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HISTOEY
OF THE
GREAT REBELLION,
FROM ITS COMMENCEMENT TO ITS CLOSE, GIVING AN ACCOUNT OF ITS ORIGIN,
THE SECESSION OF THE SOUTHERN STATES,
AND THE
FORMATION OF THE CONFEDERATE GOVERNMENT,
THE CONCENTRATION OF TIIE
MILITARY AND FINANCIAL RESOURCES OF THE
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT,
THE DEVELOPMENT OF ITS VAST POWER, THE RAISING, ORGANIZING, AND EQUIPPING OF THE CON
TENDING ARMIES AND NAVIES; LUCID, VIVID* AND ACCURATE DESCRIPTIONS OF BATTLES
AND BOMBARDMENTS, SIEGES AND SURRENDER OF FORTS, CAPTURED BATTERIES,
ETC., ETC. ; THE IMMENSE FINANCIAL RESOURCES AND COMPREHENSIVE
MEASURES OF TIIE GOVERNMENT, THE ENTHUSIASM AND PATRI
OTIC CONTRIBUTIONS .OF THE PEOPLE, TOGETHER WITH
SKETCHES OF THE LIVES OF ALL THE EMINENT
STATESMEN AND MILITARY AND NAVAL
COMMANDERS, WITH A FULL AND
COMPLETE INDEX.
FROM OFFICIAL SOURCES.
By THOMAS F. KETTELL,
AUTHOR OF EIGHTY YEARS1 PROGRESS OF TnE UNITED STATES, LATE EDITOR OF THE MERCHANTS1
MAGAZINE, LATE EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR OF THE ARMY AND NAVY
JOURNAL, BANKERS' CIRCULAR, ETC., ETC.
EMBELLISHED WITH
NUMEROUS AND BEAUTIFUL STEEL PLATE ENGRAVINGS,
AND VALUABLE MAPS, SHOWING ALL THE IMPORTANT MILITARY POINTS.
COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME.
FURNISHED TO SUBSCRIBERS ONLY.

HARTFORD, CONN.:
L. STEBBINS.
CINCINNATI, OHIO, No. ill MAIN STREET:
F. A. HOWE,
SUCCESSOR TO HENRY HOWE.
1865.

¦Lfct- 'U*

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1865^
By L. 8TEBBI5TS,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court Of the United States for the
District of Connecticut.

PREFACE.

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

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

CONTENTS.

PAGE
Introdttctioh  »  IT
CHAPTER I.
Secession determined upon by Southern Leaders. — Treachery of Cabinet Officers.— Division of
the Democratic Party. — Election of Mr. Lincoln. — The John Brown liaid. — "The Impending
Crisis " and the " Co rapcndiuin."— Movements for Secession in the Cotton States  31
CHAPTER II.
South Carolina Convention. — Ordinance of Secession and Declaration of Causes.— Resolutions for
Convention of Seceded States. — Mississippi Convention. — Alabama Convention. — Florida Ordi
nance—Seizure of Forts. — Georgia's Resolution in response to New York. — Ordinance of Seces
sion. — Louisiana Convention. — Texas Convention. — Vote of the People. — General Houston. —
Virginia Resolutions. — Ordinance of Secession. — Convention with the Confederacy. — Arkansas.
— Secession defeated.— North Carolina Ordinance pussed.— Tennessee Act of Independence. —
Military League.— Maryland Resolutions. — Confederate Congress.— Constitution.— Jefferson
Davis, President, — Address  35
CHAPTER III.
Meeting of Congress. — President's Message. — Resignation of Secretaries Cobb, Cass, Floyd, and
Thompson. — Defalcations. — Special Message of the President — Committee of Thirty -three.—
Crittenden Resolutions. — Border States1 Plan. — Virginia Resolutions. — Peace Convention. —
Close of Congress. — New Territories. — Finance. — Constitutional Amendment. — Mr. Lincoln's
Arrival at Washington. — Inaugural; its Effects. — Southern Commissioners. — Supplies to Fort
Sumter.-r-Policy o? the Government.— Charleston II arbor.— E vents at the South.— Bombard
ment and Surrender of Fort Sumter. — Fort Pickens Re-cnforced  50
CHAPTER IV.
Effect of the Fall of Sumter. — Call for Seventy-five Thousand Troops, and Replies of States. — Con
gress Convened. — Destruction of Property at Norfolk.— Effect of the Proclamation at the North.
— Baltimore Riot — March of Troops to Washington. — The Position of Maryland. — Proceedings
of her Legislature.— Pacification of Baltimore   -• 78
CHAPTER t.
. Confederate Congress. — Davis's Message. — Virginia. — Beauregard's Proclamation. — Border States'
Convention. — Western Virginia. — State Reorganization...  83
CHAPTER YI.
Troops concentrated at Washington.— Popular Impatience.— Occupation of Alexandria.— Opera
tions in Virginia  .  *  89"
CHAPTER TII.
Occupation of Fortress Monroe.— Engagement at Big Bethel.— Increase of Array.— Army Organi
zation.— Want of Arms.— Advance to Centre ville.— Bull Run  91

CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VIII.

Missouri.r-Captnro of State Troops.— Booneville.— Carthage.— Shenandoah : TaHey.— Patterson
Crosses the Potomac— Bunker Hill.— Campaign in Western Virginia.— PhfllppwLanrel 11U1.
— Eioh Mountain.— Beverly.— Western Virginia cleared of Kebels.— McClellan transferred to
the Potomac  lul
CHAPTER IX.
Effect of the Battle of Bull Run,— Confederate Congress.— Davis's Message.— Privateering— Affates
in Missouri. — Commissioners to Europe. — Southern Armies and Finances.  llo
CHAPTER X.
Meeting of Congress. — President's Message. — Naval and Military Affairs. — Estimates for Tear. —
Senators expelled. — Acts passed. — Confiscation. — Operations of the Treasury. — The Different
Loans Authorized.— Difficulties of the Government— Habeas Corpus.— The Press,— Newspapers
Suppressed  ,  -  121
CHAPTER- XL
Modem Art of War.— Great Wars of Europe.— New Principles.— "Strategy." — " Tactics."— Forma-
tion of Soldiers. — Education of Officers. — Scientific Aspect of the Present War. — McClellan's-
Order. — Restoration of Discipline. — Army Organization.— Inactivity of the Enemy: — His Pro
jects.— Hatteras Occupied. — General Fremont in Missouri. — Battle of Dug Springs. — Battle of
Wilson's Creek. — Death of Lyon. — Retreat of the Army under Sigel. — Martial Law. — Position
of Forces. — Colonel Blair's Charges. — Fremont's Proclamation.— Manumission. — Capture of
Lexington. — Advance of Fremont — Retreat of Price. — Major Zagonyi. — Fremont Relieved — 134
CHAPTER XII
Kentucky. — Vote of the State. — Meeting of Legislature. — Message of Governor. — Kentucky for the
Union. — Breckinridge's Proclamation. — Military Movements, — 'Cairo. — Columbus, its Position
, and Strength.— Paducah. — Concentration of Troops. — Mill Spring. — Defeat and Death of Zolli-
coffer. — Construction of Gunboats. — Capture of Fort Henry. — Bowling Green Evacuated. — Fort
Donelson. — Escape of Pillow and Floyd, — Fall of Nashville. — Columbus Evacuated. — Missouri
under General Halleck  160
CHAPTER XIII.
Affairs in Western Virginia.— General Rosecrans.— Oppression by General Wise.— Population of
Western Virginia.— The Confederate Troops— Gauley Bridge.— Kanawha Expedition.— Rose-
crans's Command.— Proclamation.— General Lee.— Elk River.— Cheat Mountain.— General. BeyT
nolds.— His Command.— Carnifex Ferry.— The Battle.— General Benham.— Retreat of the
Enemy— Dogwood Gap.— Big Sewall.— General Floyd— General Reynolds.— Green River.—
Enemy's Loss.— Ohapmanville.— Gauley Bridge.— Guyandotte.—iiomney.— Camp Alleghany... 180
CHAPTER XIT.
Strength of the Navy.— Blockade.— Captures by the Navy.— Large Increase of Ships of War.— Right
of BlOckafle.— Propositions of the American Government— Action of England ami' France.—

Privateers.— The Sumter.— The Nashville.— Trial of Privateors.— Laws of "piracy.— Retaliation
of the Confederates. — Exchange of Prisoners 

CHAPTER XY.
'Improved Efficiency of the Navy.— Expeditions.— Port Royal.— The Fleet— The Assault— TrooDS-
Landed.— Proclamation.— Stone Fleet— Ship Island.— General Butler.— Proclamation of Gen
eral Phelps— Burnside's Expedition.— Fort Pickens.— Galveston.— Combat on the Mississinni
—Effectiveness of the Blockade  " "
CHAPTER XVI.
Army of the Potomac— Volunteers.— Union Advance.— Lewinsville.— Ball's Bluff.— General Scott
Retires.— McClellan. in Command.— Dranesville.— Programme of Movement— PresirUntv!
Proclamation,-  ,  ,  »'«mmi

1S6

19T

810

CONTENTS. 7
CHAPTER XVLT. PAGE
Foreign Mission of the Confederates.— Mr. Seward's Letter of Instructions.— Earl Russell and'the
Confederates.— France Recognizes defacto Governments.— Foreign Recognition of the Bellig
erent Rights of the South. — Mr. Seward's Reply.— Spain.— Mexico.— Monroe Doctrine. — The
Trent Affair  ,  ^  216
CHAPTER XVIII.
Age of Invention.— Change in Arms.— Springfield Rifle.— Enfield Rifle.— Repeating Arms.— The
Rodman Gun.— Columbiads.— Parrott Gun.— Dahlgrens.— Table of Guns in Service.— Projec
tiles.— Batteries  228
CHAPTER XIX.
K
The Situation. — Army of the Potomac.— General McClellan.— The Retreat of the Enemy from
Manassas.— The Peninsular Campaign.— York town.— MoDo well's Corps Withdrawn.— Siege of
Torktown  228
CHAPTER XX.
Iron-plated Ships.— Merrimac.— Federal Fleet— Hampton Roads.— Destruction of the Cumberland
and Congress. — Monitor. — Iron-clad Duel. — Repulse of the Merrimac.  245
CHAPTER XXI.
Evacuation of Torktown. — Retreat of the Enemy.— Pursuit. — Battle of Williamsburg. — West
Point.— rAdvance of McClellan. — Fort Darling. — Repulse of the Gunboats  .^,  251
CHAPTER XXII.
Taking of Norfolk. — Chickahominy.— Position of Enemy.— Hanover Court-House.— Battle of Fair
Oaks. — Advance of the Reserves. — Retreat of the Enemy  , . 256
CHAPTER XXHI.
General Jackson's Movement. — Battle at Winchester. — Advance oi Banks. — Shields ordered to
join McDowell. — Retreat of Banks.— Front Royal. — Banks driven across the Potomac— Moun
tain Department. — Fremont supersedes Rose crans.— Battle at McDowell. — Fremont's Corps
ordered to support Banks. — The Object of Jackson's Raid. — Fremont's Movement. — Retreat of
the Enemy. — Harrisonburg. — Cross Keys. — Escape of Jackson. — McDowell concentrates at
Fredericksburg. — Formation of the Army of Virginia under Pope  265
CHAPTER XXIT.
Continued Operations against Richmond. — Combat of June 25th. — McClellan's DiBpatch. — Me-
chanicsville. — Gaines's Mills. — Change of Base to the James River. — White Oak Swamp. — Mal
vern Hill. — McClellan Addresses the Troops.— Jefferson Davis's Address. — Close of Campaign.
—Causes of Failure  2T9
CHAPTER XXV.
Department of Missouri.— General Halleck.— Negotiations with Price.— Van. Dora, Curtis, and
BigeL— Pea Ridge  295
CHAPTER XXVI.
Island No. Ten.— Beauregard at Corinth.— Battle of Pittsburg Landtag.— HuntBville.— Fort Wright 802
CHAPTER XXVII.
Halleck at Pittsburg Landing.— Fall of Corinth.— Pursuits— Memphis Occupied.— General Grant-
End of Campaign.— Hatlcck at Washington  318

8 COSTEHTS.
CHAPTER XXVHT. FAQS
Operations of the Army of Vinrinia under General Pope.— New Policy of Conducting the War.—
Cedar Mountain.— Line of the Rappahannock.— Flanking Movement of Stonewall dactson.—
Second Battle of Bull Run.— Chantilly.— Death of Kearny.— Evacuation of the Peninsula  319
CHAPTER XXIX
The Expedition of Burnside.— Capture of Newbern.— Beaufort Captured.— Operations on the
Southern Coast. — Siege of Fort Pulaski.— James Island.  * • ¦ • 388
CHAPTER XXX.
Financial Situation. — Legal Tender. — Interest in Coin.— Djities in Specie. — Gold Notes at a Pre
mium.— Deposits. — Ways and Means. — Debt. — Excise Loan. — Income Tax. — Paper Circulation.
— Effect of Paper Money. — Rise in Price. — Premium on Gold. — Commerce.— Government Ex
penses. — Growth of Debt. — Immense Means  348
CHAPTER XXXI.
Thirty-Seventh Congress. — Foreign Relations. — Public Anxiety. — Surrender of Commissioners. —
War Cond act— Executive Action.— President's Message. — Co-operation, — Hunter's Order. —
Border State Delegation.— Kentucky Legislature.— President's Letter. — His Position. —West
ern Delegation. — Emancipation Action of Congress. — No more Slave Territory. — District of
Columbia. — Co-operation Resolution. — Military not to Surrender Fugitives. — Troopa Author
ized.— Conscription. — Work of Ihe Thirty -Seventh Congress  854
CHAPTER XXXII.
Expedition of General Butler. — New Orleans. — Its Defences. — Passage of the Forts by Farragut —
Capture of City. — Butler's Administration. — Baton Rouge. — Vicksburg. — Ram Arkansas. — Her
Destruction  863
CHAPTER XXXIII.
Privateers.— Confederate Navy.— Oreto : Her Operations.— The Alabama. : Her Movements.— Dip
lomatic Correspondence. — Captures. — Hatteras Captured  #J1
CHAPTER XXXIV.
General Pope's Army.— Its Condition.— McClellan's Army.— Enemy Cross the Potomac— McClel
lan in Command.— Halleck refuses Troops.— South Mountain.— Harper's Ferry.— Antietam —
Hooker^-Sumner— Burnside.— Retreat, of the Enemy.— Advance of the Army —McClellan
Superseded.  ,  J gwg
CHAPTER XXXV.
Burnside in Command.— Change of Plan.— Pontoons Delayed.— Plans of Crossing— Two attacks
-Franklin sMovements.-SeiZure of Fredericksburg.-Sumner.-Terrible Slaughter -EenulM
r-Barnsfdeiehrve™-"*". ^hd™\f *e_ A_™f -^ of Campaign.-Iuu-igues -Orfe^C
CHAPTER XXXVI.
Situation in Kentucky.— Bragg's Invasion.— Mumfordsville.— Buell's Advanco — Perrvsvillo n»
treat of the Enemy. — Features of Campaign  "ijoviue. lie-
CHAPTER XXXVII.
Cumberland Gap.— Morgan's Escape.— Iuka.-Prico Retreats.— Corinth.— Repulse of the Tn.™,.
n Yi,ok"^m'S Expedition.-Reorganization of the Ohio Army by Rosecran" -His Adv™ . y-
Battle of(Stone River.— Defeat of the Enemy  s kube0"ms- ">s Advance.—
'  408

CONTENTS. 9
CHAPTER XXXVIII. PAGE
Turn of the Tide of War.— New Combinations. — Vicksburg.— Sherman's Attack.— Arkansas Post.
—Renewal of Attempt upon Vicksburg. — Passage of Batteries by the Fleet. — Flanking March.
of Grant  417
CHAPTER XXXIX.
The Flank Movement against "Vicksburg. — Battles of Raymond. Jackson, and Champion Hills. —
Investment of the City. — Obstinate Defence.— Surrender. — Chronology of Events. — Grierson's
Raid  423
CHAPTER XL.
Expedition of General Banks. — Investment of, Port Hudson. —Unsuccessful Assaults.— Brashear
City. — Capitulation of Port HudBon. — Chronology of Events  435
CHAPTER XLL
New Movement against Richmond. — Lee's Flank Turned. — Battle of Chancellors ville.-»Re treat of
Hooker. — Operations by Sedgwick  443
CHAPTER XLII.
Second Invasion of Maryland. — Defeat of Milroy at Winchester.— Meade appointed to command
the Army of the Potomac. — Battle of Gettysburg. — Retreat of Lee  450
CHAPTER XLIH.
Lee's Retreat from Gettysburg. — Peace Mission. — Conscription. — Meade Re-enforced. — Draft. —
Riots. — Lee crosses the Rapidan. — His Advance and Subsequent Retreat  464
CHAPTER XLIY.
Meade's Advance across the Rapidan.— Eecrosses, — Winter-Quarters.— Draft for Three Hundred
Thousand Men. — Reconnoissance.— ^Kilpatrick's Raid upon Richmond. — Death of Dahlgren .... 470
CHAPTER XLV.
Creation of the Office of Ljeuten ant-General. — General Grant Appointed. — Army Reorganization.
— Draft for Two Hundred Thousand Men.— General Grant assumes Command in Chief.—
Powers of the Lieu ten ant-General. — Country between Washington and Richmond. — Rule of
Advance. — Rebel Position  473
„ CHAPTER XLVI.
The Army in Tennessee. — Results of Murfreesboro'. — Operations in Tennessee.— Minor Expedi
tions. — Advance of Rosecrans. — Retreat of Bragg. — Burnside's Campaign in East Tennessee. —
Occupation of Knoxville.— Evacuation of Chattanooga.— Concentration of the Enemy. — Battle
of Chickamauga.— The Two Generals.— Results of the Battle  4S0
CHAPTER XLVII.
Inaction of Bragg.— His Position. — His Indecision.— Rosecrans Recruiting.— Storms. — Hooker Ar
rives. — Grant Ordered up. — He Supersedes Rosecrans. — Thomas in command of Department.
— Position of the Army.— Movement to open River.— Defeat of the Enemy.— Sherman's March.
— Combat— Change of Route.— Burnside's Position.— Longstreet Detached from Bragg.— Siege
of Knoxville.— Burnside Hard Pressed.-vBragg Weakened.— Grant Attacks.— The Movement
Successful.— Sherman Relieves Burnside. — Retreat of Longstreet  494
CHAPTER XLVIII.
Operations against Charleston.— Arrival of Monitors.— Montauk:— Attack by the Enemy.— Iron-
Clad Attack on Sumter.— Capture of the Atlanta —General Gillmore in Command.— Assault on
Fort Wagner.— Bombardment of Fort Sumter.— Siege and Reduction of Fort Wagner.— Occupa-
tion of Morris Island  5"1

10

CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XLIX.

