take Fort McAllister by storm. He himself rode down the Ogechee River to a rice- mill, on the top of which General Howard had established a signal-station. From this point the Confederate flag could be plainly seen flying over the fort, which was only about three miles distant, across a salt-marsh. About two o'clock in the afternoon (Dec. 13) he signalled to General Hazen that he ex- pected the fort to be taken before night, and Hazen answered that he would soon make the attack. Just then a steamer was discovered coming up the river below the fort, and soon the United States flag was seen flying at her peak. About an hour before sunset General Hazen signalled that he was all ready. Sherman answered "Go ahead," and at the same time the steamer signalled " Who are you?" The flags answered " Gen- eral Sherman." Then came the question, " Is Fort McAllister taken?" "Not yet," was the reply, "but it will be in a minute." The next moment Hazen's troops were seen moving out of the woods and advancing toward the fort. The great guns were seen to open on them, and they were lost in clouds of smoke. But in a few minutes the firing stopped, the smoke cleared away, and the Avails of the fort were alive with blue- coats, while the Confederate flag gave way to the Stars and Stripes. " Fort McAllister is taken" was signalled to the steamer, from which the woods had cut off a view of the fort. The capture of McAllister permitted the opening of the river, and supplies were then drawn from the ships of the fleet, which was under command of Admiral Dahlgren. Gene- ral Sherman also got some heavy rifled guns from General Foster, then in command at Port Royal, and put them in position for bombarding Savannah. But during the night of December 20 General Hardee evacuated the city with his troops, 1864.] A CHRISTMAS GIFT. 491 moving toward Charleston, and the next morning the Union troops took possession. Sherman wrote to the President: "I beg to present you as a Christmas gift the city of Savannah, with one hundred and fifty heavy guns and plenty of ammuni- tion; also about twenty-five thousand bales of cotton." This message reached the President on Christmas eve, and being published in the newspapers the next morning, carried joy throughout the country. The great march of three hundred miles had occupied twenty-seven days. An immense amount of damage had been done to the enemy, estimated by General Sherman at a hundred million dollars, including the value of the railroads, of which three hundred and twenty miles had been destroyed. The country through which the army had passed had been stripped of its food for thirty miles each side of a line between Atlanta and Savannah, and more than ten thousand horses and mules had been carried away. The entire loss of the Union army had been only seven hundred and sixty-four, while nearly twice as many prisoners had been taken from the Confederates. CHAPTER XXXIX. SAVANNAH TO GOLDSBORO. Secretary Stanton in Savannah.— Politics.— Sherman Disgusted.— Expedition against Fort Fisher.— Butler's Powder-Boat.— Heavy Bombardment.— General Terry suc- ceeds Butler.— Bragg again.— Goodby, Wilmington !— Capture of Fort Fisher.— General Schofield.— Wilmington Taken.— Goldsboro Entered.— Sherman's March from Savannah.— Wheeler and Hampton.— Floods.— The Salkehatchie.— Horrors of War- South Carolina Punished.— Cotton Burning.— Columbia Surrendered — Burning of the City.— Confederate Money.— Haedee Evacuates Charleston.— The City in Flames.— Desolation.— Sumter and the Flag.— Jus' look at his Hoss.— Cheravy. — Johnston again in Command.— Hampton a>d Kilpatrick.— Fayetteyille.— Averysboro.— Battle of Bentonsville.— Goldsboro.— Sherman Visits Grant.— Presi- dent Llncoln.— Sherman Returns to Goldsboro. GENERAL SHERMAN had scarcely settled himself in his quarters in Savannah before politicians from Washington began to flock thither to see what they could make out of the situation. Mr. Stanton, the Secretary of War, was among the first of these. He stayed in the city several days, asked General Sherman many questions about the negroes, and even had inter- views with their preachers, and inquired what they thought of Sherman. The question of giving votes to the negroes had even then begun to be discussed, and Mr. Stanton was anxious to find out whether General Sherman was favorable to the plans of the party in power. General Sherman thought it very strange that one of the heads of the Government should ques- tion "negroes concerning the character of a general who had commanded a hundred thousand men in battle, had captured cities, conducted sixty-five thousand men successfully across four hundred miles of hostile territory, and had just brought tens of thousands of freedmen to a place of security." But Sherman was a plain, straightforward soldier, w r hose aim was, as he himself says, " to whip the rebels." He had much sym- pathy for the negroes, and he had done all he could to aid them, but he had no interest in the attempt to use them as a political machine. It is not therefore wonderful that he should have been surprised at Mr. Stanton's course, nor that he should have made up his mind that the Secretary's solicitude for the blacks was prompted not by humanity but by politics. It was perhaps fortunate for General Sherman that his field of service .] FORT FISHER. 403 had been in the West, out of reach of the politicians who had been so successful in breaking down McClellan and other able generals whose popularity had aroused their jealousy. Sher- man soon saw his danger, and was anxious to get away into the pine woods again, where he would be free from political trick- sters and from the crowd of cotton-buyers and traders who were daily nocking into Savannah. General Grant wished Sherman to take his army by sea to the James Eiver to aid him against Richmond; but Sherman's plan was to march northward through South Carolina and Nbrth Carolina, and Grant finally consented to it. But it was determined to make an attempt first to capture Wilmington, on the Cape Fear Eiver, in North Carolina, which was then the only port remaining to the Confederacy. The navy had tried hard to close it, but Fort Fisher, its chief defence, was very strong, and blockade-runners could not be kept from entering the port while it was in possession of the enemy. A great fleet of war-vessels under Admiral Porter was therefore collected at Fortress Monroe, as well as many transports for carrying the troops, which were to be commanded by General Godfrey Weitzel. The whole expedition was under General Butler. Fort Fisher was near the end of a narrow peninsula which separates Cape Fear River from the Atlantic Ocean. Butler had formed a plan of loading a vessel with gunpowder, running it ashore near the fort, and exploding it, believing that it would either destroy the work altogether or so paralyze the garrison that the troops could easily take it. The powder-boat was prepared and stored with two hundred and fifteen tons of gunpowder. The expedition started on the 13th of December, but a violent storm caused much delay, and it was not until the night of the 23d when' the powder-boat was anchored about three hundred yards from the fort. The vessel was disguised as a blockade-runner, and the fort therefore did not fire upon her. When the crew left her they set fire to a pile of pine wood in her cabin, lighted some candles which were so pre- pared as to light fuses when they burned down to a certain length, and set going some clock-work fitted to explode a per- cussion-cap in a given time. The explosion took place in an hour and fifty-two minutes afterward, and although it was felt seventy miles away on land, and broke window-glasses in vessels 494 SAVANNAH TO OOLDSBORO. [1868. twelve miles distant at sea, it did no harm to the fort. It is said that not even the grass near it was injured, and that it attracted so little attention in the fort that the Confederates thought it was only the bursting of a gun. The fleet, which was one of the largest ever afloat, consist- ing of nearly sixty vessels, several of which were monitors, then bombarded the fort. The firing is said to have been mag- nificent and very accurate. The guns of the fort were soon silenced and two magazines were blown up. On the 25th Butler landed some troops, which went nearly up to the fort, but Butler recalled them and ordered the expedition to ^e given up. His conduct caused his removal from command by General Grant. Admiral Porter, who remained behind with the fleet, wrote to Grant that Fort Fisher could be taken by a proper commander. In conserpience of this Grant sent back the troops, with General Alfred H. Terry as their leader. This expedition reached its destination on the 12th of January. In the mean time President Davis had sent General Bragg to take command in Wilmington. This officer, it will be remembered, was very unpopular after Chattanooga, and a Virginia news- paper showed the feeling against him in the Confederacy when it announced: "General Bragg has been appointed to com- mand at Wilmington. Good-by, Wilmington!" The troops were landed (Jan. 13) some distance above the fort, under cover of the guns of the fleet, which kept up such a heavy fire that the garrison had to seek safety in the bomb- proofs. Fort Fisher mounted about seventy-five heavy guns, while the fleet carried five hundred, some of which were the largest in the world. The bombardment was kept up all the next day and until three o'clock in the afternoon of the 15th, when the signal was given for the assault by the blowing of the steam-whistles of the fleet. General Terry's troops had worked their way up by digging trenches to within about two hundred yards of the fort. As the rapid firing from the ships had pre- vented the Confederates from manning their sruns or even using muskets, the Union troops advanced to within sixty yards before they were fired on. The bombardment had then to stop, for fear of hitting the Union soldiers, and the Confeder- ates rushed out of their bomb-proofs, where they had lain for two days, and prepared to repel the assault. There was a pali- 1865.] WILMINGTON TAKEN. 495 sade around the fort, but it had been much damaged by shot and shell, and the Union axemen soon opened a passage wide enough for the troops to pass through. The Confederates gave way at the gate, and the troops poured in, but there were several traverses or cross-walls in the fort, and the garrison fought from one to another of these with the greatest bravery. For five or six hours there was a desperate hand-to-hand strug- gle. The Confederates made a most heroic defence, but the traverses were taken one after the other, and about nine o'clock the fort was won. The garrison retreated to some other works near the end of the peninsula, but the commandant, General Whiting, seeing that further resistance was useless, surrendered with about eighteen hundred men, all that were left of the twenty-five hundred defenders of the fort. The Union loss in this dreadful struggle was nearly seven hundred. Unfortu- nately there was a further loss the next morning, the magazine of the fort exploding when the works were full of Union sol- diers and sailors, whom curiosity had drawn thither, and killing and wounding three hundred more. Meanwhile General Bragg at Wilmington had ordered Gen- eral Hoke to attack Terry, but the quick movements of the latter general had foiled him. The fall of Fort Fisher was followed by the blowing up by the Confederates of Fort Cas- well and some other works, which gave the Union fleet com- mand of the mouth of Cape Fear River and shut out all block- ade-runners. In the early part of February General Schofield, who had been ordered East with his corps after the defeat of Hood at Nashville, arrived at Fort Fisher and took command, under the orders of General Sherman, of the Department of North Carolina. Schofield at once advanced on both sides of Cape Fear River toward Wilmington, which is about thirty miles from its mouth, Porter's fleet at the same time moving up the river. Fort Anderson, its principal defence, was occu- pied in the morning of February 19, Hoke and his men having evacuated it, and on the 22d Wilmington was entered without resistance. This expedition was intended to aid Sherman in his march northward from Savannah, for Schofield was ordered by Grant to advance northward, after taking Wilmington, to Goldsboro, on the Neuse River, repairing the railroad behind him, and to establish there a depot of supplies large enough for 496 SAVANNAH TO GOLDSBORO. [1865. an army of sixty thousand men and twenty thousand horses. He advanced in two columns, one from Wilmington;, the other from New Berne. The latter was defeated hy the Confederates under Hoke at Kinston, with the loss of seven hundred prison- ers (March 8); but reinforcements having arrived, the Con- federates were defeated in turn three days later. As Sherman was then approaching, Hoke fell back toward Smithfield, and Schoficld pushed on and entered Goldsboro in the evening of the 21st of March, only two days before the arrival of General Sherman. General Terry, with the column from Wilmington, reached there the next day. Before leaving Savannah General Sherman had given out that he was going to Charleston or Augusta, and this caused the Confederates to keep in both of those cities a force for their defence which would otherwise have been used to oppose his march. The Seventeenth Corps of the Union army had been sent to Pocotaligo, a place nearly midway on the line of rail- way between Savannah and Charleston, and this also led to the belief that the latter city was to be attacked. But General Sherman had made up his mind to waste no time on either of those places, for he knew that not only Augusta and Charles- ton but the whole Confederacy would fall after his march was finished. Leaving General Foster in command of Savannah, he set out, on the 1st of February, with sixty thousand men and sixty-eight guns. The army was nearly the same as that which marched from Atlanta to the sea, and had the same officers, with the exception that the Fifteenth Corps was under Major-General John A. Logan instead of General Osterhaus. To oppose this great force the Confederates had only the garrison of Charleston under General Hardee, the remains of Hood's army, mostly at Augusta, and some bodies of cavalry under Generals Wheeler and Wade Hampton, the latter of whom had been sent home to his native State from Virginia to " stay the progress of the invader." For several weeks General Wheeler had employed a large force of negroes in cutting down trees to blockade the roads and in burning bridges in Sher- man's expected pathway; but the Union soldiers had had so much experience in this kind of work that the barricades were cut away and the bridges rebuilt so quickly as scarcely to inter- fere with the marching of the army. Still more troublesome 1865.] SALKEHATCHIE RIVER. 497 were the heavy rains which fell during the early part of the march, flooding the streams and rice-fields, and turning the swamps into lakes of slime. In the march from Atlanta to the sea the army had moved generally in the same direction with the rivers, which flow eastward into the Atlantic; but in mov- ing northward from Savannah the line of march was across the rivers, the passage of which was often difficult on account of the floods which generally prevail at that season. The Con- federates took advantage of this, and gathered their forces on the banks of the rivers to prevent, if possible, the Union army from crossing. When the Salkehatchie Eiver was reached it was found so swollen that it had overflowed its banks and made the low lands near it into swamps, across which the roads ran on narrow causeways; but the bridges had been destroyed by the enemy and the fords were strongly guarded. The weather was bitterly cold, the rain fell in torrents, and the wind blew in heavy gusts. But the men who had fought their way from Chat- tanooga were not to be stopped by such trifles as these. The men of the Seventeenth Corps dashed into the swamp, which was three miles wide, and wading through the icy-cold water, sometimes knee-deep and some- times up to their necks, forced the passage of the river near River's Bridge, and attacking the Confederates on the opjiosite side drove them from all their positions. The loss was small compared with the advantage gained, for the enemy fell back from the whole line of the river, so that the rest of the army crossed without trouble. It was during this skirmish that General Wager Swayne lost his leg, which was so injured by a piece of shell that it had to be amputated. The Confederates fell back to Branchville, on the Edisto "River, and Sherman set his men at work to destroy the railroad leading from Charleston to Augusta. The Confederates say that the Union troops burned everything in their line of march, whicn covered a tract of country nearly fifty miles wide. They Wade Hampton. 498 SAVANNAH TO G0LDSB01W. [1865. say that not only public buildings and Confederate and State property were given to the flames, but that the pine forests were fired and the private houses of citizens plundered and burned. Barns and granaries were emptied, and when the grain was not carried off it was strewn to waste under the feet of the cavalry. " The roads were covered with butchered cattle, hogs, mules, and the costliest furniture. Valuable cabinets, rich pianos, were not only hewn to pieces, but bottles of ink, turpentine, oil, whatever could efface or destroy, was employed to defile and ruin. Horses were ridden into the houses. Beautiful homesteads of the parish gentry, with their wonderful tropical gardens, were ruined. . . . Choice pic- tures and works of art from Europe, select and numerous libraries, objects of peace wholly, were all destroyed." This very sad picture of the horrors of war, though per- haps exaggerated, has doubtless much truth in it. General Sherman's orders were to spare private dwellings and to destroy only public property which could be turned to hostile uses. These orders were obeyed strictly in the march through Georgia, but it was different in South Carolina. " Somehow," says Sherman, "our men had got the idea that South Carolina was the cause of all our troubles; her people were the first to fire on Fort Sumter, had been in a great hurry to precipitate the country into civil war, and therefore on them should fall the scourge of war in its worst form. Taunting messages had also come to us, when in Georgia, to the effect that when we should reach South Carolina we would find a people less passive, who would fight us to the bitter end, daring us to come over, etc. ; so that I saw and felt that we would not be able longer to restrain our men as we had done in Georgia." The Confederate cavalry, in falling back before Sherman, had burned all the cotton in their way, as if they thought it to be the main object of the expedition. General Wheeler wrote a letter to General Howard (Feb. 7) offering to stop burning cotton if the Union troops would cease burning private houses. To this letter General Sherman replied as follows: "I hope you will burn all the cotton and save us the trouble. We don't want it. It has been a curse to our country. All you don't burn I will. As to private houses occupied by peaceful fami- lies, my orders are not to molest or disturb them, and I think 1865.] BURNING OF COLUMBIA. 499 my orders are obeyed. Vacant houses, being of no use to any- body, I care little about, as the owners have thought them of little use to themselves; I don't wish to have them destroyed, but do not take much care to preserve them." After crossing the Salkehatchie Sherman was in a position to march toward either Charleston or Augusta. The Con- federates, who did not know his plans, kept troops at both places; but Sherman, paying no attention to either of these forces, marched for Columbia, the capital of South Carolina. That place was reached on the 17th of February, and at ten o'clock in the morning of that day the mayor rode out and surrendered the city to General Sherman. The General him- self, accompanied by his staff and by Generals Howard and Logan, at once rode in. They found nearly all the people, white and black, in the streets. There was a high wind blow- ing at the time, and the air was filled with flakes of cotton, "reminding us," says Sherman, "of a Northern snow-storm." Near the market-place was a brigade of Union soldiers halted, with arms stacked, helping some citizens to put out the fire in long piles of blazing cotton-bales. By orders of General Hamp- ton, the people said, all bales of cotton had been dragged into the streets, cut open, and fired. Most of these fires were put out, but during the next night the smouldering embers were rekindled by the wind, and the sparks and burning flakes of cotton, being blown about, set fire to some of the houses, most of which were built of wood. The Union troops worked hard, but it was found impossible to subdue the flames until about four o'clock in the morning, when the wind went down and the fire was got under control. But it had burned out the heart of the city, including several churches and hotels, the old State House, and many dwellings. The Confederates accused Gen- eral Sherman of purposely burning the city, but this charge has been proved to be untrue. The fire was undoubtedly acci- dental, and probably caught from the piles of cotton which the Confederate cavalry had fired in the streets before leaving the city. By Sherman's orders everything was done to aid the mayor to provide shelter for those who had been made home- less by the fire, and five hundred beef-cattle were given to him to help feed them. The State arsenal, several foundries, and other buildings, 500 SAVANNAH TO GOLDSBORO. [1865. and all other public property in Columbia were destroyed. Among the buildings was that in which the Confederate paper money had been printed. The dies had been carried away, but many presses and great quantities of the money partly printed were found. The soldiers supplied themselves with all the money they wanted, and had great sport in gambling with it. On the day after Sherman entered Columbia, General Hardee, who had about fourteen thousand men in Charleston, evacuated that city and went northward by the only railroad left to him — that leading through Florence to Cheraw. He knew that if he remained any longer in Charleston he would meet the fate of Pemberton in Vicksburg. By his quick move- ment he succeeded in joining the main Confederate army, then under Beauregard, on the border of North Carolina, before Sherman could cut him off, but he lost several thousand men by desertion on the way. Before leaving Charleston, Hardee set fire to all the warehouses and sheds having cotton in them. The few citizens who were left tried hard to put out the fires, but the flames spread rapidly and soon caught other buildings. Some boys found some gunpowder stored in the Northwestern Railway station, and amused themselves by carrying handfuls of it and throwing it on the piles of cotton burning in the streets. They spilled it along the ground, until a train was formed along which the fire ran and caught the powder stored in the station. A great explosion took place, which shook the whole city and killed more than two hundred per- sons. This spread the fire to still other buildings, and soon several squares were in a blaze. A large amount of private property, in addition to the public property, was thus destroyed. In the morning of the 18th the Union officer in command on Morris Island (see map, page 57), having heard that the Con- federates were leaving the city, sent a boat to reconnoitre. Finding the rumor to be true, he sent a party to Fort Sumter and the flag of the Union was hoisted once more over it at nine o'clock. Flags were also hoisted over the other forts, and about ten o'clock the city was entered. The mayor surrendered it, and troops were at once sent to take possession and help put out the fires. The negroes were set at work, and the United States arsenal and other buildings were saved. A newspaper 1865.] CHARLESTON. 501 correspondent, who entered the city with the soldiers, thus describes the desolation: "Not a building for blocks here that is exempt from the marks of shot and shell. All have suffered more or less. Here is a fine brown-stone bank building vacant and deserted, with great gaping holes in the sides and roof, through which the sun shines and the rain pours; windows and sashes blown out by exploding shell within; plastering knocked down; counters torn up; floors crushed in, and fragments of mosaic pavement, broken and crushed, lying around on the floor, mingled with bits of statuary, stained glass, and broken parts of chandeliers. Kuin within and ruin with- out; and its neighbor in no better plight. The churches, St. Michael's and St. Philip's, haye not escaped the storms of our projectiles. Their roofs are perforated, their walls wounded, their pil- lars demolished, and within the pews filled with plastering. From Bay Street, studded with batteries, to Calhoun Street, our shells have carried destruction and desolation, and often death, with them." Although the Confederates did all they could to injure the cannon left in the city, about four hundred and fifty serviceable pieces, mostly large Columbiads, fell into the hands of General Gillmore, who was then commanding the department. One very large English breech-loading Blakely gun, a 600-pounder, was burst purposely. Its breech measured more than four feet across, and the grains of powder used in it were nearly an inch square. The three grains in the picture are the exact size and shape of some belonging to it. Colonel Stewart L. Woodford, of the One Hundred and Twenty-seventh New York, was made military governor of Charleston, and under his orders the schools and churches Quincy A. Gillmore. 502 SAVANNAH TO OOLDSBORO. [1865. were opened, business was resumed, and the city, which for four long years had felt the horrors of war, became once more the abode of peace. President Lincoln decided that the public ceremony of raising the flag over Sumter should take place on the following 14th of April, the anniversary of its fall. Ac- cordingly General Anderson and many prominent men assem- bled there on that day, with the same flag which had been hauled down four years before. Chaplain Matthew Harris, who had made the prayer at the raising of the flag in Decem- ber, 1860, when Anderson first took possession of Sumter, again asked a blessing on it, suitable songs were sung and speeches made, and amid salutes by all the forts in the harbor, the music of the "Star-Spangled Banner," and loud huzzas, the old flag was raised to its place by the hands of General Anderson. Cannon-Powder Grains. From Columbia General Sherman marched toward Char- lotte, to make the enemy think he was going there, but he soon turned eastward toward Cheraw. He had heard from the negroes that Charleston had been evacuated, and that Terry and Schofield had taken Wilmington, but he had had no official news. The heavy rains had continued, and the roads were so nearly impassable that they had to be " corduroyed" most of the way — that is, covered with the split trunks of trees laid crosswise, so as to make a firm bed for the artillery and wagons. One day General Sherman came to a fork in the road. According to his map the right road led to Cheraw, but to make sure he called to a negro standing by to see the troops pass, and asked him Avhere the road led to. "Him lead to Cheraw, massa." "Is it a good road, and how far?" 1865.] HAMPTON AND KILPATRICK. 503 "Berry good road, and eight or ten miles." "Any guerrillas?" " Oh no, massa, dey all gone two days ago. You could ha ? played cards on dere coat-tails, dey was in sich a hurry." General Sherman, who was riding a very handsome and gay horse, motioned to his staff to follow, and turned down the road. Just then General Barry came along, and after ques- tioning the negro further about the road, asked him what he was doing there. " Dey say Massa Sherman will be along soon," he answered. "Why," said General Barry, "that was General Sherman you were talking to." "De great God!" exclaimed the negro, "jus' look at his hoss!" And with a bound he ran after General Sherman and trotted along by his side for a mile or two. " But," says General Sherman, "he seemed to admire the horse more than the rider." Cheraw was reached on the 3d of March in a drizzling rain. A large amount of stores and other things were found there, which had been sent from Charleston for safety; among them were twenty-five pieces of artillery, thirty-six hundred barrels of gunpowder, many muskets, and wagon-loads of fine wines and liquors, carpets, and household goods. In Cheraw General Sherman heard that Beauregard had been superseded by his old foe, General Joseph E. Johnston, and that he was collect- ing in his front all the remains of the different Confederate armies to oppose his further march toward Richmond. The Great Pedee River was crossed, and by the 6th of March the whole army was on the way to Fayetteville, which was reached five days later. The roads through the swamps and pine woods were very bad, and had to be corduroyed most of the way with fence-rails and split saplings. Skirmishing with parties of the enemy was almost of daily occurrence. Hardee's troops, which had retreated from Cheraw to Fayetteville, had crossed Cape Fear River and burned the bridge behind them. They had been followed closely by Kilpatrick's cavalry, who had several fights with both Wheeler and Hampton. Early one morning Hampton's cavalry surprised Kilpatrick's men in their camp, routed them, and captured their guns and most of Kilpatrick's staff officers. Kilpatrick himself barely escaped on foot. He 504 SAVANNAH TO GOLDSBORO. [1805. succeeded in rallying liis men in a swamp, and attacked the enemy, who, supposing him utterly defeated, were engaged in plundering his camp. The Confederates were routed in turn, and Kilpatrick retook his guns; but Hampton got off with about two hundred prisoners. Sherman halted three days at Fayetteville to rest his men, who were wearied with the incessant labor of marching, road- making, and bridge-building. While there he received dis- patches from General Terry in Wilmington, the first official news he had had from the other armies since he began his march. Before leaving Fayetteville, the fine United States arsenal, to which had been brought much of the machinery from the armory at Harper's Ferry when it was captured in 1861, was completely destroyed, together with other public property. On the 15th of March the whole army was across Cape Fear River and on the way to Goldsboro. Skirmishing continued with Hardee's troops, and on the next day they were found in a strong position near Averysboro. A brisk en- gagement took place, with a loss of about five hundred on each side, ending in the retreat of the Confederates toward Smith- field. Another battle took place on the 19th and 20th with General Johnston's army, near Bentonsville. Johnston, who had succeeded in getting together the remnants of Hardee's, Bragg's, and Hood's forces, made a stand there and attacked General Slocum's column. Slocum, uncertain of the enemy's strength, stood on the defensive until the others came up. There was some hard fighting on the first day, in which the Confederates were repulsed, and. they finally retreated to Smithfield. The Union loss at Bentonsville was about sixteen hundred, that of the enemy more than twenty-three hundred. The route being then open to Goldsboro, Sherman pushed on to that place and formed a junction (March 23) with Generals Schofield and Terry, who, it will be remembered, had arrived there from Wilmington only two clays before. The army was in splendid condition, and the trains were almost as fresh as when they left Atlanta; yet during the previous fifty days they had marched four hundred and twenty-five miles from Savannah to Goldsboro, across a country almost in a state of nature, through swamps and thickets, over mud roads which had to be mended at almost every mile, and across deep 1865.] LINCOLN AND SHEHMAN. 505 rivers which had to be bridged. Nearly all the railroads of South Carolina had been destroyed, and a strip of country through the State, at least fifty miles wide, had been devastated and stripped of all its food. In North Carolina, where the Union feeling had been very strong in the beginning of the war, the soldiers had been much less destructive than in South Carolina, and but little private property had been injured. With the armies of Schofield and Terry added to his own, General Sherman had nearly ninety thousand men. He had plenty of supplies, for the Neuse River was open from Golds- boro to the sea, and two lines of railway — one to Wilmington and one to New Berne and Beaufort — had been put in good working order. His success thus far was complete, for he had cut off Lee's resources, and had got behind him with an army large enough to keep him from moving southward from Vir- ginia. This was the great object of the campaign, for if the Confederates had been allowed to retreat southward, they might have united their forces from the east and from the west and still have given much trouble. General Lee knew the danger of Sherman's advance, but he could do nothing to pre- vent it. There was some talk of giving up Richmond and marching against Sherman, in hope of defeating him before Grant could give him aid. It was believed by many that if Sherman could be overwhelmed Richmond could be regained. General Lee was- in favor of this plan, but the Confederate authorities decided that the capital must be held at all hazards. Although Sherman had received despatches from Grant giving a full account of operations, he felt that he ought to have a consultation with the general-in-chief before making any further movement. So, leaving his army in command of Schofield, he went by railroad to Beaufort and thence by steamer (March 27) to City Point, General Grant's headquar- ters before Petersburg. He found- General Grant and his family living in a pretty group of huts on the banks of the James River, which, filled with war and merchant vessels of all kinds, presented a busy scene. After a long talk, the two commanders went to call on President Lincoln, who was then on board the steamer River Queen at the wharf. General Sherman says the President " was full of curiosity about the many incidents of our great march, which had reached him 506 SAVANNAS TO GOLDSBORO. [1865. officially and through the newspapers, and seemed to enjoy very much the more ludicrous parts — about the " bummers," and their devices to collect food and forage when the outside world supposed us to be starving; but at the same time he expressed a good deal of anxiety lest some accident might happen to the army in North Carolina during my absence. I explained to him that that army was snug and comfortable, in good camps, at Goldsboro; that it would require some days to collect forage and food for another march; and that General Schofield was fully competent to command it in my absence." Both General Grant and General Sherman believed that the end of the war was at hand, but they thought that one more great battle would have to be fought. Mr. Lincoln was very anxjous to avoid another battle, if possible. He said that enough blood had been shed, and he was in favor of giving Lee and Johnston the best of terms if they would agree to dis- band their armies and let their men go back to their homes. With their surrender he believed that all the other Confeder- ates in the South and West would lay down their arms and the country would be once more at peace. "When I left him," says General Sherman, "I was more than ever impressed by his kindly nature, his deep and earnest sympathy with the afflic- tions of the whole people, resulting from the war, and by the march of hostile armies through the South; and that his earnest desire seemed to be to end the war speedily, without more bloodshed or devastation, and to restore all the men of both sections to their homes. ... Of all the men I ever met, he seemed to possess more of the elements of greatness, com- bined with goodness, than any other." General Sherman returned to Goldsboro (March 30) and at once set about making preparations to march again on the 10th of April, the day agreed on with General Grant. But before that time great events occurred which changed all his plans. CHAPTER XL. MOBILE. Stoneman's Raid.— Salisbury.— Mobile.— Wilson's Raid.— Fight with Forrest.— Taking of Selma.— Cotton Burning.— Surrender of Montgomery.— Capture of Columbus.— Iron-clad Rams.— Macon.— Joyful News.— Defences of Mobile.— Canby's Plan.— Spanish Fort.— Storming of Blakely.— Surrender of Mobile. BEFORE following further the armies of Grant and Sher- man, let us see what has been doing meanwhile in the South and West. It will be remembered that after the defeat of General Hood's army at Nashville, General Schofield had been withdrawn, with the Twenty-third Corps, from Thomas's Army of the Cumberland and sent East to Sherman. Shortly afterward General Thomas was ordered to send the command of General A. J. Smith and some cavalry to General Canby, then in New Orleans, to aid in an attack on Mobile; and also a larger cavalry force, under General Stoneman, to make a raid into South Carolina toward Columbia, to destroy rail- roads and other public property, and thus aid General Sherman, who was then marching in that direction. But Stoneman was so long in getting ready that he was too late to help Sherman, who had moved rapidly; so he was ordered to march eastward and destroy the Virginia and Tennessee Rail- road as far toward Lynchburg as possible. This was intended to cut off General Lee's retreat southward, in case he should withdraw from Petersburg and Richmond. Stoneman, who had made a raid in the same direction near the close of the previous year (1864), left Knoxville on the 20th of March, and going into Virginia destroyed the railroad nearly to Lynchburg. He then moved into North Carolina, defeated three thousand Confederates near Salisbury, capturing nearly half of them, with fourteen guns, and dispersing the rest, and took Salis- bury. This had been a prison-camp, but all the prisoners had been removed. Vast quantities of provisions, clothing, medi- cines, and ammunition, several thousand bales of cotton, and many small-arms were burned, and the railways torn up in every direction. Stoneman returned to East Tennessee in 508 MOBILE. [1865. April, having destroyed in his raid an immense amount of property and captured about six thousand prisoners. After the fall of Savannah, Charleston, and Wilmington, Mobile was the only important seaboard city left to the Confed- erates. Admiral Farragut's capture of the forts at the entrance of Mobile Bay (page 407) bad closed tbe port against blockade- runners and commerce, but had not caused the fall of the city, which lies at the mouth of Mobile River, thirty miles above the forts. It was strongly fortified and had a garrison of about fifteen thousand men in command of General D. H. Maury, who was under the orders of General Dick Taylor, then in com- mand of the Confederate Department of Alabama, Mississippi, and East Louisiana, with headquarters at Meridian in Mississippi. General Canby's army for the capture of Mobile consisted of about forty- five thousand men, five thousand of whom were cavalry under General Grierson. The land forces were to be aided by the West Gulf Squadron, then under command of Rear- Admiral Thatcher. To give still further aid in the movement against Mobile, General Grant had ordered General Thomas to send a strong cavalry expedition into Alabama, to destroy the resources of the country and prevent supplies and men from being sent to Mobile. General James H. Wilson, who had been selected to command this expedition, set out from Chickasaw Landing, on the Tennessee River, on the 22d of March, with about thir- teen thousand men. All his men were mounted, excepting fifteen hundred, who acted as a guard to the baggage-train of two hundred and fifty wagons. Besides these there were fifty- six mule- wagons, laden with a pontoon train for crossing rivers. Each trooper carried five days' rations for himself, twenty-four pounds of grain for his horse, a pair of extra horseshoes, and George Stoneman. 1865.] WILSON'S RAID. 509 one hundred rounds of ammunition. Nearly all were armed with the Spencer carbine, a rifle which will fire seven shots without reloading. Wilson moved in a general southerly direction towards Selma, an important town on the Alabama River. At Elyton he sent a brigade of his force, under General Croxton, to Tus- caloosa, with orders to destroy the public stores, foundries, factories, and bridges there, and to rejoin him at Selma. There were many skirmishes with Confederate cavalry on the route, but the enemy was generally routed, and Wilson went on, destroying iron-works, rolling-mills, collieries, and all other property which could be turned to hostile uses. When near Plantersville he had a fight with General Forrest, who, with about five thousand men, held a strong position. After a brief battle Forrest was routed, with the loss of three guns and several hundred prisoners, and pursued twenty-four miles. In the morning of the 2d of April Wilson came in sight of Selma, which was strongly fortified and held by about seven thousand men. General Dick Taylor, who was there, ordered Forrest to defend the place, and then left on the cars. After a sharp fight the works were taken at dusk by assault, and Selma fell into the hands of the Unionists, with thirty-two cannons and nearly three thousand prisoners. Forrest, with the rest of his men, fled eastward, after setting on fire twenty-five thou- sand bales of cotton. General Wilson found and burned ten thousand more, as well as all the foundries, arsenals, machine-shops, and other Confederate property in and around the city. On the 10th of April General Wilson crossed the Alabama River by a bridge he had built, and marched on Montgomery, the capital of Alabama and the first capital of the Confed- eracy. The Confederates did not await his coming, but left after setting fire to nearly ninety thousand bales of cotton, and the city was surrendered by the authorities without a blow (April 12). The flag of the Union was unfurled over the State House (see page 46) where, four years before, the first Confed- erate flag had been hoisted after its adoption by the Confed- erate Congress. From Montgomery Wilson crossed the Chatta- hoochee River into Georgia, and captured Columbus after a sharp fight with the Confederates. A vast amount of property 510 MOBILE. [1865. was destroyed there, including one hundred and fifteen thou- sand bales of cotton, many locomotives and cars, and arsenals, mills, foundries, and machine-shops. A new iron-clad ram, named the Jackson, was burned, and the Confederates burned another one, called the Chattahoochee, that was building a few miles down the river. On the 20th of April Wilson arrived at Macon, Georgia, which was surrendered to him without resist- ance. There he received the glad news of the surrender of the army of General Lee, and of the probable end of the war, and ceased further hostile acts. He was joined at Macon (April 31) by General Croxton, who, it will be remembered, had been sent to Tuscaloosa to destroy the Confederate property at that place, with orders to rejoin the main body at Selma. Croxton had marched more than six hundred miles in thirty days without hearing of Wilson, and had destroyed much property with little loss to himself. Wilson lost about seven hundred men in his great raid, during which he captured nearly seven thousand prisoners and two hundred and eighty-eight pieces of artillery. Besides the immense damage which he inflicted on the Confederates in the destruction of supplies and war material, he also did them much injury by obliging them to keep many men in the country through which he passed, who would other- wise have gone to aid in the defence of Mobile against General Canby. According to General Joseph E. Johnston, Mobile was the best fortified city in the Confederacy. It was surrounded by three lines of earthworks, defended by fifty-eight forts, and having ditches thirty feet wide and twenty feet deep, through which the tide-water flowed. Besides these land defences there were also strong water-batteries on the shores of the bay and several floating batteries, and the channels of the harbor were obstructed with rows of piles and torpedoes. The strongest of the fortifications, Spanish Fort, was on a bluff on the east side of the bay. It was so called because it occupied the site of a fort built by the Spaniards when they held Mobile; but the Confederate fort was very much larger than the old one, extending along the bluff nearly two miles. It was held by General Bandal L. Gibson with about twenty-five hundred men. 1865.] SPANISH FORT AND BLAEELY. 511 As the city was too strong to be attacked successfully on the west side, General Canby determined to move first against Spanish Fort. Some of the troops under General Gordon Granger marched from Fort Morgan, and others under General A. J. Smith were landed on the east side of the bay. These two forces joined and moved northward against Spanish Fort, while General Steele, with a division of negro troops, marched from Pensacola westward against Fort Blakely, ten miles north of Mobile. The siege of Spanish Fort began on the 28th of March and lasted two weeks, during which a heavy bombard- ment was kept up by both sides day and night. The Union gunboats aided the besiegers by day, but withdrew out of range by night. Two of them, the Metacomet and the Osage, were blown up by torpedoes. The Confederates fought with the greatest bravery, and made several sallies from their works, taking some prisoners, but were always driven back. At last (April 8), after a heavy cannonade, part of the works were taken by assault, and that night the Confederates evacuated it. Its guns were turned upon some of the other forts, which had also to be left, and the fleet, after fishing up many torpedoes, moved up near enough to throw shells into the city. The army then moved against Fort Blakely, which had been besieged for several days by General Steele. It was a very* strong work, with a line of forts nearly three miles long, with a deep ditch in front, and was held by about three thou- sand men, under General St. John Lid ell. In the evening of Sunday, April 9th, a grand assault was made on the fort. A storm was gathering in the west, and the heavens resounded with the rolling of distant thunder; but its sounds were soon drowned in the roar of artillery. Under cover of the fire the men advanced toward the works, cutting and clearing away the abatis and other obstructions, while their ranks were thinned by grape and canister shot from the guns of the besieged. The ground in front of the works was planted thickly with torpedoes, many of which exploded with dreadful effect. But the brave men pushed gallantly on, across ditches and over embankments, and by seven o'clock Blakely was won. Three generals and three thousand men fell into the hands of the victors, besides forty cannons, many small-arms, and a large amount of ammunition. Two days afterward General Maury 612 MOBILE. [1865. evacuated Mobile, and sinking the rams Huntsville and Tusca- loosa, went with the rest of his force, about nine thousand men, up the Alabama Eiver. On the 12th of April the city was surrendered, and on the next day the Union troops entered and the flag of the Union was hoisted on all the public buildings of the last Confederate seaport. Pabrott Gun. CHAPTEE XLI. PETERSBURG. The Confederacy in 1865.