PAGE
Advance on Richmond—! Crossing of the Rapidan.— Routes of Corps.— The Enemy Attempt* a
Flanking Movement— Meade's- Attack,— Repulse of Griffin.— Hancock Arrives. — Concentration
of the Army. —Burnside ordered Forward. —New Dispositions. — Advance of Hancock on the
6th. — Arrival of Longstreet — Fall of Wadsworth. — Longstreet Wounded. — Attack on the Union
Right— Results of the Two Days' Fighting  508
CHAPTER L.
Movement upon Spottsylvania.— The Enemy on the Alert— Attack of May 10th. — Death of Sedg
wick. — Position of the Troops. — Grant "to Fight it out on that Line." — Assault by the Second
Corps on May 12th. — Large Captures of Prisoners and Guns. — Results of the Strnggle. — Sheri
dan's Cavalry Raid. — Death of General Stuart — Battle at Meadow Bridge.— Sheridan at the
James River  515
CHAPTER LI.
Retrograde Movement of the Enemy. — Bad Condition of the Roads. — Union Movement to the
Left — Relative Position of Armies. — Re-enforcementis. — Irruption on the Rear Repulsed. —
Grant Crossing the North Anna. — Impregnable Position of the- Enemy. — North' Anna Re-
crossed, and Movement to the Left continued  ".  523
CHAPTER LII.
Original Plan of Campaign. — Butler's Expedition up the James. — Movement oil- Petersburg. — Fort
Darling. — Repulse of the Union Forces. — Attack* by Beauregard*. — Beauregard Re-enforces Lee.
— Smith sent to Support Grant  :  529
CHAPTER LIH.
Position of Grant's Army. — Warren's' Advance. —Further Development of the- Union Left Wing. —
Severe Battles around Cold Harbor. — New Flank Movement determined upon. — Crossing oftbe
James and Junction with Butler. — Results of that Campaign  583
CHAPTER LTV.
Advance oo Petersburg.— Position of the City.— Assault and Capture of Earthworks and Guns.—
Assault of Saturday, June ISth. — Repulse. —Aspect of the Campaign  589
CHAPTER LV.
Relative Strength of Armies.— Grant Moves against the Railroad Connections of Richmond.—
Combat of June 21st— Repulsed the 23d.— Sheridan's Expedition.— Movement of Wilson and
Kautz on the Danville Road.— Five Hundred Thousand Men culled out— Explosion of the Mine
in Front of Petersburg.— Failure of the Assault   642
«
CHAPTER LVI.
Sigel's Movement in the Valley.— Hunter Supersedes Sigel. and Defeats the Rebels near Staun
ton.— Occupation of Lexington.— Lynchburg.— Early sent to the Valley.— Retreat of Hunter
through Western Virginia-Advance of Early down the Valley and Invasion of Maryland.—
Defeat of Wallace.— Washington Threatened.— Arrival of Sixth Corps and Retreat of Earlv
Various Encounters in the Valley.— Hunter Superseded by Sheridan 
CHAPTER LVII.
Dutch Gap Canal.— Movement North of the James.— -Expedition of the Fifth Corns to the Wrlrinn
Road.— Attack by -Hill.— Severe Fighting near Reams's Station.— Losses.— Repulse of the in.
my.— Subsequent Repulse of Hancock.— Renewal of Movement North of the Jamm" .S r„„
ture of Fort Harrison.— Further Operations on the Weldon Railroad  „ . ..... P" 554
CHAPTER LVIII.
Operations in Tennessee:— Sherman's Raid Through Mississippi.— Failure of Smith's Co-onemt,v«
Movement.— Invasioa of Western Tennessee and Kentucky by Forrest— Massacre at Fort M-
°W  '  '  501

549

CONTENTS. 11
CHAPTER LIX. PAGE
Co-operative Movement on Atlanta. — Size and Organization of the Union and Rebel Armies. —
Commencement of the Campaign by Sherman. — Evacuation of Dalton by Johnston. — Battle of
Resaca and Retreat of the Rebels, — Operations at Dallas and Kenesaw. — Rebels Flanked and
Driven Across the Chattahoochee. ......*  5C7
CHAPTER LX.
The- New Position of the Enemy. — Johnston again Turned and Pushed Back upon Atlanta. — Ros-
seau's Raid. — Hood Succeeds Johnston. — Investment of Atlantav — Battles of July 20th and 22d.
— Death of McPherson.— Cavalry Raids of Stone_man ,and McCook. — Defeat and Capture of
Stoneman. — Battle of July 2Sth. — Prolongation of the Union Right Wing. — Changes of Com
manders in Sherman's Army  579
CHAPTER LXI.
Siege cf Atlanta. — Position of the City.— Topography.— The Enemy's Strength.— Sherman Moves
to the Right. — Wheeler's Raid. — Kilpatrick's Raid. — Grand Flank Movement of the Army on
the Macon Railroad. — Defeat of the Enemy at Jonesboro\ — Evacuation of Atlanta. — Congratula
tory Order of General Sherman. — Truee. — Depopulation of Aflanta. — Correspondence between
Sherman and Hood. — Results of the Campaign  5ST
" CHAPTER LXII.
The Gulf Department. — Sabine Pass Expedition. — McPherson Moves from Yicksburg. — Expedi
tion to the Rio Grande and Occupation of Brownsville. — Banks's Red River Expedition. — Cap
ture of Fort De Russey.— Occupation of Alexandria. — Battle of Mansfield. — Retreat of the Army.
— Repulse of the Enemy at Pleasant Hill-. — Operations of the Fleet. — The Dam at Alexandria.—
Arrival of the Army and Fleet in the Mississippi. — Co-operative Movement of Steele in Ar
kansas.— Causes of its Failure  596
CHAPTER LXIII.
War in Missouri. — Execution of Guerrillas. — Marrhaduke's Movements.— Helena.— Successful Cam-
£aign of General Steele in Arkansas. — Capture of Little Rock. — General Gantt. — Sacking of
,awrence by Quantrell. — Price's Last Invasiofn of Missouri. — His Disastrous Defeat and Retreat
iato Arkaaaas  r.».  .,  -    -  604
CHAPTER LXIY.
Mobile. — Its Defences. — Concentration of Troops. — Combined Operations. — Landing on Dauphine
Island. — Order of Battle. — Tecumseh Blown ap-.— Tennessee Attacks. — Desperate Battle.—
Mode of Attack. — Fort Powell Blown up. — Fort Gaines Surrenders. — Siege of Fort Morgan. —
SurreHder. — Minor Expeditions  610
CHAPTER LXT.
Expedition to Florida. — Occupation of Jacksonville. — Advance of General Seymour. — Battle of
Olustee, and Retreat of the Union Army.— Demonstration against Newbern.— Capture of Ply
mouth.— The Albemarle.— Her Fight with Union Gunboats.— Her Destruction.— Rebel Priva
teers.— Combat between the Kearsarge and Alabama.— Capture of the Florida" „nd Georgia. .... 615
CHAPTER LXYI.
Depopulation of Atlanta.— Correspon den ce between General Sherman and Mayor Calhoun. — Flank
Movement by Hood.— Attack on Allatoona. — Hoodfc'Severs Sherman's Communications. — '
Marches into Alabama and Enters Tennesaee.-^-SherraanTs New Plan of Campaign. — Invasion of
Tennessee. — Battle of Franklin, — Affair at Murfreesboro'. — Battles of December 15th and 16th
before Nashville. — Retreat of Hood into Alabama.— Close of the Campaign  628
CHAPTER LXYII.
Sheridan in Command of the Middle Military Division.— -Manoeuvring in the Valley. — Object of
the Movements.— Battles of Opequan Creek and Fisher's Hill.— Rout and Retreat of the Rebels.
— Their New Position at Brown's Gap. — Movements of Sherfchwr  ,  641

12

CONTENTS.
CHAPTER LXVIII.

' PAOS
Position of Armies.— Early Advances.— Battle of Cedar Creek.— Opportune Arrival of Sheridan.—
Disastrous Defeat of the Enemy— Sheridan's Troops Leave for the Potomac.— Devastation .... MS)
CHAPTER LXIX.
Political Parties.— Elections of 1862.— Organization and Strength of the Pence Party.— Banishment
of Vallandlgham.— Ohio Election.— Political Reaction in Favor of the Administration.— ihirty-
Eighth Congress.— President's I'lan of Keconstruction.— Amendment lo the Constitution.—
Presidential Canvass of 1664.— Conventions at Baltimore and Chicago.— Nomination of Lincoln
and McClellan.— Result of the Election.— Peace Negotiations.— Colonel Jaques.— The Niagara
Falls Correspondence.-  •••¦»  656
CHAPTER LXX.
Finances of 1863.— Revenue.— Sales of Bonds.— Effect of Paper Money.— Policy of Mr. Chase. —
Gold Law and its Effects.— Mr. Chase Resigns. — Finances of 1864— Sales of Bonds in Europe.—
Statement of Debt— National Banks. — Prices of Gold  672
CHAPTER LXXI.
Sherman Proposes to Cross Georgia.— Composition of Army.— Marching Orders. — Combat at Gris-
woldville. — Appeal to the People of Georgia.— Milledgeville Reached. — Army at Louisville. —
Combat with Wheeler.— March to. Savannah. — Communicates with the Fleet. — Fort McAllister.
— jSvacuation of Savannah.— Sherman's Dispatches.— Wilmington Expedition.— Fort Fisher.—
Powder-Ship. — Bombardment— Failure. — Return to Hampton Roads. — Co-operation from Ply
mouth  '.  679
CHAPTER LXXII.
Affairs at Petersburg. — Renewed Attempt to Flank the Rebel Eight — Battle at Hatcher's Run. —
F.ghijng on the North Side of the James. — Review of the Year. — Importance of Sherman's
Operations. — Calls for Troops. — Relative Strength of Armies. — Second Attack on Fort Fisher. —
Capture of Fort and Garrison  w  690
CHAPTER £XXIIL
Capture of Remaining Defences on Cape Fear River.— Schofleld's Order from Tennessee.— Fort
Anderson (Taken.— Occupation of Wilmington. — Movement on Kinston.— Goldsboro'.— Gill-
more before Charleston.— Evacuation of the City by Hardee. — Flag Restored to Fort Sumter. —
Sheridan in the Valley.— His Raid.— Great Destruction of Rebel Property.— Joins Meade  699
CHAPTER LXXIV.
General Sherman at Savannah.— The Advance Northward.— Pocotaligo.— Salkehatchic— Move
ment on Columbia.— Conflagration in Columbia and its Origin.— Beauregard at Charlotte.— Lee
Placed in Chief Command of the Rebel Armies.— Johnston Reinstated.— Fayetteville.— Rebel
Strength.— Averysboro'.— Bentonvillc— Goldsboro'.— Junction of Three Union Armies.— Ob
jective of the Campaign Gained  __ 70S
CHAPTER LXXV.
Grant's Preparations for a Final Movement-Rebel Attack on Fort Steadman.-Dlsastrous Re
pulse.— Object of Lee.— Movement on the Left Commenced.— Affair of Quaker Road — Heavv
Fighting on Boydton Rpad.-Decisive Battle of Five Forks.-Rebel Left Turned.- Assault
on Petersburg —Evacuation of Petersburg and Richmond. -Pursuit of Lee.— His Surrender to
Grant— End of Campaign,  .717
*
CHAPTER LXXVI.
Raids in Kentucky and East Tennessee-Defeat and Death of Morenn.— Successes of Stonemnn
and Burbndge.-Destruction of Works at Saltville.-Stoncman's last Itaid-CaPture of M™
bury.-Negotiatioiis between Sherman and Johnston.-Agreement for Surrender by Johnston
&!r'ii'1Wn8h,T?r •-^en80"8 Assigned -Final Sounder of John" iin.-Witt GriS
Sfs^teTritmS^

CONTENTS. 13
CHAPTER LXXVII. PAGB
Peace Negotiations at Fortress Monroe.— Their Fruitless Issue. — Second Inauguration of Lincoln.
— His Address. — Rejoicings at the Prospect of Peace. — Assassination of Lincoln. — The Public
Mourning. — Funeral Procession. — Character of Lincoln. — Booth, the Murderer, Pursued and
Shot. — Trial and Execution of his Accomplices. — Inauguration of Andrew Johnson as Presi
dent. — Amnesty Proclamation. — Plan for Reconstruction. — Pursuit and Capture of .Davis. — '
Capitulation of Generals Taylor and Kirby Smith. — Termination of the War and Disbanding of
the Armies. — The National Debt.— Concluding Reflections  ,. . 744

.LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS,
All of which were Engraved, expressly for this "Work.
STEEL PLATES.
Page.
A. Lincoln, late President of the United States,. .Frontispiece.
Jefferson Davis,  48
Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary ofjthe Navy,  65
Bombardment of Hort Sumter,  72
Hon. William" H. Seward, Secretary of State,  81
Maj. Gen. G. B. McClellan,  112
Maj. Gen. A. E. Burnside,  200
Commodore D. D. Porter,  249
Commodore Dahlgren,  249
Commodore A. H. Foote,  249
Lieut. J. X. Worden,  249
Maj. Gen. B. F. Butler,  289
Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker,  289
Maj. Gen. W. S. 'Hancock,  289
Maj. Gen. Geo. G. Meade,  289
Maj. Gen. G. H. Thomas,  289
Maj. Gen. P. H. Sheridan,  289
Lieut. Gen. P. G. T. Beauregard    304
Lieut. Gen. Braxton Bragg,  ,  304
Gen T. J, (Stonewall) jAqKsoN,  304
Gen. Sterling Price, . . .'  304
Gen. James Longstreet,  304
Gen- John C. Pembebton,  304
Maj. Gen. Halleck  . _  312
Vice Admiral Farragut,  369
Charge on the Battery,  „  457
Lieut. Gen. Grant,  472
Cavalry Charge,   480
Maj. Gen. J. A. Logan,  488

LIST OP ILLUSTRATIONS.
Maj. Gen. W. S. Rosecrans,   488
Maj. Gen. W. T. Sherman,  .488
Maj. Gen. John Sedgwick,  ' . . 488
Maj Gen. A. II. Terry,.  ,  488
Brig. Gen. N. Lyon,  *  .  488
Gunboats and Monitors Bombarding the Defences of
Charleston,  • .504
Hon. E M. Stanton, Secretary of War,   . . 512
Battle of the Wilderness,  . . .  . . - . 520
Lieut. Gen. R. E. Lee,.  544
Funeral Ceremony of the late President Lincoln at the
White House,  745
Andrew Johnson, President of the United States,  752
«
South Carolina,   71
Virginia,  81
Missouri,  '  107
North Carolina,  203:
Alabama,   205
Fredericksburg to Petersburg,.;  259
Gettysburg to Fredericksburg,  332
Tennessee and Kentucky,  400
Mississippi,  424
Charleston Harbor,  -.  502
Chattanooga to Atlanta,  571
Mobile Harbor,  ,  611
Wilmington Harbor,..  697

INTRODUCTION.

The attempt to describe the progress of a contest, in which the
existence of a great nation has been involved, may fitly be preceded
by a rapid review of the origin of the organic law of that nation,
and of the previous efforts of discontented individuals, parties, or
States, to resist, divide, or overthrow its government.
The thirteen colonies which united in the 'effort to throw off the
British yoke, in 1775, had some points of agreement, but more of
difference. Their agreement arose from the purpose, common to
them all, of resisting oppression; their differences were the result
of diverse origin, different modes of life, and divergent views of the
essential characteristics of a free government.
The Articles of Confederation or alliance of these colonies, adopted
by most of them in 1778, proved a very weak and imperfect com
pact. Under it, the thirteen independent sovereignties were bound
together rather by the moral attraction of a common purpose, than
by that thorough affiliation which alone could make them a united
nation. The collection of taxes, the adoption and enforcement of
national measures, and that unity of action which would command
the respect of foreign powers, were difficult, if not impossible, under
such a compact ; and the use of force for the accomplishment of any
one of these objects contravened the cardinal principle of the Revolu
tion, that governments derive their just powers from the consent of
the governed.
It was felt, in all quarters, that a constitution or compact of
greater stringency, and which should engage more thoroughly the
confidence and consent of the people, was needed; but so diverse
were the views of the different States and of the leading statesmen,
that it seemed hardly possible that an instrument could be framed
which would receive general approval. Yet the attempt was made ;
the initiative being taken by Virginia, whose legislature, in 1786,
recommended the calling of a convention at Annapolis, to endeavor
to adopt some articles of agreement providing for a more efficient
taxation, the prosecution of commerce, &c. In this convention but
eight States were represented, and the delegates, fully convinced of
the magnitude and radical character of the changes required, con
tented themselves with calling a Convention to meet in the ensuing
spring (1787), to recommend such alterations in and additions to the
Articles of Confederation as they might deem necessary. In that
Convention, to which were sent the most eminent statesmen of each
State, and to which we owe our Federal Constitution, there was a
a

18 rSTTEODTJCTION.
great diversity of views. Two extreme parties appeared in the Con
vention — the advocates of a strong .government, in which the States
should surrender a greater part of their rights' to the nation, and
which should be governed by a president, with almost regal powers,
elected for life; and the supporters of a mere Confederation of
States, somewhat stronger than that already existing, yet carefully
guarded against any tendencies to centralization — in other words,
the Federal and the State Eights parties. To the former belonged,
with some exceptions, the delegates from New England, New York,
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and North Carolina ; to the
latter, most of those from the other States, though the great name of
"Washington was on the side of a strong government. Neither party
were entirely successful. But early in the session of the Convention
one thing was decided : that the Constitution was to bind the whole
people, and not to be a mere State compact; that the people of the
United States were to be one nation,, and not an aggregation of
sovereign States. This point settlek, there were still many others
on which the delegates differed ; and when the Constitution was
completed and submitted to the people for ratification, neither
Washington, Jefferson, nor Franklin concealed the fact that there
were portions of it which were not wholly satisfactory to them. In
the course of its ratification by the people of the different States, many
amendments were suggested, and when, at last, after some slight
changes, it became the bond of union of the nation, there were many,
both in this and foreign countries, who predicted a brief existence to
the nation thus consolidated.
It has proved, however, a bond of greater strength than even its
friends dared to hope, and though some needful modifications have
been made by the concurrent vote of the people who first adopted it,
it has with each successive decade, and we might say, indeed, with each
successive year, won a higher place in the love and admiration of the
nation. There have been, it is true, occasional efforts to transcend its pro
visions, to violate its obligations, or to subvert its spirit, but these
have been the acts of a few restless and misguided individuals, or at
most of a portion only of the citizens of two or three States, until the
commencement of the Great Rebellion.
A brief notice of these manifestations of hostility to the national
authority may not be inappropriate. The first in the order of time
was the Whiskey Rebellion of 1794, in Western Pennsylvania. The
Federal Government, after its organization under the Constitution,
had assumed the debts incurred by the several States in the war for
independence, and in order to provide for the payment of the interest
and the eventual liquidation of the principal of that debt, it became
necessary to adopt a rigorous system of taxation. Heavy duties were
laid on imported liquors, and the manufacture of whiskey, rum, gin,
&c, which was very extensive in several of the States, was made to
bear a part of the burden, in the way of an excise duty. The chief
crop of Western Pennsylvania at that period was rye, which was almost
entirely manufactured into whiskey, and sent east for the purchase

INTRODUCTION. 19
of other needed commodities. The enhancement of the price of this
liquor, in consequence of the exise duty, created intense excitement,
and led to active resistance of the collectors and inspectors of the
stills appointed by the Government, some of whom were subjected
to personal indignities and violence, in their attempts to perform their
duties. The law was modified, at the instance of the class who are
always desirous of a compromise in such cases ; but the malcontents
would accept no terms short of its entire repeal, and resisted the col
lection of the tax till July, 1794. At that time the United States
marshal was ordered to take a posse of armed men an serve warrants
upon thirty offending distillers. He was successful in the service of
the writs except in the case of one person, who made an armed resist
ance, compelled the officers to fly for their lives, and burned the house
of the district inspector. Encouraged by this success, the insurgents
now called out a force of seven thousand men, stopped and robbed
the mail, under pretext of ascertaining who were in complicity with
the government, and proceeded to array themselves in open opposition
to the national authority. General Washington, then President, issued
his proclamation commanding the insurgents to disperse, and this
proving ineffectual, he called out a force of fifteen thousand men from
Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania to suppress the rebellion. It
being understood that every man found in arms would be arrested
and hung, the insurgents became appalled, and, calling a convention at
Parkinson's Ferry, adopted resolutions of entire submission. General
Lee, with the Federal force, proceeded to the insurgent district, and,
the excise officers performing their duties with very little opposition,
proclaimed an amnesty.
In 1798, the efforts of certain French revolutionists and their sym
pathizers to involve this country in a war with England, and the
violence of their denunciations of President Adams, who opposed
their policy, led to the passage by Congress of the alien acts and the
sedition law. The former gave the President power for two years
to order all such aliens as he might deem dangerous to the peace and
safety of the United States to leave the country, and made provision
also for registering the names and residences of aliens. These laws
were never enforced, the President not deeming it necessary. The
sedition law punished, by heavy fines, any attempt to excite insurrec
tion or to conspire against the Government, also the publication of
any false, scandalous, or malicious writings against the President, or
other officers of Government or Congress. The operation of this act
was also limited to two years. The Anti-Federalists, who were then
in opposition, saw in the passage of these laws the opportunity of
defeating the Federal party, and attaining to power. They accord
ingly denounced them with great severity, and introduced resolutions,
taking strong ground in favor of State rights, into the legislatures of
Virginia and Kentucky; those in the former State being drawn by
James Madison, and those in the latter drafted originally by Thomas
Jefferson, though subsequently modified, and stripped of some of
their objectionable passages by George Nicholas. Mr. Madison s reso
lutions, though avowing the doctrine that the Federal Government

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

KTTRODUCTION. 21
looking after their own defence, while it refused to allow them to fur
nish State officers to command their troops. This excited further
complaint, and the entire New England States became strongly dis
satisfied with the Government, and with the Southern and Central
States, which favored the war. On the 15th of December, 1814, a
convention of delegates from the five States (Maine was as yet a dis
trict of Massachusetts) met in secret session at Hartford, Connecticut.
They remained in session till January 5th, 1815, and two weeks later
published a report and series of resolutions adopted by them. The
first of these recommended the legislatures of the New England States
to protect their citizens from the operation of acts passed by Con
gress, subjecting them to forcible drafts, conscriptions, or impress
ments, not authorized by the Constitution ; the second recommended
that the States be empowered to defend themselves, and that they
should have for this purpose their proportion of the taxes collected ;
the third advised each State to defend itself against foreign foes ; the
fourth suggested several amendments to the Federal Constitution,
making the white population the basis of the apportionment of taxa
tion and representation, requiring a vote of two-thirds of both Houses
for the admission of new States, for the interdiction of foreign trade,
and for making war, except in defence of territory actually invaded,
the restriction of the power of Congress in laying an embargo to a
period of sixty days, making naturalized citizens ineligible to civil
office, and prohibiting the election of President for two successive
terms, or of two successive Presidents, from the same State. They
also recommended, in case these resolutions, when submitted to the
General Government through the several States, should not receive
attention, if peace should not be concluded, and the interests of the
New England States were still neglected, that another convention
should be called at Boston, with such powers and instructions as the
exigencies of the case might require. The report accompanying these
resolutions, though moderate in tone and expressing attachment to the
Union, contained views harmonizing to some extent with the State
Rights doctrine of Mr. Jefferson's resolutions of 1798.
Here was, it will be seen, no proposed violation of the Constitution,
no insurrectionary movement, but simply the carrying out to its ulti
mate results of the State Rights heresy. But, moderate as were the
measures proposed by this Hartford Convention, compared with those
which have since been propounded in other parts of the Union, they
met with no general approval from the people of the New England.
States. The people of Connecticut were stimulated by them to more
active loyalty, and the only expression of opinion they called forth in
the other States was one of decided disapprobation.
The close of the war, very soon after, may have had its effect in
producing this result; but it is certain that nearly every member of
that convention was, in consequence of his connection with it, con
signed to political oblivion.
The excitement consequent upon the application of Missouri for
admission into the Union with a constitution recognizing slavery,
again imperilled for a time the existence of our national Government.

22

KTTEODUCTIOir.