— Conscription and Desertion.— Negro Soldiers.— Confed- erate Money.— Lee's Army.— Dissatisfaction with Davis.— Lee Commander-in-Chief. —Mrs. Davis.— Foreign Aid Expected.— Peace Efforts.— War Meetings in Rich- mond.— Desolation in Virginia.— Christmas in 1864.— War Prices.— Dinner-Party.— Southside Railroad.— Dinwiddie Court-House.— Army Telegraph.— Sheridan's Raid. —Early Defeated.— Charlottesville.— Lee's Last Attack.— Fort Steedman.— Sheri- dan again in the Saddle.— Five Forks.— Grand Assault on Petersburg.— Fort Alexander.— Fort Gregg.— Death of A. P. Hill.— Lee's Telegram.— Petersburg at Last! THE beginning of 1865 found the Confederacy almost at its last gasp. Most of its strongholds and seaports had fallen, much of its territory had been devastated, and a vast amount of its property destroyed; and although its armies still kept the field, it was with the utmost difficulty that recruits could be obtained to fill the ranks. Every able-bodied man between the ages of seventeen and fifty-five was liable under the law to do military duty, but it was found impossible to force all men into the army. The poor could not escape, but the rich slave-owners and office-holders stayed at home and made money. Desertions grew more and more frequent, not on account of cowardice, but because the soldiers felt it to be their duty to provide for their families, who were starving at home. Hundreds of letters came every day in which mothers, wives, and sisters told how they were unable to satisfy the wants of hungry children or to get proper remedies for the sick, and called on them by all they held dear to come home and save them. The men could not withstand such appeals, and so it happened that at least two thirds of those enrolled in the army were absent from it. At last, so great was the need of more men that it was seriously proposed to make soldiers of negroes. General Lee favored this, but public opinion was against it, and it was given up. The supplies of food and clothing were rapidly giving out, and Confederate money had become so nearly worthless that farmers and storekeepers refused to sell anything excepting at the highest prices. The government then seized what it 514 PETERSBURG. [1865. wanted and appointed officers to set a value on the goods. Confederate paper money had kept at par — that is, the paper dollar was equal in value to the gold dollar — until November, 1861; after that it rapidly fell in value until, at the beginning of 1865, it took five hundred paper dollars to buy one gold dollar. In the following March it took six hundred to buy one, and a month later Confederate paper money had no value at all. Though most of the people of Richmond had lost hope and were ready for any change, very few knew the real seriousness of the situation. They were kept in ignorance by the govern- ment of all military details, and the newspapers were forbidden to publish any war news except the meagre telegrams furnished by the war department. Even the number and condition of the army were kept secret, for the authorities feared to tell the people that General Lee was holding his lines of thirty miles in length with only forty-five thousand poorly fed and poorly clad men against more than three times that number of Union troops. The newspapers did not dare to criticise openly any of the acts of the government, but sometimes, under cover of a humorous style, they exposed the real condition of things, and showed what they thought of the men employed in public positions. Much dissatisfaction, too, was felt with the course of President Davis, and a strong party against him grew up in the Confederate Congress. It was charged against him that while he refused to listen to the words of those capable of giving advice, he surrounded himself with flatterers and un- worthy favorites, to whom he gave rank and position, to the great harm of the Confederacy; indeed, while he had a public reputation for firmness of character, those who knew him best said that he was one of the weakest and most conceited of men, and his enemies did not hesitate to ascribe the miserable condition of the Confederacy to his unwise acts. The party in Congress opposed to him insisted that the control of military affairs should be taken from him, and it was voted that the command of all the armies of the Confederacy should be put into the hands of General Lee. As the President of the Con- federate States was, like the President of the United States under the Constitution, commander-in-chief of the army and navy, this act was felt by Mr. Davis's friends to be in the 1865.] CONFEDERATE DOPES. 5l5 nature of an insult to him. It is said that Mrs. Davis exclaimed, when she heard of it, "I would die or be hung before I would submit to the humiliation." One of General Lee's earliest acts in this position was the re-appointment to the command of the forces opposing General Sherman of GeneralJoseph E. Johnston, who had been removed by Mr. Davis, contrary to General Lee's advice, to make room for Hood, a favorite of the President's. But it was too late; the army which Hood's recklessness had shattered had little other duty to perform than to surrender. Notwithstanding the disasters which seemed to be driving the Confederacy to its doom, President Davis and his friends still clung to the idea of getting foreign aid. This was looked for especially from the Emperor Napoleon, and only a few weeks before Richmond fell it was currently reported and be- lieved that a messenger from him had landed on the coast of North Carolina, and was making his way overland to Richmond with the news of the recognition of the Confederacy by France. It is even said that the arrival of a hundred thousand French soldiers from Mexico was confidently expected, and that many thousand Poles, then living in different foreign countries, were coming to swell the ranks of the Confederate army. But the people were tired of the war and anxious for peace on almost any terms, and Mr. Davis was forced by public opinion to make an- other effort to bring about a settlement of the questions in dis- pute. After some other steps had been taken, he appointed three commissioners: Alexander H. Stephens, of Georgia, the Confed- erate Vice-President; John A. Campbell, of Alabama, formerly a justice of the United States Supreme Court; and E. M. T. Hun- ter, of Virginia, a distinguished member of the Confederate Senate. These gentlemen went on a steamer to Fortress Monroe, and had there a talk of several hours with President Lincoln and Secretary Seward. The Commissioners wished to have an armistice — that is, a stopping of all hostilities between the two parties — and to leave the main question of the separation of the Confederate States from the Union to be settled afterward. But President Lincoln would not consent to any cessation of hos- tilities unless the Confederates would disband all their forces and everywhere recognize the supreme authority of the Union. He said also that slavery must be given up. To these conditions 516 PETERSBURG. [1865. the Confederates refused to consent. Great war meetings were held in Richmond, at which speeches were made by President Davis, the Governor of Virginia, and others, and it was resolved that they would never lay down their arms until their inde- pendence was won. Virginia, which from the beginning had borne the brunt of the war, had suffered more than any other State. Its soil had been occupied by the two principal armies from the opening of the struggle, and the larger part of the northern half of its territory had been desolated with fire and sword. The estates of many of the oldest and best families had been utterly ruined, little being left of them but the treeless, fenceless soil. The splendid old-time mansions, with their treasures of art, their libraries, and their heirlooms of rare and costly furniture, had disappeared; the laborers who had cultivated the broad fields had been scattered, and the gentlefolk, who had lived there a life of generous case, reduced to want and hardship. In some of the country-houses in the neighborhood of Rich- mond, which had not yet felt so severely the horrors of war, an attempt was still made to keep up a show of the olden hospi- tality for which Virginia had been so famous. This is well illustrated in an account of a Christmas dinner given at the time (1864) at a residence below Richmond, not far from the lines of the two armies. The Avriter* says that flour was then worth $000 a barrel, siigar $30 a pound, butter $40 a pound, and beef $35 to $40 a pound. Wood sold at $100 a cord, and coal could not be had at all, excepting in a few cities, on account of the difficulty of transportation. The party at dinner was made up of three ladies and four gentle- men, the latter dressed in uniform, for they had come from the neighboring lines. The ladies were dressed in home-made gar- ments in the fashion prevailing at the beginning of the war. The clothes of one of them were entirely of home-spun goods, and her hair was fastened with " Confederate hair-pins," made of black thorns, with the heads tipped with sealing-wax. "The mansion had been proverbial for its hospitality before the war; now the welcome was as cordial as ever, but the board was spread in accordance with the necessities of the times. At *J. D. McCube. 1865.] CONFEDERATE CHRISTMAS DINNER. 517 the head of the table was placed a large ham, worth $300, at the foot was the last turkey the farm could boast, worth $175. The vegetables consisted of cabbage, potatoes, and hominy, worth at a reasonable calculation $100. Corn-bread was served, flour having been unknown in this house for months. The meal of which it was made was worth $80 a bushel, and the salt that seasoned it $1 a pound. Dessert there was none, but in its place the hostess provided a coarse black molasses, worth $60 a gallon. The same kind lady, as. a rare treat for her guests, brought out, with a glow of pride, a steaming urn of real tea — not sassafras — (worth $100 a pound), at the same time warning the company that they must expect but one cup apiece, as this was the last of her store. After this there was "coffee" made from sweet potatoes cut into little bits, toasted brown, and ground to powder. Such was a Confederate Christ- mas dinner in the last winter of the war. From this superb repast the scale descended to army rations — a bit of salt pork, corn-bread, and sweet-potato coffee without sugar." It will be remembered that Grant had cut all the railroads around Petersburg excepting the Southside or Lynchburg Rail- way, and that this was the only road left by which Lee could get supplies for his army. He had tried several times to push his left around toward this railroad, but his efforts had been foiled by Lee. But in the first week in February an advance was made to Dinwiddie Court-House, near which the Con- federates were met in strong force. After a heavy fight, in which the Union loss was about two thousand and that of the enemy half as many, the Union troops were obliged to fall back; but the result was a gain, for the left of the army was thus extended to Hatchers's Run (see map, page 445). As the lines were thus extended, earthworks were thrown up to protect the troops, the railroad from City Point was continued, and tele- graph wires were stretched so as to connect the position won with headquarters. Great use was made of the telegraph during the war. All the armies were provided with telegraphic field-trains, made up of two-wheeled carts, drawn by four horses, and provided with everything needed for telegraphing. Each cart carried several reels, each of which was wound with a mile of wire. The wire was sometimes unwound from the carts, and some- 518 PETERSBURG. [1865. times the reels were carried by'hand, as shown in the picture. They were generally stretched on light poles set into the ground or held by men, but sometimes were simply laid across fences. The telegraph was worked ill so simple a way that any man who could read and write could operate it after a day's practice. The carts and men were often close to the front on the battle- field, so that the officer in charge could report to and get advice from the commander, whose proper position was in the rear. Grant's next move was to order Sheridan, then in the Shenandoah Valley, to go to Lynchburg with a cavalry force, seize it if possible, and destroy the railroad there, and then to go south and join Sherman. Sheridan left Winchester (Feb. 27) with ten thousand cav- alry, under Generals Mer- ritt and Custer. Staun- ton was entered on the 2d of March. At Waynesboro Early tried to stop his way with twenty-five hundred men, but he was quickly routed, with a loss of six- teen hundred prisoners and eleven guns, and Sheridan rode on to Charlottesville, where he spent two days in destroying Con- federate workshops and supplies and the railroad leading from there toward Eichmond and Lynchburg. Finding out that Lynchburg was too strong for him to take, he pushed for the James Eiver, but it was too high for his pontoons to reach across, and he was obliged to march toward Grant by the northern side of Richmond. After destroying all the locks on the James Eiver Canal and many miles of railway, he finally reached in safety the army before Petersburg on the 27th of March. General Sherman, it will be remembered, reached City Point on the same day, and had his consultation with President Lincoln and General Grant. Two days before that (March 25) General Lee had made his last hostile attempt against the Union lines. When he found himself hard pressed by Grant's extension of his lines Laying Wire for the Army Telegraph. 1865.] LEE'S LAST ATTACK. 519 toward the left, he determined to make an effort to cut the Union army in two. If successful, he hoped that this would cause Grant to draw in his troops from the left, and give him an opportunity to withdraw from Petersburg and join Johnston in North Carolina. The attack was made at early dawn on Fort Steedman, near the site of Burnside's mine. The works were only about a hundred yards apart. The Union troops, taken by surprise by the sudden dash of the Confederates, were driven from their breastworks, and Fort Steedman fell into the hands of the enemy with about five hundred prisoners. If the Confederates had advanced quickly and seized the crest behind they might have succeeded, but the soldiers could not be in- duced to leave the work they had won. The Union troops soon recovered from their surprise, the heavy artillery of other forts opened on the enemy in Fort Steedman, and fresh troops coming up retook the fort with about two thousand Confed- erates who had huddled under the breastworks. At the same time the Union troops advanced against another part of the Confederate line, from which troops had been drawn to make the attack on Fort Steedman, and captured part of the in- trenchments with more than eight hundred prisoners. So Lee's last attack ended only in drawing the lines tighter around him. Grant, troubled lest Lee should escape him, ordered Sheri- dan to go with his cavalry and two infantry corps round from Dinwiddie Court-House and cut the Southside Kailroad. Sheridan began the movement on the 29th of March, only two days after his return from his other expedition. General Lee saw the necessity of stopping this movement at any risk, for on this line of railway his soldiers depended for their daily supply of food. He therefore almost stripped his entrench- ments to meet the threatened attack, gathering in all about seventeen thousand men to combat Sheridan's twenty-five thousand. Sheridan spent the night of the 29th at Dinwiddie Court- House. The next day was so stormy that nothing could be done, but on the 31st he pushed forward to a place called Five Forks, where several roads meet (see map, page 455). There he was met by the Confederate infantry, under Pickett and Johnson, and driven back nearly to Dinwiddie Court-House. In the morning of April 1st Sheridan again advanced toward 520 PETERSBURG. [1865. Five Forks, the Confederates having fallen back from his front for fear of being cut off from Petersburg by the Fifth Corps, under Warren, which had attacked them on their left. The Confederates had strong earthworks at Five Forks, behind which they made a brave resistance; but the Union troops attacked them in front, on the right, and in the rear, and they became demoralized. A grand charge was made upon them, and they fled in rout from the field, most of them throwing down their arms. Five thousand were taken prisoners, with four guns, while Sheridan's loss was not more than one thou- sand. Sheridan won great fame for his generalship in this battle, which was one of the most brilliant of the war. When the news reached the army in the trenches around Petersburg, it was received with deafening cheers, which sounded like a knell to the brave defenders within. General Lee knew that the end had come at last. His last railroad would now be cut, and he felt that all he could do was to secure a retreat from the lines he had held so long and so well. But to do this he must gain time; so he arranged his troops behind their earth- works to try to repel the attack which he felt would be made on the morrow. Under cover of a bloody repulse he might slip away in the night and reach Johnston in Xorth Carolina. But his great opponent understood the situation equally well. Fearful lest Lee should march out and overwhelm Sheridan, he sent reinforcements to the latter and kept up a cannonade on the enemy's works all night long. The next morning (Sunday, April 2) at four o'clock a grand assault was made along the whole Union line south of Petersburg. Sharp fighting took place, the Confederates giving way only when forced back by superior numbers. By eight o'clock all the outer line of defences had been taken; but behind were strong forts mounted with cannon, which had been built to guard against such a capture. The Confederates fell back to these, and turned their guns on the Union men in the outer forts. Fort Alexander, one of the strongest of these rear earthworks, was quickly stormed: but Fort Gregg, a second one, held out bravely. Again and again the Union men made a rush for its walls, but each time they were received with a deadly fire, which left the ground in its front strewn with 1865.] DEATH OF A. P. HILL. 521 their bodies. The fighting along other parts of the line was stopped while the men of both sides anxiously watched the gallant struggle. At last a more determined effort was made, and the sound of cheers rising from the cloud of smoke which hid the fort told that it had been won. Of the two hundred and fifty men who had taken part in the defence, but thirty remained, while five hundred Union men lay before the works. With this capture the Confederate army was cut in two. General Lee had to hasten to arrange his men to meet the new state of affairs. All he could now do was to gain a little time to try to save what was left of his army. While consulting with Generals A. P. Hill and Mahone in the city, the sounds of firing seemed to come nearer and nearer. " How is this, General?" he said to Hill; "your men are giving way." General Hill at once mounted his horse, and, accom- panied by a single order- ly, rode to the front. While going down a ra- vine he suddenly came upon a party of Union soldiers. Hill, who had on a citizen's coat with oidy the stars of a colonel on the collar, seeing his danger, rode at them and ordered them to surrender. The audacity of the demand took them by sur- prise, but they recovered themselves in a moment and shot him dead. Thus fell A. P. Hill, one of Lee's most trusted officers, who had fought at Bull Run as a colonel of infantry, and had won all the ranks in the Confederate army up to that of Lieutenant-General. At eleven o'clock General Lee sent a telegram to the War Department in Richmond, advising that the authorities should make ready to leave the city at eight o'clock in the evening. At daylight the next morning the Union men were alert and ready to renew the fight. The skirmishers advanced, but all A. P. Hill. 522 PETERSBURG. [1865. was silent before them. They crept over the open space between the works, and up the parapet opposite, until they could peep over. No enemy was to be seen, and the ground was strewn with evidences of hasty flight. The news spread from mouth to mouth, the Union troops advanced through the deserted works, and the flag of the Union was soon flying over Petersburg. Rifle Tits. OHAPTEE XLII. RICHMOND. Sunday in Richmond.— Rumors of Victory.— Gayety of the City.— Prayer-Meetings.— Davis Receives Lee's Telegram.— The News Kept Secret. - Evacuation.— Confu- sion.— The City in the Hands of the Mob.— Pillaging the Stores.— The Tobacco Warehouses Fired.— Rams Blown Up.— Bridges Burned.— The Fire Spreads.— A Dreadful Scene.— Capitol Square.— The Yankees ! The Yankees !— Burning Rich- mond Seen from the Signal-Tower.— General Weitzel* Enters the City.— The Flag on the Capitol.— An African City.— Bress de Lord ! No mo' Work !— Black Cavalry. —Martial Law.— The Ruins.— The Dream Ended. SUNDAY morning of April 2d, 1865, was bright and beau- tiful in Eichmond. The business streets were silent, and few sounds were heard save the solemn tones of the church bells. All the places of worship were open and were filled at the usual hour with their congregations. A Confederate writer tells us that none of the people knew of the terrible battles which had taken place at Petersburg, only twenty-two miles away, in the previous three days. The news had been kept so secret that not even the newspaper offices had received any account of it. Indeed, a rumor prevailed that General Lee had made a night attack on Grant and won a great victory which insured the independence of the Confederacy. It was also reported that Johnston was marching to join Lee, who would be able, with such a reinforcement, to drive Grant from before Peters- burg. Though the war bore heavy on the hearts of the people and a few had even begun to lose hope in the success of the cause, there never had been much fear that Richmond would be taken by the enemy. The thunder of McClellan's guns had been heard almost at their doors, yet he had been driven away, and the general feeling was that so long as Lee and his army re- mained they were safe from all the forces Grant could bring against them. So most of the people kept up their spirits, and the favorite singer at the theatre sang nightly "Farewell to the Star-Spangled Banner"'* to as entlmsiastic audiences as had greeted it when it was first performed. Alas ! they did not * See Appendix, page 570. 