The previous admissions of Slave States, like Alabama, Tennessee,
Kentucky, and Mississippi, had been from territory belonging to, and
peopled by, the citizens of Slave States; and in the single case of
Louisiana, a populous district, possessing large numbers of slaves while
under the sway of another power, had been transferred into the Union
without change of its institutions or local laws.
In the case of Missouri, there was a new issue. The ordinance of
1787, by which slavery was excluded from all territory northwest of
the Ohio, expressed the opposition of the people to the extension of
slavery over the territories which might subsequently become States ;
and it was urged that the admission of Missouri (which was divided
6nly by ihe Mississippi River from that territory) with slavery, would
virtually annul that expression of the popular will. The advocates of
the admission of the State, on the other hand, urged that as slavery
had existed in Louisiana Territory, of which Missouri formed a part at
the time of the purchase of the latter, it would be a violation of the
treaty, by which the United States had pledged itself to maintain the
rights and privileges of the inhabitants of that territory on the same
footing with those of its other citizens, to refuse to admit her with.
such social institutions as she preferred. The question was discussed
with great ability during the greater part of three sessions of Congress,
and produced an extraordinary excitement throughout the country.
A resolution prohibiting slavery, and providing for the gradual eman
cipation of the slaves then in the State, passed the House, but was lost
in the Senate. A compromise measure, proposed by Henry Clay, finally
ended the controversy. Missouri was admitted as a Slave State ; but
slavery was prohibited in all territory north of the line of 36° 30', and
south of that line the United States held no territories at that time
except Arkansas and Florida, both of which from their position would
necessarily be Slave States. The adherence to this compromise was
solemnly guaranteed, and it was regarded as a final settlement of the
question of the territorial extension of slavery. The vote on the
admission of the State into the Union was taken in August, 1821, and
in the Senate stood 28 yeas to 14 nays ; in the House, 86 yeas to 82
nays. The next attempt at nullifying or resisting the authority of the
government of the United States, occurred in Georgia and Alabama
in 1825. The Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Cherokee Indians,
held large tracts of lands in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and
Florida, which had been secured to them as " reservations by the
United States Government. They had been the original proprietors
of the soil of the entire Gulf States, but by treaty had relinquished
to the United States all except nine and a half millions of acres in
Georgia, seven and a half millions in Alabama, fifteen and three-
fourths millions in Mississippi, and four millions in Florida. They
were considerably advanced in civilization, and had houses, farms,
and herds of cattle on their reservations. But the rapid settlement
of the Gulf States caused the white population to look with a greedy
eye on these lands, and their State legislatures began to demand that
the general Government should remove the whole body of Indians to

estkoductiojS". 23
the region west of the Mississippi, about the head-waters of the Ar
kansas. So peremptory were the demands of Georgia to this effect
(she having stipulated in her cession of Mississippi Territory, that the
Indian titles to land in that State should be extinguished " whenever
it could be accomplished peaceably and on reasonable terms"), that
just before the close of Mr. Monroe's administration, commissioners
were appointed to make a treaty with the Creeks for the purchase of
their lands by the United States Government. A treaty was nego
tiated (as it afterward- appeared, fraudulently) on the 12th of Febru
ary, 1825, between the Creek chief, General William Mcintosh, and
Mr. Crowell, the United States agent, by which all the Creek reser
vations in Georgia, and a large tract in Alabama, were ceded to the
Government. On learning of this treaty, the Creeks were greatly
excited, and refused to accept it. On the 30th of April a party of
them assassinated Mcintosh and another chief who had signed the
treaty with him, and burned his house. The State authorities of
Georgia prepared to take possession of the territory by force, and
called out troops for the purpose. As the United States Government
had, by treaty, stipulated to protect the Indians in their just rights,
President Adams sent a force of Federal troops to the confines of the
reservation for that purpose. Georgia called on the adjacent States,
and troops and money were raised to assist her " against the Govern
ment and the Indians." In this emergency President Adams gath
ered at Washington the head men and principal chiefs of the Creeks,
and negotiated a new treaty with them, by which all the lands in
Georgia, but none of those in Alabama, were ceded to the Govern
ment. This treaty was ratified by Congress, though opposed by the
Georgia delegation, and was faithfully observed by the Indians. As
there was no excuse for further hostilities, the Georgia troops were
disbanded. The tariff act of 1828 was the occasion of another rebellious out
break, and this time South Carolina was the chief actor, though en
couraged by several of the other Southern States. The war of 1812
had greatly developed the manufacturing interest of the country, and
for the protection of that interest against the formidable rivalry of
British manufacturers, Congress had, from time to time, laid heavy
duties on such imported products, woollens, coarse cottons, sugars,
&c, as competed with our manufactures — as they had, in the infancy
of the cotton production, laid a heavy impost on the importation of
raw cotton. The woollen manufacture was carried on in many of the
States — New York, Massachusetts, Georgia, and Pennsylvania being
most largely engaged in it. But when, in 1828, a higher duty was
proposed on several classes of goods, including woollens, Mr. Hayne,
of South Carolina, then a member of the United States Senate, took
occasion to denounce the act as unconstitutional, a Northern exac
tion, a tribute which the South was to be compelled to pay to the
North, and to assert the right and duty of his State to nullify the
law, by refusing to pay the duties. Mr. Webster replied to Mr.
Hayne, in that great speech in defence of the powers of the Consti
tution which has become historical, and so completely annihilated the

24

IKTE0DUCTI0]?r.

doctrine of nullification that its resurrection seemed impossible.
Events proved, however, that the speech of Mr. Hayne was only the
first step in the development of a plan to give the planting States the
control of the Government, or to take them out of the Union. The
State Rights heresy was already a favorite doctrine in Virginia and
South Carolina, and was gaining ground in other Southern States;
and to the propagation of this doctrine, as also to the defence and
support of nullification, Mr. Hayne, and Mr. Calhoun, then Vice-Presi
dent of the United States, lent their great powers. An open rupture
between the United States and South Carolina seemed imminent, and,
as usual, the timid recommended conciliation and the modification of
the offensive tariff, and succeeded in procuring a reduction of some of
the duties ; but this only encouraged the conspirators to further de
mands. Congress, they urged, had been terrified into concessions by
the threats of South Carolina; let those threats be increased, and every
thing would be yielded. The legislature of that State met in the
autumn of 1832, and appointed a Committee on the Relations of the
State with the Federal Government. That committee reported in
almost the language of Jefferson's resolutions, and of the Hartford Con
vention, declaring the Federal Constitution a mere compact between
independent and sovereign States ; that when any violation of the
spirit of that compact took place, it was the right of the State to
remonstrate against it; and that, though there was a tribunal ap
pointed under the Constitution to decide controversies where the
United States was a party, yet in some questions which might occur
between the Government and the State, it would be unsafe to submit
to any judicial tribunal, and it was proper for the State legislature to
decide such questions for itself.
A convention of delegates met on the 1 9th of November, to act
for the State in the crisis, and Governor (late United States Senator)
Hayne was elected its president. Resolutions were passed, declaring
the tariffs of 1828 and 1832 null and void, and not binding upon the
citizens of the States ; and that in case the general Government
should attempt their enforcement by naval or military power, the
union between South Carolina and the United States should be con
sidered dissolved, and a convention called to form a government for
the State. It was also resolved that no appeal should be permitted
to be taken to the Supreme Court of the United States in respect to
the validity of the ordinances of the convention, or of the laws passed
to give effect thereto. A special session of the legislature was called
on the adjournment of the convention, and acts passed authorizing
the Governor to call out the militia to resist any attempt of the United
States Government to enforce the laws, and ordering the purchase of
ten thousand stand of arms and the necessary munitions of war.
This was followed by Mr. Calhoun's resignation of the Vice-Presi
dency, and his election to the United States Senate. It had been the
intention of President Jackson to order him to be arrested on his
arrival at Washington, and tried for high treason, and, in case of
conviction, to execute him. Messrs. Webster, Clay, and others, dis
suaded him from this Step; but, to his dying day, the stern old man

ESTTEODUCTION. 25
insisted that his failure to do this was the one great error of his ad
ministration. On the 10th of December the President issued his
proclamation against nullification, in which he stated plainly the
nature of the Federal Government, denied emphatically the dogma
that the Constitution was a mere compact between the States, de
clared its supremacy, and exhorted the citizens of South Carolina
not to persist in a course which must bring upon their State the whole
military force of the Republic, and expose the Union to the hazard of,
dissolution. While thus' expostulating with South Carolina, the President did
not forget that the exhibition of power sufficient to enforce his
authority was the surest means of securing attention to his remon
strances. A considerable military force was ordered to Charleston,
and a sloop of war sent to that port to protect the Federal officers in
the discharge of their duties ; and, before the South Carolinians were
aware, General Scott, with a strong garrison, was in Fort Moultrie,
prepared, if necessary, to use its cannon in the collection of the reve
nue. In his message to Congress, President Jackson recommended
a peaceful settlement, if possible, but avowed his determination, if
Congress did not deem it best to modify or repeal the law, to force
South Carolina to submission. He declared nullification rebellion
against the Government, and such rebellion he deemed it his duty to
suppress. The determined position of the President and the formi
dable preparations of General Scott had a sensible effect in cooling
the ardor of the South Carolinians. The revenues were collected at
the Charleston Custom-House, under the provisions of the hated
tariffs, and all was quiet. The State Convention met, and resolved
that it would wait until February 1st before ordering any hostile
action. On the 21st of January, 1833, a bill was introduced into the
United States Senate by Mr. Wilkins, of Pennsylvania, authorizing
the President to summon, if necessary, the entire military power of
the United States to put down the opposition to the collection of the
revenue. In the course of the discussion on this bill, Mr. Calhoun, in
a speech of great casuistry and adroitness, defended the State Rights
interpretation of the Constitution; and Mr. Webster replied in an
argument showing most conclusively that the Constitution was a
bond of union of the people, and not a compact between sovereign
States, and that there was no place nor room for State action to nul
lify national laws. The bill of Mr. Wilkins passed by an almost
unanimous vote. The right and power of the Government having
been thus maintained, Henry Clay proposed and carried through both
Houses a measure of compromise and concession, providing for a grad
ual reduction of the tariff duties to a minimum rate, to be reached in
December, 1841. The 1st of February had come, but no resistance
had been offered to the collection of the revenue; and on the 11th of
March, Governor Hayne summoned the Convention to "accept the
highly satisfactory settlement of the difficulty afforded by the compro
mise of Mr. Clay, and to declare the great principle of State sovereignty
established." This partial triumph was the source of subsequent mis
chief. South Carolina had, substantially, gained her demands, and her

26 miEODTJCTIOK.
leading men believed that they had only to watch their opportunity,
and, under a less resolute executive, put forth their demands, accom
panying them with threats, and they would be granted. In the next
thirty years the experiment was tried more than once, and always with
success. The policy of the Government at the adoption of the Constitution,
and for some years after, had been to repress slavery. It was the
belief of the framers of the Constitution that it would die out in a few
years, and all of them regarded such a result as one to be desired.
But the invention of the cotton-gin gave such an impulse to the cul
tivation of cotton, and the rapid extension of the cotton manufacture
rendered it so profitable and important a crop, that the demand for
slaves to cultivate it increased beyond the supply, and the price was
greatly enhanced. But the system of cultivation by slave labor wore
out the lands of the cotton planters in a few years, and they were com
pelled to move to new lauds in order to obtain good crops. This, and
the desire to secure to their section the political ascendancy in the
United States Government, led the statesmen of the South to seek con
stantly for the addition of new territory which could be made into
Slave States.
This motive had great weight in inducing the purchase of Louisi
ana in 1803, without warrant from the Constitution; in the purchase
of Florida from Spain in 1819 ; and in the struggle for the admission
of Missouri as a Slave State in 1820, in which, as we have seen, they
were successful.
With this increase of slavery, however, there had been gradually
springing up in the minds of the people of the non-slaveholding
States a dislike of the system, and about the time of the nullification
movement this feeling began to find public expression in newspapers,
lectures, &c. At first the interests of the great body of the North-
em people, especially the manufacturing, mercantile, and commercial
classes, were so fully identified with the South, that they were little
inclined to tolerate any condemnation of slavery ; and many of those
who wrote against or spoke against it were mobbed and maltreated.
The Southern leaders were enraged at the agitation of the subject of
slavery. There was some reason to fear that their slaves might learn
that there were . those who desired their freedom, and °tlms be
tempted to rise in insurrection ; there was more reason to dread that
if the opposition to slavery assumed an organized form, it might
eventually curtail their power in the Government, and, since the
North increased in population much more rapidly than the South,
prevent the consummation of their plans for the extension of slave
territory, and their control of the national administration. For these
reasons they adopted measures of severe repression whenever any
attempt was made to oppose or condemn the institution. The recep
tion of petitions by Congress on any subject connected with emanci
pation was prohibited ; an attempt was made to expel John Quincy
Adams, a former President of the United States, from the House of
Kepresentatives.for offering such a petition; laws were passed author
izing the seizure of anti-slavery pamphlets or papers passing through

INTEODUCTIOIT. 27
the mails, and postmasters were made the judges of their incendiary
character ; for years respectable newspapers, published in New York,
were not permitted to reach subscribers in the Southern States by
mail. Colored seamen, citizens of Massachusetts, were, under State
laws, seized and kept in jail at Charleston, Savannah, and New Orleans,
while their vessels were in port, and occasionally sold to pay the jail
fees ; and when that State sent an agent, one of her most distinguished
and honored citizens, to South Carolina, to test the constitutionality of
these laws, he was treated with great indignity, and threatened with
being mobbed unless he left the State within twenty-four hours. A
citizen of Kentucky, of one of her most eminent families, who dared
to advocate gradual emancipation, and set the example by freeing his
own slaves, was set upon by assassins, and though he defended himself
with great bravery, was wounded nigh unto death ; and when subse
quently he established a paper to set forth his views, his press was
destroyed and his type thrown into the Ohio River, and his life threat
ened. The support of Northern men was demanded for whatever meas
ures were deemed necessary to maintain and strengthen slavery ; and
if any reluctance was shown, the threat to dissolve the Union, unless
Southern demands were granted, was always ready.
In 1844, the statesmen of the South saw an opportunity of mate
rially increasing the area of slave territory by the annexation of
Texas, which would give them the preponderance in Congress which
they were otherwise likely to lose in the next decade. John Tyler,
then President by the death of General Harrison, was favorable to
their purpose. The annexation was consummated, with a proviso
allowing four more States to be set off from its territory when the
population should be sufficient, to be Slave or Free States, as their in
habitants should elect. This annexation led to the war with Mexico,
which was very popular in the South, from the belief that it would
still further increase the territory to be devoted to slavery. When
the war closed, and California, Utah, and New Mexico were added
to our domain, and the discovery of gold sent a vast body of emi
grants to California, who soon claimed its admission to the Union
with a Free State Constitution, the Southern leaders were greatly
dissappointed and vexed. They opposed its admission with great
violence, and only consented after a further compromise, by which a
new fugitive slave law, denying the fugitive a trial by jury, and com
pelling all citizens, under a penalty of one thousand dollars' fine, and
six months' or a year's imprisonment, to aid in the surrender of an
alleged slave, was passed, and the Government was required to pay
to Texas the sum of ten millions of dollars (in addition to the pre
vious assumption of her debts), for the Gadsden tract, a barren,
worthless strip of land, to which her claim was, to say the least,
doubtful. It is not a matter of wonder that some of the Northern States, to
all of which the surrender of fugitive slaves had always been an irk
some duty, should have been provoked by the passage of this fugitive
slave law into the enactment of such State laws as should render it
difficult of execution, and only capable of enforcement in cases where

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

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

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

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.

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

32 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.
immediately after the next presidential election. This proved a com
paratively easy ta<k. Three of the members of Mr. Buchanan's Cabinet
were their friends and at their service. These were Mr. Cobb, the
Secretary of the Treasury, Mr. Floyd, Secretary of War, and Mr.
Thompson, Secreiary of the Interior. Mr. Cobb aided them, boih directly
and indirectly, with money and credit. Mr. Floyd, in addition to his other
frauds, elsewhere detailed, sent loyal officers to remote and secluded posts,
dismantled Northern forts, and stripped Northern arsenals of arms and
munitions of war. Mr. Thompson contented himself with advocating
treason. Mr. Toucey, Secretary of the Navy, contrary to rumor, had in
the Home Squadron twelve ships of war, against three when he entered
the Cabinet, four in Northern waters and eight in Southern.
It was necessary, moreover, to their success in the accomplishment
of the act of secession, that they should have a decent and plausible
pretext. If the Government at the next presidential election could
be thrown into the hands of the Republican party, which could not
poll any considerable vote in the Slave States, an opportunity would
be afforded to assail the new administration on the ground that it
represented only a section of the United States. To accomplish this,
and yet hide their real object, was a somewhat difficult task ; but it
was finally performed. Mr. Douglas was a favorite with a large portion
of the Democratic party in the North; but, although he had brought
forward the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, he had, on account of
his subsequent opposition to some of their most extreme measures, but
little strength in the South. His friends had urged him strongly for
the Presidency in 1856, and there was a general understanding that
he would have the nomination in 1860.
The Southern leaders now put forward Mr. Breckinridge, then Vice-
President, as a candidate, and, having packed the Democratic National
Convention at Charleston, prevented a nomination, but secured an
adjournment to Baltimore, where they divided, one party nominating
Mr. Breckinridge and the other Mr. Douglas. This was just what they
desired. The Republican party, though it had increased rapidly within
four years, was still numerically so inferior to the Democratic party,
that could the votes of the latter be concentrated on one candidate,
he would be elected ; but with two candidates in the field opposed to
him, and dividing the Democratic vote, the Republican candidate would
certainly be elected, and a pretext for secession afforded. The Repub
licans nominated Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois, and, unsuspicious of the
tactics of the Southern leaders, adopted a moderate and conciliatory
platform. The canvass was still further complicated by the nomination
of a Union ticket, at the head of which was placed John Bell of Ten
nessee, and Edward Everett of Massachusetts, as candidates for Presi
dent and Vice-President.
The canvass was conducted with more than usual bitterness, and
the Southern conspirators threw out constant threats, that in the event
of Mr. Lincoln's election the Union should be dissolved. These
threats were but little regarded at the North. Seeing the election
conducted under a strict observance of all the forms of the Constitu
tion, and participated in by all the States, Northern men could not

HISTORY OF THE ORE AT REBELLION. 33
be induced to believe that the Southern States would repudiate a
result to which, by voting, they had made themselves parties. Such
a breach of faith had never occurred in the history of the country,
and the threats uttered were regarded as but a repetition of the
familiar braggadocio of Southern politicians.
The popular vote was as follows : —
For Abraham Lincoln, Republican candidate  1,866,452
" Stephen A. Douglas, Northern Democrat  1,375,157
" John C. Breckinridge, Southern Democrat  847,953
" John Bell, Union....  590,631
Total.  4,680,193
Had the Democratic vote been united on one candidate, that can
didate would have had a plurality of more than three hundred and
fifty thousand over Mr. Lincoln. The electoral vote stood : for Mr.
Lincoln, one hundred and eighty ; for Mr. Douglas, twelve ; for Mr.
Breckinridge, seventy-two ; for Mr. Bell, thirty-nine ; giving Mr. Lincoln
a clear majority of fifty-seven electoral votes over all his competitors.
He had received the entire vote of seventeen of the thirty-three States,
besides a part of that of New Jersey ; and inasmuch as there had been
a popular vote for him in twenty-three States, his election could not be
said to be a sectional one.
Here it may not be inappropriate to refer to one or two events of
earlier date, which proved significant forerunners of the crisis which
was approaching.
In October, 1859, the country being then in a state of profound
tranquillity, an incident occurred which showed that, under the seem
ing calm, lay concealed a smouldering volcano, which might at any
moment blaze forth and upheave the whole frame-work of society.
Among the early emigrants from the North to Kansas was John
Brown, formerly a citizen of the State of New York, who had
rendered himself peculiarly obnoxious to the Southern emigrants by
his courage in defence of his settlement at Ossawatomie against the
"border ruffians," who, had endeavored, more than once, to murder
him and his family. This old man, a stern Puritan in habits and turn
of mind, had been goaded by great and oft-repeated wrongs to a fren
zied hatred of slavery, and had finally come to believe himself raised
up of God as a leader to effect its overthrow in this country. He
brooded upon this idea till it became a monomania with him. He
addressed letters to prominent citizens at the North asking pecuniary
aid, but never developing his plans. Some, deeming him insane, refused ;
others, supposing that he was only intent upon plans for keeping slavery
out of Kansas, sent him money. Suddenly, on the night of October 16th,
with sixteen white and five black followers, he made a descent upon
the United States Arsenal, at Harper's Ferry, Va., captured it without
bloodshed, and took several prominent citizens prisoners. He evidently
believed that the slaves of the vicinity would, without further effort
on his part, rally to his standard, and it was a part of his design to de
clare them free, without, if he could avoid it, shedding any blood.
The intelligence of this raid produced almost unparalleled excite-
i

34 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.
ment in Virginia. Henry A. Wise, then Governor of the State, called
out a force of several thousand militia, and increased the panic by vio
lent proclamations. Meantime, Brown remained in possession of the
arsenal, and though fifteeh hundred of the Virginia militia had gath
ered in the vicinity, it was not until a company of marines, with artil
lery, sent by the President, attacked the arsenal, that he surrendered.
The old man and five of his companions, and two others subsequently
captured, were delivered up to Virginia, tried for treason and murder,
found guilty, and sentenced to be hung. Efforts were made to induce
Governor Wise to extend executive clemency to them, on the ground
that Brown was undoubtedly insane, and that his companions had been
led to follow him without any treasonable intent ; but the Governor
was inexorable, and the sentences were strictly carried out. In many
parts of the North, Brown was regarded rather as a martyr than a
criminal, and, under the belief that he was of unsound mind, the wrong
he had committed .was forgotten in the punishment he suffered.
About two years previous to this event, Hinton Rowan Helper, a
native of North Carolina, who had been till the prime of manhood
a citizen of that State, published a work entitled "The Impending
Crisis," in which, drawing his statistics from the United States cen
sus and other sources, he had attempted to demonstrate the degra
ding influence of slavery on the non-slaveholding whites of the South,
and urged them to exert themselves in their several States for its
overthrow. The book possessed small literary merit, and was char
acterized in passages by a bitter spirit, which marred its value ; but
the statistics which it contained illustrated forcibly the effect of
slavery upon the white population. The work did not meet with a
large sale, although it had attracted some attention. In the summer
of 1859 a proposition was made to compile from it a " Compendium,"
containing the statistical portion and some notes of explanation, but
without the denunciatory passages, to be circulated as a campaign
document by the Republican party, preparatory to the next Presi
dential campaign. A circular was prepared, and the object appear
ing unobjectionable, it was signed by many of the leading men of
that party, without ever having, seen the book. The preparation of
this compendium was delayed, and when Congress assembled, in De
cember, 1859, after the John Brown raid, members of Congress from
the Slave States, who had secured copies of the original work, accused
the members who had signed the circular of designs against the Union
and against the South in commending the work. John Sherman of
Ohio, the Republican candidate for Speaker, was defeated, though the
Republican and American parties together had a majority in the House
of Representatives, because his name was appended to the circular ; and
a considerable part of the session was consumed in violent denuncia
tion and recrimination on the part of the members from the slavehold-
ing States. One result of this denunciation was to secure for the book
thousands of readers who would not otherwise have seen it.
The Presidential election took place on the 6th of November, and
upon the announcement of the success of the Republican candidates,
the conspirators went eagerly to work to consummate their designs

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 35
against the Union. On the 10th of the same month, a bill was in
troduced into the South Carolina legislature for the calling out and
equipment of ten- thousand volunteers, and an election was ordered
to be held on the 6th of December, for the choice of delegates to a
convention to take action on the question of secession. Messrs.
Chestnut and Hammond, senators from South Carolina, resigned their
seats on the 10th and 11th of November. Meetings in favor of dis
union were held within a week from the election in all the principal
towns of the Cotton States. Robert Toombs, then and for two
months later a member of the United States Senate, made a violent
speech in favor of secession at Milledgeville, Georgia. On the 10th
of December, Howell Cobb, Secretary of the Treasury, resigned, having
previously declared himself unable to extricate the United States
treasury from the condition of bankruptcy to which he had reduced
it by his mismanagement. On the 15th of December, two days be
fore the meeting of her secession convention, South Carolina drew
her quota of United States arms for the year 1861, John B. Floyd,
Secretary of War, accepting the requisition of her Governor ; and on
the 29th of the same month Floyd resigned, after having delivered
to all the seceding States their full quota of arms for the next year
as well as for the current one, and ordered the greater part of the
regular army to parts so distant as to render it impossible to bring
them to the Atlantic coast in season to meet any emergency. So rapid
was the development of the conspiracy, within the two months that
elapsed between the Presidential election and the new year.

CHAPTER II.
South Carolina Convention. — Ordinance of Secession and Declaration of Causes. —
Resolutions for Convention of Seceded States. — Mississippi Convention. — Alabama
Convention. — Florida Ordinance. — Seizure of Forts. — Georgia's Resolution in
response to New York. — Ordinance of Secession. — Louisiana Convention. — Texas
Convention. — Vote of the People. — General Houston. — Virginia Resolutions. — Ordi
nance of Secession. — Convention with the Confederacy. — Arkansas. — Secession de
feated. — North Carolina Ordinance passed. — Tennessee Act of Independence. —
Military League. — Maryland Resolutions. — Confederate Congress. — Constitution. —
Jefferson Davis, President. — Address.
Ojt the 17th December, 1860, the South Carolina Convention met
at Columbia, but on account of the small-pox, which prevailed there,
adjourned to Charleston. On the 20th, the ordinance of secession
was taken up. It was textually as follows :
SECESSION ORDINANCE OF SOUTH CAROLINA.
"An Ordinance to dissolve Vie Union between the State of South Carolina and other
States united with her under (he Compact, entitled the Constitution of the United States
of America : —
" We, the people of the State of South Carolina, in convention assembled, do declare
and ordain, and it is hereby declared and ordained, that the ordinance adopted by us

36 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.
in convention, on the 23d day of May, in the year of our Lord 1788, whereby the Con
stitution of the United States of America was ratified, and also all acts and parts of
acts of the General Assembly of this State ratifying the amendments of the said Con
stitution, are hereby repealed, and that the union now subsisting between South Caro
lina and other States under the name of the United States of America is hereby dis
solved." The ordinance passed by a unanimous vote of one hundred and sixty-
nine members, at a quarter past one o'clock in the afternoon.
As the news spread through the streets of Charleston, it was
greeted with immense cheering, and in the evening, in the presence
of a crowd of over three thousand people, the instrument was duly
signed and sealed. The convention also adopted a declaration of the
causes that led to secession, the leading allegations of which were : the
frequent violations of the Constitution by the State Governments ; the
nullification of acts of Congress by citizens of those States ; the per
sonal liberty laws of some of the Northern States ; the triumph of a
sectional party at the North ; the elevation of colored persons to
citizenship in some of the States; and the probability that under the
incoming administration the South would be excluded from the common
territories, and the judiciary made sectional, thus taking away all hope
of remedy for wrong. Governor Pickens immediately issued a procla
mation that South Carolina is a separate, free, sovereign, and independ
ent State, and upon this event being telegraphed to Washington,
Messrs. McQueen, Boyd, Bonham and Ashmore, members for South
Carolina, withdrew on the same day from Congress.
The letter of resignation of the South Carolina members to the
Speaker of the House, was laid on the table, and the speaker directed
that their names be retained on the roll, thus not recognizing the act
of the State.
Thus was consummated the act of secession, on the part of that
unruly State, which nearly thirty years before had attempted to nullify
the laws of the Union. The persevering efforts of a few misguided and
unprincipled men,_ continued through a period of thirty years, had
finally culminated in an actual attempt to destroy what the people with
reason considered the best government ever devised by man. The
ambition and crimes of a faction had apparently destroyed the power
and welfare of a nation and dashed the hopes of humanity throughout
the world.
The work of breaking up the old Union and attempting to construct
a new government, was now actively pushed by the Southern leaders
whose intention was to have their new Confederacy in operation and
in a posture of defence, before the accession of Mr. Lincoln to office,
on the 4th of March, 1861. Accordingly, the South Carolina Conven
tion, after passing the ordinance of secession, adopted the following
resolutions for a convention of the seceded States :—
cJtf^'T'^Va6 f^^ons of the seceding Slaveholding States of the United
States unite with South Carolina, and hold a convention at Montgomery, Alabama, for
the purpose of forming a Southern Confederacy '
^'wfrf"_That th6 aaif,sec!ding Sta**s appoint, by their respective conventions
or legislatures, as many delegates as they have representatives in the present Con-

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 37
gress of the, United States, to the said convention to be held at Montgomery; and
that, on the adoption of the constitution of the Southern Confederacy, the vote shall be
by States.
" Third. — That whenever the terms of the constitution shall be agreed upon by the
said convention, the same shall be submitted at as early a day as practicable to the
convention and legislature of each State, respectively, so as to enable them to ratify or
reject the said constitution.
" Fourth. — That in the opinion of South Carolina, the Constitution of the United
States will form a suitable basis for the Confederacy of the Southern States with
drawing. " Fifth. — That the South Carolina Convention appoint by ballot eight delegates to
represent South Carolina in the convention for the formation of a Southern Con
federacy. " Lastly. — That one commissioner in each State be elected to call the attention of the
people to this ordinance."
In the midst of her exhilaration South Carolina remembered that for
the time being she was alone in the world, and that it behooved her to
find shelter and friends. Mr. Calhoun, in the convention, remarked:
" We have pulled a temple down that has been built three-quarters of a
century ; we must clear the rubbish away to reconstruct another. We
are now houseless and homeless, and we must secure ourselves against
storms." These expressions betray, perhaps, the desolation of feeling
the seceders must have experienced on looking back upon the security
and glories of that temple which they had so ruthlessly demolished.
The traditions of the past, the fame of ancestors, the respect of nations,
the glory of the present, almost the hope of the future, lay buried in
that mass of rubbish, and in place of the stately structure which for
eighty years had been growing in proportions, and whose rising dome
was always gilded by the sun of liberty, they were preparing to
erect a building whose corner-stone was slavery. They, however,
deliberately turned their backs upon the past, and recklessly pushed
iuto the unknown, dim, and dangerous future. Commissioners
were sent to the other State conventions, which were called to follow
the lead of South Carolina. On the 9th of January, the Alabama and
Mississippi delegations at Washington telegraphed to the conventions
of their respective States, advising immediate secession, as they con
sidered that there was no prospect of a satisfactory adjustment, and
about the same time a caucus of Southern senators at Washington
advocated separate and immediate secession.
The Mississippi Convention organized January 7th, 1861, A. J. Barry,
of Lowndes, in the chair. It was resolved that a committee of fifteen
be appointed by the president, with instructions to prepare and report,
as speedily as possible, an ordinance of secession, providing for the
immediate withdrawal of Mississippi from the Federal Union, with a
view of establishing a new Confederacy, to be composed of the seceding
States. Delegations from South Carolina and Alabama were invited to
seats in the convention, amidst much applause. All efforts to post
pone action were voted down, and the ordinance was adopted, Jan
uary 9th, by eighty-four yeas to' fifteen nays. The opponents of the
ordinance, however, signed on the following day, and the vote was
then unanimous.

38 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.
Fireworks were displayed at the capitol in Jackson in the evening.
The excitement was intense.
The ordinance is as follows : —
"The people of Mississippi, in convention assembled,1! do ordain and declare, and
it is hereby ordained and declared, as follows, to wit : —
" That all the laws and ordinances by which the said State of Mississippi became a
member of the Federal Union of the United States of America be, and the same are
hereby repealed; and that all obligations on the part of said State, or the people
thereof, to observe the same, be withdrawn; and that the said State shall hereby re
sume the rights, functions, and powers, which by any of said laws and ordinances were
conveyed to the Government of the said United States, and is dissolved from all the
obligations, restraints, and duties incurred to the said Federal Union, and shall hence
forth be a, free, sovereign, and independent State."
The passage of this ordinance was followed by the withdrawal of
'the Honorable Jefferson Davis from the United States Senate on the
21st of January, in company with the senators from Alabama and
Florida. The Mississippi delegation in the House of Representatives
withdrew a few days previous.
The Alabama Convention met January 8th, and on the 11th passed,
by a vote of sixty-one ayes to thirty-nine nays, the following ordinance
of secession : —
" An Ordinance to dissolve the Union between the State of Alabama, and other States,
' united under the Compact and Style of the United States of America.
" Whereas, The election of Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin to the offices of
President and' Vice-President of the United States of America, by a sectional party,
avowedly hostile to the domestic institutions, and the peace and security of the people
of the State of Alabaina, following upon the heels of many and dangerous infractions of
the Constitution of the United States, by many of the States and people of the Northern
section, is a political wrong of so insulting and menacing a character, as to justify the
people of the State of Alabama in the adoption of prompt and decided measures for
their future peace and security.
" Therefore, be it declared and ordained by the people of the State of Alabama, in
convention assembled, that the State of Alabama now withdraws from the Union,
known as the United States of America, and henceforth ceases to be one of the said
United States, and is, and of right ought to be, a sovereign independent State.
" Sec. 2. And be it further declared and ordained by the people of the State of
Alabama, in convention assembled, that all powers over the territories of said State
and over the people thereof, heretofore delegated to the Government of the United
States of America, be, and they are hereby, withdrawn from the said Government,
and are hereby resumed and vested in the people of the State of Alabama.
"And as it is the desire and purpose of the people of Alabama to meet the
Slaveholding States of the South who approve of such a purpose, in order to frame a
provisional or a permanent government, upon the principles of the Government of
the United States, be it also resolved by the people of Alabama, in convention assem
bled, that the people of the States of Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina,
South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Tennes
see, Kentucky,, and Missouri, be, and they are hereby invited to meet the people of
the State of Alabama, by their delegates in convention, on the 4th day of February
next, in Montgomery, in the State of Alabama, for the purpose of consultation with
each other, as to the most effectual mode of securing concerted, harmonious action
in whatever measures may be deemed most desirable for the common peace and
security. '¦'And be it farther resohied, That the President of this convention be, and he is
hereby, instructed to transmit forthwith a copy of the foregoing preamble, ordinance,
and resolutions to the governors of the several States named in the said resolutions.
" Done by the people of Alabama, in convention assembled, at Montgomery, this
11th day of January, 1861."

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 39
Some of the nays indicated opposition to separation from the North,
others to action independent of other States. A proposition to submit the
ordinance to the people was lost by yeas forty-seven, nays fifty-three.
The popular vote of Alabama at the Presidential election had num
bered ninety thousand three hundred and fifty-seven. In choosing dele
gates for the convention, the question was mainly tha,t of unconditional
secession, or of co-operation with other States. The result of the vote
was twenty-six thousand two hundred and eighty-six for co-operation,
and thirty-five thousand seven hundred and seventy-six for immediate
secession. Total, sixty-two thousand and sixty-two, or twenty-eight
thousand two hundred and ninety-five less than were cast at the Presi
dential election. When the ordinance was passed, seven co-operation
members voted for it, and the rest expressed themselves in favor of it,
although under instructions to vote against it. A committee of fifteen,
one to each Slaveholding State, was appointed to promote co-operation.
The passage of this ordinance was celebrated in Mobile by a mili
tary parade, illuminations, processions, and public meetings, amid the
most intense popular excitement.
The Florida Convention was even more emphatic than that of
Alabama, in its vote for immediate secession, the ordinance having
passed, January 10th, by a vote of sixty-two to seven, as follows : '
FLORIDA ORDINANCE OF SECESSION.
" Whereas, All hope of preserving the Union upon terms consistent with the safety
and honor of the Slaveholding States, has been finally dissipated by the recent indica
tions of the strength of the anti-slavery sentiment of the Free States ; therefore,
" Be it resolved by the people of Florida, in convention assembled, That it is undoubtedly
the right of the several States of the Union, at such time, and for such cause as in the
opinion of the people of such State, acting in their sovereign capacity, may be just and
proper ; and, in the opinion of this convention, the existing causes are such as to com
pel Florida to proceed to exercise that right.
" We, the people of the State of Florida, in convention assembled, do solemnly ordain,
publish, and declare, that the State of Florida hereby withdraws herself from the Con
federacy of States existing under the name of the United States of America, and from
the existing Government of the . said States ; and that all political connection between
her and the Government of said States ought to be, and the same is hereby totally
annulled, and said Union of Stages dissolved ; and the State of Florida is hereby
declared a sovereign and independent nation; and that all ordinances heretofore
adopted, in so far as they create or recognize said Union, are rescinded ; and all
laws, or parts of laws, in force in this State, in so far as they recognize or assent to
said Union, be, and they are hereby repealed."
Immediately on the passage of this ordinance, the Navy Yard, forts
and other property of the United States, at Pensacola, were seized by
the State authorities, with the exception of Fort Pickens, which was
held by Lieutenant Slemmer, with a small garrison of regulars.
An act passed by the Florida legislature declared, in the event of
any actual collision between the troops of the late Federal Union and
those in the employ of the State of Florida, it shall be the duty of
the Governor of the State to make public proclamation of the fact ;
and thereafter the act of holding office under the Federal Govern
ment shall be declared treason, and the person convicted shall suffer
death.

40 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.
On the 3d of January, Governor Brown, of Georgia, seized Forts
Pulaski and Jackson, near Savannah. The State of New York had,
January 4th, passed a resolution tendering to the President the mili
tary services of the State, to be used as he might think proper, for the
support of the Constitution. These resolutions caused much excitement
in the South generally, and the Georgia Convention passed the follow
ing resolution unanimously : —
" As a response to the resolutions of the legislature of the State of New York, that
this convention highly approves of the energetic and patriotic conduct of the Governor
of Georgia in taking possession of Fort Pulaski by the Georgia troops ; that this conven
tion request him to hold possessi'on of said fort until the relations of Georgia with the
Federal Government shall be determined, and that a copy of this resolution be trans
mitted to the Governor of the State of New York."
On the 19th of January, the secession ordinance was passed, two
hundred and eight to eighty-nine ; the Hon. A. H. Stephens voting
.against it : —
" An Ordinance to dissolve the Union between the State of Georgia and other States united
with her under the Compact of Government entitled the Constitution of ihe United
States.
"We, the people of the State of Georgia, in convention assembled, do declare and
ordain, and it is hereby declared and ordained, that the ordinances adopted by the
people of the State of Georgia in convention in 1788, whereby the Constitution of the
United States was assented to, ratified, and adopted, and also all acts and parts of acts
of the General Assembly ratifying and adopting amendments to the said Constitution,
are hereby repealed, rescinded, and abrogated.
"And we do further declare and ordain, that the union now subsisting between the
State of Georgia and other States, under the name of the United States, is hereby dis
solved, and that the State of Georgia is in full possession and exercise of all those rights
of sovereignty which belong and appertain to a free and independent State."
The United States Arsenal at Augusta, Georgia, was soon after taken
possession of by the State authorities.
The Louisiana State Convention took up the question of secession
with great enthusiasm, and an ordinance to that effect was passed Jan
uary 26th, by one hundred and thirteen to seventeen votes. The con
vention refused by a vote of eighty-four to forty-five to submit their act
to a popular vote. The following is the ordinance : —
" An Ordinance to dissolve the Union between the State of Louisiana and the other States
united with her under the Compact entitled the Constitution of the United States of
America.
"We, the people of the State of Louisiana, in convention assembled, do declare and
ordain, and it is hereby declared and ordained, that the ordinance passed by the State
of 22d November, 1807, whereby the Constitution of the United States of America and
the amendments of said Constitution were adopted, and all the laws and ordinances by
which Louisiana became a member of the Federal Union be, and the same are hereby
repealed arid abrogated, and the union now subsisting between Louisiana and the other
States, under the name of the United States of America, is hereby dissolved.
" We further declare and ordain, that the State of Louisiana hereby resumes the
rights and powers heretofore delegated to the Government of the United States of
America, and its citizens are absolved from allegiance to the said Government, and she
is in full possession of all the rights and sovereignty that appertain to a free and inde
pendent State.
" We further declare and ordain, that all rights acquired and vested under the Con
stitution of the United States, or any act of Congress, or treaty, or under laws of this
State, not incompatible with this ordinance, shall remain in force, and have the same
effect as though this ordinance had net passed." -

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 41
A resolution was reported to the convention that the following be
added to the ordinance :
"We, the people Of Louisiana, recognize the right of free navigation of the Missis
sippi River and tributaries by all friendly States bordering thereon; we also recognize
the right of the ingress and egress of the mouths of the Mississippi by all friendly
States and Powers, and hereby declare our willingness to enter into stipulations to
guarantee the exercise of those rights."
The popular vote in Louisiana was twenty thousand four hun
dred and forty-eight for secession, seventeen thousand two hundred
and ninety-six against it.
The Convention of the State of Texas, by one hundred and sixty-six
yeas against seven nays, passed an ordinance of secession February 1st,
to be voted on February 23d, by the people, and if adopted by them,
to take effect March 1st. The vote "of ratification was thirty-four
thousand seven hundred and ninety-four yeas to eleven thousand two
hundred and thirty-five nays. The ordinance was as follows : —
"An Ordinance to dissolve the Union- between the State of Texas and the otJier States under
the Compact styled the Constitution of the United States of America.
" Sec. 1 Whereas, The Federal Government has failed to accomplish the purposes of
the compact of union between these States, in giving protection either to the persons
of our people upon an exposed frontier, or to the property of our citizens ; and whereas,
the action of the Northern States is violative of the compact befween the States and
the guarantees of the Constitution ; and whereas, the recent developments in Federal
affairs make it evident that the power of the Federal Government is sought to be made
a weapon with which to strike down the interests and property of the people of Texas,
and her sister Slaveholding States, instead of permitting it to be, as was intended — our
shield against outrage and aggression — therefore, We. the people of the State of Texas, by
delegates in convention assembled, do declare and ordain that the ordinance adopted by
our convention of delegates on the fourth (4th) day of July, a. d. 1845, and afterwards
ratified by us, under which the Republic of Texas was admitted into the Union with
other States, and became a party to the compact styled ' The Constitution of the United
States of America,' be, and is hereby repealed and annulled.
" That all the powers which, by the said compact, were delegated by Texas to the
Federal Government are resumed. That Texas is of right absolved from all restraints
and obligations incurred by said compact, and is a separate sovereign State, and that
her citizens and people are absolved from all allegiance to the United States, or the
government thereof.
" Sec. 2. The ordinance shall be submitted to the people of Texas for their ratifica
tion or rejection, by the qualified voters, on the 23d day of February, 1861 ; and unless
rejected by a majority of the votes cast, stall take effect and be in force on and after
the 2d day of March, A. D. 1861. Provided that in the representative District of El
Paso said election may be held on the 1 8th day of February, 1861.
" Done by the people of the State of Texas, in Convention assembled, at Austin, the
1st day of February, A. D. 1861."
After the passage of the ordinance, the convention passed another
forming the foundation of a Southern Confederacy, and appointed dele
gates to the Montgomery Congress. It also passed an ordinance re
quiring all State officers to take the oath of allegiance to support the
new government, and appointing a day for the governor and other
principal officers to appear for that purpose before the convention.'
The venerable Governor Houston, who had so long led the destinies of
Texas, feebly attempted to stem the current. He issued an address
protesting against the entire action of the convention, and refused to
take the oath. His life-long popularity seemed now to desert him.