524 RICHMOND. [1865. know to what straits their gallant defender had been driven, nor even the number of his half-fed soldiers. The city was never gayer than in the winter before its fall: balls, parties, private theatricals, and other amusements were abundant — so much so that the clergymen felt it their duty to preach against it as unseemly with bloodshed and death so near them. Eeligious people did all they could to aid the ministers, and so it happened that the churches were generally well filled, not only on Sundays, but also on other days, when prayer-meetings were held in them. President Davis himself was a devout attendant at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, of which he was a member. Mr. Davis was seated in his pew on that pleasant Sunday morning, when, shortly after eleven o'clock, an officer entered, and walking quietly up the aisle handed him a slip of paper. It was General Lee's telegram to the War Department advising that preparations should be made at once for the evacuation of the city. Mr. Davis arose and went silently out of the church. The congregation Avondered what could have happened, and there was a brief pause, but no intimation was given of the news. After the services the rector announced that General Ewell, then the commander in Richmond, desired the home- guard to assemble at three O'clock in the afternoon. Even after the churches were dismissed the news was still kept from the people, only the officials and public men being let into the secret. Many a family ate their dinner in peace that day, wholly unconscious that another twenty-four hours would see their loved city in ruins and a hostile army in its streets. In the course of the afternoon the ill tidings passed from lip to lip, and even those who had expressed the strongest belief in the impregnability of the fortifications and of the ability of General Lee became convinced that the government was about to leave the city. As no one can paint so truly the scenes of that day as an eye-witness, we will give the account in the words of Mr. Pollard, the historian, who was one of the editors of the Richmond Examiner at the time: " It was late in the afternoon when the signs of evacuation became apparent to the incredulous. Wagons on the streets were being hastily loaded at the departments with boxes, trunks, etc., and driven to the Danville depot. . . . Vehicles 1865.1 RICHMOND AND VICINITY. 525 Richmond and Vicinity, Showing the Fortifications, 526 RICHMOND. [1865. suddenly rose to a premium value that wa.s astounding; and ten, fifteen, and even a hundred dollars, in gold or Federal currency, was offered for a conveyance. Suddenly, as if by magic, the streets became filled with men, walking as though for a wager, and behind them excited negroes with trunks, bundles, and luggage of every description. All over the city it was the same — wagons, trunks, bandboxes, and their owners, a mass of hurrying fugitives, filling the streets. The banks were all open, and depositors were as busy as bees removing their specie deposits; and the directors were equally active in getting off their bullion. Hundreds of thousands of dollars of paper money were destroyed, both State and Confederate. Night came, and with it came confusion worse confounded. There was no sleep for human eyes in Richmond that night. ''The City Council had met in the evening and resolved to destroy all the liquor in the city, to avoid the disorder conse- quent on the temptation to drink at such a time. About the hour of midnight the work commenced, under the direc- tion of committees of citizens in all the wards. Hundreds of barrels of liquor were rolled into the streets and the heads knocked in. The gutters ran with a liquor freshet, and the fumes filled and impregnated the air. Fine cases of bottled liquors were tossed into the street from third-story windows and wrecked into a thousand pieces. As the work progressed some straggling soldiers, retreating through the city, man- aged to get hold of a quantity of the liquor. From that moment law and order ceased to exist. Many of the stores were pillaged, and the sidewalks were encumbered with broken glass, where the thieves had smashed the windows in their reck- less haste to lay hands on the plunder within. The air was filled with wild cries of distress or the yells of roving pillagers. "But a more terrible element was to appear on the scene. An order had been issued from Gen. Ewell's headquarters to fire the four principal tobacco warehouses in the city. . . . The warehouses were fired. The rams in the James River were blown up. The Richmond, Virginia, and another one were all blown to the four winds of heaven. The Patrick Henry, a receiving-ship, was scuttled. Such shipping, very little in amount, as was lying at the Richmond wharves was also fired, save the flag-of -truce steamer Allison. 1865.] FIRE AND THE MOB. 527 " The bridges leading out of the city — namely, the Danville railroad bridge, the Petersburg railroad bridge, Mayo's bridge leading to Manchester and the opposite side of the James * — were also fired, and were soon wrapped in flames. "Morning broke upon a scene such as those who witnessed it can never forget. The roar of an immense conflagration sounded in their ears; tongues of flame leaped from street to street; and in this baleful glare were to be seen, as of demons, the figures of busy plunderers, moving, pushing, rioting, through the black smoke and into the open street, bearing away every conceivable sort of plunder. "The scene at the commissary depot, at the head of the dock, beggared descrip- tion. Hundreds of gov- ernment wagons were loaded with bacon, flour, and whiskey, and driven off in hot haste to join the retreating army. Thronging about the depot were hundreds of men, women, and chil- dren, black and white, provided with capacious bags, baskets, tubs, buck- ets, tin pans, and aprons; cursing, pushing, and crowding ; awaiting the throwing open of the doors and the order for each to help himself. "About sunrise the doors were opened to the populace, and a rush that almost seemed to carry the building off its foundation was made, and hundreds of thousands of pounds of bacon, flour, etc., were soon swept away by a clamorous crowd." The order for the destruction of the cotton and tobacco in the warehouses was given by the Confederate War Depart- ment. General Ewell remonstrated against it, for he feared that its execution would endanger the safety of the whole city; Richard S. Ewell. * These three bridges are shown in the map of Richmond and vicinity. 528 RICHMOND. [1865. but the authorities had determined that no public property should fall into the hands of the "Yankees," and he was obliged to obey. By seven o'clock of Monday morning all the Confederate troops were out of the city, on their way southward, leaving Richmond in flames behind them. The streets were still filled with a riotous throng of men and women, black and white, laden with the plunder of the burning stores and warehouses. Here was a stalwart negro with a bag of coffee or of sugar upon his back; another with a bag crammed with shoes or hats; a third with several pieces of cotton or woollen cloth on his head, or with an armful of ready-made clothing; a woman with a dozen hoop-skirts; and even children with boxes of thread, ribbons, and other small goods. The Babel of their voices was almost drowned in the roar of the flames and the explosion of gunpowder. Capitol Square was crowded with frightened women and children, huddled among piles of furniture and household goods saved from their burning homes. The Con- federate rear-guard had scarcely left when a cry of "The Yankees ! the Yankees !" arose in Main Street. The mob rushed down the street and into the by-ways as if they feared the coming of an avenger, and necks were craned from windows and balconies to catch a sight of the hated blue-coats. The reader will remember that while Grant with the main part of his army held the lines south of Petersburg, another force held Bermuda Hundred, and still another held the Union works on the north side of the James River, threatening the fortifications of Richmond. The last was in command of General Godfrey Weitzel. Part of his force had been taken by Grant to aid in the assault on Petersburg, and in order to keep his weakness from becoming known to the enemy he had been ordered to keep up a great show of strength. This he had done so successfully that Longstreet had been deceived and had kept many men in the defences opposite him who might other- wise have gone to help Lee. On Sunday night all the bands were kept playing. The Confederate bands replied, and the air was filled with the music of " Hail, Columbia" and " Dixie," the "Star-Spangled Banner" and the "Bonnie Blue Flag."* * See Appendix, pages 571 and 572. 1865. J WEITZEVS ADVANCE. 529 At midnight the Union camp was at rest. But General Weit- zel, knowing of Grant's success at Petersburg, suspected that the Confederates would leave during the night, and was up and watching with some of his officers. Toward morning the sound of a heavy explosion was heard. Lieutenant Johnston De Peyster, one of his aids, went to the top of the signal-tower, a timber building about seventy feet high, from which the steeples of both Eichmond and Petersburg could be seen. He saw a great light in the direc- tion of Richmond, but could not discover what it was. Not long afterward a Confederate deserter brought news that Richmond was being evacuated by its defenders. At daylight troops were sent toward the city, with or- ders to move slowly and with caution, for it was known that the ground was filled with torpedoes. Fortunately, the place of each torpedo had been marked by a little red flag to enable the Confederates them- selves to guard against them, and they, in the hurry of their flight, had failed to remove them; so they were easily found and taken up by the advance guard. Three lines of earth- works and forts were passed, each commanding the one in front of it. Hundreds of cannons, many of them the spoil of the Norfolk Navy- Yard, were mounted upon them. Within the inner line were the tents of the soldiers, with their furniture as they had left it. The roads leading into the city were strewn with Aveapons and war material. As the suburbs Avere entered a fearful scene lay before them — the city in a blaze, the air thick with smoke and glowing sparks, and resounding with the crash of falling walls and frecpaent explosions. Signal-Tower. 530 RICHMOND. [1865. General Weitzel sent forward a squad of Massachusetts cavalry to take possession. It was this little body of forty troopers whose appearance in Main Street had caused the cry of " The Yankees" to be raised by the mob. As the crowd ran up the street, cursing and screaming, the cavalry rode quietly along, gazing curiously around, but interfering with no one. Presently they broke into a trot for the public square, and in a few minutes two guidons, or small cavalry flags, were placed on the Capitol. An hour afterward General Weitzel and staff rode in, and the flag of the Union was hoisted over the Capitol by the hands of Lieutenant De Peyster. Soon Main Street was filled with Capitol at Richmond. an unbroken line of blue-coats, with bayonets gleaming in the sun, marching steadily to the inspiring strains of military music. As they turned the corner at the Exchange Hotel, a wild burst of cheers went up from each regiment. The people had awaited the coming of the Union troops with fear and trembling, for they had been taught to believe that their city would be given up to pillage. In anticipation of such a fate, jewelry and silverware had been hidden or sent out of town, and old men prepared to defend their families from expected insult. Few whites were to be seen in the streets when the army entered, but the blacks thronged every sidewalk, and Eichmond appeared to have been changed into an African city. 1865,] A BLACK WELCOME. 531 Some of these gazed quietly as they would at any other spec- tacle, but many waved their hats and cheered in answer to the troops, and a few grasped the hands of the soldiers as they passed, with such expressions as "Welcome! You's welcome'. Glad to see you, sar! Bress de Lord, dese hands do no mo' work!" The poor creatures evidently thought that the day of jubilee, to which they had so long looked forward, had really come, and that all of their color were thenceforth to lead a life of elegant ease, free from toil and care. The negro regiments were received by them still more heartily than their white Libby Prison. comrades, and the black soldiers answered their cheers with a pardonable pride. One regiment of colored cavalry, seeing by whom they were surrounded, rose in their stirrups, and, with their white eyes and teeth gleaming, waved their sabres and rent the air with their wild shouts. It can scarcely be wondered that the citizens who witnessed this sight should have looked upon these men, many of whom were escaped slaves, with a shudder, and dreaded the moment when they should be turned loose upon them. Fortunately, their fears were unfounded. The best of discipline prevailed, and Confederate writers bear 532 RICHMOND. [1865. testimony to the fact that " the troops behaved astonishingly well, and were remarkably courteous and respectful." General Weitzel made his headquarters in the Capitol, and his home in the house lately occupied by Mr. Davis (see page 79). The city was put under martial law, with General Sbepley as military governor. Orders were issued forbidding officers or soldiers entering any private dwelling, taking any private property, or using offensive words or gestures toward citizens; and proclaiming that no treasonable expressions or insults to the flag would be allowed. The soldiers at once set to work to put out the fire, and but for their efforts all Richmond would have been burned to the ground. Toward night the flames were subdued, but not until the business part of the city was in ruins. Acres of ground had been burned over; every bank and insurance office, most of the fashionable stores, one of the principal churches, and many large warehouses, mills, depots, and foundries had been swept away. Among the buildings spared by the fire was Libby Prison, in Avhich so many Union men had suffered. When night fell a strange quiet came over the blackened city, and, worn out by the excitement of the past twenty-four hours, men went to rest with saddened hearts, and with the feeling that their feverish dream was at last ended in ashes and desolation. «_*jWrf CHAPTER XLIII. SURRENDER OF LEE. Lee's Misfortune.— Davis at Danville.— A Fatal Delay.— Grant in Pursuit.— Sheridan. —A Starving Army.— Sailor's Creek.— Capture of Evvell.— Across the Appomattox. —A Hopeless Struggle. — Grant's Letter. — Lee asks for Terms. — Appomattox Court-House.— Sheridan in Front.— A Surprise.— Flag of Truce.— The McLean House.— Grant and Lee.— Grant's Magnanimity.— Painful Scene.— Lee in Richmond. —Last Parade of the army of Northern Virginia.— Joy in the North.— Stanton's Order. AFTER General Lee had sent the telegram to Mr. Davis, informing him that Richmond must be evacuated, he spent the rest of the day in making preparations for the retreat. Among other despatches sent was one ordering stores for the army to be sent from Danville to Amelia Court-House, where he expected all his troops, both from Petersburg and Richmond, to meet. The order was obeyed, but when the officer in charge of the trains reached Amelia Court-House he received other orders from Richmond to go at once to that city, where the cars were needed to remove the Confederate Govern- ment and its effects. Without stopping to unload his cars, the officer pushed on to Richmond, and so it happened that all the rations on which General Lee depended to feed his army were burned there. President Davis, on leaving Richmond, went to Danville, near the border of North Carolina, where General Lee hoped to form a junction between his own army and that of General Johnston. To do this it was necessary to reach Burke's or Burksville Station, fifty-two miles west of Petersburg, before Grant could cut him off. By his rapid march on Sunday night he had gained many miles. All day Monday he pressed on, and still there were no signs of pursuit. The chances seemed to be in his favor; if he could do as well the next day, Grant could not overtake him, for the roads over which he would pass were in better condition than those the Union army would have to march over. The Appomattox River was crossed in safety, and Amelia Court-House, thirty-eight miles west of Richmond, was reached on Tuesday, April 4th. When Lee 534 SUBBENDEB OF LEE. [1865. heard what had befallen him and found no food there for his half-starved men, who had marched from Petersburg with but one day's rations, he must have felt that his condition was hopeless. All he had gained by his hurried march was lost; but with his usual energy he set about procuring food from the country round, sending out foraging parties in every direc- tion. This caused a delay which proved fatal to him. Grant had begun a pursuit on Monday morning, as soon as Lee's retreat had become known. He saw through Lee's plan, and hastened toward Burke's Sta- tion, in hope of reaching it be- fore him. On the afternoon of Tuesday (April 4) Sheridan and his cavalry reached Jettersville (see map) on the Danville Rail- road, seven miles from Amelia. This was directly in Lee's path, and cut him off from Burksville. Had Lee been able to move that day he might have cut his way through Sheridan, but he was still delayed trying to procure supplies. At evening Sheridan was reinforced by infantry, and was too strong for his opponent. The next day part of his cavalry destroyed at Paine's Cross-Roads a train of one hundred and eighty wagons, and captured five guns and many prisoners. During the night of Wednesday Lee moved toward Farm- ville, with the intention of crossing the Appomattox there and escaping toward Lynchburg and into the mountains. But his men were so weak from hunger that they made but little pro- gress. Many straggled over the fields looking for something to eat, chewing even the buds and twigs of trees to quiet their pangs. Lee's Retreat to Appomattox Court- House. 1865.] THE PURSUIT. 535 Many dropped from exhaustion, and hundreds threw away the arms which they were no longer able to carry. The officers, almost as badly off as the privates, made few efforts to keep their men together. The horses and mules, alike hungry, had not strength enough to do their work, and dropped by the wayside. The roads became blocked with wagons, which were set on fire to keep them from falling into the hands of the enemy. Most of the wagons were loaded with ammunition, the explosion of which added to the horrors of the retreat. Behind and on the flank of the shattered columns followed Sheridan, striking at every weak point. A running fight was kept up all day long, Lee's men, weak as they were, fighting with desperate courage. But their enemies were too strong for them, and almost every hour lopped off part of their column. At one time four hundred wagons, sixteen cannons, and hun- dreds of prisoners were taken; at another, near Sailor's Creek, the whole of E well's corps, several thousand strong, with Gen- erals Ewell, Custis Lee, Kershaw, and others, were surrounded and made to throw down their arms. The Confederates succeeded in crossing the Appomattox River near Farmyille during the night of Thursday (April 6). But so close was the pursuit that the bridge there was seized before it could be destroyed, and some of the Union troops captured eighteen pieces of artillery from the enemy's rear- guard. Lee's officers had by this time made up their minds that it was useless to continue the struggle, and resolved to advise their commander that the time had come for the sur- render of the Army of Northern Virginia. But General Lee was spared the humiliation of making the offer, for the next day General Grant, feeling the impossibility of his enemy's escape, and desiring to save further bloodshed, sent him from Farmville the following note: "April 7, 1865. "General: The result of the last week must convince you of the hopelessness of further resistance on the part of the Army of Northern Virginia in this struggle. I feel that it is so, and regard it as my duty to shift from myself the responsibility of any further effusion of blood, by asking of you the surrender of that portion of the Confederate States army known as the Army of Northern Virginia. "U. S. Grant, Lieutenant-General. "General R. E. Lee." 536 SURRENDER OF LEE. 1865.] During the 7th the Confederates repulsed an attack of a part of the Second Corps, and General Lee, feeling a little encouraged, wrote to General Grant, in answer to his letter, that he did not agree with him that further resistance was hopeless, but asked what terms he would offer on condition of surrender. Grant replied (April 8) that he would ask but one condition — that the men and officers surrendered should not again take up arms against the United States until properly exchanged. Upon this Lee wrote again the same day that he did not propose to surrender, but was willing to meet Grant to discuss the question of peace. On the next morning (April 9) Grant replied, declining the meeting, and saying that he had no authority to treat on the subject of peace. While this correspondence was going on the Confederates were marching toward Appomattox Court-House. They had obtained some rations on the morning of the 7th, aud were better able to endure fatigue. During the 7th their course led them through dense thickets of oak and pine, but on the 8th they were on a good road, and made more rapid progress. At dark the head of the column had reached the Court-House, while the rear was only a few miles behind. ~No enemy was to be seen; the bands played lively airs, the men's spirits began to revive, and all hoped that they had at last a chance to pass a comfortable night. But about midnight the rumble of distant artillery was heard in front, and Lee's last hope was gone. Sheridan was between him and Lynchburg. Sheridan had heard that some supply-trains were awaiting Lee at Appomattox Station, about five miles south of the Court-House, and he at once concluded that Lee was marching for that place. By a forced march, General Custer, who com- manded the advance, reached that place about midnight, cap- tured the trains, and forced back the advance of the Confeder- ates, which had just reached there, taking from them twenty-five guns and many wagons. Sheridan hurried up some of the infantry, for he saw that there was now an opportunity to cap- ture all of Lee's army. Lee supposed that there was only cavalry in his front, and prepared to cut his way through. He made the attempt at daybreak the next morning (April 9). His army had then dwindled to eight thousand men with muskets, but behind 1865.] THE INTERVIEW. 537 them were several thousand stragglers who had lost their arms and accoutrements, and in many cases even their hats and shoes. The attack was made by General Gordon's division with so much vigor that Sheridan's men, who had dismounted, were forced back. Sheridan ordered them to fall back slowly until the infantry, who were footsore from their forced march, could come up. The Confederates pushed on, supposing that they were breaking through the cavalry lines, when of a sudden the horsemen withdrew to one side, and behind, drawn up in line of battle, was a solid body of infantry. The Confederates, appalled at the sight of the muskets and gleaming bayonets, fell back. Sheridan's horsemen quickly remounted, and in a few minutes were on the flanks of the enemy ready to charge. Just then a white flag was seen coming forward, and the attack was suspended. Lee had sent to ask for a suspension of hos- tilities while he went to the rear to see General Grant. Early on that same morning, while Gordon was attacking Sheridan, Generals Lee, Longstreet, and Mali one, the last the commander of one of Longstreet's divisions, sat around a camp- fire at Lee's headquarters. After a long and earnest consulta- tion it was decided that there was nothing to do but surrender. Longstreet and Mahone declared that the army would accept none but honorable terms. General Lee replied that Grant had offered such terms, but he was not sure that he would still grant them after his rejection of them. But Lee felt that it was his duty to do the best he could for his army, so, leaving Longstreet in charge, he mounted his horse and rode to see Grant. Grant was hastening, about noon, to join Sheridan, when he received a note from Lee asking an interview. He at once consented, and arrangements were made for a meeting in the house of Wilmer McLean at Appomattox Court-House. It was a square brick house, the largest in the hamlet, and was sur- rounded by trees and a garden filled with flowers. When the Union commander reached the house, Lee's horse, a fine iron- gray, was nibbling the grass in front, in charge of a Confed- erate soldier. Grant, who was accompanied by Generals Sheri- dan and Ord and their staffs, had ridden thirty-seven miles that morning, and was covered with dust and mud. He wore no sword and no signs of rank but the three silver stars of a 538 SURRENDER OF LEE. [1865. lieutenant-general. Leaving the rest of the officers on the porch, Grant and two aids entered the house and found within Lee and Colonel Marshall, his chief of staff. Lee was dressed in a new uniform of Confederate gray, a military hat with a gold cord, high riding- boots, and buckskin gauntlets. He wore all the insignia of his rank, and at his side was the splen- did dress sword which had been given him by the State of Virginia. The meeting was very simple, befitting the character of the two men and the importance of the occasion. After shaking hands they proceeded at once to business. Grant wrote out the terms, Lee accepted them, and both signed the paper. They were to the effect that the Confederate army surrendered, giving up all public property, the officers keeping their horses, side-arms, and baggage. After all this was done, Lee said he had forgotten one thing: that many of the cavalry and artillery men owned the horses which they used; but, he continued, it is "too late, of course, to speak of that now." "I will instruct my paroling officers," replied Grant, "that all the enlisted men of your cavalry and artillery who own horses are to retain them, just as the officers do theirs. 1865.] &RANT AND LEE. 539 They will need them for their spring plowing and other farm work." "General," said Lee, with earnestness, "there is nothing that you could have done to accomplish more good either for them or the government." At half-past three o'clock that afternoon General Lee re- turned to his headquarters. As he rode through the ranks his men saw that all was over. With one impulse they rushed toward their beloved commander and strove with each other to press his hand. With tears upon his cheeks, General Lee turned toward his comrades, and, as soon as he could com- mand his voice, said: "Men, we have fought through the war together. I have done the best that I could for you." It is said by one who was present that there was not a dry eye among all who looked upon the scene. The next day General Lee issued a farewell address to his army. On the 12th //^ //^ / - he returned to Richmond, Ci^ -orted that he had a large amount of gold with him, estimated by some as high as thirteen million dollars (113,000,000). This aroused the cupidity of the escort, and they demanded to be paid for their services before going further. Mr. Davis had 1865.] SEARCHING FOR DAVIS. 051 really but little money, but the soldiers became so clamorous that a few dollars were paid to each. As soon as they found out where the money was there was a disgraceful scramble for it. Some got too much and some got nothing, and part of the specie was trampled into the dirt, where persons searched and found many pieces the next day. At that time it was well known that a reward of one hun- dred thousand dollars had been offered by the Government for the arrest of Mr. Davis, and many parties of United States cavalry were on the lookout for him. But though fallen from power and a fugitive, he felt confident that none of the white people in the country through which he was travelling would betray him. There were some fears, however, that wandering parties of Confederate soldiers, attracted by the stories of the large amount of treasure he was said to have with him, might attack his party. For the sake of greater safety, Mr. Davis travelled by one road on horseback, while Mrs. Davis and the other members of his family went by another in wagons. When near Irwinsville, Georgia, Mr. Davis heard that some soldiers, thinking that the treasure was in the wagons with Mrs. Davis, had made a plot to seize them. Fearful that they might be in danger, he rode eighteen miles across the country to protect them. He found them in tents pitched by the roadside, and wearied with his journey concluded to spend the night with them, intending to leave before daylight and continue his journey separately, as before. In the mean time parties of cavalry, sent out from Macon by General Wilson, had been looking for the fugitives in every direction. One night a negro went into the camp of one of these parties and told the commander, Lieutenant-Colonel Hardin, of the First Wisconsin Cavalry, that Mr. Davis and his family had passed along the road that day. He knew them because he had heard one of the gentlemen, who was mounted on a fine bay horse, called President Davis. Colonel Hardin pursued and soon found the trail of the fugitives. The way led through barren pine forests and cypress swamps. Eain soon fell and washed out the tracks of the wagons, so that the trail was lost; but after some delay it was found again and the party rode on. More than forty miles were passed over that day, and at night the weary soldiers camped in the rain on the 552 JOHNSTON.— DA VIS [1865. edge of a swamp. All were in the saddle by daylight and again in pursuit. In the afternoon the troopers fell in with another party, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Pritchard, of the Fourth Michigan Cavalry. Colonel Hardin gave him what information he had, and the two companies pushed on, by dif- ferent roads, after the fugitives. Both approached the camp toward dawn of the next morning (May 11). In their haste they took each other for enemies, and several shots were fired by which two men were killed and several wounded. On hearing the firing Mr. Davis, supposing the attack to be made by the Confederate plunderers whom he had feared, put on his boots and prepared to go out of the tent, saying to his wife : " They will, at least as yet, respect me." As he got to the tent door thus hastily equipped, he saw some Union cavalry ride up the road and stop in front. "Ha ! Federals !" he exclaimed. " Then you are captured !" cried Mrs. Davis, with emotion. In a moment she caught an idea — a woman's idea. He slept in a wrapper, a loose one. It was yet around him. This she fastened, ere he was aware of it, and then, bidding him adieu, urged him to go to the spring, a short distance off, where his horses and arms were. Strange as it may seem, there was not even a pistol in the tent. Davis felt that his only course was to reach his horse and arms, and complied. As he was leaving the door, followed by a servant with a water-bucket, Miss Howell flung a shawl over his head. But this thin dis- guise did not deceive the cavalry-men, who took him and all his party prisoners. This is the story as told by Lieutenant Stuart, of Mr. Davis's staff. Mr. Davis himself says that his family, whom he had not seen since leaving Richmond, were travelling by a road east of the one he was pursuing; that he joined them on the second or third day after leaving AVashington, Georgia, and after travelling with them two or three days for their protection against stragglers, was about to leave them early one morning. He had slept with his clothes on, and was therefore dressed when the soldiers surrounded the camp. On going out he put on his raglan, and his wife threw a shawl over his shoulders. He hoped thus to be able to reach his horse, which was saddled 1865.] CAPTURE OF DAVIS. 553 and bridled near the spring. Various additions were made to the story at the time, and an effort was made in many news- papers to cast ridicule on the ex-President of the Confederacy by the assertion that he was dressed in his wife's clothes when taken. The vast amount of treasure which he was reported to be carrying with him turned out to be only about ten thousand dollars in gold and silver coin. It is still kept in the vaults of the Treasury Department at Washington, where it may be seen by the curious. Mr. Davis was taken to General "Wilson at Macon, and was sent from there to Fortress Monroe, where he was confined for two years. The charge that he was engaged in the plot to murder Mr. Lincoln was given up, because there was no evi- dence against him. In May, 1867, he was brought before the United States Court in Richmond on a charge of treason, but he was never tried, and in December of the next year (1868) he was pardoned with many others. Artillery. CHAPTER XLVI. PEACE. Grave Fears.— The Soldiers Welcome Peace.— Drafting Stopped.— Disbanding thm Armies— Stanton.— Welles.— The Last Review.— Grand Reception in. Washington. —The Soldiers at Home.— Honors to the Dead.— Confederate Armies.— Summary of Losses.— The Cost of the War.— Political Questions.— Causes and Results of the War.— The Union Perpetual. THE surrender of the Confederate armies ended the great civil war and brought peace once more, but there were still many things to be done and many questions to be settled before the country could become quiet and prosperous again. Grave fears were felt by many that the soldiers, so long accustomed to an adventurous life, would not willingly return to the every-day work of the farm and the shop. Foreign writers, not understanding our people, predicted that the great armies which the Union had called to its defence would prove its ruin and, like the Praetorian Guards of ancient Rome, take the government into their own hands and build up a military despotism. But these fears were not justified: the men who had fought were as glad to welcome peace as those who had taken no active part in the war, and rejoiced when the time came to lay aside their weapons for the peaceful implements of industry. A few clays after Lee's surrender, orders were given to stop all drafting and recruiting, and in the next month was begun the work of mustering out and sending to their homes the soldiers and sailors of the Union armies and fleets. Nearly three million men were called, at different times, into the service during the war; but as many of these were enlisted for only three, six, or nine months, and afterward joined the army again, it is thought that only about one million five hundred thousand different men took part on the Union side. Of these nearly three hundred thousand lost their lives from wounds or sickness. More than a million men were on the rolls at the close of the war, and before the end of the following autumn nearly nine hundred thousand of these had been paid and sent home. 1865.] GRAND REVIEW. 555 It is almost impossible to form any correct idea of the vast amount of labor required in disbanding so great a force. Not only had accurate accounts to be kept of all the men discharged and of the amounts paid to them, but also of their arms and equipments, which had to be carefully stored. The horses, mules, wagons, and stores remaining on hand, the steamboats and other vessels, and the railway cars used for transporting troops, the military railroads and telegraphs built during the war, the barracks, hospitals, and other buildings belonging to the Government, and all other property no longer needed, had to be sold and accounted for. All this labor was done under the orders of Secretary Stanton, to whose ability and faithful- ness in the management of the War Department was largely due the success of the Union in the great struggle. Through his admirable management, aided by the business skill of the Assistant Secretary of War, Charles A. Dana, all the great armies in the field were clothed, fed, armed, and kept supplied with every necessity. Secretary Stanton had many failings and made numerous enemies, but it is doubtful if a wiser selection could have been made at the time to fill the place which he occupied so ably. To Secretary Welles of the Navy Depart- ment and to the Assistant Secretary, G. V. Fox, are due equal honor for their able management of the navy, which may be said to have been created by them. Before the troops were sent home, the combined armies of Grant and of Sherman had a grand reception in Washington. More than two hundred thousand men, the bronzed veterans of the armies of the Potomac, of the Tennessee, of the Ohio, and of Georgia, marched through the streets in review before the President and his Cabinet and the chief officers of the army and navy. Two days (May 23 and 24) were occupied in the triumphal procession, the first day being given to the army of General Meade, the second to that of General Sherman. The houses were decorated with flags and mottoes of welcome, and the sidewalks were filled with thousands of people in holiday dress bearing wreaths and bouquets of flowers to bestow upon their favorites. As the troops marched in close columns around the Capitol and down Pennsylvania Avenue, filling the wide street almost from curb to curb, the scene was magnificent. The splendid music of the bands, the manly tread of the men, 556 PEACE. 1865.] who felt that the eyes of the country were on them, the gleam of thousands upon thousands of bayonets swaying in the sun- beams, the tattered and blood-stained flags festooned with flowers — all aroused the enthusiasm of the spectators and caused a tempest of cheers along the whole route. In front of the White House was the reviewing-stand, on which sat the President and many other distinguished people. As the troops passed by, the officers saluted with their swords, and the President and his Cabinet acknowledged the compli- ment by rising. After the salute the commanding officers of each division dismounted and went upon the stand to be pre sented to the President and other officials. Thus division after division and corps after corps passed by, until every regiment had borne its part in the pageant. This was the last review of the grand armies of the Union, but not the last public honor paid to the men who composed them. Each regiment was given a splendid reception on its return to its own State. The day of its coming was made a holiday, and processions of wel- come met the soldiers and escorted them with music and the joyful ringing of bells through avenues made grand with tri- umphal arches and floating banners. Every city and town had its celebration, for all felt it a sacred duty to honor those who had hastened to the defence of the republic in its hour of peril. The dead were not forgotten in the general rejoicing. National cemeteries were established on the sites of the great battle-fields, where the remains of the fallen were tenderly laid to rest in graves fittingly marked, to be yearly strewn with flowers on a day set apart for the purpose. Nearly every city and town, too, has its soldier's monument, and many of those who took a more prominent part in the struggle have been honored with statues by a grateful country. Thus the great republic remembers its sons who died that it might live. According to Southern estimates there were in the Con- federacy only about six hundred thousand men fit to do mili- tary duty, and it is said that of these not more than two hundred thousand were ever in the field at the same time. "When the war ended about one hundred and seventy-five thou- sand were surrendered and paroled, but many of these were in hospitals, and it is doubtful if more than one hundred thou- 1865.] POLITICAL QUESTIONS. 557 sand of them were fit for duty. It is thought that the Con- federate losses during the war were at least as large as those of the Union (300,000), because they had inferior means of taking care of the sick and wounded. If this be true, the total loss on both sides was six hundred thousand. But to this great number must be added three or four hundred thousand more who were crippled or disabled by sickness, and we have nearly a million of men lost to the country by this terrible war. When we think, in connection with this, of the immense cost to both sides of carrying on the war, the great destruction of property, and the sorrow and suffering of those who lost friends and homes, we can form some slight idea of the fearful charac- ter of such a struggle. However much was won by it, no true lover of his country can ever look back upon its horrors with other feelings than those of pain and regret. The close of the war gave rise to many questions growing out of the secession of the Southern States about which men differed greatly in opinion. Some thought that the States had the right to take their old places in the Union and to exercise at once all the powers which they had possessed before the act of secession ; while others thought that they had lost their rights as States by the act of secession and become Territories again, and that the Government could impose upon them any conditions it chose. Neither of these opinions wholly pre- vailed, but all the States were finally received back again after complying with certain conditions, among which were annul- ling the act of secession and agreeing to the abolition of slavery. But these subjects properly belong not to the history of the war but to that of the reconstruction period — that is, the time after the war when the question of the return of the lately seceded States to a peaceful condition was the most important one before the country. From this let us turn to a brief survey of the causes and of the results of the war. In the beginning of this book has been told how early differences gradually caused jealousy between the North and the South; how, when an attempt was made to form a union of all the colonies, this jealousy led to opposite opinions as to the kind of government to be made; how the Constitution, as finally adopted by the States, was not wholly satisfactory to either North or South, but was accepted as a 558 PEACE, [1865. compromise — as the only one which could be made under the circumstances; how, after it was accepted, disputes as to its meaning gave rise to two political parties, one the Federal Party, claiming that the union of the States constituted a nation, the other the State Eights Party, claiming that it was merely a league of independent States ; how, though these parties existed in all the States, the Federal Party had its chief strength in the North, and the State Eights Party in the South; how the questions of the tariff and of slavery embittered the feeling between the two sections, and caused the South to fear the loss of political power and of influence in the Union; and how finally these fears led to secession and to an attempt to break up the Union in hope of founding an independent government. When war actually began political parties on both sides were nearly broken up, and the two parts of the country took up arms against each other, the South fighting for the principle that a State has the right to secede at will from the Union, the North for the principle that the Union is perpetual. It is commonly said that slavery was the cause of the war, but this is not an exact statement. It is true that slavery was used by the principal men of the South as a means to bring about secession; for the mass of the people were taught by them that the North intended to abolish slavery, and this belief, strengthened by such acts as John Brown's raid, tended more than any other thing to bring about a union of the South against what was called the aggression of the North. Thus not only the extreme State Eights men, but also the greater part of those who did not believe as they did, were brought together and led to take up arms in a common cause. The North, on the contrary, entered into the war for the preservation of the Union and not, as the people of the South were led to believe, for the abolition of slavery. There were, of course, many extreme men in the free States who were work- ing to secure that result, but they did not care whether the Union was saved or not. It is true that the war brought about the end of slavery, but that end was reached only when the destruction of the institution became a military necessity. President Lincoln saw that if the Union was to be saved slavery must perish, and he abolished it in the same spirit that he would have blown up one of the enemy's fortresses. Thus 1865.] UNION FOREVER. 