42 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.
The legislature framed a resolution approving of the convention, and
deposing the Governor if he refused the oath. The United States prop
erty in the State was seized by the authorities. On the 10th of May,
General Houston made a speech in which he said that having opposed
secession earnestly, he had, now that the Federal Government adopted
armed coercion, no recourse but to stand by his State in resistance to
subjugation. In such a juncture a man's section was his countiy.
That the Cotton States should with almost common consent follow
the lead of South Carolina, was regarded almost as a matter of course;
but even that was not accomplished without some dissent to the dic
tation of South Carolina. The interests of the Border States were,
however, not so identical, and the line of policy they might pursue not
so well defined ; in one respect they seemed to be agreed, viz. : that
they would not countenance armed coercion of the South, and their re
lations with the North seemed to hang upon the question of coercion,
or conciliation. The most influential of them was Virginia. The
leaders^ in the State seemed earnestly bent on preserving the Union,
and early in January the legislature sent invitations to all the States
to meet in a conference, in order to devise means of compromise. The
State Convention, which assembled February 13th, was many weeks in
session, and in its proceedings exhibited no little vacillation of opinion ;
the old-fashioned conservatives being reluctant to cut adrift from the
Union, while the more advanced politicians could not repress a hanker
ing after the glories of a new slave confederacy. Commissioners were
appointed to wait on the President and ascertain the policy that he in
tended to pursue. A resolution was adopted expressing a willingness
that the independence of the seceding States should be acknowledged.
On the other hand, resolutions expressive of a desire for conciliation
and compromise were passed. When, however," the commissioners
were not satisfactorily received at Washington and the President is
sued his call for troops, the tone of the Convention changed ; it imme
diately went into secret session, and passed, by yeas eighty-eight,
nays fifty-five, the following ordinance : —
" An Ordinance to repeal the Salification of the Constitution of the United States of America
by the State of Virginia, and to resume all the Mights and Powers granted under said
Constitution.
" The people of Virginia, in their ratification of the Constitution of the United States
of America, adopted by them in convention on the 25th day of June, in the year of our
Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-eight, having declared that the powers
granted under said Constitution were derived from the people of the United States and
might be resumed whensoever the same should be perverted to their injury and oppres
sion, and the Federal Government having perverted said powers, not only to the injury
of the people of Virgmia, but to the oppression of the Southern Slaveholding States:
Now, therefore we, the people of Virginia, do declare and ordain that the ordi-
nance adopted by the people of this State in convention, on the 25th day of June one
thousand seven hundred and eighty-eight, whereby the Constitution of the United
States of America was ratified, and all acts of the General Assembly of this State rat
ifying or adopting amendments to said Constitution, are hereby repealed and abrogated
ttat the union between the State of Virginia and the other States X ^the ConsSn
aforesaid is hereby dxssolved, and that the State of Virginia is in the full possession and
exercise of all the rights of sovereignty which belong and appertam to IVtoStod*

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 43
pendent State. And they do further declare that the said Constitution of the United
States of America is no longer binding on any of the citizens of this State.
" This ordinance shall take effect and be an act of this day when ratified by a major
ity of the votes of the people of this State, cast at a poll to be taken thereon on the
fourth Thursday in May next, in pursuance of a schedule to be hereafter enacted.
" Done in Convention, in the city of Richmond, on the 17th day of April, in the year of
our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, and in the eighty-fifth year of the
Commonwealth of Virginia. " John L. EtrBANK, Secretary of Convention."
" An Ordinance for the Adoption of the Constitution of the Provisional Government of the
Confederate States of America.
' We, the delegates of the people of Virginia, in convention assembled, solemnly im
pressed by the perils which surround the commonwealth, and appealing to the Searcher
of Hearts for the rectitude of our intentions in assuming the great, responsibility of this
act, do, by this ordinance, adopt and ratify the Constitution of the Provisional Govern
ment of the Confederate States of America, ordained and established at Montgomery,
Alabama, on the eighth day of February, eighteen hundred and sixty-one ; provided
that this ordinance shall cease to have any legal operation or effect, if the people of
this commonwealth, upon the vote directed to be taken on the ordinance of secession
passed by this convention on the 17th day of April, eighteen hundred and sixty-one,
shall reject the same.
"A true copy. "John L. Eubank, Secretary."
The passage of these ordinances was telegraphed to the South, and
Mr. Stephens, Vice-President of the Confederate States, at once set out
for Virginia, and on April 24th formed a convention between that State
and the Confederacy. The secession ordinance was in the latter part
of June announced to have been ratified by a vote of one hundred and
twenty-five thousand nine hundred and fifty, to twenty thousand three
hundred and seventy-three ; but this did not include the vote of a large
portion of Western Virginia.
In the State of Arkansas the Convention met on the 4th of March, and
an ordinance of secession was, after elaborate discussion, rejected by a
vote of thirty-nine to thirty-five. On the 18th of April was passed an
act submitting the question of secession to the people on the 3d of
August. The effect of the President's call for troops was the same
here as elsewhere in the South. When it was received, April 22d, the
authorities seized the property of the Federal Government in the State ;
the convention immediately reassembled, and on the 6th of May passed
the following ordinance, by yeas sixty-nine, nays one : —
" An Ordinance to dissolve the Union now existing between the State of Arlcansas and the
other States united with her under the Compact entitled ' The Constitution of the United
States of America.'
" Whereas, In addition to the well-founded cause of complaint set forth by this con
vention in resolutions adopted on the 11th March, A. D. 1861, against the sectional
party now in power at Washington City, headed by Abraham Lincoln, he has, in the
face of the resolutions passed by this convention, pledging the State of Arkansas to re
sist to the last extremity any attempt on the part of such power to coerce any State
that seceded from the old Union, proclaimed to the world that war should be waged
against such States, until they should be compelled to submit to their rule, and large
forces to accomplish this have by the same power been called out, and are now being
marshalled to carry out this inhuman design, and longer to submit to such rule or re
main in the old Union of the United States would be disgraceful and ruinous to the
fttutfl of ArltRDSflS *
"Therefore, we,' the people of the State of Arkansas, in convention assembled, do
hereby declare and ordain, and it is hereby declared and ordained, that the ' ordinance

44 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.
and acceptance of compact,' passed and approved by the General Assembly of the State
of Arkansas on the 18th of October, A. D. 1836, whereby it was by said General
Assembly ordained that, by virtue of the authority vested in said General Assembly,
by the provisions of the ordinance adopted by the convention of delegates assembled at
Little Rock, for the purpose of forming a constitution and system of government for
said State, the propositions set forth in ' an act supplementary to an act entitled an act
for the admission of the State of Arkansas into the Union, and to provide for the due
execution of the hws of the United States within the same, and for other purposes,
were freely accepted, ratified, and irrevocably confirmed articles of compact and union be
tween the State of Arkansas and the United States,' and all other laws, and every
other law and ordinance, whereby the State of Arkansas became a member of the Fed
eral Union, be, and the same are hereby, in all respects, and for every purpose herewith
consistent, repealed, abrogated, and fully set aside ; and the Union now subsisting be
tween the State of Arkansas and the other States under the name of the United States
of America, is hereby forever dissolved.
" And we do further hereby declare and ordain that the State of Arkansas hereby re
sumes to herself all rights and powers heretofore delegated to the Government of the
United States of America — that her citizens are absolved from all allegiance to said
Government of the United States, and that she is in full possession and exercise of all
the rights and sovereignty which appertain to a free and independent State.
"We do further ordain and declare that all rights acquired and vested under
the Constitution of the United States of America, or of any act or acts of Congress, or
treaty, or under any law of this State, and not incompatible with this ordinance, shall
remain in full force and effect, in nowise altered or impaired, and have the same effect
as if this ordinance had not been passed.
" Adopted and passed in open convention on the 6th day of May, Anno Domini 1861.
" Elias C. Bouddjot,
" Secretary of ihe Arkansas State Convention."
The disposition of North Carolina was on the whole friendly to the
Union. The legislature, December 20th, gave audience to Messrs.
Smith and Garrett, commissioners from Alabama, and also received a
communication from the Hon. Jacob Thompson, a member of the Fed
eral cabinet, and also commissioner from Mississippi, to urge co-opera
tion in favor of the proposed Confederacy. This fact happening at a
time when a large amount of bonds had been abstracted from his de
partment, produced an influence in North Carolina not favorable to the
Southern cause. As late as January 31st, the legislature elected Thomas
L. Clingman United States Senator. On the previous day the people
had voted by forty-six thousand six hundred and seventy-two yeas to
forty-seven thousand three hundred and twenty-three nays, not to call
a convention. When the Confederate Congress met, February 4th, North Carolina
was invited to send delegates. She replied that, as one of the Federal
States, she had no right to do so ; but she sent commissioners for the
purpose of attempting to bring about an arrangement on the basis of
the Crittenden resolutions as modified by the Virginia legislature.
Those commissioners were invited to occupy seats.
The North Carolina legislature then passed unanimously a resolu
tion, that, if reconciliation should fail, North Carolina would go with
the other Slave States. But, though really reluctant to leave the Union,
the State could not withstand the impulse given to secession by the
events succeeding the surrender of Fort Sumter, and on the receipt of
the President's call for troops, the legislature was ordered to convene
on the 1st of May. It proceeded at once to call a convention, which

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 45
onthe 20th passed the ordinance, by a unanimous vote, after a propo
sition to submit the matter to the people had been defeated by seventy-
three to thirty-four. The following is the ordinance adopted : —
" We, the people of the State of North Carolina, in convention assembled, do de
clare and ordain, and it is hereby declared and ordained, that the ordinance adopted by
the State of North Carolina, in the Convention of 1789, whereby the Constitution of
the United States was ratified and adopted, and also all acts and parts of acts of the
General Assembly, ratifying and adopting amendments to the said Constitution, are
hereby repealed, rescinded, and abrogated.
" We do further declare and ordain that the Union now subsisting between the State
of North Carolina and the other States, under the title of the United States of America,
is hereby dissolved, and that the State of North Carolina is in the full possession and
exercise of all those rights of sovereignty which belong and appertain to a free and
independent State.
"Done at Raleigh, 20th day of May, in the year of our Lord 1861."
The following ordinance, ratifying the Confederate Constitution, was
also passed : —
" We, the people of North Carolina, in Convention assembled, do declare and ordain,
and it is hereby declared and ordained, that the State of North Carolina does hereby
assent to and ratify the ' Constitution for the Provisional Government of the Confederate
States of America,' adopted at Montgomery, in the State of Alabama, on the 8th of
February, 1861, by the Convention of Delegates from the States of South Carolina,
Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, and that North Carolina will
enter into the Federal Association of States upon the terms therein proposed, when ad
mitted by the Congress or any competent authority of the Confederate States.
" Done at Raleigh, 20th day of May, in the year of our Lord 1861."
The State of Tennessee long held out against secession, and on Feb
ruary 8th, by a vote of sixty-seven thousand three hundred and sixty
to fifty-four thousand one hundred and fifty-six, decided not to call a
convention. But under the influences which had impelled other States
to secede, its legislature, on May 7th, adopted a declaration of inde
pendence and ordinance, dissolving the Federal relations between Ten
nessee and the United States, and an ordinance ratifying the Confed
erate Constitution, the two latter to be voted for by the people on
June 8th ; on May 8th, amilitary league was formed with the Confederate
States, in virtue of which the forces of Tennessee were to act in aid of
the Confederates. On June 24th, Governor Isham G. Harris declared
Tennessee out of the Union, the vote for separation being one hundred
and four thousand and nineteen against forty-seven thousand two hun7
dred and thirty-eight. The latter was mostly thrown in East Tennessee.
The State of Kentucky passed no acts of secession, but adopted a
neutral policy. On the 20th of May, Governor Magoffin issued a proc
lamation, solemnly forbidding any movement of troops upon Ken
tucky soil. On the receipt of the President's requisition, the Governor
issued a proclamation calling the legislature together, to place the
State in a defensive position.
Early in December, a commissioner, appointed by a resolution of the
legislature of Mississippi, visited Maryland to ask her co-operation in
the formation of a new government. Governor Hicks replied that,
" when he was convinced that the power of the Federal Government
was to be perverted for the destruction, instead of being used for the
protection of their rights, theD, and not till then, could he consent so
to exercise any power with which he was invested, as to afford even

46 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.
the opportunity for such a proceeding." The Maryland legislature
met at Frederick in extra session on April 27th, and, notwithstanding
the feverish excitement in which the secessionists had plunged the
country, refused by a very decided majority to call a convention. The
members, however, seemed to have acted from policy rather than love
of the Union, and clung to the delusion of peace at any price, and
neutrality between the Federal Government and the seceded States.
They passed the following preamble and resolutions, May 10th, 1861 : —
" Whereas, The war against the Confederate States is unconstitutional and repugnant
to civilization, and will result in a bloody and shameful overthrow of our institutions ;
and whilst recognizing the obligations of Maryland to the Union, we sympathize with
the South in the struggle for their rights — for the sake of humanity, we are for peace
and reconciliation, and solemnly protest against this war, and will take no part in it : —
" Resolved, That Maryland implores the President, in the name of God, to cease this
unholy war, at least until Congress assembles ; that Maryland desires and consents to
the recognition of the independence of the Confederate States. The military occupa
tion of Maryland is unconstitutional, and she protests against it, though the violent
interference with the transit of Federal troops is discountenanced ; that the vindication
of her rights be left to time and reason, and that a convention, under existing circum
stances, is inexpedient."
We have here given the acts of seoession of the several Slave States,
in succession, before giving an account of the convention which met
at Montgomery, in February, to form the Confederate Government of
seven Cotton States, in order that the reader may see under what cir
cumstances each1 State prepared to participate in the proceedings of
that body. The Border States, it will be observed, did not secede un
til after the Confederacy was formed, and the new Administration had
adopted a decided coercive policy.
On the 4th of February, the Confederate Congress, composed of
delegates from the States of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana,
Mississippi, and South Carolina, met at Montgomery, Alabama. On
the same day, a convention, composed of commissioners from twenty-
one States, appointed at the instance and solicitation of the legislature
of Virginia, met in Washington, District of Columbia, to endeavor to
devise some plan of retaining the Border States in the Union, and
winning back those which had already seceded. The purpose was a
praiseworthy one, but it was soon evident that the task they had under
taken was impracticable. The resolutions of compromise, which they
finally passed by a bare majority, composed almost entirely of members
from the Border States, failed to satisfy either party in the contro
versy ; the Northern States felt that they were asked to yield what
they ought not, and the seceded States were unwilling to come back
under any circumstances.
On the meeting of the delegates to the Southern Convention, Howell
Cobb, Esq., late Secretary of the Treasury for the United States, was
elected chairman. In his address be said, that they had met as the
representatives of sovereign and independent States, which had dis
solved all political connection with the Government of the United
States. The separation was complete and perpetual, and their duty
was now to provide for future security and protection.
^ The following were the

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 47

DELEGATES TO THE MOSTTGOMERY CONVESTIOir, ALABAMA,
FEBRUARY 4TH.
Alabama. — Robert H. Smith, Colin J. McRae, W. R. Chilton, David P. Lewis,
Richard W. Walker, John Gill, S. F. Hale, Thomas Fearn, J. L. M. Curry.
Florida. — Jackson Morton, J. Patton Anderson, James Powers.
Georgia. — Robert Toombs, Francis Barton, Martin Crawford, Judge Nesbitt, Ben
jamin Hill, Howell Cobb, Augustus R. Wright, Thomas R. R. Cobb, Augustus Keenan,
A. H. Stephens.
Louisiana. — John Perkins, Jr., C. M. Conrad, Duncan F. Kenner, A. Declouet, E.
Sparrow, Henry Marshall.
Mississippi. — Wiley P. Harris, W. S. Wilson, A. M. Clayton, Walker Brooke, W. S.
Barry, J. T. Harrison, J. A. P. Campbell.
South Carolina.— T. J. Withers, R. B. Rhett, Jr., L. M. Keitt, W. W. Boyce, James
Chestnut, Jr., R. W. Barnwell, G. G. Memminger.
Three commissioners from North Carolina, sent to " effect an honorable and amicable
adjustment of all the difficulties that disturb the country, upon the basis of the Crit
tenden Resolutions," were admitted to seats in the convention.
After some discussion 'the convention adopted provisionally the
Constitution of the United States, with some important changes,
adapted to the altered circumstances and peculiar views of tl seceding
States. The preamble reads as follows : —
" We, the deputies of the sovereign and independent States of South Carolina,
Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, invoking the favor of Almighty
God, do hereby, in behalf of these States, ordain and establish this constitution for
the provisional government of the same, to continue ono year from the inauguration of
the President, or until a permanent constitution or confederation between the said
States shall be put in operation, whichsoever shall first occur."
The seventh section, first article, is as follows : —
" The importation of African negroes from any foreign country other than the Slave-
holding States of the United States, is hereby forbidden, and Congress is required to
pass such laws as shall effectually prevent the same.
" Article second. — Congress shall also have power to prohibit the introduction of
slaves from any State not a member of this Confederacy."
Article fourth, of the third clause, of the second section, says : —
•"A slave in one State escaping to another, shall be delivered up on the claim of the
party, to whom said slave may belong, by the executive authority of the State in
which such slave may be found; and in case of any abduction or forcible rescue, full
compensation, including the value of the slave, and all costs and expenses, shall be
made to the parry by the State in which such abduction or rescue shall take place."
Article sixth, of the second clause, says : —
" The government hereby instituted shall take immediate steps for the settlement of
all matters between the States forming it, and their late confederates of the United
States, in relation to the public property and public debt at the time of their withdrawal
from them ; these States hereby declaring it to be their wish and earnest desire to ad
just every thing pertaining to the common property, common liabilities, and common
obligations of that union, upon principles of right, justice, equity, and good faith."
The tariff clause provides that —
"The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and ex
cises for revenue necessary to pay the debts and carry on the government of the Con
federacy, and all duties, imposts, and excises shall be uniform throughout the Confed
eracy."

48 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.
This was adopted on February 9th. Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi,
was elected President, and Alexander H. Stephens, of Georgia, Vioe-
President, by unanimous votes.
The inauguration of Mr. Davis took place February 18th. In his
inaugural address, he stated that the change of the government illus
trates the American idea of the consent of the governed, elaborated at
great length and with considerable tact the popular State-rights views
of the secession leaders, and defined the prospects and policy of the
new confederation.
On the 21st, he nominated the following members of his cabinet:
Secretary of State — Robert Toombs ; Secretary of the Treasury —
C. J. Memminger; Secretary of War— L. Pope Walker ; Secretary of
the, Navy — Stephen R. Mallory; Attorney-General — Judah P. Benja
min; Postmaster-General — John H.Reagan; all of whom were con
firmed. Acts were adopted by the Congress, taking charge of all questions
with the United States in relation to public property ; continuing in
force all laws of the United States, not inconsistent with the new con
stitution, and continuing in office all incumbents with the same duties
and salaries ; levying duties on goods coming from the United States,
unless shipped before March 28th ; and authorizing a loan of fifteen
million dollars, secured by an export duty on cotton.
On the 11th of March a permanent constitution was unanimously
adopted, which was substantially a copy of the Federal Constitution.
The preamble reads, " We, the people of the Confederate States, each
State acting in its sovereign and independent character," &c. ; the
President and Vice-President were to be chosen for six years, and to
be ineligible for re-election while in office; cabinet ministers were
allowed seats in Congress, with the privilege of debating; the term
slave was studiously paraded where, in the Federal Constitution, it is
expressed by a paraphrase ; and the instrument provided that the vote
of five States should suffice for its ratification.
The first measures of the Confederate Congress were evidently in
tended to exhibit to the world moderation and a disposition to con
ciliate. The renewed condemnation of the slave-trade was almost
unanimously conceded, no doubt to set the Confederacy morally right
before society. The next important measure was evidently for the
benefit of the Western States; it declared the navigation of the Mis
sissippi free to any State on its borders, or the borders of its navigable
tributaries. _ This enactment was a necessity, even in the event of suc
cess attending the Southern movement. It is impossible to imagine
that the Western States would ever permit their chief outlet to the
ocean to be closed by the tourniquet of a foreign custom-house. Even
in Europe, the Danube, which passes through the territories of various
and often hostile races, has been made free. The people living on the
head-waters of the Mississippi, on the Ohio, the Missouri, and even the
Arkansas, would be most indignant if any attempt were made to inter
fere with the traffic between the Gulf and the heart of the American
continent. Hence the Confederate Congress enacted that all ships and
boats which may enter the waters of the Mississippi, within the limits

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 49
of the Confederacy, from any port or place beyond the said limits, may
freely pass with their cargoes to any other place beyond the said limits,
without let or hindrance, on paying pilotage and other charges. Reg
ulations were made to prevent the disposing of any part of the cargoes
without payment of the customs due to the Confederate States. This
the Southerners probably thought was all that the Western people
could desire, or, at least, justly claim.
Having thus extended one hand, as they supposed, to the Western
navigation, they extended the other to Great Britain, by modifying
the navigation laws. The act, which was ready for the, President's
assent on the 26th of February, was " to modify the navigation laws,
and to repeal all discriminating ditties on 6hips and vessels;" and
enacted that "all laws which forbid the employment in the coasting-
trade of ships or vessels not enrolled or licensed, and also all laws
which forbid the importation of goods, wares, or merchandise from one
port of the Confederate States to another, or from any foreign port or
place in a vessel belonging wholly or in part to a subject or citizen of
any foreign State or power, are hereby repealed." Discriminating
duties on foreign ships were also repealed. Thus, the coasting-trade
from Charleston to Galveston was now thrown open to the British
flag. This was certainly a tempting bait to Great Britain, who had
so long sought from the Federal Government to be admitted to the
coasting-trade of the United States in return for the right to trade
between her colonies. As the South owns no shipping, but supplies
an immense freight annually in cotton, rice, and tobacco, it was equiv
alent to offering her carrying-trade to Great Britain.
The act for the suppression of the slave-trade was in the usual terms,
but contained a provision for dealing with the negrpes found on board
the captured vessels, which is somewhat amusing. If the vessel is
cleared from any port in the United States, the President shall com
municate with the Governor of that State, and " shall offer to deliver
such negroes to the said State on receiving a guarantee that the said
negroes shall enjoy the rights and privileges of freemen in such State,
or in any other State of the United States, or that they shall be trans
ported to Africa, and there set at liberty, without expense to the
Government." The notion of the Confederate States bargaining with
Massachusetts or Pennsylvania that a negro shall " have all the rights
and privileges of a freeman," might imply a doubt as to the sincerity
of their professions in behalf of the negro. In default of the foreign
State accepting this offer, the President was empowered to receive any
propositions made for the transport of the negroes to Africa by private
persons, and, should no such philanthropist offer himself, "the Presi
dent shall cause the said negroes to be sold at public auction to the
highest bidder." This, it must be confessed, is a descent from the
lofty morality of the earlier part of the clause. All these acts were
passed with great unanimity.
On the 6th of February, an act placing at the disposition of Con
gress five hundred thousand dollars for the placing of the seceded
States in a better condition of defence was passed by the legislature
of Alabama. This offer was accepted by the Confederate Congress.
i

50 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.
On the 9th of February, a committee of one from each State was
appointed, to report upon a flag. The Government assumed, February
12th, charge of the questions pending between the several. States of
the Confederacy and the Government of the United States, relating to
the occupation of forts, arsenals, dock-yards, and other public establish
ments, and directed that act to be communicated to the several States;
and again, on the 15th of March, 1861, the Congress recommended the
respective States, to cede the forts, arsenals, dock-yards, and other pub
lic establishments within their respective limits, to the Confederate
States; and, in case of such cession* authorized and empowered the
President to take-charge of the said property. It was also provided
by act of February 28th, that the President be directed to assume
control of all military operations of the Confederate States ; and he
was authorized to receive the arms acquired from the United States
and then in the forts, arsenals, and navy-yards of the several States,
and all other arms and munitions which they might desire to turn over
and make chargeable to the Confederate Government.
On the _ 9 th of March, the Confederate Congress passed an act for the
organization of the army, to be composed of one corps of engineers,
one corps of artillery, one regiment of cavalry, and six regiments of
infantry, and to number ten thousand seven hundred and thirty-seven
officers and men.