559 the question of slavery and its abolition was really a side issue and not the main question of the war. The real question was that of the perpetuity of the Union. It was in this cause that the Union armies struggled hopefully through four dark years, in this that hundreds of thousands of gallant men shed their blood, in this that the republic spent its gold so freely. Let us hope that that which cost so much may be guarded by all as a sacred treasure, and that every parent may bring up his children to read aright the story of those bloody days, and inculcate in them a true love for that for which their fathers fought, the APPENDIX. CONFEDERATE FLAGS* THE first secession flags were raised in Charleston, when the news of President Lincoln's election reached there. These were*called Pal- metto flags, because they bore, in one form or another, the palmetto tree, the emblem of the State of South Carolina. Some of them had a blue, some a white, and some a red field, as shown in the colored plate, and some bore stars and some crescents. One of the earliest ones had a blue field, with a palmetto tree in the middle, and a single white star in the upper corner next to the staff. From this one originated the song ''The Bonnie Blue Flag," which " bears a single star" (page 572). Other stars were added as other States joined South Carolina in secession, until some flags had eleven, some thirteen, and some fifteen stars. One of the latest forms used in 1861 was adopted on the day the ordinance of secession was passed. It had a red field with a blue cross, charged with stars, the centre one, representing South Carolina, being the largest (see No. 5 in the plate). When North Carolina seceded, a red, white, and blue flag was adopt- ed, the colors being arranged as in the plate (No. 10). It bore a single white star in the red part, with the words May 20, 1775, above it, and May 20, 1861, below it. The first date is that of what is called the "Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence," in which the people of Mecklenburg County declared their independence of Great Britain; the other is the date of the secession of the State from the Union. In Georgia, the State flag was first hoisted — a white field bearing the State arms, the Temple of Liberty, with the word Constitution on the dome, and an armed man standing below (No. 11), but the "Stars and Bars," with the arms in the middle of the union (No. 12), was sometimes used. The Virginia State flag has a blue field, with the arms of the State in the middle, the figure of Liberty trampling on a figure which has lost its crown and sceptre, and beneath it the motto, Sic Semper Tyrannis," So may it always be with tyrants." The State flag of Louisiana before secession was white and bore the arms of the State, a pelican feeding her young on the nest. This was the flag hoisted on the day of secession, but objections were made to it in the convention which passed the act of secession, because the pelican is a filthy and cowardly bird, and a committee was appointed to choose a new flag. As Louisiana had belonged first to Spain, then to France, and lastly * gee colored plate, opposite page 562, 562 APPENDIX. to the United States, a flag made up of the three flags of those countries was adopted (No. 15), the red and yellow of the union being taken from that of Spain, the red, white, and blue of the stripes from that of France and the United States, and the general form from that of the United States. Other States used their State flags at first, though all did not have distinctive flags. When the Confederate Congress met at Montgomery, Alabama, in March, 1861, many devices were presented for flags for the new nation. Most of these were merely changed forms of the old flag, showing that a love for it still lingered in the hearts of the people; and the form finally chosen, called the " Stars and Bars," was only the flag of the Union in disguise (No. 1). Indeed, it was so nearly like it that it was often mis- taken for it, as in the first battle of Bull Run (page 98), and in September, 1861, a battle-flag was adopted — a red field charged with a blue saltier or St. Andrew's cross, with a narrow border of white, on which were thir- teen white stars (No. 2). In 1863 was adopted, in place of the Stars and Bars, a white flag with the battle-flag for a union (No. 3); but this having sometimes been mistaken for a flag of truce, a red bar was put on the outer half of the field (No. 4) in 1865. This was the last flag used by the Con- federacy. JOHN BROWN'S BODY. The music of this song is an old Methodist camp-meeting tune. In the spring of 1861, when the Boston Light Infantry were doing garrison duty in Fort Warren, in Boston Harbor, several of the members formed a glee club, and amused themselves by singing. The air now known as John Brown's song pleased them, and they tried to make for it words appro- priate to the times. The result was the first verse of the song, the words of which were fitted to the air by Mr. James E. Greenleaf, organist of the Harvard Church in Charlestown, who found the music among the church archives. This proved so acceptable to all, that Mr. C. S. Hall, of Charlestown, was requested to write more words, and he, as he says, added^ five more verses. Hall's Band was the first to play the tune in the fort, and Gilmore's Band the first to play it in Boston. The 12th Massa- chusetts was the first regiment to sing it in the streets of Boston and New York. It at once took a firm hold on the soldiers' hearts, spread rapidly from regiment to regiment, and became the favorite song of the Army of the Potomac. Attempts were made by several writers to improve the words, but the soldiers did not like the changes, and the original homely verses continued to the close of the war to enliven the march by day and to cheer the camp-fire by night. The words as generally sung in the army are as follows: John Brown's body lies a-mouldering in the grave, John Brown's body lies a-mouldering in the grave, John Brow r n's body lies a-mouldcring in the grave, But his soul is marching on! STARR AND TSARS. 1861. BATTLE FLAG. 1861. CONFEDERATE FLAG. 1868. CONFEDERATE FLAG. 1865. M ***Tf •**' _H_ SOUTH CAROLINA. 1861. SOUTH CAROLINA. 1861. i SOUTH CAROLINA. 1861. SOUTn CAROLINA. 1861. SOUTH CAROLINA. 1861. NORTH CAROLINA. 3861. JL GEORGIA STATE FLAG. GEORGIA. 1861. VIRGINIA STATE FLAG. LOUISIANA STATE FLAG. LOUISIANA. 1861. FLAGS OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES. APPENDIX. 563 Glory, glory, hallelujah! Glory, glory, hallelujah! Glory, glory, hallelujah! His soul is marching on. He's gone to be a soldier in the army of the Lord, He's gone to be a soldier in the army of the Lord, He's gone to be a soldier in the army of the Lord, But his soul is marching on! Glory, glory, etc. John Brown's knapsack is strapped upon his back, John Brown's knapsack is strapped upon his back, John Brown's knapsack is strapped upon his back, And his soul is marching on! Glory, glory, etc. His pet lambs will meet him on the way, His pet lambs will meet him on the way, His pet lambs will meet him on the way, As they go marching on! Glory, glory, etc. They'll hang Jeff Davis on a sour apple tree, They'll hang Jeff Davis on a sour apple tree, They'll hang Jeff Davis on a sour apple tree, As they go marching on ! Glory, glory, etc. Now three rousing cheers for the Union, Now three rousing cheers for the Union, Now three rousing cheers for the Union, As we go marching on ! Glory, glory, etc. SONG SUNG IN NORFOLK, VIRGINIA, IN 1861. Jeff Davis is a brave man, He will lead the Southern force, I pity Lincoln's soldiers, For I fear they will fare worse; He will show the Union shriekers The Union it is done — ■ The secession flag, ere many months, Will icave o'er Washington ! 564 APPENDIX. Jeff Davis in the White House, What glorious news 'twill be! Abe Lincoln in an inglorious flight, In a baggage-car we'll see ; With Seward as conductor, General Scott as engineer, Old Hicks,* the traitor governor, Following panting in the rear. HOME AGAIN. BY JEFF THOMPSON. My dear wife waits my coming, My children lisp my name, And kind friends bid me welcome To my own home again. My father's grave lies on the hill, My boys sleep in the vale; I love each rock and murmuring rill, Each mountain, hill, and dale. Home again! I'll suffer hardships, toils, and pain For the good time sure to come; I'll battle long that I may gain • My freedom and my home. I will return, though foes may stand, Disputing every rod : My own dear home, my native land, I'll win you yet, by God! Home again! HARDTACK. BY FRANCIS J. CHILD. Would you be a soldier, laddy? Come and serve old Uncle Sam! He henceforth must be your daddy, And Columbia j r our dam. Do you like salt-horse and beans? Do you know what hard-tack means? Jolty hard-tack, tack, tack, tack, That's the stuff you have to crack; * Governor Hicks of Maryland. APPENDIX. 56£ Do you like salt-horse and beans? Do you know what hard-tack means? That's the jolly stuff we soldiers have to crack, Hard-tack, hard-tack, and hard-tack! Do you want to be a soldier? Now's the time to put in play "What your good old granny told you Of the Revolution-day! What had their brave jaws to chew? Sometimes nothing — what have you? Jolly hard-tack, tack, tack, tack, That's the stuff you have to crack ; What had their brave jaws to chew? Sometimes nothing — what have you? What's the jolly stuff we soldiers have to crack? Hard-tack, hard-tack, and hard-tack! Want to be a soldier, do you? You must march through swamps and sludge, And, though balls go through and through you, Blaze away and never budge! But when muskets go crack, crack, Bite your cartridge and hard- tack! Jolly hard-tack, tack, tack, tack, That's the stuff you have to crack ; When the muskets go crack, crack, Bite your cartridge and hard-tack ! That's the jolly stuff we soldiers have to crack, Hard-tack, hard-tack, and hard-tack ! YE BALLADE OF MANS. LOVELL. Mans. Lovell he mounted Ins general's steed, All on the New Orleans levee; And he heard the guns of old Cockee Butler, A-sounding all over the sea — sea — sea — A-sounding all over the sea! "Oh! what shall I do?" Mans. Lovell he said— "Oh! what shall I do ?" said he; "For this Butler's an old Massachusetts man, And he'll liang up a traitor like me — me — me- He'll hang up a traitor like me!" 566 APPENDIX. Mans. Lovell he called for a brandy cock-tail, And galloped from off the levee; And he vamosed New Orleans, betwixt two days, As fast as his steed could flee — flee — flee — As fast as his steed could flee ! O Mansfield Lovell! you left New York A rebel and traitor to be ; But if ever you're caught by Cockee But-ler, Look out for your precious bod-ee — dee — dee- Look out for your precious bod-ee ! STONEWALL JACKSON'S WAY. This poem is said to have been found on the body of a sergeant of the Old Stonewall Brigade at Winchester. Come, stack arms, men ! Pile on the rails, Stir up the camp-fire bright; No matter if the canteen fails, We'll make a roaring night. Here Shenandoah brawls along, There burly Blue Ridge echoes strong, To swell the brigade's rousing song Of "Stonewall Jackson's way." We see him now — the old slouched hat Cocked o'er his eye askew, The shrewd, dry smile, the speech so pat, So calm, so blunt, so true. The "Blue-Light Elder" knows 'em well; Says he, " That's Banks — he's fond of shell; Lord save his soul! we'll give him" — well, That's "Stonewall Jackson's way." Silence! ground arms! kneel all! caps off ! Old Blue-Light's going to pray. Strangle the fool that dares to scoff! Attention ! it's his way. Appealing from his native sod In forma pauperis to God — Lay bare thine arm, stretch forth thy rod! Amen! That's " Stonewall's way." He's in the saddle now. Fall in! Steady — the whole brigade! Hill's at the ford, cut off! We'll win His way out — ball and blade. APPENDIX. 567 What matter if our shoes are "worn! What matter if our feet are torn ! Quick step! we're with him before dawn! That's " Stonewall Jackson's way." The sun's bright lances rout the mists Of morning, and, by George! There's Longstreet struggling in the lists, ' Hemmed in an ugly gorge. Pope and his Yankees whipped before — ■ "Bay 'net and grape!" hear Stonewall roar, "Charge, Stuart! Pay off Ashby's score!" That's " Stonewall Jackson's way." Ah, maiden! wait and watch and yearn For news of Stonewall's band ; Ah, widow ! read with eyes that burn That ring upon thy hand. Ah, wife! sew on, pray on, hope on; Thy life shall not be all forlorn : The foe had better ne'er been born Than get in " Stonewall's way." MY MARYLAND. The words of this song are by James R. Randall, a native of Balti- more, but a resident of Louisiana when the war began. They are said to have been written at Point Coupee, in April, 1861, and to have been first published in the New Orleans Delta. The music to which they are adapted is the German students' song, "O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum," com- monly sung by American students to the words "Lauriger Horatius." The despot's heel is on thy shore, Maryland! my Maryland! His torch is at thy temple door, Maryland! my Maryland! Avenge the patriotic gore, That flecked the streets of Baltimore, And be the battle-queen of yore, Maryland ! my Maryland ! Hark! to a wandering son's appeal, Maryland ! my Maryland ! My Mother State! to thee I kneel, Maryland! my Maryland! For life and death, for woe and weal, Thy peerless chivalry reveal, And gird thy beauteous limbs with steel, Maryland! my Maryland! 568 APPENDIX. Thou wilt not cower in the dust, Maryland! my Maryland! Thy beaming sword shall never rust, Maryland! my Maryland! Remember Carroll's sacred trust, Remember Howard's warlike thrust, And all thy slumberers with the just, Maryland! my Maryland! Come! 'tis the red dawn of the day, Maryland ! my Maryland ! Come! with thy panoplied array, Maryland! my Maryland! With Ringgold's spirit for the fray, With Watson's blood at Monterey, With fearless Lowe and dashing May, Maryland! my Maryland! Come! for thy shield is bright and strong, Maryland! my Maryland! Come! for thy dalliance does thee wrong, Maryland! my Maryland! Come to thine own heroic throng, That stalks with Liberty along, And give a new Key * to thy song, Maryland ! my Maryland ! Dear Mother! burst the tyrant's chain, Maryland! my Maryland! Virginia should not call in vain, Maryland! my Maryland! She meets her sisters on the plain — "Sic semper," 'tis the proud refrain That baffles minions back amain, Maryland! my Maryland! I see the blush upon thy cheek, Maryland! my Maryland! For thou wast ever bravely meek, Maryland ! my Maryland ! But lo ! there surges forth a shriek, From hill to hill, from creek to creek, Potomac calls to Chesapeake, Maryland! my Maryland! * Francis S. Key, of Maryland, author of " Star-Spangled Banner. APPENDIX. 569 Thou wilt not yield the Vandal toll, Maryland ! my Maryland ! Thou wilt not crook to his control, Maryland! my Maryland! Better the tire upon thee roll, Better the shot, the blade, the bowl, Than crucifixion of the soul, Maryland! my Maryland! I hear the distant thunder hum, Maryland ! my Maryland ! The Old Line bugle, fife, and drum, Maryland ! my Maryland ! She is not dead, nor deaf, nor dumb — Huzza! she spurns the Northern scum! She breathes — she burns! she'll come! she'll come! Maryland! my Maryland! THE BATTLE-CRY OF FREEDOM. This spirited song, one of the most popular ones sung by the Union soldiers, is by George F. Root, a native of Massachusetts, but a resident of Chicago at the time of the war. Both the words and the music are by him. It was first published in 1861, in Chicago. Yes, we'll rally round the flag, boys, we'll rally once again, Shouting the battle-cry of freedom, We'll rally from the hill-side, we'll gather from the plain, Shouting the battle-cry of freedom. Chorus. — The Union forever! Hurrah! boys, hurrah! Down with the traitor, up with the star. While we rally round the flag, boys, rally once again, Shouting the battle-cry of freedom ! We are springing to the call of our brothers gone before, Shouting the battle-cry of freedom, And we'll fill the vacant ranks with a million freemen more, Shouting the battle-cry of freedom. The Union forever, etc. We will welcome to our numbers the loyal, true, and brave, Shouting the battle-cry of freedom, And altho' they may be poor, not a man shall be a slave, Shouting the battle-cry of freedom. The Union forever, etc. 570 APPENDIX. So we're springing to the call from the East and from the West, Shouting the battle-cry of freedom, And we'll hurl the rebel crew from the land we love the best, Shouting the battle-cry of freedom. The Union forever, etc. FAREWELL TO THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER. This song was first published in the Richmond Enquirer, Jan, 29, 1861. It was frequently sung in the theatres of that city with great applause, almost up to the time of the evacuation, and it was also very popular in other parts of the Confederacy. The words are by "Nannie Grey" (Mrs. E. D. Hundley), the music by C. T. De Coenel. The words given below are copied from music published in Richmond. Let tyrants and slaves submissively tremble, And bow down their necks 'neath the juggernaut car; But brave men will rise in the strength of a nation, And cry " Give me freedom, or else give me war!" Chorus, — Farewell forever, the star-spangled banner No longer shall wave o'er the land of the free; But we'll unfurl to the broad breeze of Heaven Thirteen bright stars round the Palmetto tree. We honor, yes, honor, bold South Carolina: Though small she may be, she's as brave as the best, With flag-ship of State, she's out on the ocean Buffeting the waves of a dark billow's crest. Farewell forever, etc. We honor, yes, honor, our seceding Sisters, Who launched this brave bark alone on the sea; Though storms may howl and threaten destruction, We'll hurl to the blast the proud Palmetto Tree. Farewell forever, etc. And when to the conflict the others cry onward, Virginia will be first to rush to the fight, She'll break down the iceberg of Northern coercion, And rise in her glory of freedom and right. Farewell forever, etc. When the fifteen Sisters in bright constellation, Shall dazzling shine in a nation's emblem sky, With no hands to oppose nor foes to oppress them, They will shine forever, a light to every eye. Farewell forever, etc. APPENDIX. 571 DIXIE'S LAND. This song was written by Dan D. Eramett of Bryants' Negro Min- strels. It was first sung in New York City in 1860, and was published there in the same year. The melody being a very pleasing one and the words being well adapted to make it acceptable at tbe South, it became popular there; and on the outbreak of the war its music was played by every Southern military band, while its chorus, " In Dixie's land I'll take my stand, to lib and die in Dixie," was sung almost universally from Richmond to New Orleans. Its popularity in the South caused it to be discarded in the North, where its sale was stopped during the war. The common belief that it was originally a Southern song was early shown to be an error by a writer in the Charleston Courier (June 11, 1861). He says that the melody is an old Northern negro air, and that Dixie's land is properly Manhattan Island (New York Island) and not the South; that in the days of slavery in New York, one "Dixy" (Dix?) owned a large tract of land on Manhattan Island, where his slaves were so happy that when they were finally removed they looked back with regret to their old home, which they fondly called Dixy's Land. In the early days of negro minstrelsy any subject that could be made into a song was eagerly picked up, and the simple chant of the homesick negroes had a little added to it here and there until it grew into the present song and chorus. It is pos- sible that this rather fanciful story may have a grain of truth in it, but it is certain that both the melody and the words were first produced by Mr. Emmett in 1860. It seems more probable that Dixie's Land may have been suggested by Dixon's Line— that is, Mason and Dixon's Line, or the boundary line surveyed (1763-7) by two English engineers of those names between Pennsylvania and Maryland, and which was therefore the bound- ary between the free and the slave States. The first verse of Dixie's Land, as originally published, is as follows: I wish I was in de land ob cotton, Old times dar am not forgotten, Look away! look away! look away! Dixie Land. In Dixie Land whar I was born in, •Early on one frosty mornin', Look away! look away! look away! Dixie Land. Chorus. — Den I wish I was in Dixie, hooray! hooray! In Dixie Land I'll take my stand, to lib and die in Dixie, Away, away, away down South in Dixie, Away, away, away down South in Dixie. A few days after the Star of the West was fired on while trying to enter Charleston harbor (January, 1861), a ballad called "The Star of the West " was published in the Charleston Mercury, in which the first verse 572 APPENDIX. was identical with the above. The remaining two verses were as follows : In Dixie Land that frosty mornin', Jis 'bout de time de day was dawnin', Look away, etc. De signal fire from de east bin roarin', Rouse up, Dixie, no more snorin', Look away, etc. Chorus. — Den I wish I was in Dixie. De rocket high a blazin' in de sky, 'Tis de sign dat de snobbies am comin' up nigh, Look away, etc. Dey bin braggin' long, if we dare to shoot a shot, Dey comin' up strong and dey'll send us all to pot, Fire away, fire away, lads in gray. Chorus. — Den I wish I was in Dixie. These are the earliest words adapted in the South to the air of Dixie that the writer has been able to find. The most famous words are those written by General Albert Pike, a native of Massachusetts, but a resident of Arkansas during the war. General Pike was in the Confederate ser- vice, and commanded a body of Indians in the battle of Pea Ridge (page 197). His version of Dixie was first published in the Natchez (Miss.) Courier (May 30, 1861). The first verse is: Southrons, hear your country call you! Up, lest worse than death befall you! To arms! to arms! to arms in Dixie! Lo ! all the beacon fires are lighted, Let all hearts be now united! To arms! to arms! to arms in Dixie! Advance the flag of Dixie! hurrah! hurrah! For Dixie's land we take our stand, and live or die for Dixie! To arms! to arms! and conquer peace for Dixie! To arms! to arms! and conquer peace for Dixie! THE BONNIE BLUE FLAG. This song, one of the most popular of the Confederate airs, was writ- ten by Harry McCarthy, in 1861. The music is quite spirited, and it was played oftener by the Confederate bands than any other air, excepting Dixie. We are a band of brothers, and native to the soil, Fighting for our liberty with treasure, blood and toil, And when our rights were threatened, the cry rose near and far, Hurrah for the bonnie blue flag that bears the single star! APPENDIX. 573 Chorus. — Hurrah! hurrah! for Southern rights hurrah! Hurrah for the bonnie blue flag that bears the single star. As long as the Union was faithful to her trust, Like friends and like brethren, kind were we and just, But now when Northern treachery attempts our rights to mar, We hoist on high the bonnie blue flag that bears the single star. Chorus. — Hurrah, etc. First gallant South Carolina nobly made the stand ; Then came Alabama, who took her by the baud; Next, quickly, Mississippi, Georgia, and Florida, All raised on high the bonnie blue flag that bears the single star. Chorus. — Hurrah, etc. Ye men of valor, gather round the banner of the right; Texas and fair Louisiana, join us in the fight, Davis, our loved President, and Stephens statesmen are, Now rally round the bonnie blue flag that bears the single star. Chorus. — Hurrah, etc. And here's to brave Virginia! the Old Dominion State With the young Confederacy at length has linked her fate; Impelled by her example, now other States prepare To hoist on high the bonnie blue flag that bears the single star. Chorus. — Hurrah, etc. Then cheer, boys, cheer, raise the joyous shout, For Arkansas and North Carolina now have both gone out; And let another rousing cheer for Tennessee be given, The single star of the bonnie blue flag has grown to be eleven! Chorus. — Hurrah, etc. Then here's to our Confederacy! strong we are and brave; Like patriots of old, we'll fight our heritage to save; And rather than submit to shame, to die we would prefer, So cheer for the bonnie blue flag that bears the single star. Hurrah! hurrah! for Southern rights hurrah! Hurrah! for the bonnie blue flag has gained the eleventh star. TRAMP ! TRAMP ! TRAMP ! (The Prisoner's Hope.) This song, one of the most popular in the North during the war, is supposed to be sung by a captive in prison. It was a great favorite with the soldiers, the measured notes of its chorus making a fine marching tune. Both words and music were written by George F. Root, author of 574 APPENDIX. the "Battle-cry of Freedom" (p. 569), and were first published in Chicago in 1861. Mr. Root's two songs are published in this book by permission of Messrs. S. Brainard's Sons, Cleveland, O. In the prison-cell I sit, thioking, mother dear, of you, And our bright and happy home so far away, And the tears they fill my eyes, spite of all that I can do, Though I try to cheer my comrades and be gay. Chorus. — Tramp, tramp, tramp, the boys are marching, Cheer up, comrades, they will come; And beneath the starry flag we shall breathe the air again Of the freeland in our own beloved home. In the battle-front we stood when their fiercest charge they made, And they swept us off, a hundred men or more; But before we reached their lines they were beaten back dismayed, And we heard the cry of vict'ry o'er and o'er. Tramp, tramp, etc. So within the prison-cell we are waiting for the day That shall come to open wide the iron door, And the hollow eye grows bright, and the poor heart almost gay, As we think of seeing home and friends once more. Tramp, tramp, etc. INDEX. PAGE Abolitionists 18, 20, 315 Acquia Creek 129 Adams, John 8 Adams, John Quincy 12 Alabama Claims 407 Alabama, Secession of 44 Alabama, The. 403 Albemarle, Destruction of the 402 Albemarle Sound 147, 184, 187 Alexandria, La 421, 423, 424 Alexandria, Va 83, 84 Alien Law 8, 10 Allatoona Pass 460, 469 Amelia Court-House 533 Anderson, Robert, in Sumter in 1861 39, 42, 55, 62 in Kentucky 118 in Sumter in 1865. . . 502 Andersonville 488 Anecdotes. See Stories. Annapolis 66 Antietam, Battle of 284, 287 Anti-Federalists 6 Anti-Nebraska Men 25 Anti-Slavery Society 18 Appomattox Court House. .535, 539 Arkansas, Secession of 73 Arlington Heights 83, 84 Armored Lookout 250 Army of the Cumberland 459 The Grand 92 Punishments 312 of the Ohio 459 of the Potomac 138, 240 of Northern Virginia. 258, 539 of the Shenandoah 78 Sherman's 481, 496 of the Tennessee 459 Asboth, Gen 119, 199 Ashby, Turner 255 Atlanta Campaign 458 Destruction of 473 Importance of 464 is ours, and fairly won. 467 Atlanta, Ironclad, Capture of . . 392 PA(!E Auger, C. C, at Port Hudson. . 343 Averill, Gen., Defeated by Mor- gan 443 Avery sboro, Battle of 504 Bailey, Joseph, Bridges the At- chafalaya 425 Saves Porter's fleet 424 Bailey, Theodoras, at New Or- leans 220 Baker, E. D., Death of 132 Baltimore, Excitement in 448 Massachusetts Sol- diers Mobbed in. . 65 Overawed 69 Ball's Bluff, Battle of 131 Banks, N. P., and the Anvil Chorus 420 at Cedar Mountain 272 at Mansfield 422 at New Orleans 228 at Port Hudson 342 in the Shenandoah Val- ley 244 Succeeded by Canby. . . . 425 at Winchester 253 Banner of Secession 36 Barnard, Gen., at Yorktown . . . 246 Barron, S., at Hatteras Inlet. . . 146 Bates, Edward 53 Baton Rouge taken 229 Battery, Railway 69, 70 Batteries, Running, at Island Number Ten.. 204 at Vicksburg. ... 327 Battle above the Clouds 382 Battle-Cry of Freedom, Song. . 569 Beach Grove, Battle of 164 Beaver Dam Creek, Battle of. . . 264 Beaufort, N. C, Capture of . . . . 191 Beaufort, S. C 153, 155 Beauregard, P. G. T., at Charles- ton 55 at Corinth 207 Defeats Butler 442 576 INDEX. PAGE Beauregard, at Manassas 93 Proclamation by . . . 487 atShiloh 209, 212 and the Swamp Angel 397 Bee, Gen., at Bull Run 95, 96 Bell, Capt., at New Orleans 220 Belle Isle 431 Bells on War Vessels 411 Belligerents, Confederates as. 141, 142 Belmont, Battle of 123 Bentonsville, Battle of 504 Beige's Sharpshooters 173 Bermuda Hundred 442 Bio; Bethel. Battle of 88 Big Black River, Battle of 332 Big Sewell Mountain, W. Va. . 127 Big Tybee Island 155, 192 Bird's Point 104 Black Republicans 25 Blair, Frank P 74, 460, 481 Blair, Montgomery 53, 54 Blakely Gun and Powder 501 Blakely, Storming of Fort 511 Block-Houses.. 84, 85, 386 Blockade, Pressure of the 144 Proclamations 71 Runners 77, 145 Blue Bellies, Nickname 138 Blue Birds, Nickname 138 Bobolition, Massa 155 Boggs, Charles, and the Varuna 221 Bomb Firing 191, 193 Proofs 194 Bombardment of Fredericksburg 293 at Gettysburg. ... 363 of Vicksburg. . . . 337 Bonnie Blue Flag, Song. . .".528, 572 Books, Confederate 301 Boonville, Battle of 105 Booth, John Wilkes 542, 543 Border Ruffians 25 Boy Recruits, Confederate 306 Bovsin Blue 138 Boys in Gray 138 Bragg, Braxton, at Chattanooga 379 at Chickamauga 376 General-in-Chief 384 Invades Kentucky . .307, 308 at Missionary Ridge. . . . 384 at Murfreesboro 311 at Sbiloh 209 at Wilmington 494 Brashear City, Capture of 346 Breckinridge, John C 26, 32 at Baton Rouge. . 229 PAGE Breckinridge Defeats Sigel 443 Interview with Sherman 547 Joins Confeder- ates 118 at Murfreesboro.. 314 at Shiloh.. 209 Bridge-Building on the Chicka- hominy 258 Bristow Station, Fight at 273 Brooks, Preston S 25 Brown, John 28 Song 562 Brunswick Occupied 196 Buchanan, Franklin, in the Mer- rimac... 232 in the Tennessee. . . . 414 Buchanan, James 26, 34, 42, 45 Buchanan, McKean 239 Buckner, Simon B., at Fort Donelson .172, 177 in Kentuckv 117 Buell, Don C, at Corinth 215 at Shiloh 210, 213 Pursues Bragg 309 in Kentucky 117, 161 Marches from Nashville. 208 Removed from Command 311 Bull Run, Battle of 92 Monument 103 Second Battle of 274 Straggler from 100 Bullet Proofs 445 Bummers, Sherman's 483 Burbridge, Gen., Defeats Morgan 426 Burns, John, at Gettysburg 368 Burnemside's Boys 189 Burnside, Ambrose E., at Antie- tam 286 Called to Washington 298 Commander of Army of the Potomac 290 at Fredericksburg. 292, 297 atKnoxville 3S0, 384 at Roanoke 184 at New Berne 188 at Petersburg 453 Resignation of 299 at Turner's Gap 281 in the Wilderness 436 Butler, Benjamin F. , at Annap- olis 66 at Bermuda Hundred . . 457 Bottled up 442 at Hatteras Inlet 145 INDEX. mi PAGE Butler, B. F., Advances toward Richmond 435, 442 Defeated bv Beauregard 442 at Fort Fisher 493, 494 at Fortress Monroe. . .79, 86 Lands in Annapolis 66 Marches to Baltimore. . 69 at New Orleans 227 Opens Railway to Wash- ington 67 and Slavery 316 Butternuts, Nickname 137 Buttons for Lunch 82 Cabell, Gen., Captured 426 Cairo, Importance of 104 Calhoun, John C 13, 15, 23 Tomb of 37 Camden, Battle of 192 Cameron, Simon 52 Camp Beach Grove 162 Chase 430 Douglas 430 Life 134 at Night, Sherman's. .... 484 Wildcat 160 Campbell, John A 515 Canal, Dutch Gap. * 457 at Island Number Ten. . 204 at Vicksburg 326 Canby, E. R. S. . . .' 425, 508 Cannon Trucks 202 Cane Fear River 192 Carnifex Ferry, Battle of 126 Carr, Gen., at Pea Ridge 199 Carthage, Battle of 106 Casey, Gen. 257 Cass, Lewis 35 Caves in Port Hudson 345 in Vicksburg 335 Cedar Creek, Battle of 452 Cemeteries, National 556 Centre ville, Confederates Fortify 128 Picnic at 99 Chalmette 225 Chambersburg, Burning of. .450, 451 Taking of 356 Champion Hills, Battle of 332 Chaucellorsville, Battle of 349 Chantilly, Battle of 274 Chattanooga 375, 379 Chaplin's Hills, Battle of 309 Charleston, Burning of 500 Defences of 390 Evacuated by Har- dee 500 PAGE Charleston, Gillmore Attacks... 395 Naval Attack on... . 389 Naval Raid at 389 Public Property Seized in 41 Stone Fleet at 156 Chartres, Due de 244, 270 Chase, Salmon P. 52, 175 Chattahoochie River, Passage of the 462 Cheraw, Entry into. 503 Cheat Mountain, W. Va. 127 Cheatham, Benjamin F 124 Chickahominy, The 256 Battle of the... 265 Grant on the. . 444 McClellan on the 250 Chickamauga, Battle of 376 Christmas in the South, 1862 . . 302 Christmas in Richmond, 1863. . 429 Christmas in Richmond, 1864. . 516 Cipher Messages 545 Clay, Henry 16, 23 Clay, James B 118 Cleburne, Gen., Death of 479 Clem, Johun v 378 Clinch, Fort,' Occupied 195 Cloths, Home-made 301 Coffins Wanted 64 Cold Harbor, Battle of 445 Collins, Napoleon, Takes the Florida. 405 Colonies, Congress of the 3 Northern and South- ern 2 Thirteen 1 Columbia, Burning of 499 Columbus, Ga. , Capture of 509 Columbus, Ky., Evacuation of.. 181 Fortified 122 Seized by Polk. 116 Comfort, Old Point 86 Commissioners, Confederate... 53 Compromise, Constitution a 5 Crittenden 35 Missouri 12 Tariff 16 Compromise of 1850 23 Confederacy in 1863 428 Confederacy in 1865 513 Confederate Badge 48 Confidence 101 Congress, Meeting of 77 Hopes 354 578 INDEX. PAGE Confederate States 45 Privations 300 Confederation of 1778 4 Confeds, Nickname 137 Congress Destroyed by Merri- mac 233 Congress, Peace 47 Resolution of 102 Conscription. 320 Constitution, Frigate 66 Constitution, The 5, 6 Contraband, Disgusted 87 Contraband, Politic 114 Contrabands 86, 316, 416 Convention of 1787 4 Hartford 11 Nullification 15 Secession 35 Copperheads 478 Corcoran, Michael 141 Corduroy Roads 502 Corinth. 310 Battle of 310 Confederates at 207 Occupied 215 Corps Badges 347 Cotton Burning 224, 498, 509 King... 77 Stealing Raid, A 424 Costume, Secession Lady's.. 80, 81 Couch, Gen " 257 Crampton's Gap, Battle of . . . . 282 Craven, Capt , 410 Crittenden Compromise 35 Crittenden, Geo. B. , in Ken- tucky 162 Crittenden, John J 35 Crittenden, Thomas L 161, 307 Crook, Gen., Defeated by Early. 450 in West Virginia.. 443 Croxton, Gen., Raid in Ala- bama ...509, 510 Culpepper Court- House. . . .355, 371 Cumberland, Army of the 309 Cumberland, Frigate, Saved. .70, 71 Sunk by Merrimac 233 Currituck Sound 187 Curtis, Samuel R., in Mis- souri 197, 426 Gushing, Wm. B., Destroys the Albemarle 402 Custis, Mrs. Martha 262 Cynthiana, Fight at 426 Dahlgren, John A., at Charleston 394 Ulric 431,432 PAGE Dalton, Johnston at. 458 Dam, Red River 424 Dana, Charles A., Ass't Secre- tary of War ... 555 Darnstown, Fight at 131 Davis, C. H., Succeeds Commo- dore Foote 216 Davis, Jefferson 45, 46, 47 and Atlanta 468 at Bull Run 99 at Danville 533, 549 Dissatisfaction with 514 Capture of 552 Flight of 549 Gets Lee's Despatch. .. . 524 Opinion of the Emanci- pation Proclamation. . 319 Pardon of 553 Proclamation of at Dan- ville 549 Reward for 551 Removes to Richmond.. 78 and the Story of the Wo- man's Clothes 552 at Vicksburg 229 Visits Bragg. ...311, 380, 382 Davis, Jefferson C 481 at Jefferson City 115 at Pea Ridge 199 Davis, John, and the Powder Keg 187 Decoration, Kearny 275 Democratic Party .7, 12 Division of. . 32 and Slavery.. 22 Democratic Republicans 6 De Peyster, Johnston 529, 530 Deserters. Confederate 513 Dinwiddie Court-House, Fight at -517 Dix, John A 44 Medal 45 Dixie's Land, Song.' 528, 571 Donaldsonville Bombarded. . . . 229 Donelson.'Fort, Siege of 172 Douglas, Stephen A 32, 51 Drafting 321, 554 Drainsville, Fight near 138 Drayton, Percival, at Mobile Bay 409 at Port Royal 153 Drayton, T. F., at Port Royal 153 Dred Scott Case 26 Drummer Boy of Fredericks- burg 294 of Vicksburg. . 334 INDEX. 579 PAGE Dug Spring, Battle of 107 Dupont, S. F., Attacks Charles- ton 389 in Georgia and Florida 195 at Hilton Head. 152 Eagle, Pet 485 Early, Jubal, Attacks Washing- ton 449 at Bull Run 98 at Chancellors- ville 350 in Maryland 448 at Opequan Creek 451 Eastport, Sinking of the 423 Elkhorn, Battle of 200 Ellet, Charles, Jr 217 Ellsworth, Col., Death of 85 Emancipation, in North and South 17 Proclamations. 318, 319 and Slavery.. .. 315 Epigram, Confederate 64 on Gen. Halleck 291 Ericsson, John 235, 238 Evans, Gen., at Ball's Bluff.. . . 131 Ewell, 11. S., at Cedar Moun- tain 272 at Culpeper 355 BurnsRichniond 527 Capture of 535 at Gettysburg . .. 360, 363 in the Wilder- ness 435 Wounded 274 Fairfax, Donald M 157 Fair Oaks, Battle of 257, 258 Farewell to the Star-Spangled Banner, Song 570 Farragut, David G 43 at Mobile Bay 408 at New Orleans 218 at Port Hudson 343 in the Shrouds 409 Fayetteville, Sherman at 503 Federal Government, The 4, 6 Party 7,10, 11 Federalists 6 Feds, Nickname 138 Fernandina Occupied 196 Filibustering 27 Finnegan, Gen., at Olustee 400 PAGB Fire Rafts 219 Fisher's Hill, Battle of 451 Fishing Creek, Battle of 164 Five Forks, Battle of 520 Flag, a False 109 Firing on the 43 of Fort Macon 191 New Confederate 393 Flags, Confederate 561 Floating Battery, Charleston . 56, 58 Florida, Secession of 44 Florida, The 405 Floyd, John B 34, 42 at Fort Donelson. . .172, 177 in West Virginia 126 Foote, Andrew Hull, at Fort Donelson 176 at Fort Henry 166, 168 at Island Number Ten. 203 at Fort Pillow 216 Preaches in Cairo 171 Foragers, Sherman's 483 Foraging 135 Forge, Army 164 Forrest, N. B., Defeated by Wilson 509 at Fort Donelson 177 at Fort Pillow 417 in Memphis 419 at Paducah 417 in Tennessee 307 Forts and Fortresses 85 Fortress Monroe 85 Foster, John G., at New Berne. 188 in North Carolina 398 at Roanoke 184 Fox, G. V., Assistant Secretary of Navy 54, 555 France, S3'mpathy for 8 Troubles with 8 Franklin, Battle of 479 Franklin, Win. B., at Antietam 286 at Crampton's Gap. . . 282 at Fredericksburg 296 Capture and Escape of 449 in the Peninsula 250 Frazier's Farm, Battle of 268- Frederick City, McClellan's Wel- come in 280 Fredericksburg, Battle of 296 Free-Soil Party 21, 24 Free Trade 13 Frietchie, Barbara 278 Fremont, John C, at Cross Keys 254 580 INDEX. PAGE Fremont, J. C, in Command in the West 106 Marches against Price 119 for President 476 Proclamation 113 and Slavery 316 Succeeded by Hunter 121 French Princes 244, 270 Fuse Plugs, Whittling 194 Fugitive Slave Law 23 Funeral, Suspicious 82 Gadsden, Christopher 3 Gaines's Mills, Battle of. . ..265, 266 Galveston, Taking of 230 Game, Frightened 314, 350 Gardner, Colonel 38 Gardner, Frank K., at Port Hudson 344 Garfield, James A., Defeats Marshall 161 Garland, Gen., Death of 282 Garnett, Robert S., Death of. . . 91 Garrison, William Lloyd 18 Georgetown 83 Georgia, Secession of 44 Gettysburg, Battle of 358 Gibson, Randal L., at Mobile . 510 Gilmor, Harry, in Maryland. . . 449 Gillmore, Quincy A., at Charles- ton 395 at Fort Pulaski 193 Succeeds Hunter 392 Glendale, Battle of 268 Gold, Changes in Price of 476 Goldsboro, Sherman in 504 Taking of 496 Goldsborough, Louis M 184 Gordonsville 272 Gosport Navy Yard, Ships Sunk at 70 Grand Gulf 329, 330 Granger, Gordon, at Mobile 511 Grant, U. S., in Army of the Tennessee 306 Asks Leave of Absence. 305 at Belmont. 123 Changes his base 446 at Chattanooga 380 on the Chickahominy. . 444 at Corinth 309 Early Life 117 at Fort Donelson 172 and Lee 538 Lieutenant-General 433 at Petersburg 456 Plan of Campaign 434 PAGE Grant, U. S. , Plan to take Vicks- burg 324 Crosses the Rapidan 435 Second in Command 215 and Sherman 468 at Shiloh 210, 211, 213 at Spottsylvania 437 and the Steamboat Men.. 341 Writes to Lee 535 Graybacks, Nickname 137 Grape and Canister Shot 409 Great Britain, Trouble with 10 Greble, John T., Death of 89 Greenbacks 476 Gregg, Fort, Storming of 521 Grenades, Hand 385 Grierson, Benjamin H., Raid in Mississippi 328 Defeated by Forrest.. 419 Groveton, Battle of 274 Gunboat Fight near Fort Pillow 216 before Memphis 217 Guns, Moving Heavy 202 Spiking 204 Gun Town, Fight at 419 Haines's Bluff, Sherman At- tacks 330, 333 Halleck, Henry W., Angry at Grant 207 Chief of Staff 434 at Corinth 215,305 Epigram on . 291 Finds Fault with Meade 371 General-in-chief 271 Insults Gen. Sherman 548 Interferes with Grant and Foote 180 in Missouri 121 Visits McClellan's House 276 Hamilton, Alexander 7 Hampton, Wade, in South Caro- lina 496 Hancock, Winfield S., at Cold Harbor 445 Decides to fight at Gettysburg 360 at Gettysburg 365 at Petersburg 456 at Spottsylvania.... 439 in the Wilderness. . . 435 at Williamsburg. . . . 249 Hanover Court-House, Battle at 252 Hardee, W. J., Evacuates Charleston 500 INDEX. 581 PAGE Hardee, W. J., in Kentucky. . . 308 at Savannah 489, 490 at Shilob 209 Hardin, Col., Captures Davis.. 552 Hard-Tack 135 Hard-Tack, Poem by F. J. Child 564 Harper's Ferry, Evacuation of . 69 Importance of. 78 Taken by John Brown 28 Taken by Stone- wall Jackson 282 Harney, William S 75 Harris, Rev. Matthias 40, 502 Harrison, William Henry 20 Hartford Convention 11 Hartford on Fire, Ship 222 Hartsuff, Gen., at Antietam. . . . 285 Hatchie River, Battle of 310 Hatteras Inlet 184, 187 Expedition to.... 145 Havelocks 80 Hayne, Robert Young 14 Hazen, Gen., Takes Fort Mc- Allister 490 Heintzelman, Gen 242, 257 Helena, Ark. , Attacked 342 Henry, Fort, Capture of 166 Henry, Mrs. Judith, Story of . . 96 Hill, A. P., Death of 521 at Fredericksburg. 355 at Gaines's Mills.. 265 at Gettysburg 361 ' at Gordonsville. . . 272 in the Wilderness. 435 Hill, D. H, at Big Bethel 88 at Gaines's Mills. . 265 in North Carolina. 398 at Seven Pines... 257 Hilton Head 152 Hindman, Fort, Taken by Sher- man 326 Hoke, R. F., at Kinston 496 at Plymouth 400 Holly Springs, Captured by Van Dorn 325 Holt, Joseph 43 Holystone 412 Home Again, Poem by Jeff Thompson 564 Hood, J. B., Attacks Sherman. 464 at Atlanta 467 at Chancellors- vide 350, 352 Flies from Ten- nessee 480 PAGE Hood, J. B., at Franklin 478 at Gettysburg 362 Marches toward Tennessee 469 at Nashville 479 Succeeds Johnston 463 Hooker, Joseph E., at Antietam 285 Commands Army of the Potomac 299 at Fredericksburg. 292,346 at Lookout Mountain. 381 at Williamsburg 249 Hotel de Vicksburg 338 Howard, O. O., at Ckaucellors- ville 350 at Fair Oaks 258 with Sherman 481 Succeeds McPhersou. . 466 Howe, Orion P 334 Huger, Benjamin 185, 264 Hunter, David, in Department of the South 194 at Piedmont 443 Succeeds Fremont. .. . 121 Succeeds Sigel 443 and Slavery 316 Hunter, R, M. T 515 Huntsville Taken 215 Hurlbut, Gen., at Shiloh 211 Huts, Soldiers' 138, 139 Imboden, Gen., at Gettysburg.. 366 Imperial, Steamboat 345 Indians at Pea Ridoe 197, 200 Island Number Ten... 116, 201, 205 Irishman at Bull Run, Story of. 97 Iron-Clads. See War Ships Iron-clad Rams built in Eng- land 406 Iron-clad Vessels. . . 231 Islands, Mississippi River. ..... 201 Iuka, Battle of 310 Jackson, Andrew. '. 13 Jackson, Camp, Seizure of 74 Jackson, Miss., Capture of. .331, 342 Jackson, Governor, of Missouri 105 Jackson, H.R.,in West Virginia 128 Jackson, James T., Death of... 85 Jackson, Stonewall, at Bull Run 95 at Cedar Mountain 272 at Chancellorsville 350 at Chantilly 274 Death of 351 Defeats Banks 254 Early Life of 253 582 INDEX. PAGE Jackson, Stonewall, Defeated at Kernsiown 244 at Fredericksburg 296 in Frederick City 278 at Harper's Ferry. .79, 281 Pursues McClellan. . . 267 at Second Bull Run... 274 in Shenandoah Valley 254 Jacksonville Occupied 196 James River, Grant Crosses . . . 447 Jefferson City 105 Jefferson, Thomas 7, 10 John Brown's Body, Song.. 473, 562 Johnnies, Nickname 137 Jolmny Reb, Nickname 138 Jobnson, Fort 39, 56 Johnson, Andrew, Gov. of Ten- nessee 180 President 544 Johnson, Reverdy, Portrait of. . 330 Johnston, Albert S., Death of. . 211 in Kentucky 165 Retreats from Nash- ville 179 at Sbiloh 209 in Tennessee 207 Johnston, Bradley, in Maryland 449 Johnston, Edward, in West Vir- ginia 128 Johnston, Joseph E., at Atlanta 463 at Bull Run 96 at Dalton 458 Evacuates Harper's Ferry 91 at Fair Oaks 257 Hears of Lincoln's Death 546 at Harper's Ferry 78 Interview with Sher- man 547 in Mississippi 327 Succeeded by Hood.. 463 Succeeds Beaure- gard 503, 515 Succeeds Bragg 384 Surrender of 548 at Yorktown 248 Joinville, Prince de 244, 270 Jubilee, De Day ob 417 Kansas-Nebraska Bill 24 Kansas Troubles 25 Kearny, Philip, Death of 274 Early Life of 275 at Williamsburg 249 Kenesaw Mountain 460, 462 PAGB Kentuckians at Shiloh 214 Kentucky, Bragg's Raid in 308 Refuses to Secede. . 76 Resolutions 9 Sham Secession of . . 160 Kernstown, Battle of. 450 Keyes, E. D 242, 257 Kilpatrick, Judson, Defeated by Hampton 503 Raid in Virginia 431 with Sherman 482 Kinney, J. C, at Mobile Bay... 410 King Cotton 77 Kite with a Valuable Tail 83 Knocked down Temporarily. . . 60 Knoxville, Siege of 384 Lady Davis, Privateer 140 Fafayette, Fort 133 Laird, Builder of the Alabama. 406 Lane. James H 114 Laws, Alien and Sedition 9 Personal Liberty 23 Lee, Custis, Capture of 535 Lee, Eddy, the Drummer Boy.. Ill Lee, Robert E., Advises Evacu- ation of Richmond 521 at Antietam 284 Brigadier-General 78 Campaign against Pope. . . 272, 277 Captures John Brown. .. . 30 at Chancellorsville 350 at Cold Harbor 445 Commander-in-Chief 514 Crosses the Potomac 277 at Fredericksburg 292 Home of 84 LastAttack on Union Lines 518 Major-General of Virginia. 78 Marches Northward 355 on the North Anna 441 in Pennsylvania 357 at Petersburg 456 Retreat from Petersburg. . 533 in South Carolina 128 at Spottsylvania 437, 440 Surrender of 533, 540 in Western Virginia. . ..89, 126 in the Wilderness 435 Lee, Mrs. R. E 262 Lee, W. H. F., Wounded 356 Leesburg, Battle of 133 Lewinsville, Fight at 131 Lexington, Mo., Siege of 114 LibbyPrison 431, 531, 532 INDEX. 583 Liberty Party 20 Liberty, Mo., Seizure of Arse- nal at 74 Lidell, St. John, Gen., at Mobile 511 Lighthouse, Mobile 413, 414 Lincoln, Abraham, Anecdotes of 68, 349 Assassination of 542 Cabinet of 52 Calls for Volunteers. . 63 Debate with Douglas. 50 Early Life of 50 Inaugural Address of. 52 Inauguration of 50 Letter of 317 Meets Confederate Commissioners 515 Monument of 544 Nominated for Presi- dent 32 Opposes McClellan... 242 Order by 242 Re-elected President.. 478 in Richmond 541 to Sherman 468 Visited by Sherman . . 505 and Slavery 315 Visits the Army 270 Visits McClellau's House 276 Lincoln, Robert 542 Liquors, Home-made 302 Little Bethel 88 Little Cheat River, Skirmish at. 91 Little Washington Attacked. . . 398 Locomotive, a Disabled 67 Logan, John A 496 Longstreet, James, at Appomat- tox 537 at Chickamauga. . . 376 at Culpepper 355 at Gaines's Mills . . . 265 at Gettysburg.. 361, 363 at Knoxville...380, 384 at Seven Pines 257 in the Wilderness. . 436 at Williamsburg. . . 249 Lookout Mountain 381 Louisiana, Secession of 44 Loveli, Ballade of Mans 565 Lovell, Mansfield, at New Or- leans 219, 224 Lunch Basket, Suspicious 82 Lundy, Benjamin 18 Lynch, W. F., at Roanoke 185 Lyons, Lord 159 PAGE Lyon, Nathaniel, Seizes Camp Jackson 74 at Wilson's Creek 109 in Command in Missouri 105 Macon, Fort, Capture of 191 Madison, James 10 Maffitt, John N., in the Florida 405 Magruder, J. B., at Hampton. . 79 at Richmond 264 at Yorktown 246 Mahone, Gen., at Appomattox.. 537 Malvern Hill, Battle of 268 Manassas, Confederates at 130 Confederates leave. . 243 Junction 78, 93 News from 188 Second Battle of 274 Mansfield, Battle of 422 Mansfield, Gen., Death of 285 March to the Sea 475 Marietta 460, 462 Marmaduke, Gen, Captured... 426 Marshall, Humphrey 118, 161 Martello Towers 155 Mason, James M 156, 159 Massachusetts Sixth Regiment. 65 Eighth Regiment 66 Twelfth Regi- ment 562 Marye's Hill, Assault on 296 Mary's Caps 81, 82 Maryland Heights 2S2 Maryland, My Maryland, Song. 277 Maryland, First Confederate In- vasion of 277 Mattapony River 240 Maury, D. H., at Mobile. . .508, 511 McAllister, Fort, Attack on ... „ 388 Storming of Fort.. 490 McCall, Gen 131, 266 McClellan, George B., at Au- tietam 284 Begged to Save the Army ... 276 Crosses the Chicka- hominy 256 Called to Command 103 Change of Base. .. . 265 Farewell Address.. 