CHAPTER III.
Meeting of Congress.— President's Message.^Resignation of Secretaries Cobb, Cass,
Dloyd, and Thompson.— Defalcations.— Special Message of the President.— Commit
tee of Thirty-three.— Crittenden Resolutions.-r-Border States' Plan.— Virginia Reso
lutions.— Peace Convention,— Close of Congress.— New Territories.— Finance.—
Constrtutional Amendment.— Mr. Lincoln's Arrival at Washington. -Inaugural; its
Effects.— Southern Commissioners.— Supplies to Fort Sumter.— Policy of the Govern
ment—Charleston Harbor.— Events at the South.— Bombardment and Surrender of
Fort Sumter.— Fort Pickens Reinforced.
While preparations for conventions of the Southern States were on
foot, with the view of bringing about disunion, the Congress of the
United States met at Washington, as usual, on December 3d. The
bouth Carolina representatives were present, but the Senators having
resigned November nth, were absent. The other Southern represen
tations were generally full. . r
_ The message of the President was largely occupied with a discus
sion of the state of the country. He declared that the long-continued
and intemperate interference of the Northern people with Southern in
terests had at ; length produced its natural effects in sectional discord;
and that the true cause of the Southern disquiet was neither the per
sonal liberty bills of the Northern States, nor the claim to exclude
slavery from the national territory, but the fact that continual agita
tion was inspiring the slaves with the hope of freedom, and thus cfaily
undermining the security of the Southern people. The apprehensions

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 51
from this cause, he alleged, would make disunion inevitable. The
President stated that, with the possible exception of the Missouri Com
promise, no act had ever passed Congress impairing in the slightest
degree the rights of the South to their property in slaves ; no act had
passed, or was likely to pass Congress, excluding slavery from the Ter
ritories ; that the Supreme Court had decided that slaves are property,
and that the owners have a right to take them into the Territories un
der the protection of the Constitution; and that no territorial legisla
ture possesses the power to exclude slavery from the Territories. The
power belongs nowhere except to the whole people when forming a
State Constitution. That neither Congress nor the President are re
sponsible for the State personal liberty laws, which, he said', have all
been declared unconstitutional and void, by all courts before which the
question has been brought, with the exception of a single State court
in Wisconsin, and there the decision had been reversed before the
proper tribunal. He argued strongly against the right of secession, de
claring it to be simply revolution. He then summed up the powers of
the executive under the constitution, and the laws, of 1795 and 1807 ;
" but these," he said, " do not apply in a State where there are no
Federal officers through whose agency the laws can be executed. The
property of the United States in Charleston had, with the consent of
the State, been purchased by the Federal Government, and Congress
has the exclusive power to legislate therein ; hence there were no ob
stacles to the collection of the duties in Charleston."
" It is not believed," he added, " that any attempt will be made to
expel the United States from the property. The officer in charge has
orders to act on the defensive, and if he should be assailed, the respon
sibility would rest rightfully on the heads of the assailants."
The President, in relation to the power of coercing a State that at
tempts to withdraw from the Confederacy, held that the power to do
so " was expressly refused by the convention which framed the Con
stitution." The President advised an explanatory amendment to the
constitution on the subject of slavery.
On December 10th, the Secretary of tbe Treasury, Howell Cobb, of
Georgia, resigned. In his letter of resignation, he stated that he agreed
with the President in the policy and measures of the Administration, al
though he differed from some of the theoretical doctrines expressed in
the message, as well as from the hope expressed in it, that the Union
could yet be preserved. Mr. Thomas, of Maryland, was appointed to
succeed Mr. Cobb as Secretary of the Treasury. The resignation of
Mr. Cobb was followed by that of the Hon. Lewis Cass, Secretary of
State, on the ground that the President had refused to reinforce the
garrison at Fort Moultrie. This work, situated on Sullivan's Island,
in Charleston harbor, was one of the few fortifications in Southern
ports in which the Government maintained an armed foree, and was
watched with great jealousy by the authorities of South Carolina. He
was succeeded by Attorney-General Black, and Mr. Stanton, of Penn
sylvania, succeeded Mr. Black as Attorney-General. While General
Cass resigned because the President would not strengthen Major An
derson's command, John B. Floyd, Secretary of War, resigned on the

52 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.
ground that be had, with the assent of the President, assured the au
thorities' of South Carolina that, pending the adoption of some decided
line of policy, there should be no change in the position of forces in
Charleston harbor. On the evening of December 26th, the garrison
was transfeiTed from Fort Moultrie to Port Sumter, which he claimed
was a violation of that pledge, and on the refusal of the President to
redeem it, by withdrawing the troops, he declared he could not remain
in the cabinet. His resignation was at once accepted, and Mr. Holt,
Postmaster-General, appointed to the War Department ad interim.
Mr. Horatio King was appointed Postmaster-General.
The position of Major Anderson at Fort Sumter was not much im
proved from what it had been at Fort Moultrie. He was safe from
immediate attack, but his supplies were becoming exhausted, and it
became necessary to succor him. An attempt was made to extort a
pledge from the President that no reinforcements should be sent; but
no such pledge was given, and the Star of the West left New York,
January 5th, with supplies and two hundred and fifty men, to be
thrown into the fork In consequence of this, Mr. Thompson resigned
as Secretary of the Interior, January 8th. On the 11th, Mr. Thomas,
w:ho had succeeded Mr. Cobb in the Treasury Department, also resigned
for a similar reason. General John A. Dix was appointed in his place.
At this juncture, when the frequenyt changes in the cabinet were causing
universal uneasiness, the country was;startled with accounts of immense
frauds in the War Department. It appeared that there had been out
standing large contracts with Russell,, Majors & Co., to convey army
supplies across the plains to Utah, during the Mormon war. The cap
ital required to conduct these was very great, and itiad been custom
ary for the contractors to give drafts on the Government at. three
and four months. These were officially accepted by Mr. Floyd,, the
amount to be charged at maturity upon the sum then due to the con
tractors. In consequence of the growing commercial difficulties, Russell &
Co. found it no longer possible to raise money on the drafts. Under
these circumstances, Mr. Russell induced Godard Bailey, a clerk in the
Department of the Interior, to abstract from the department eight hun
dred and seventy-one thousand dollars of stocks belonging to the
Indian Fund, and loan them to him for the purpose of raising money to
meet his contracts. The discovery of these facts produced immense
excitement. There is no doubt but that this incident had a powerful
influence upon the course of events. The policy of the President
seemed to be in some degree strengthened by the changes that had
taken place in the cabinet. The immediate difficulty was the position
of Major Anderson at Charleston, and the departure of the Star of the
West from New York, January 5th, with men and stores for that
point, under a clearance for Havana, had given the President renewed
confidence. On the 8th of January, therefore, the day on which the
Star of the West should have succeeded in her mission, the President
sent to Congress a special message upon the state of the country, re
iterating his opinion previously expressed, in opposition to the right
ot secession, and his views in relation to his own duty and that of Con*

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 53
gress. He suggested that the questions at issue be " removed from
political assemblies to the ballot-box, and the people themselves would
speedily redress the serious grievances that the South have suffered."
He intimated that the proposition to let the North have exclusive con
trol above a certain geographical line, and to protect Southern institu
tions below that line, ought to receive universal approbation.
In this message, the President reasserted the sentiment that "the
Union must and shall be preserved," declaring his purpose to use the
military power against all who resisted the Federal authority.
If this energetic announcement had been accompanied, as no doubt
was intended, by the news of a successful reinforcement of Fort Sum
ter, it might have produced a salutary effect, and perhaps have changed
the course of events. Unfortunately, the news came of the failure of
the attempt, and of an insult to the flag. That event caused much
alarm, and aroused fears of the actual approach of war. Such of the
Northern State legislatures as were in session — and all were so, ex
cept those of New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, Connecticut,
Illinois, and Indiana, some of which meet only once in two years, and
the others either in spring or autumn — received the message Of the
President with favor, and tendered prompt assistance in support of the
Government. In the legislature of New York were passed the fol
lowing resolutions : —
" Whereas, The insurgent State of South Carolina, after seizing the post-offices, cus
tom-house, moneys, and fortifications of the Federal Government, has, by firing into a
vessel ordered by the Government to convey troops and provisions to Fort Sumter,
virtually declared war ; and whereas, The forts and property of the United States Gov
ernment in Georgia, Alabania, and Louisiana, have been unlawfully seized, with hostile
intentions; and whereas, Their Senators in Congress avow and maintain their treasona
ble acts ; therefore, *•
" Resolved, That the legislature of New York is profoundly impressed with the
value of the Union, and determined to preserve it unimpaired; that it greets with joy
the recent firm, dignified, and patriotic special message of the President of the United
States, and that we tender to him, through the chief magistrate of our own State, what
ever aid in men and money may be required to enable him to enforce the laws and
uphold the authority of the Federal Government; and that, in the defence of the
Union, which has conferred prosperity and happiness upon the American people, re
newing the pledge given and redeemed by our fathers, we are ready to devote our
fortunes, our lives, and our sacred honor."
These resolutions were communicated by Governor Morgan of New
York to the President, and also to the Governor of each State.
The action of other States was similar, and illustrates the extent to
which zeal outran ability. When New York passed her resolution,
she had not military resources to equip thirteen thousand men. Mas
sachusetts had been more active. For when, early in December, she
tendered her volunteers to the Government, she had five thousand men
under drill ; but of these only three thousand were armed with Spring
field muskets. When the call at a later date actually came for troops,
both New York and Massachusetts were obliged to send agents to
Europe to purchase arms.
The views of the President, as expressed in his annual message,
were received with various manifestations of dissent or approval, ac
cording to the light in which they were viewed. The importance of

54 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.
some mode of adjustment early impressed itself upon Congress, and
on the 10th of December, the day on which Mr. Cobb resigned from
the Treasury Department, a House Committee of thirty-three, or one
from each State, was appointed, and also a Senate Committee of thir
teen, on the State of the Union. A variety of propositions were dis
cussed by the latter Committee, without uniting a majority. A plan
proposed by Mr. Crittenden,, of Kentucky, met with considerable
favor. It practically re-established the Missouri Compromise, declared
that Congress shall not interfere with slavery where it exists, and pro
vided for the faithful execution of the fugitive slave law. This did
not, however, meet the views of either side. The Republicans were
willing to recommend ; n amendment to the Constitution declaring
that Congress shall" have no power to interfere with slavery in the
States, but refused the demand of the Southerners that slave property
should be recognized in the Territories under the decisions of the
Supreme Court. The Southerners contended that an amendment to
the Constitution, declaring that the Federal Government had no right
to interfere with slavery, was only declaring what was nowhere dis
puted, forgetting apparently that the leading secessionists had directly
charged the Republicans with asserting the existence of such a right,
and with preparing to exercise it. The judiciary of the United States
had, however, they said, declared that under the Constitution the
South had a right to the protection of the Federal Government for
their slaVe property in the Territories. They wanted assent to that
decision. This the Republicans were not prepared to give.
The following is the Crittenden plan of adjustment, offered in the
form of immutable amendments to the Constitution : —
"First. In all territories north of 36 deg. 30 min. slavery is prohibited; in all terri
tory south of that latitude, slavery is recognized as existing, and shall be protected as
property during its continuance. All the territory north or south of said line shall be
admitted into the Union with or without slavery, as the Constitution of the State shall
prescribe. "Second. Congress shall have ho power to abolish slavery in the States permitting
slavery. " Third. Congress shall have no power to abolish slavery in the District of Colum
bia while it exists in yirginia and Maryland, or either.
"Fourth. Congress to have no power to hinder the transportation of slaves from one
State to another.
"Fifth. Congress to have power to pay for a slave when the marshal is prevented
from discharging his duty, the owner to sue the county in which the rescue was made,
and the county have the right to sue the individuals who committed the wrong
"Sixth. No further amendment or amendments shall affect the preceding 'articles,
and Congress shall never have power to interfere with slavery in the States where it
is now permitted."
The last resolution declares that "the Southern States have a right to the faithful
execution of the law for the recovery of slaves ; and such laws ought not to be repealed
or modified so as to impair their efficiency. All laws in conflict with the fugitive slave
law, it shall not be deemed improper for Congress to ask the repeal of. The fugitive
slave law ought to be so altered as to make the fee of the commissioner equal whether
he decides for or against the claimant; and the clause authorizing the person holding
the warrant to summon a posse comitatus to be so as to restrict it to cases where vio
lence or rescue i„s attempted. The laws for the suppression of the African slave-trade
ought to be effectually executed."
Another proposition was framed by a Committee of the Border

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 55
States, including Delaware, Virginia, Maryland, Kentucky, Tennessee,
Arkansas. Missouri, and North Carolina; and New Jersey, Pennsyl
vania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa. This contained nearly the
suggestions of the Crittenden resolutions, with the addition of an
amendment to the Constitution that no territory shall be acquired by
the United States without the consent of " three-fourths of the mem
bers of the Senate ;" and also a resolution that an act be passed direct
ing that the demand for the surrender of a fugitive slave should be
made before the United States judge of the district in which the
fugitive might be found.
Neither the Crittenden resolutions nor the Border State propositions
were, however, destined to pass Congress, notwithstanding that a con
siderable body of the Northern people, in their anxiety to avoid civil
war, were loud in their demands that one or both of these propositions
should be adopted.
New York city, the great commercial metropolis of the country,
showed an unfeigned anxiety to put off the evil day, which it required
no prophet's' eye to see, was now rapidly .approaching. Two memo
rials, the one signed by her capitalists and leading men, and the other,
which emanated from the Chamber of Commerce, having upward of
forty-five thousand signatures, were laid before Congress. They both
suggested renewed guarantees to the Slave States, that no interference
should be attempted in their domestic institutions, and advised a gen
eral policy of conciliation and compromise. The country-had been
for so many years in a state of profound peace, that men, who after
wards afforded noble examples of self-sacrificing patriotism in defence
of the integrity of the Union, were now prepared to concede almost
every thing, in the hope of averting civil war. Fortunately for their
country, and for free institutions all over the world, this enervation of
spirit was more apparent than real.
In Boston, meetings were held in favor of the Crittenden compro
mise, and a petition, more than one hundred feet long, bearing, it was
stated, more than forty thousand names, was carried to Washington
by Messrs. Everett, Winthrop, Lawrence, C. L. Woodbury, and Foley,
asking for the passage of the resolutions of Mr. Crittenden by Con
gress. In many other parts of the North a like energy was manifested,
and petitions were signed by great numbers of voters for the Critten
den resolutions, or for any resolution that would restore harmony.
Neither this delegation nor those1* from New York had, however,
much influence upon Congress. Those who opposed the passage of
the resolutions argued, that nothing had been actually done to need
compromise ; that the constitutional election of a President was not
a matter for compromise, and that, until Southern rights had been
actually assailed, there was no need of volunteering amends. More
over, there was no evidence that the South wanted any compromise,
or would be satisfied with those presented.
In the mean time, the Border States were apparently very earnest
to bring about some mode of settlement. On the 17th of January,
the legislature of Virginia passed resolutions, inviting all States,
" whether slaveholding or non-slaveholding, who are willing to unite

56 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.
with Virginia in an earnest effort to adjust the present unhappy con
troversy, to appoint commissioners, to meet at Washington, February
4th." They stated that " the resolutions of Mr. Crittenden embraced
,the basis of an adjustment that would be acceptable to this common
wealth." The President, in a message to Congress, January 28th,
communicating these resolutions, warmly seconded them, and urged
Congress to abstain from passing any law that might tend to bring on
hostilities. The Virginia resolutions were forwarded to all the States, and mem
bers were appointed from twenty-one of them to attend. The States
represented in the Convention were Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont,
Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey,
Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennes
see, Kentucky, Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio,
each of which sent from three to twelve delegates. The Convention
met on February 4th, chose John Tyler, of Virginia, President, and
sat until March 1st; and having then adopted a plan satisfactory to
the Border States, adjourned. Section 1, divided the Territories by
the line 36° 30' ; north of which there were to be no slaves ; south of
it, slaves or no slaves, according to the people's wish ; Congress and
the legislature to have no power of prohibition. Sec. 2. No terri
tories to be acquired without the assent of a majority of the senators
North and of those South, and of two-thirds the whole Senate. Sec.
3. Congress to have no power to interfere with slavery in any State;
nor to abolish it in the District of Columbia without the consent of
the owners and that of Maryland; nor to abolish it in any place under
Federal jurisdiction; nor to, prevent transportation of blacks from
one State to another ; nor to tax them higher than land. It provided,
also, that certain clauses of the Constitution should not be altered
without the consent of all the States ; that Congress should pay for
slaves not remanded according to law ; and that the citizens of each
State should have the privileges and immunities of citizens of the
several States.
The various propositions looking to conciliation or compromise con
tinued to be discussed in Congress, without any very satisfactory
results. Several State legislatures meanwhile volunteered conciliatory
action. Rhode Island repealed her personal liberty bill, and the legis
lature of Ohio, and those of some other States, made modifications in
their respective personal liberty bills, tending to soften asperities.
Mr. Stanton, of Ohio, February 19th, introduced a bill into the House,
to authorize the President to accept the services of volunteers, but it
was not passed. On the same day, Mr. Fenton, of New York, offered .
a resolution for a convention of the States, and this was also defeated.
The Thirty-sixth Congress was now drawing rapidly to a close, and
nothing had been done either to sustain the authority of the Govern
ment, or to promote a settlement of the difficulties. A notable ele
ment of irritation was the occupation of Fort Sumter, which could
not much longer hold out without supplies. The expiring Administra
tion would not take the responsibility of withdrawing the troops, and
were averse to assuming the risk of collision by reinforcing them. In

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 57
a military point of view, the holding of the fort was of little moment,
and in a political sense still less so, since the great question to be
settled was separation, or continued union. If the fort should be
abandoned, and union should ultimately triumph, it would be reoccu-
pied. If separation should be determined upon, it would be settled
for in the general terms of peace. The duty of the Executive was,
however, very clear. He had no power to give up possession of the
property he was sworn to defend.
The whole question, therefore, passed over to the incoming Adminis
tration. The most important action of the Thirty-sixth Congress was
in suspending the postal service in the seceded States ; in erecting
three new Territoires, viz. : Colorado, made up of parts of Kansas,
Nebraska, and Utah, having an area of one hundred thousand square
miles, and a population of twenty-five thousand, including Pike's Peak
gold region ; Nevada, from Utah and California, including the fertile
Carson Valley; and Dacotdh, formerly part of Minnesota, with an area
of seventy thousand square miles. Congress passed several loan bills,
and also the tariff bill.
The finances of the Federal Government had been in a very disor
dered condition owing to the revulsion in business, which resulted
from political disturbances, and which, by reducing the imports of
goods, had cut off the customs, the chief source of revenue, from the
Treasury. In June, 1860, a loan of twenty million dollars had been au
thorized ; of this ten million was offered in October in a five per cent.
stock, and it had been taken at a small premium. Before the install
ments were paid up, however, the panic that attended the election had
affected credit, and many bids were withdrawn. This so seriously af
fected the means of the department, that as the 1st of January ap
proached, it seemed likely there would be no funds with which to meet
the interest on the National debt. By the act of December 17th, 1860,
an issue of ten million dollars, in treasury notes, was authorized, to
bear such a rate of interest as might be offered by the lowest bidders,
but so shaken was credit, that but few bids were made, and some of
them at a rate of thirty-six per cent, interest, per annum. The capi
talists interested in the Government credit finally took one million five
hundred thousand dollars of one-year treasury notes, at twelve per cent.
per annum (the amount was subsequently raised to five million dollars),
on condition that the money should be applied to paying the interest
on the debt. This was certainly a dark day in the Republic, when the
Federal Government, which had earned the honor of being the only na
tion that had ever paid its debts in full— principal andinterest — and which
in 1856, with an overflowing treasury, had paid twenty-two per cent
premium for its own six per cent, stock, to get it out of the market,
was now reduced to give twelve per cent, interest, for a few millions,
and to engage to protect its credit with the money.
In January the rest of the authorized treasury notes were issued, at
rates of interest ranging from eight to twelve per cent. In February,
Congress authorized a loan of twenty-five million dollars in six per cent.
stock, a portion of which was negotiated at sixteen per cent, discount.
The question of raising the tariff duties in order to provide more reve-