290 Follows Lee 289 in Frederick City.. 280 General-in-Chief of the Armies 138 at Harrison's Land- ing 269 584 INDEX. PAGE McClellan, George B., Organizes the Army 241 Plan of Campaign.. 242, 246 for President 477 Removed from Gen- eral Command. . . 243 Removed from Com- mand of Army of Potomac 290 in Western Virginia 89 Pies 135 McClernand, John H., at Bel- mont. 123 at Corinth 215 at Fort Donelson 175, 177 Removed from Command 334 at Shiloh 211 at Vicksburg 325 McCook, Alex. McD 161, 375 McCook, Daniel 375 McCook, Robert L 375 McCulloch, Ben., at Carthage.. 106 Death of 199 at Pea Ridge 197 McDowell,Irvin,in Command of Army of Potomac 92 in Command of De- partment of Rap- pahannock 245 at Fredericksburg.. . 252 with McClellan 242 in Shenandoah Val- ley 254 Mcintosh, Gen., Death of 199 McKinstry, Gen 119 McPherson, James B., in Atlan- ta Campaign. . . . 459 Commands Army of the Tennessee 434 Death of 465 at Raymond 331 at Vicksburg 333 Meade, Geo. G. , Crosses Rapidan 435 at Fredericksburg 296 at Gettysburg 361 Halleck Finds Fault with 371 Succeeds Hooker 357 Mechanicsville, Battle of 264 Medal, Dix 45 Memphis, Fortifications of 207 Occupied 217 Sherman in 306 PAGE Men-of-War. See War Ships. Meridian Expedition 415 Merrimac, Iron-clad 70, 231, 250 Mervine, William 140 Methodist Regiment, The 332 Mexican War 21 Mexico, French in 354 Miles, Col., Death of 282, 283 Mill Spring, Battle of 162 Milledgeville, Sherman in 486 Millen, Prison Pen at. 487, 488 Milliken's Bend, Fight at 342 Millions for Defence 8 Milroy, Robert H 128, 253, 356 Mines at Vicksburg 336 Missionary Ridge 381, 383 Mississippi, Army of the 325 Mississippi, Secession of 44 Missouri Compromise 12 Missouri, Last Invasion of 426 Mitchell, Ormsby M 161, 214 Mobile and its Bay 407, 508 Capture of 512 Defences of 510 Money, Confederate Paper 302, 500, 513 Cotton 306 Monitor, The 234 Monocacy, Battle of the 448 Monroe, Fortress 85 The Monitor at 234 Monroe, James 11 Montgomery, State-House at. . . 46 Wilson in 509 Morehead City, Capture of . . . . 191 Morgan, John H., Capture of.. 374 Captures by 312 Death of 427 Defeated 373 Early Life 181 Joins Confederates 118 Marriage of 311 Raid in Kentucky 307, 426 Raid in Ohio 373 Mortars 193 Mortar Boats 203 Schooners 218, 221 Mosby, John S. , Captures Gen. Stoughton 347 Mosquito Fleet 152 Moultrie, Fort 38, 39, 56 Mount Stirling, Fight at 426 Mount Vernon 128 Mule Meat 338 Mulligan, James A., Defends Lexington 114 INDEX. 585 PAGE Mulligan, James A., Death of. . 450 Mumford, Wra. B., and the Union Flag. 226, 227 Mumfordsville, Battle of 308 Munson's Hill 128, 130 Murfreesboro, Battle of 313 Muskets at Gettysburg 367 Musketry Fire, Terrible 441 Myer, Albert J 470 My Maryland, Song 567 Napoleon III. Offers Mediation 354 Rumors about. . . 515 Nashville Attacked 311 Confederates Evacu- ate 179 Natchitoches, La 421 National Debt 476 National Republican Party. ... 12 Naval Academy. Removed to Newport 140 Affairs , 140 Navy. See War Ships. Neckties, Jeff Davis's 415 Negley, Gen., Defends Nashville 311 Negro and Ambulance, Story of 100 Negro Soldiers 430, 531 Negroes in Richmond 531 Follow Sherman 482 New Berne Attacked 398 Capture of 188 Daily Progress 189 New Hope Church 460 New Madrid 201, 205 Pillow at 116 New Orleans, Capture of 218 New York Seventh Regiment . . 66 Newport News, 87 Newspaper, An Old 196 Norfolk Evacuated 250 North Anna River 240 Lee on the 441 North Carolina, Coast of 192 Secession of. . . 73 Northern Determination 101 North and South, Wealth of . . . 13 Nullification 10, 14, 15 Oak Bluff, Battle of 110 Occoquan River 240 Ohio, Army of the 309 Okolona, Fight at 417 Old Abe, the War Eagle 485 Old Hundred in Camp 332 Old Ironsides Saved 66 Old Probabilities 470 PAGE Olustee, Battle of 400 Omnibus Bill 22 On to Richmond 92 Opequan Creek, Battle of 451 Ord, E. O. O, at Drainsville. . . 138 at Hatchie River 310 Succeeds McClernand 334 Osterhaus, P. J 481 Pack Mules 482 Paducah, Ky., Occupied 117 Paine, Lieutenant, Saves a Drowning Man 353 Palmetto Tree 36 Pamlico Sound 147, 184 Pamunkey River 240 Paper in the South, Scarcity of. 301 Parke, John G., at New Berne. 188 at Roanoke 184 Succeeds Burnside 454 Paris, Comte de 244, 270 Parsons, Joe 288 Parties, Rise of 6 Patterson, Robert, at Chambers- burg 83 Crosses the Potomac 91 Marches to Charles- town 91, 96 Paulding, Hiram 70 Pea Ridge, Battle of 197, 200 Peace Commissioners, Confed- erate 515 Peace Congress 47 Peace Party 355 Peck, Oscar, Powder-boy 221 Pegram, Surrender of Colonel 90, 91 Pemberton, John C 311, 324 Peninsula Campaign 240 Pensacola 48 Personal Liberty Laws 23 Perryville, Battle of 309 Petersburg, Attack, on 447 Entry into 522 Grand Assault at.. 520 Mine at 453 Petrel, Privateer 140, 142 Petticoats, Suspicious 80, 81 Pettigrew, Gen., at Gettysburg 364 Pets, Soldiers' 485 Phelps, J. W., on Ship Island.. 218 Philadelphia, Panic in 356 Philippi, Skirmish at 90 Pickens Fort 48, 147 Pickens, Governor 38 Picket Talks. 258, 302 586 INDEX. PAGE Pickett, Gen. , at Gettysburg. . . 364 Pierce, Franklin 24 Pigeon, Pet 485 Pike, Albert 197, 572 Pillow, Gen., at Fort Donelson 172, 177 at New Madrid 116 Pillow, Fort 207 Massacre at 417, 418 Pinckney, Castle 38 Pittsburg Landing 207 Battle of.... 209 Pleasant Hill, Battle of 423 Pleasanton, Gen., Attacks Stu- art 356 in Missouri 426 Plymoutb, Loss of 400 Polk, James Knox 20 Polk, Leonidas, at Chickamau- ga 376 at Columbus 116, 123 Death of 461 Early Life 113 in Kentucky 308 at Shiloh 209 Politicians and the Negro 492 Pontoon Bridges at Fredericks- burg 293 Pope, John, Address to Army. 271 Captures New Madrid. . . 202 at Corinth 215 at Fort Pillow 216 in Missouri 115 Returns West 276 at Second Bull Run 274 at Washington 274 Popular Sovereignty 23 Port Gibson, Battle of 330 Port Hudson, Siege of 342 Port Royal 152, 153 Porter, David 169 Porter, David D., Destroys the Arkansas 230 at Fort Fisher 493 at New Orleans 218, 226 in Red River Expedition 420, 423 at Vicksburg 326, 327 Porter, Fitz John, at Antietain 286, 287 at Beaver Dam Creek.. 264 Dismissed from Service 276, 277 at Hanover Court- House 252 in the Peninsula 250 Porter, William D 169 PAGE Postage Stamps, Confederate . . 78 Potomac, Army of the. 129, 244, 296 Blockade of the 128 Grand Army of the. . 240 Quiet on the 134 Powder Boat at Fort Fisher. . . . 493 Powell, Lewis Payne .... 543 Prentiss, Gen., at Shiloh 211, 212, 213 Preston, William, Joins Con- federates 118 Price, Sterling, at Corinth 215 Invades Missouri 425 at Holly Springs 309 at Lexington 114 at Pea Ridge 199 Retreats from Springfield 197 in Springfield 121 Prices in Richmond in 1863 429 in 1865.... 516 Prison Camps 430 Prisoners, Attempts to Rescue. 431 Treatment of 429 Pritchard, Col., Captures Davis, 552 Privateers. See War Ships. Privateers, Confederate. 72, 140, 402 Last of the 406 Prizes, Naval 143 Proclamation, Blockade 71 Emancipation.. . 318, 319 by Davis 72 Protection 13, 15 Pulaski, Siege of Fort 192 Quaker Guns at Corinth 216 at Munson'sHill. 130 at Port Hudson. . 345 Raid, John Brown's 28 Railway Budding in Maryland. 67 Rail\va3 r s, How to Destroy 415 Rally Round the Flag, Boys. . . 337 Rams 216 Randolph, John 17 Rapidan River 240 Rappahannock River 240 Rathbone, H. R 542 Raymond, Battle of 331 Rebs, Nickname 137 Reconstruction 557 Red River Expedition 420 Reno, Jesse D, Death of 282 at Elizabeth City 191 at New Berne 188 at Roanoke 184 Republican Party (old) 7 INDEX. mi PAGE Republican Party (of 1856) 25 Resaca, Johnston at 460 Retreat from Gettysburg 366 from Mill Spring 163 fromShiloh 213 Reynolds, John F. ( Death of. . . 360 Reynolds, Joseph J., in West Virginia 126 Rich Mountain, Battle of 90 Richmond, Anxiety in 251 Bright Sunday in. .. 523 Evacuation of 524 Newspapers on Get- tysburg 369 Rejoicing in 297 the Ways to.... 240, 241 Union Troops Enter 530 Richmond, Ky., Battle of 308 Riots, Draft 322 Rivers, Virginia 240 Roanoke Island 147 Expedition 184 Rodgers, John, Captures the At- lanta 392 Attacks Fort Darling- 250 Rosecrans, Wm. S., at Chatta- nooga 379 at Chickamauga 378 at Corinth ' 310 Marches against Bragg 375 in Missouri 425 at Murfreesboro.312, 314 Succeeds Bnell 311 in Western Virginia. 90, 126 Rousseau, L. H., Raid from De- catur 462 Rowan, Capt., at New Berne. .. 188 Ruitin, Edmund 56 Sabine Cross Roads, Battle of. . 422 Salkehatchie River, Crossing the 497 Sanitary Commission 80 Santa Rosa Island, Attack on. . . 149 Savage's Station, Battle of 267 Savannah as a Christmas Gift. . 491 Evacuated 490 Privateer 140 St. Augustine Occupied 196 St. Louis, Secession Troubles in 74, 75 Scalps, Indian 200 Schoepf.Albin, in Kentucky, 160, 162 Schofield.J. M., in Atlanta Cam- paign 459 PAGE Schofield. J. M., at Franklin. . . 478 atGoldsboro 496 at Nashville 480 at* Wilmington 495 Scott, Dred 26 Scott, Winfield 43, 92, 138 Scouting in West Virginia 127 Secesh, Nickname 137 Secession Act, Soldiers Repeal a 487 of Arkansas 73 Beginning of 10 Bonnets 38 Cockades 38, 40 Hall, Charleston 36 of North Carolina 73 of South Carolina. ... 36 of Tenuessee 73 Threatened 15 of Virginia 64 Secessionists in Washington. ... 80 Secessionville, Battle of 196 Secret Service, The 320 Sedgwick, John, at Chancellors- ville 350, 352 Death of 438, 439 at Fair Oaks 257 Pursues Lee after Gettysburg 367 in the Wilderness. . . 435 Sedition Law 8, 10 Selma, Capture of 509 Semmes, Raphael, in the Alaba- ma 403 in the Sumter 143 Seven Days' Fight 264 Seven Pines, Battle of 257, 258 Seward, William IT 52, 54 Attempt to Assassinate. 543 Joke of 159 Meets Confederate Com- missioners 515 Seymour, Horatio, Thanks to.. 357 Seymour, Truman, in Florida.. 400 Sharpsburg, Battle of 284, 287 Sharpshooters, Berge's 173 at Fredericksburg 293 at Yorktown 247 Shaw, Robert G., at Fort Wag- ner 395 Shenandoah Valley Laid Waste by Sheri- dan 451 Its Impor- tance. ... 78 Operations in 443 INDEX. PAGE Sherman, Wm. T., at Atlanta.. 465 at Chattanooga. ..380, 383 at Columbia 500 in Danger 415 Gets News of Lin- coln's Death 545 at Jackson 331 and Johnston 458 in Kentucky 118 at Knoxville 385 and Lincoln 505 Major-General 467 Marches from Atlanta 481 Marches from Savan- nah 496 at Meridian 415 and the Negro 483 in New Orleans 419 at Shiloh 210, 212 Succeeds Grant in the West 434 and the Tunnel 472 in "Western Tennessee 306 Visits Grant 505 at Vicksburg,325, 330, 333 Interview with John- ston 546 Sherman, T. W., at Hilton Head 152 Sheridan, Philip H., at Appo- mattox 537 at Chattanooga 383 at Chickamauira 378 at Cold Harbor 445 at Five Forks.... 519, 520 at Murfreesboro 313 Pursues Lee 534 Raid to Lynchburg. . 518 Ride 452 Rides behind Lee. . .. 443 in the Shenandoah Valley 451 Shields Defeated at Port Re- public 255 Shiloh. Battle of 209 Ship Island 218 Ship, Masts of a 409 Ships. See War Ships. Shreveport 420 Sic Semper Tyrannis 542 Sickles, Daniel, at Gettysburg.. 362 Shoes, Home-made 301 Wooden 301 Sigel, Franz, at Carthage. .105, 106 with Fremont 119 atPeaRidee 198 at Second Bull Run 274 PAGE Sigel, Franz, at Wilson's Creek 109 Signalling ". 469 at Savanuah 490 Skedaddle 136 Slang, Soldiers' 136 Slave Trade 5 Reopening of. ... . 27 Slavery and the Confederacy.. . 315 in the Colonies 3 and Emancipation 315 Extension of 19 Feeling against 17 Feeling in Favor of . . . 19 First Blow against in the War 86 in North and South 17 in the Political Parties. 21 Question 11 in the States 18, 19 in Texas 20 Slaves in Virginia, First 86 Follow Sherman 416 Slemmer, Adam 48 Slidell, John 156, 159 Sling Carts 193 Slocum, H. W 481 Smith, A. J., Defeated by For- rest 419 in Louisiana 420 at Mobile 511 at Nashville 479 in Red River Expedition 420, 423 Smith, Caleb B 53 Smith, C. F., Death of 207 at Fort Doneison 175 Threatens Columbus. . .. 123 Smith, E. Kirby, at Bull Run.. 98 at Richmond, Ky 308 in Texas 421 Surrender of 549 Smith, G. W., at Fair Oaks. ... 257 Smith, Joseph B.. Death of 233, 239 Smith, W. F., at Cold Harbor 445 at Petersburg 447 Smith, W. S., Defeat of... 416, 417 Snicker's Ferry, Fight at 450 Society, Anti-Slavery 18 Societies, Soldiers' Aid 80 Soldiers, Colored 320, 430, 531 Last Review of 555 Number of Confeder- ate 556 Number of Union. . . . 554 South Anna River 240 South Carolina, Destruction in. 498 INDEX. 589 PAGE South Carolina and Lincoln's Election 33 for Nullifica- tion 14 Ratines Consti- tution 6 Secession of. . . 36 Senators, Res- ignation of. . 35 Slavery in 17 State Rights in 16 for the Union.. 3 South Mills, Battle of 192 South Mountain, Battles of. 281, 2S2 Sovereignty, Popular 23 Squatter 23 State 6 Spanish Fort, Capture of 511 Spencer Carbine 509 Spies and Informers 320 Spoons, Butler and 228 Spottsylvania, Battle at 437 Springfield, Mo 106, 110 Squatter Sovereignty 23 Stamps, Confederate Postage. . . 78 Stanton, Edwin M 241 His Ability 555 Insults Gen. Sherman. 548 Opposes McClellan 242 Order of Congratula- tion 540 in Savannah 492 Star-Spangled Banner, Farewell to the 523 Star of the West 43 Stars and Bars 53 State Rights 6, 14 States, Free and Slave 11, 27 New 11, 21 Thirteen Original 1 Thirteen, Population of 11 Steadman, Gen. , at Nashville . . 479 Steele, F., in Arkansas 425 at Mobile 511 Stephens, Alexander H. .45, 47, 515 Stewart, Geo. H., Captured 440 Stone, Charles P., at Ball's Bluff 131 Stone River, Battle of 313 Stoueman, George, Captured near Atlanta. . . . 466 at Manassas 243 in the Peninsula. . 249 Raid behind Lee 349, 353 Takes Salisbury. . . 507 PAGE Stonewall, Ironclad 406 Stonewall Jackson's Way, Poem 566 Stonewall Jackson of the West. 479 Stories and Anecdotes : Adventure of Major White. . 120 All's Well! 194 Are these Yanks? 462, 463 Ashby and his Flag 255 and his White Horse 255, 256 Barbara Frietchie and her Flag 278 Bible Lost at Bull Run 303 Big Nigger, Come Down!. . .. 247 Blind Joe Parsons 288 Boy Sharpshooter 174 Brave Boy at Fort Henry 169 Brave Engineer 461 Buell and Grant 213 Calibre 54 334 Cheatham's Escape 124 Commodore Foote as a Preacher 171 Come Back, Little Mac 291 Contraband and Newspaper. . 196 Death of Sedgwick 438 Dis Nigger Can't Sleep dis Night. 483 Drawing Potatoes 136 Duplicate Tunnel 472 Eddy Lee, the Drummer Boy 111 Fairfax and Miss Slidell 157 Farragut in the Shrouds. 409, 410 Fire in the Mountains 164 Fort McAllister is Taken 490 Good-by, Sammy ! 288 Good Union Man 331 Grant and Sherman 305 Grierson's Cavalry, Adven- tures of 329 Hancock and Stewart 440 Hard Tack, Ancient 135 Here's your Mule 384 Heroine of New Berne 190 Hold, Bill! that's Father 214 Hold the Fort 469 Hold on, Mars' Yankee! 196 Hotel de Vieksburg 338 How are yees, byes? 259 Howard and Kearny 258 Hurrah for Jeff Davis ! 180 I can't Make Horses 349 I'm a Bold Sojer Boy 288 I'm on de Lord's Side, Massa. 346 Indian Scalps 200 J: fferson Davis's Book 332 590 INDEX. PAGE Stories and Anecdotes: Jefferson Davis and the Wo- man's Clothes 552 Jenny Wade 369 Joe's Dead 239 John Davis and the Powder Keg 187 Johnny Clem and the Confed- erateTlolonel 378 Jus' Look at his Hoss. . . .502, 503 Lee in the Wilderness 436 Lieutenant Paine and Lieu- tenant Henry 353 Lieutenant AVorden and the Merrimac 239 Lincoln's Vow 319 McCall and the Sentry 266 Meade's Promotion 357 Men Eighteen Feet High 396 Milk or" Whisky 299 Morgan's Great Paid 374 Morgan, J. H, Stories of.. 181, 183 Mosby Captures Stoughton. . 347 My Mother! My Mother! 303 No Ammunition Left 116 Old Burnemside's Boys 189 Old John Burns 368 Old Seth and his Secesh Gun. 247 Politic Contraband 114 Powder Boy, Brave 221 Prince de Joinville and Sentry 245 Rats, to your Holes! 338 Rotten Balls 189, 190 Sam Watt 399 Schnapps! Schnapps! 165 Schpike dem Guns! 214 Scout and Torpedoes 167 Sherman's Cotton Money. . . . 306 Starving on Roast Turkey . . 385 Stonewall Jackson's Commis- sary 304 Stonewall Jackson and the Farmer 262 Stonewall Jackson's Prayers. 254 Stuart and Pope's Coat 273 Stuart's Ride around Mc- Clellan 261 Taking a Rest 330 The Atlanta's Torpedo 393 The Boys have got the Money. 149 The Two Dogs 159 The Vicksburg Citizen 339 The Yankees will Cotch Us. . 163 Wanted, A Large Chicken. . . 299 We shall Sleep in the Enemy's Camp 209, 212 PAGE Stories and Anecdotes: Whittlers, Regiment of 194 Wright, Death of Colonel... . 124 Zagonyi's Charge 120 Straight, A. D., Raid of 373 Stringham, Silas H 140, 146 Stuart, J. E. B., Captures Pope's Baggage 273 in Chambersburg 289 at Chancellorsville 352 Death of 444 Defeated near Dranes- ville 138 Early Life of 260 at Harper's Ferry 79 in Penns3'lvania 359 Reviews Cavalry 356 Ride around McClellan.. 261 in Shenandoah Valley. . 79 Takes Manassas Junction 273 Sturgis, Gen., Defeated by For- rest 419 at Lexington 115 at Wilson's Creek 110 Sugar Burning 224 Sugar Creek, Battle of 197 Sumner, Charles 25 Sumner, E. V., at Antietam..285, 288 at Fair Oaks 257 at Fredericksburg 296 in the Peninsula 242 at Williamsburg 249 Sumter, Fort, Attack on 56 Attempt to Reinforce. . 54 Barracks on Fire 59, 60 Description of 38 Hoisting the Flag over 41, 500, 502 Opens Fire 58 Relief Fleet off 58 Removal to 40 Surrender Demanded. . 55 Surrender of 61 Sutlers 299 Swamp Angel, The 396 Swayne, Wager, Wounded. . . . 497 Tappan, Arthur 18 Tariff of 1828 13 of 1832 15 Compromise 16 Question 12 Tatnall, Josiah 152, 250 Taylor, Dick 345, 421, 508 Taylor, Zachary 22 Tecumseh, Sinking of the 410 INDEX. 591 PAGE Telegraph in the War 517 Tennessee, Fight with the. .411, 412 Tennessee, Grand Army of the. 215 Tennessee River, Opening of the 171 Tennessee, Secession of 73 Territories 11 Terry, Alfred II., at Fort Fisher 494 at Goldsboro 49(5 Texas, Admission of 20 Secession of 44 Text, A Useless 99 Thatcher, Admiral, at Mobile.. 508 Thomas, Geo. H., in Atlanta Campaign 459 in Chattanooga Cam- paign 375 at Chickamauga 378 at Corinth 215 in Kentucky . 161 at Murfreesboro 313 at Nashville 479 Succeeds Rosecrans. . 379 Thomas's Circus ... 459 Thompson, Fort, Capture of. . . 201 Thompson, Jeff 121, 564 Tilghman, Lloyd, Death of . . . . 332 at Fort Henry.. 166, 168 Toasts, Jackson's and Cal- houn's 15 Torpedo, The Atlanta's 393 Torpedoes at Charleston 390 at Fort Henry.. 167, 169 in the Potomac 129 Sherman's Remedy for 489 at Yorktown 248 Trent, British Steamer 157 Trunk, Mary's 81 Travellers' Repose, Fight at. ... 128 Turner's Gap, Battle of 282 Twiggs, Surrender of General.. 48 Tyler, John 20, 48 Unconditional Surrender Grant. 178 Union and Constitution 5 First 4 It must be Preserved. . .15, 16 Perpetuity of the 559 Petitions for Dissolution of 19 United States, Weakness under Confederation 4 Van Dorn at Corinth 215, 310 Death of 373 at Franklin 372, 373 PAGE Van Dorn at Holly Springs.. 309, 325 Earl, at Pea Ridge.. . 198 Varnna, Sinking of the 221 Vicksburg 323, 326 Citizen, The 339 Farragut at 229 Hotel de, Bill of Fare 338 Prices 337 Siege of 335 Surrender of 336 Virginia, Army of 271 in the Confederacy. . . 78 Desolation of 516 The March into.. 83 Resolutions 9 Secession of 64 Volunteers, First Call for . . 63 for Washington.. .'. 79 Five Hundred Thousand more. 92 and Seamen Called for 72 Wade, Jenny, at Gettysburg. .. 369 Wadsworth, Gen., Death of.... 437 Wagner, Assault on Fort.. 395, 397 Walker, Secretary, his Predic- tion 63 Wallace, Lewis, at Fort Douel- son 175, 177 at Fort Henry 173 at Memphis '. 217 at Monocacy River. . . 448 at Shiloh 212 Wallace, W. H. L., at Shiloh. . 211 War of 1812 10 War, Causes and Results of the 557 War Vessels — Confederate: Alabama 403 Albemarle.... 400 Arkansas 229 Atlanta ; 392 Beaufort 233 Beauregard 144 Chicora 389 Chickamauga 406 Cotton Plant 401 Florida 405 Gaines , • • • • 410 General Beauregard. ....... 217 General Bragg 217 General Lovell 217 General Price 217 Georgia 406 592 INDEX. War Vessels — Confederate : Jamestown 233 Jeff Thompson 217 Jefferson Davis 144 Lady Davis 140 Little Rebel 217 Louisiana 219, 221, 227, 231 McRee 216 Manassas.. 150, 219, 221, 223, 231 Merrimac 231 Mississippi 224, 231 Morgan 410 Nashville 144, 388 Olustee 406 Palmetto State 389 Patrick Henry 233, 526 Petrel 140, 142 Raleigh 233 Richmond 526 Savannah 140 Selma 410 Shenandoah 406 Stonewall 406 Sumter 143, 216 Tallahassee 406 Teazer 233 Tennessee 408 Van Dora 217 Virginia 231 Virginia (2) 526 War Vessels — Union: Aroostook 250 Benton 216 Bombshell 400 Brooklyn 223, 408 Cairo 231 Carondelet. .166, 176, 204, 229, 231 Catskill 390 Cayuga 220, 2'29 Chickasaw 408 Cincinnati 166, 216, 231 Conestoga 166, 176 Congress 232 Cumberland 146, 232 Eastport 423 Ericsson 388 Essex 166, 169, 229 Fort Hiudman 424 Galena 250, 251, 408 Harriet Lane 146 Hartford.. 219, 222, 229, 343, 408 Itasca.* 223, 408 Kearsarge 403 Kennebec 223, 408 Keokuk 390, 391 Keystone State 389 PAGE War Vessels — Union: Lackawanna 408 Lexingtoii 166, 176, 211, 424 Louisville 176, 231 Manhattan 408 Mercedita 389 Metacomet 408, 511 Minnesota 146, 232, 234, 237 Mississippi 221, 223 Monitor 234, 250, 387 Monongahela 408 Montauk 144, 388, 390 Montgomery 149 Monticello 146 Mound City 216, 231 Nahant 388, 390 Nantucket 390 Naugatuck 250 Neosho 424 New Ironsides 390, 391 Niagara 149 Octorara 408 Oneida 221, 408 Osage 423, 511 Ossipee 408 Passaic 387, 390 Patapsco ..388, 390 Pawnee 129, 146 Pensacola 221 Perry ' ... 141 Pittsburg 176, 205, 231 Port Royal 250, 408 Portsmouth 221 Queen of the West 229 Richmond 149, 223, 408 Roanoke 232, 234 St. Lawrence 142, 232, 234 St. Louis 166, 176, 231 San Jacinto 157 Sassacus 401 Seminole 408 Southrield 401 Susquehanna 146 Sumter 229 Tecumseh 408 Tuscarora 144 Tyler 166, 211, 229 Varuna 221 Wabash 146, 153 Wachusett 405 Weehawken....390, 391, 392, 398 Winnebago 408 Winona 223 Warren, G. K., at Gettysburg.. 362 at Petersburg 456 at Spottsylvania 437 INDEX. 593 PAGE Warren, G. K., in the Wilderness 435 Warrior, British Iron clad 158 Washington, Aqueduct Bridge at 84 Attacked by Ear- ly 449 Beginning of De- fences of 84 a Camp 79 Fortifications of. . 130 Grand Review in. 555 Long Bridge at. . . 83 Politicians, Fears of 275 Secessionists in.. 80 Threatened 63, 65 Washington Artillery of New Orleans 296 Washington, George 4, 7, 8 Home of 294 Marriage of 262 Washington, John A., Death of 128 Webster, Brave Miss 82 Webster, Daniel 14, 23 Weitzel, Godfrey, Enters Rich- mond 530, 532 at Fort Fisher 493 Welles, Gideon 53, 140, 555 Wessells, Henry W., at Plym- outh 400 West Virginia 65 Wheeler, Gen., Attacks Fort Donelson 372 in South Carolina. . . 496 Whio- Party 20, 24 Whistling Dick 344 White House, Va 262 White House, Washington, Sol- diers in 65 White, Major, Adventure of . . . 120 Wilderness, The 350 Battles of the 435 PAGE Wilderness, Grant in the 435 Wilkes, Charles, Takes Mason and Slidell 156 Williams, A. S 481 Williamsburg, Battle of 249 Wilmington, Taking of 495 Wilmot Proviso 21 Wilson, James H., at Nashville. 480 Raid in Alabama..... 508 Wilson's Creek, Battle of 108 Wilson's Zouaves 148 Winslow, John A., Sinks the Alabama 403 Winter Quarters 371 Winthrop, Theodore, Death of 88, 89 Wise, Henry A 30, 126, 185 Woodford, Stewart L., in Charleston 501 Wood-ticks 461 Woman Order, Butler's 227 Wool, John E., at Fortress Monroe 145, 250 Worden, John L., on the Moni- tor 236, 238 Destroys the Nashville. 388 Wright, H. G 195 Succeeds Sedgwick. . . 439 Wright, John V., Death of . . . . 124 Wyndham, Percy 256 Yankee Cheese-box 235, 237 Yanks, Nickname 137 Yellow Tavern, Fight at 444 Yorktown, Siege of 246 Zaii'onyi's Charge 119 Zo'llicoffer, Felix K., Death of.. 163 in Kentucky.... 117, 160 Zouaves, Hawkins' 186 New York Fire 85 Wilson's 148 . .. .