58 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.
nue now came up, and a bill was reported, not only increasing the rateg,
but changing them from ad valorem to specific duties; and in some
cases, charging both on the same article. The provisions of the bill
were complicated, and it was passed, March 2d, to go into operation
April 1st. This tariff bill also provided for a new six per cent, loan of
ten million dollars, or, in case it could not be negotiated, for the issue
often million dollars more treasury notes at a like interest, and also
for the emission of about fourteen million dollars remaining unissued
of an amount authorized by the act of June, 1860. This . tariff caused
much discontent, and was regarded as very injudicious at that juncture,
since it revived the policy which had in former years been so distaste
ful to the South, and which therefore could not now be regarded as
conciliating. Th<e average duties of the former tariff had been nine
teen and a half per cent, on all importations, while those of the
new one were about thirty-four per cent. This return to protective
duties had also an adverse effect upon the Union interests in England,
where it was regarded as hostile to British trade. Nevertheless, there
is no doubt but that the Government revenues were in want of suc
cor, and it was an open question how far the changes aided or defeated
that object.
In the last hours of Congress was decided the fate of the several
measures of conciliation which had occupied the attention of that body,
and of the Peace Conference. The report of the Committee of thirty-
three, in addition to several propositions for amending the fugitive
slave law, settling the vexed question of slavery in the Territories, &c,
embodied the following amendment to the Constitution, which was
passed by both houses by a two-thirds vote : —
" No amendment shall be made to the Constitution which shall authorize or give Con
gress power to abolish, or interfere within any State, with the domestic institutions
thereof, including persons held to labor or servitude by the laws of said State."
This, if it had been passed by three-fourths of the State legislatures,
would have become valid as a new article to the Constitution, but subse
quent events prevented the necessity of such action. \ Many Southern
members had by this time departed, leaving the Republicans in a majority
both in the Senate and the House, and with their departure Northern men
grewfirmer in their resolve not to be intimidated by threats of seces
sion into unworthy or insufficient compromises. Mr. Crittenden's
resolutions, after having been once rejected and the vote reconsidered in
the Senate, were finally lost by nineteen yeas to twenty nays. Six
Southern senators, with the deliberate intention of destroying all hope
of compromise, refrained from voting. The resolutions of the Peace
Conference were never, acted upon, except on a motion by Mr. Critten
den, to substitute them for his own, which was lost by twenty-eight nays
to seven yeas. Congress finally adjourned amidst great excitement.
While Congress was drawing towards its close, the anxiety of the
public had been divided between the action of that body and the move
ments of the incoming Administration. There had probably never in
the history of the country been so much interest expressed in the views
of a newly-elected magistrate, as in the case of Mr. Lincoln. The old

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 59
Administration had been so severely denounced for its do-nothing pol
icy, that by inference some energetic action was expected or feared,
according to the views of individuals, from the new chief magistrate.
Every, indication of what his course might be, was eagerly caught at
and canvassed. On the llth of February Mr. Lincoln left his home, at
Springfield, Illinois, with the intention of making the journey by special
trains, through Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Buffalo,
Albany, New York, Philadelphia, Harrisburg, and Baltimore. On his
way, Mr. Lincoln made brief speeches at all the larger places, without,
however, giving any explicit statements of the proposed policy of his
administration, beyond the general affirmation that it would be one of
justice to every part of the country. He probably did not hold the
opinion expressed by Mr. Seward at a public dinner in the Astor
House in New York, that the difficulties were not serious, and were
gradually dying out. The programme of the journey was carried out
until on the afternoon of the 22d of February, Mr. Lincoln, on reach
ing Harrisburg, received, during the evening, intelligence that induced
him to change his plans. As his journey approached its end, threats
of assassination, which had been made even before his departure from
his home in Illinois, began to assume more definite form. Rumors of
a conspiracy to effect this object at Baltimore reached General Scott,
who, upon inquiry, found such presumptive evidence of its existence
that he sent a special messenger to Mr. Lincoln at Harrisburg, to advise
him not to carry out the public programme announced, but pass
through Baltimore at an early and unexpected hour. This suggestion
was accompanied by such proofs of its necessity, as satisfied Mr. Lin
coln of the propriety of the change ; and he accordingly left Harris
burg on the night of February 23d, with the slight disguise of a
military cloak and a Scotch plaid cap, and arrived safely in Washing
ton the following morning — the telegraph wires at Harrisburg having
been cut to prevent the transmission of the intelligence of his departure.
His family passed through Baltimore the next morning, and were met
at the railroad station by a riotous assemblage, which showed itself
ready for mischief, and appeared exasperated on discovering that Mr.
Lincoln was not present.
There had been threats in circulation that the new President would
never be inaugurated, and many fears were entertained that those
threats were not without foundation. General Scott had, however,
taken every precaution, and the military under his orders were under
arms on the 4th of March : a sorrowful and unaccustomed sight to
those who prided themselves on a Government sustained by law and
brder, and who had never thought to witness troops assisting on such
an occasion, except as part of a holiday pageant. The President, with
his cabinet — W. H. Seward, of New York, Secretary of State ; Simon
Cameron, of Pennsylvania, Secretary of War ; Gideon Welles, of Con
necticut, Secretary of the Navy; Montgomery Blair, of Maryland,
Postmaster-General ; Edward Bates, ol .Missouri, Attorney-General ;
and Caleb B. Smith, of Indiana, Secretary of the Interior— proceeded
to the Capitol, and the inauguration took place amid the acclama
tions of the people. The inaugural address gave general satisfaction,

60 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.
though some of its positions were differently interpreted by different
parties. It began by declaring that the election of a Republican President
afforded no ground to the Southern States for apprehending any inva
sion of their rights. "I have," said he, "no purpose, directly or
indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States
where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have
no inclination to do so." He explicitly recognized the obligation of
enforcing the provision for the delivery of fugitive slaves. He then
proceeded to argue against the right of secession under the Constitu
tion, declaring that all resolves and ordinances to the effect of seces
sion are null and void. He continued as follows : —
"I shall take care that the laws of the Union be faithfully executed in all the States.
I shall perfectly perform it as far as is practicable, unless my rightful masters, the Amer-
'ickn people, shall withhold the requisite means, or in some authoritative manner direct
the contrary." "The power confided to me will be used to hold, occupy, and possess
the property and places belonging to the Government, and collect the duties and im
posts, but beyond what may be necessary for these objects there will be no invasion,
no using of force against or among the people any where.
" Where hostility to the United States shall be so great and so universal as to pre
vent competent resident citizens from holding the Federal offices, there will be no
attempt to force obnoxious strangers among the .people that object. While the strict
legal right may oxi3t in the Government to enforce the exercise of these offices, the
attempt to do so would be so irritating, and so nearly impracticable withal, that I deem
it better to forego for the time the uses of such offices.
"The mails, unless repelled, will continue to be furnished in all parts of the
Union. "Suppose you go to war; you cannot fight always, and when, after much loss on
both sides, and no gain on either, you cease fighting, the identical questions as to the
terms of intercourse are again upon you. This country, with its institutions, belongs
to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing
Government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending, or their revolu
tionary right to dismember or overthrow it. I cannot be ignorant of the fact that
many worthy and patriotic citizens are desirous of having the national Constitution
amended. While I make no recommendation of amendment, I freely recognize the full
authority of the people over the whole subject, to be exercised in either of the modes
prescribed in the instrument itself; and I should, under existing circumstances, favor
rather than oppose a fair opportunity being afforded the people to act upon it. I will
venture to add that to me the convention mode seems preferable, in that it allows
amendments to originate with the people themselves, instead of only permitting them
to take or reject propositions originated by others not specially chosen for the purpose,
and which might not be precisely such as they would wish themselves to accept or
refuse. I understand a proposed amendment to the Constitution — which amendment,
however, I have not seen— has passed Congress, to the effect that the Federal Gov
ernment shall never interfere with the domestic institutions of States, including that of
persons held to service. To avoid misconstruction of most I have said, I depart from
my purpose; not to speak of particular amendments, so far as to say that holding such
a provision to now be implied constitutional law, I have no objection to its being made
express and irrevocable."
1 President Buchanan and Chief-Justioe Taney listened with the ut
most attention to every word of tb.e address, and at its conclusion the
latter administered the usual oath, in taking which, Mr. Lincoln was
loudly cheered.
The inauguration was the ninth ceremony of the kind at which
Chief-Justice Taney had officiated, he having administered the oath of
office successively to Presidents Van Buren, Harrison, Tyler, Polk;

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 61
Taylor, Fillmore, Pierce, Buchanan, and Lincoln. The ceremony was
exceedingly impressive.
The South at once received the message as a declaration of war,
while at the North opinion was greatly divided. Senator Douglas, in
his place in the Senate, hailed it as the harbinger of peace, and the
same view was entertained by many influential men at the North,
where the hope of ultimate peace was strengthened. In the seceded
States, however, intense excitement followed the reception of the
address, except among those few who hoped for a restoration of union
and harmony ; and these strove to consider the document as opposed
to coercion.
The Senate remained in session until the 28th of March, mostly
occupied with the confirmation of persons appointed to office by the
President. The' Administration, for the first month, gave no open
demonstration of its future line of policy, but after making the neces
sary changes in the subordinate officers of the different departments,
and becoming familiar with the new and onerous duties it had under
taken, prepared itself, as well as its . circumstances allowed, for the
coming emergency, and awaited the development of events. The rest
less spirits in the Border States, who sympathized with secession, were
not satisfied with this course, as it prevented them from hurrying for
ward their States into acts of treason ; while some sympathizers with
the South at the North advised the recognition of the Southern Con
federacy as the only practicable and satisfactory settlement of the mo
mentous question Which agitated the country. " Erring sisters, go in
peace," was the remark of a once popular New York politician, and
the words found an echo in the hearts of many timid people, whom the
threatened approach of civil war deprived of what little manhood or
resolution they possessed. But the Government, though silent, was
not idle, and evidences of its activity became apparent in the navy-
yards at the North. An expedition was fitted out at New York, having
for its object to reinforce Fort Pickens, in Pensacola harbor, and to
throw supplies into Fort Sumter, the position of which had not ceased
to be a matter of the greatest public concern. The Southern Confed
eracy and State authorities were kept informed, through their agents
in Washington, occupying official positions, of all the movements of
the Government, and were continually on the alert to collect and trans
mit the earliest intelligence. John Forsyth and Martin J. Crawford,
Southern commissioners? had, on the 13th of March, addressed the
Hon. W. H. Seward, Secretary of State, on behalf of the seven States
forming the Southern Confederacy, which now included Texas, and
asked for an audience of the President, with a view of opening nego
tiations for. a settlement of difficulties. Mr. Seward, in a paper dated
March 15th, though, with the assent of the commissioners, not delivered
till April 8th, declined the request. He said : —
"The official duties of the Secretary of State are confined to the conducting of
the foreign relations of the country, and do not embrace domestic questions, or ques
tions arising between the several States, and the Federal Government is unable to
comply with the request of Messrs. Forsyth and Crawford to appoint a day on whieb,
they may present the evidences of their authority and the objects of their visit to the

62 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.
President of the United States. On the contrary, he is obliged to state to Messrs.
Forsyth and Crawford, that he has no authority, nor is he at liberty to recognize them,
as diplomatic agents, or hold correspondence or other communication with thenv"
An attempt was subsequently made to convict the Secretary of State
of duplicity in relation to the matter of the attempted reinforcement
of Fort Sumter, and his reply to the commissioners of the Southern
Confederacy. The charge was made on the authority of John A.
Campbell, formerly one of the associate judges of the Supreme Court
of the United States, who, by his own acknowledgment, was at that
time in full sympathy with the leaders of the rebellion, and acting the
part of a spy on the United States Government, by communicating all
he could learn to the Confederate Government. Such a man's state
ments, if unsupported as these were, are not entitled to full credence,
and the use of them made by Jefferson Davis, the President of the
Confederate States, showed a desire to make capital by a perversion
of facts. Judge Campbell stated that Mr. Seward informed him that
Fort Sumter would soon be evacuated. But that statement is un
supported by any corroborative evidence, and coming from a secret
enemy of the Union, is justly open toi suspicion. He also charged
that Mr. Seward informed him that Fort Sumter would not be rein
forced without notice being given to Governor Pickens. Such notice
was given, as Governor Pickens himself informed the Confederate
President. When Judge Campbell still reiterated his inquiries, Mr.
Seward replied, "Faith as to Sumter fully kept — wait and see."
Governor Pickens was notified of the intention of the Government to
" reinforce Fort Sumter peaceably, or otherwise by force," on the 8th
of April; the attempt to do so was not made till the night of the 12th
of April.
Under these circumstances, the final letter of the commissioners of
the Southern Confederacy to Mr. Seward can only be regarded as a
piece of unnecessary impertinence. It was as follows : —
" Your refusal to entertain these overtures for a peaceful solution, the active naval
and military preparation of this Government, and a formal notice to the commanding
general of the Confederate forces in the harbor of Charleston, that the President in-1
tends to provision Fort Sumter by -forcible means, if necessary, are viewed by the
undersigned, and can only be received by the world, as a declaration of war against
the Confederate States; for the President of the United States knows that Fort Sumter
cannot be provisioned without the effusion of blood. The undersigned in behalf of
their government and people, accept the gage of battle thus thrown down to them;
and appealing to God and the judgment of mankind for the righteousness of their
cause, the people of the Confederate States will defend their liberties to the last against
this flagrant and open attempt at their subjugation to sectional power."
Mr. Seward made no reply beyond a simple acknowledgment.
These commissioners then left Washington, and on April 13th the
commission appointed by the Virginia Convention to ascertain' the
policy which the Federal Executive intended to pursue towards the
Confederate States, was received by the President. He replied : 
"In answer I have to say, that having, at the beginning of my official term, ex
pressed my intended policy as plainly as I was able, it is with deep regret and mortifi-
fw'V rw,tear.a thT Is **¦* andT inJ™ous uncertainty in the public mind as to
ivhat that policy is, and what course I intend td pursue. Not having as yet seen

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION

63

occasion to change, it is now my purpose to pursue the course marked out in the
inaugural address. I commend a careful consideration of the whole document as the
best expression I can give to my purposes. As I then and therein said, I now re
peat: 'The power confided in me will be used to hold, occupy, and possess property
and places belonging to the Government, and to collect the.duties and imposts; but
beyond what is necessary for these objects there will be no invasion, no using of force
against or among the people any where.' By the words ' property and places belong
ing to the Government,' 1 chiefly allude to the military posts and property which were
in possession of the Government when it came into my hands. But if, as now ap
pears to be true, in pursuit of a purpose to drive the United States authority from
these places, an unprovoked assault has been made upon Fort Sumter, I shall hold
myself at liberty to repossess it, if I can, like places which had been seized before
tho Government was devolved upon me : and, in any event, I shall, to the best of my
ability, repel force by force. In case it proves true that Fort Sumter has been as
saulted, as is reported, I shall, perhaps, cause the United States mails to be withdrawn
from all the States which claim to have seceded, believing that the commencement
of actual war against the Government justifies, and possibly demands it. I scarcely
need to say that I consider the military posts and property situated within the States
which claim to have seceded, as yet belonging to the Government of the United States
as much as they did before the supposed secession. Whatever else I may do for the
purpose, I shall not attempt to collect the duties and imposts by any armed invasion
of any part of the country ; not meaning by this, however, that I may not land a force
deemed necessary to relieve a fort upon the border of the country. From the fact that
I have quoted a part of the inaugural address, it must not be inferred that I repudiate
any other part, the whole of which I reaffirm, except so far as what I now say of the
mails may be regarded as a modification."
This reply was made on the 13th, the day after that on which the
batteries at Charleston opened on Fort Sumter.
The military power of the United States had never been large in
respect of men ; more particularly, the National Capital had ever been
free from . soldiers ; although, since the formation of the Government,-
large sums had been annually expended both for the navy and the
army. By this means a considerable number of forts and coast de
fences had been built, and a large amount of munitions of war col
lected in the arsenals and dep6ts of the several States. These were
mostly precautions against enemies from without. The policy of the
Government, harmonizing with the spirit of its institutions, had ever
been averse to the keeping up of a standing#rmy in time of peace ;
and, although the country was possessed of a great number of well-
educated officers, graduated, annually, during the previous fifty years
at West Point, few of these were in actual service, and a large num
ber of them resigned for the Southern service. The whole authorized
strength of the army was eighteen thousand one hundred and sixty-five
men. Of these, the whole force available for active service in the field,
was eleven thousand men. This little force was scattered over an
area of three millions of square miles, occupying one hundred and
thirty permanent garrisons, posts, and camps, many of which were so
exposed to Indian hostilities, that not a man could be spared from any
frontier. The Department of the East had a force of one thousand and
twenty-seven, under General John E. Wool.* Of this force, six companies

* John E. Wool, captain in tho Thirteenth Infan-
try, April. 1812, and on the 18th of October. 1S12,
distinguished at Queenstown Heights, when he
was severely wounded. In April, 1818, major of

the Twenty-ninth Infantry, and in. December,
1811, was brevetted lieutenant-colonel for gallant
conduct at the battle of Plattsbnrg. In May, 1815,
ho was retained In tho Sixth Infantry. In Sep-

64

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.

of artillery, under Colonel Brown, were at Fortress Monroe, consti
tuting all the troops within reach of Washington.
Soon after the result of the election was known in December, rumors
began to multiply of the organization and drilling of companies, in
Maryland and Virginia, for van attack upon Washington. On the 2d
of January General Scott, who was very active in the defence of the
city, recommended Captain Charles Stone* to have charge of the organ
ization of the district militia.
On the 8th of January a company of marines was sent to Fort Wash
ington, on the Potomac, fourteen miles below Washington. The forts,
arsenals and property of the General Government s.outh of the Potomac,
with the exception of Fortress Monroe, Fort Sumter, Fort Pickens
and the Tortugas, were successively, seized by the authorities of the
States within which they were situated. The fort in Charleston Harbor,
gallantly held, was destined to bring on the crisis of the war. The
three forts that then defended Charleston Harbor were Fort Moultrie,
of Revolutionary fame, on Sullivan's Island ; Castle Pinckney, near the
city ; and Fort Sumter, a new structure on an island in the channel,
commanding all the approaches to the city. It had been erected by the
Federal Government, at considerable cost, and was not yet so far com
plete as to receive a garrison. The place was calculated for one hun
dred and forty-six guns, and a war garrison of six hundred and fifty
men. The only force that the Federal Government had for these three
forts was a single company of artillery in Fort Moultrie, under command
of Major Robert Anderson.f
Fort Moultrie, although formidable to an enemy entering the harbor,
had never been designed to withstand an attack from the city of Charles
ton, the authorities of which now expressed a determination to possess it.
Against such an attack Major Anderson could with difficulty maintain
himself. He had, under date of 11th December, the day on which the

tember, 1816, inspector-general, with the rank of
colonel. He was made lieutenant-colonel of in
fantry in February, 1818; brevet b^gadier-general
in April, 1826, for "ten years1 faithful service;"
and full brigadier-general in June, 1841. He led
the central division of the army which united
with that of General Taylor in February, 1847;
May, 1848, brevet major-general, for gallant con
duct at Buena Vista; 1861, appoin* 1 to command
at Fortress Monroe ; 1862, took Nui oik, and made
full major-general; 1868, retired.
* Charles P. Stone, a native of Massachusetts,
entered West Point in 1841 ; second -lieutenant of
ordnance in 1S46. From August, 1845, to January,
1846, he was assistant professor of ethics, &c, at
the United States Military Academy. He was bre
vetted first-lieutenant in September, 1847, for gal
lantry at Molino del Bey, and captain the same
month for meretorious conduct at Chapultepec.
In February, 1853, he became first-lieutenant, and
resigned November, 1856. In May, 1861, he was
commissioned colonel of the Fourteenth United
States Infantry, and in August brigadier-general,
with command of a division under Major-General
Banks. In consequence of the pevere defeat of n
portion of his troops at Ball's Bluff, he was ar
rested and confined for several months in Fort
Lafayette, although no specific charges were ever
made against him, He subsequently participated

in Banks's Bed Eiver campaign, and in 1S64 re
tired from the service.
t Robert Anderson was born in Kentucky, In
1805, entered the West Point Academy in 1821,
and, on graduating in 1825,was mode brevet second-
lieutentant in the Third Artillery. During the
Black Hawk war he acted as inspector-general of
the Illinois Volunteers. In June, 1838, he was
promoted to a first-lieutenancy. From Septem
ber to December, 1835, he was assistant instructor
of artillery at the United States Military Acade
my ; and from the last-mentioned date to Novem
ber, 1887, instructor. Ho was appointed aide-de
camp to Major-General Scott in 1S8S; was bre
vetted captain for gallant conduct during the Flor
ida war, in April, 1883 ; was made assistant ad
jutant-general, with the rank of captain, the same-
year, and captain in 1S41. In September, 1847, he
was appointed brevet major and acting major of his
battalion for gallantry at Molino del Bey, where
he was severely wounded. At the commence
ment of the present war he was placed in com
mand of the forts in Charleston Harbor, by Gen
eral Scott, and there became famous as the de
fender of Sumter. He was made a brigadier-gen
eral in the regular army May 16th, 1861, but on
account of feeble health has not been of late years
in active service. As an author, General Anderson
has published two manuals of artillery tactics.

SECRETARY OP THE NAVY.

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 65
South Carolina senators withdrew from Washington, received from
John B. Floyd,* Secretary of War, instructions " to hold the forts in the
harbor, and, if attacked, to defend himself to the last extremity."
Moultrie was difficult to strengthen, and the bearing of the authorities
of Charleston became daily more threatening. They had secured a
pledge from Floyd, that while negotiations were pending between the
South Carolina commissioners and the Washington authorities, there
should be no movement on either side, and that Major Anderson should
not change his position. It does not appear that the latter was aware of
this pledge ; but on the 26th of December, while the commissioners
were on their way to Washington, he, on his own responsibility, re
moved his command to Fort Sumter, where the whole force disem
barked, at ten o'clock p. m., from row-boats. A few men were left at
Moultrie, under Captain Foster, to cut down the flagstaff, spike the
guns, burn the carriages, and dismantle the place. The flames notified
the people of Charleston of what had happened, and the news, as it
spread through the country, caused great excitement. At the North
the name of Major Anderson was every where honored, as that of a bold,
decided, and loyal leader. At the South bis action was denounced
as a breach of faith, which impaired all confidence in the Government ;
and it stimulated the war preparations.
Four days later Floyd resigned, and was succeeded in office by Post
master-General Holt.
Major Anderson's position was not much improved by the change.
He, indeed, could not be cJptured by surprise, but neither could he be
succored, all communications being cut off; and, unless relief should
be sent, he would be soon starved out.
Meanwhile preparations for repelling any attempt of the Federal
Government to reinforce Fort Sumter went on in Charleston. Fort
Moultrie was repaired and garrisoned, and new batteries were erected
on Sullivan's and Morris Islands. The revenue-cutter William Aiken
was surrendered by its commander, N. L. Costa, and the crew volun
teered to remain under the State authorities. At the same time troops
were tendered to the Governor by the States of Georgia, Alabama, and
North Carolina. The palmetto or South Carolina flag was raised over
the post-office and custom-house at Charleston, and the Collector notified
that all vessels from and for ports outside of South Carolina must enter
and clear at Charleston. While these movements were being made, the
streets of Charleston were patrolled by the military, and a censorship was
established over the telegraph. The attention of the authorities was earn
estly directed to the getting possession of Fort Sumter, occupied by
the gallant Anderson and his small but dauntless band, who steadily
employed themselves in strengthening the defences of the place, al
though they saw the batteries of their assailants rapidly rising around
them, closing the hope of succor ; while their little stock of supplies

t John Buchanan Floyd, son of Governor John
Floyd, of Virginia. He was born in -Virginia, In
1805, and succeeded, In 1850, to the governorship
of the State, like his father and grandfather.
From 1856 to 1861, he wan Secretary of War under
Buchanan ; resigned December 29th, I860; be-
5

came a brigadier-general in the Confederate army ;
suffered reverses in Western Virginia, and es
caped from Fort Donelson, Tennessee;, when it
was surrendered. He saw but little active service
after this, and died in 1868.

66 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.
dwindled rapidly away, notwithstanding the utmost economy and di
minishing allowances. As previously related, on the 5th of January, the
steamship Star of the West cleared for Havana, and left New York,
with stores, for Fort Sumter. In the lower bay she took on board
two hundred men with their arms and munitions, and arrived off
Charleston Bar at half-past one o'clock a. m. of the 9th. The lights
on shore had been removed, and those of the steamer were extinguished,
to avoid being seen. A steamboat was on the watch, however, and as
the Star of the West passed over the bar, she made signals in shore.
The buoys having been removed, the Star of the West made her way
with great difficulty. She had the Stars and Stripes floating from her
staff; but, when within half a mile of Morris Island, a shore battery
opened upon her. She then hoisted a large United States flag at the
fore, and continued on, the shot flying over her, until the range seemed
to have been got, and one took effect forward, and one amid-ships. It
is necessary, in entering Charleston Harbor, to run close to Fort
Moultrie, before making Fort Sumter. As the Star of the West pro
ceeded, two steamers near Fort Moultrie got under way, towing an
armed schooner, with the evident intention of cutting her off. To
reach Sumter, whose guns kept silent, it was necessary to encounter
that force, and capture or destruction seemed inevitable. The Star of
the West therefore put about and returned to New York.
During this attempt of the Star of the West to run in, her course
had been watched by Major Anderson from Fort Sumter. He did not
open his guns upon the batteries, because he could not believe the act
authorized by the South Carolina authorities, and he was not aware
that the vessel fired upon was coming to his relief. He immedi
ately, January 9th, dispatched a message to Governor Pickens, de
nouncing the act as one of war, and threatening that, unless it was disa
vowed, he would not permit any vessel to pass within range of the gun
of his fort. Governor Pickens, in reply, stated that an attempt, on the
part of the United States, to send troops into Charleston Harbor was an
act of war, and that special agents had been sent to warn off vessels.
Major Anderson referred the matter to his Government, and request
ed that Lieutenant T. Talbot, bearer of dispatches, might have facili
ties extended to him for his departure.
Subsequent to the firing upon the Star of the West, many military
events occurred in each of the seceded States. In Florida, Fort Pick
ens, which had long been unoccupied, was garrisoned by Federal
troops, and the garrison, as well as the fleet off that place, supplied
with food from time to time by citizens of Pensacola, near which the
fort is situated, on Santa Rosa Island. General Bragg, formerly of the
United States army, and conspicuous at Buena Vista, but now in com
mand of the Confederate forces at that point, therefore forbade all fur
ther communication with the fort or fleet. In Louisiana, the cutter
M'Clelland and the cutter Lewiston were both seized. General Dix,
on succeeding to the Treasury Department, January 15th, dispatched
Mr. Jones, a clerk in the department, to New Orleans to save the cut
ters if possible. On his arrival, Mr. Jones telegraphed to the depart
ment that Captain Breshwood refused to obey any instructions of the

HISTORY OF THE GREAT EEBELLION.

67

department. The famous order of General Dix* in reply, " If any one
attempts to haul down the American flag, shoot him on the spot,"
thrilled every loyal breast, and gave a stamp of energy to the feeble
Government, which had apparently been falling to pieces. In Texas,
where General David E. Twiggs held command, the entire military
force, comprising about half the army of the United States, all the mil
itary posts, and public property to the amount of one million two
hundred and fifty thousand dollars, were, February 18th, surrendered
to the State authorities. For this shameful act of treason, he was,
March 1st, by order of the Secretary of War, dismissed from the ser
vice. The revenue-cutter Dodge also surrendered to the State author
ities. In Georgia, the arsenal at Augusta, with its contents, was
seized ; and a quantity of arms on the way from the North for the
State having been detained by the New York police, the Government
of Georgia, in retaliation, seized a number of New York vessels, which
were subsequently released. In addition to these treasonable acts, the
following forts were seized by the authorities of the several States in
which they were situated : Fort Macon, Beaufort. N. C. ; Fort Pulaski,
Savannah ; Fort Morgan, Mobile Bay ; Fort M'Rae, Pensacola ; and
Forts Jackson, St. Philip, and Pike, near New Orleans ; also the arse
nals at Fayetteville, N. C, Mobile, Mount Vernon, Ala., and Little
Roek, Ark., besides the Navy- Yard at Pensacola. The general attention
was, however, fixed upon Charleston, where General Beauregard had
been 'placed by President Davis in command, and where the troops
and batteries that surrounded the devoted Anderson continued to mul
tiply. Rumors of the most contradictory character in regard to Fort
Sumter continued to circulate ; at one time it was asserted that it
would be supplied, at another that the order for evacuation was act
ually signed. The crisis was evidently at hand.
An expedition had meanwhile been fitting out at New York, com
posed of the steamer Powhattan, eleven guns, several steam-trans
ports and steam-tugs, with about thirty launches ; also, the Pawnee,
eleven guns, left Washington April 6th, and the Harriet Lane, five
guns. These vessels, carrying thirteen hundred and eighty men,
under the command of Colonel Harvey Brown, Second Artil
lery, sailed with sealed orders April 7th. On the following day
General Beauregardf telegraphed the Confederate Secretary of War

* John Adams Dix, born in New Hampshire.
1798; ensign in the war of 1812; aide to General
Brown in 1828. and a lawyer in Cooperstown, New
York; 1880, adjutant-general of New Tork; Jan
uary, 1888, Secretary of State of New York ; 1842,
member of Assembly ; 1S45, United States senator ;
introduced a bill for reciprocal trade with the Brit
ish Provinces : 1853, assistant United States Treasu
rer New York City ; 1859, postmaster of New York ;
January, 1861, Secretary of the Treasury ; 1861, ma
jor general cf volunteers; June, 1S61, commander
of the military department of Maryland ; 1862-63,
commander of the Department of Virginia; and
1868-65 of the North, with headquarters in New
York. t P. G. Toutant Beuregard was born on his fa
ther's plantation near New Orleans, Louisiana. He
graduated at West Point in 1888, second-lieutenant

First Artillery, was transferred to the Corps of En
gineers, and made first-lieutenant in 1839. He
was brevetted captain in August, 1847, for gallant
conduct at Contreras and Churubusco, and major
in September the same vear for services at Cha-
pultepec At tho assault on the city of Mexico,
Major Beauregard was wounded. Subsequently
he was placed in charge of the construction of the
mint and custom-house at New Orleans, and of
the fortifications at the mouth of the Mississippi.
At the breaking out of the present war he was
about to he appointed superintendent of the West
Point Academy by President Buchanan. Beaure
gard is in the prime of life, being about forty-three
years of age. He was in command of Charleston
Harbor, brigadier-general commanding at the bat
tle of Bull Bun, and commanded at the battle of
Pittsburg Landing, or Shiloh. Ho subsequently

68 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.
that a messenger from President Lincoln had notified him that Fort
Sumter was to be provisioned peaceably or by force. In reply, Gen
eral Beauregard was ordered to demand the immediate evacuation of
the place. On the 10th the fleet appeared off Charleston Harbor. At
two o'clock, April 11th, General Beauregard made the demand on Ma
jor Anderson to evacuate with arms and personal property. This
Major Anderson promptly refused. On the same day, by order of the
Confederate Secretary of War, General Beauregard demanded on what
day Major Anderson would leave, if unmolested. He replied that he
would do so on the 15th, unless he should receive, prior to that time,
positive instructions from Government or additional supplies. While
it remained uncertain whether the fort would be defended by its gar
rison in case of an attack, a limited supply of fresh food had been sent
to it daily from Charleston ; but in the beginning of April this was cut
off, and unless speedy relief could be sent, evacuation became only a
question of time. General Beauregard replied, April 12th, at half-past
three o'clock, a. m., that he should open his batteries on Fort Sumter
in one hour. Accordingly, on Friday, April 12th, at half-past four
o'clock, a. m., a day and hour ever to be remembered in the history of
the American Continent, a battery of heavy Columbiads on Sullivan's
Island opened upon the fort, from which floated the Stars and Stripes
of the Union, and was quickly followed by all the surrounding forts
and batteries. The force in the fort comprised the following officers,
and men: Regiment or Original entry
Names, Eanki Corps. into Service. Born in
E. Anderson  Major..  1st Artillery  July 1, 1825  Kentucky.
B. W. Crawford  Asst. Surgeon . . Medical Staff  March 10, 1851 ... . Pennsylvania.
Abner Donblcdiiy  Captain  1st Artillery  July 1,1842  New York.
Truman Seymour  Captain  1st Artillery  lulv 1. 1846  Vermont.
Theodore Talbot  1st Lieutenant.. 1st Artillery  May 22, 1847  Dis. Columbia.
Jeff. C Davis  1st Lieutenant.. 1st Artillery  June 17, 184S  Indiana.
J. N. Hall  2d Lieutenant.. 1st Artillery  July 1, 1859  New York.
J. Q. Foster  Captain  Engineers  July 1, 1846  N. Hampshire.
G. W. Snyder  1st Lieutenant.. Engineers  July 1, 1856  New York.
E. K.Meade  2d Lieutenant J. Engineers  Julyl, 1857  Virginia.
Officers, 9. Band, 15. Artillerists, 55. Laborers, 80. Total, 109.
When Major Anderson, at half-past three o'clock, received notice
that the fire would be opened upon him in an hour, he removed the
sentinels from the parapets, closed the posterns, ran up the National
ensign, and ordered the troops not to leave the bomb-proofs until sum
moned by the drums. At half-past four, a bomb from Sullivan's Island
burst over the fort, and in a few moments a circle of fire opened upon
the devoted band from four large batteries and many smaller ones.
One, on Cummings's Point, one thousand six hundred yards distant, on
the south, commanded the gorge or rear of the fort. On Sullivan's
Island were Fort Moultrie and a new battery of heavy Columbiads and
ten-inch mortars, and an iron floating battery of immense streno-th was
anchored between Sumter and Charleston, at a distance of one thousand
eight hundred yards. From all these the fire converged upon the fort

held command in South Carolina and Georgia, and
in the campaign of 1864 was stationed at Peters

burg, whence ho went in the latter part of the same Carolina,

year to oppose Sherman in the Southwest. At
the close of the rebellion he commanded in North

HISTORY OF THE GEE AT REBELLION. 69
with great power and accuracy. Before making any response to the
rebel attack, Major Anderson directed his men to get their breakfasts,
after which they were divided into three reliefs, to change every four
hours. The first, under Captain Doubleday and Lieutenant Snyder,
at half-past seven, opened the fire upon all points simultaneously, and
with great rapidity. The enthusiasm of the men was so great that all
kept at the guns until relieved. The fire from Fort Moultrie soon
disabled one ten-inch Columbiad, one eight-inch Columbiad, one forty-
two-pounder, and two eight-inch sea howitzers, on the parapet, where
the firing became so accurate and so intense that Major Anderson
withdrew his men to the casemates. The explosion of shells and the
quantity of missiles rained upon the fort from every quarter during
the day, made it impossible to work the barbette, or upper uncovered
guns. While this wbrk of destruction was going on, the fleet beyond the
bar was seen to dip its flags by way of signal. That of the fort was
dipped in return. It was subsequently ascertained that a plan had
been perfected to throw two hundred and fifty men and supplies into
the fort, by boats, at daylight on the 13th, which was frustrated by
the Baltic running aground on Rattlesnake Shoal, on the night of the
12th ; so that the fleet was of no assistance to the fort.
By noon, the cartridges were exhausted, and a party was sent into
the magazine to manufacture more, for which purpose blankets and
shirts were used ; but as there were no means of weighing the powder,
accurate firing became impossible. The fire of the enemy, meanwhile,
continually increased in violence and accuracy, and there was scarcely
a moment in which the whizzing of balls and crash of shells ceased.
An English rifled gun on Cummings's Point was served with great pre
cision, every shot knocking out large quantities of masonry about the
embrasures, and bruising the men with the flying concrete rubbish.
Sergeant Rearnan, a Mexican veteran, was knocked down, but soon
revived, and went to work, remarking, that he " was only knocked
down temporarily." As no immediate hostilities were contemplated
by the original builders of the fort, they constructed wooden houses
inside for the officers' barracks, which now offered a tempting mark to
the enemy's hot-shot batteries, and were set on fire three times during
the day, calling upon the men for renewed efforts to extinguish the
flames under a most galling fire. The meals of the garrison were
served at the guns, the cannoneers eating as they worked. The en
thusiasm was not confined to the soldiers, but the workmen engaged
with zeal at the guns. A party took possession of a gun that had been
abandoned because of the close fire made upon it, and worked it with
great effect.
In this manner the day drew to a close. The small force varied
their work in making cartridges, extinguishing the fire, and serving
the guns, until nightfall, when, it being no longer possible to see the
effect of the shot, the exhausted men ate their last biscuit, closed the
port-holes, nailed the old flag to the mast, and retired to their case
mates, to get what rest they could amidst the iron storm that did not
cease to thunder about their devoted heads during the night.

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

Scale of MThn

72

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.

A short time afterwards a deputation, consisting of Senator Chesnut,
Roger A. Pryor, Captain Lee, and W. Porcher Miles, came from
General Beauregard, and had an interview with Major Anderson.
They agreed, substantially, to the terms proposed by Wigfall, which
were that the garrison should take all their individual and company
property, that they should march out with their side and other arms
with all the honors, in their own way, and at their own time ; that
they should salute their flag, and take it with them. This was at a
quarter before two p. m., April 13th.
When the baggage of the garrison was all on board of the transport,
the soldiers remaining inside under arms, a portion were told off as
gunners to serve in saluting the American flag. When the last gun
was fired, the flag was lowered, the men cheering. At the fiftieth dis
charge there was a premature explosion, which killed one man instant
ly, seriously wounded another, and two more not so badly. The men
were then formed and marched out, at nine a. m., April 14th, the band
playing " Yankee Doodle" and " Hail to the Chief."
Thus fell Sumter, at the fratricidal hands of our " Southern brethren,"
not, however, while there was a cartridge to fire or powder enough
left to make one. Never did famished men work with greater deter
mination, in the full knowledge of the fact that if they continued to
hold the place there was not a biscuit to eat.
It was a remarkable fact that no life was lost on either side during
this terrible cannonade. This, on the part of the fort, must be attrib
uted to the small number of men, all of whom could find shelter in
the casemates. A larger number would only have suffered great havoc.
Major Anderson and his men, on their arrival North, were received
with every honor due to their great merits.
The fleet which left New York, January 7th, under sealed orders,
was supposed to be destined for Fort Sumter, and that belief, no doubt,
stimulated the attack by the Charleston forces. It seems, however,
that the larger portion was for Fort Pickens, which was occupied by a
small garrison, and threatened by the enemy. On the 16th and 17th
the steamers Atlantic and Powhattan landed a considerable number of
troops and a horse battery on Santa Rosa Island, and, at midnight on
the 19th, the Illinois arrived with three hundred and fifty additional
troops, under command of brevet Colonel Brooks, who were landed
next morning. The force on the island then numbered over one thousand
men, commanded by Colonel Harvey Brown, of the Second Artillery.
This successful operation insured the safety of Fort Pickens against
any attack of the rebels, who, under the command of General Bragg,*

* Braxton Bragg, a native of North Carolina, en
tered West Point in 1882. He graduated in 1S87,
second-lieutenant in the third infantry; assistant
commissary of subsistence in November, 1887 ; ad-
jutant in December, 1887; first-lieutenant July,
1838; brevet captain, for gallant conduct at Fort
Brown, May, 1846; captain, June, 1846; brevet
major, for gallant conduct at Monterey, Septem
ber, 1846; and brevet lieutenant-colonel at Buena
Vista. He resigned his place in the army in Jan
uary. 1856, and In 1861 was appointed brigadier-
general of the Confederate army, and took com
mand at Pensacola. Subsequently he fought at

Shiloh ; was promoted to be a general, and in the
autumn of 1862 invaded Kentucky ; was beaten at
Murfreehboro', and in the summer of 1868 driven
beyond Chattanooga, but defeated Eosecrans in
turn at Chickamauga. In November, 1868, he
lost the important battle of Missionary Eidge,
and was soon after removed from active com
mand, but being a favorite with Davis, he was
intrusted with the general supervision of the
rebel armies. Subsequently he was ordered to
Wilmington, and held commnnd under Johnston
at tho surrender of tho latter In 1865.

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 73
of Buena Vista fame, were assembling in large force in the neighbor
hood.

CHAPTER P7.
Effect of the Fall of Sumter. — Call for Seventy-five Thousand Troops, and Replies of
States. — Congress Convened. — Destmction of Property at Norfolk. — Effect of the
Proclamation at the North. — Baltimore Riot. — March of Troops to Washington. —
The Position of Maryland. — Proceedings of her Legislature. — Pacification of Balti
more. The fall of Sumter produced a startling effect throughout the coun
try. The fact that armed resistance to the power of the Government
was actually organized, on a large scale, seemed to burst upon the
astonished North like a thunder-clap. Party lines at once disappeared,
private interests and the pursuit of business were dropped as with
one accord, and the people rallied to the support of that Government,
the jeopardy of which they had not previously realized. When the
news reached Washington, the President immediately issued a procla
mation calling out seventy-five thousand of the militia of the several
States of the Union, to "repossess the forts, places, and property
which had been seized." The persons resisting the operation of the
laws were called upon to disperse within twenty days, and Congress
was, by the same document, convened for the 4th of July.
The President thus assumed the power of calling out troops, rely
ing upon the exigencies of the case for justification. The assembling
of Congress, however, although the Government was much embar
rassed for means, was delayed for ten weeks. The effect of the
proclamation at the South was at once to consolidate the Confederacy.
The dispatches from the War Department, addressed to the Govern
ors of the several States, designated the quotas assigned to each
State. The Executives of the slaveholding States, with the exception
of Maryland and Delaware, peremptorily refused to comply with the
requisition, and Virginia, North Carolina, Arkansas, and Tennessee
seceded, the first immediately, and the others some weeks later, and
joined the Southern Confederacy, turning over their arms to it, and
acceding to the new Constitution. In response to the call, Governor
Magoffin, of Kentucky, replied, that "Kentucky would furnish no
troops for the wicked purpose of subduing her sister Southern States."
Governor Letcher, of Virginia, replied, that " the militia of Virginia
will not be furnished to the powers at Washington to subjugate the
South ;" Governor Ellis, of North Carolina, " that he could not re
spond to the call for troops, as he doubts the legality of the call ;"
Governor Harris, of Tennessee, that " Tennessee will furnish not a
single man for coercion, but fifty thousand, if necessary, for the de
fence of our rights, or those of our Southern brothers;" Governor
Jackson, of Missouri, that " the requisition is illegal, unconstitutional,
revolutionary, inhuman, diabolical, and cannot be complied with."

74 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.
The Government of the Southern Confederacy issued a call for
thirty-two thousand men, five thousand from each of the Confederate
States except Florida, which was to furnish two thousand ; and Jef
ferson Davis, on the 17th of April, issued a proclamation offering to
grant letters of marque and reprisal to aid the Southern Confederacy
"in resisting the wanton and wicked aggressions" of the Federal
Government. This was immediately responded to by President Lin
coln, in a proclamation, dated April 19th, declaring the Southern
ports in a state of blockade. Jefferson Davis then convened the South
ern Congress for the 1st of May.
The State of Virginia, as we have seen, immediately abandoned her
doubtful policy, and cast in her lot with the Confederacy, in accord
ance with the convention signed April '24th. The United States
armory at Harper's Ferry, which had been the scene of John Brown's
raid, contained fifteen .thousand stand of arms, and was held by Lieu
tenant Jones, of the United States Army, with a force of forty men.
On the 18th of April the place was seized by two or three thousand
Virginia militia, after Lieutenant Jones had destroyed by fire what he
could, and retreated with his men across Maryland into Pennsylvania,
having lost two men, killed. The Gosport Navy Yard, at Norfolk,
Virginia, was the largest depot of ordnance in the United States, con
taining many first-class ships, some two thousand cannon, and arms
and munitions which bad originally cost over ten million dollars, but
which at this crisis were of almost incalculable value. The conspira
tors who had hurried Virginia out of the Union saw the importance
of getting possession of this place, and sent thither General Taliaferro
to obstruct the channel leading from Norfolk to Hampton Roads, and
prevent the ingress or egress of National vessels. The Navy Yard
was then in charge of Commander McCauley, an old and irresolute
officer, who appears, under the apprehension of a rebel attack, to have,
so far lost his presence of mind, as to consent to a useless and shame
ful destruction of the National property. Notwithstanding he had
received orders from Washington to send the powerful steam-frigate
Merrimac to Philadelphia, he refrained, through fear of exasperating
the rebels, from doing so, and on the 20th, ordered all the ships in the
Yard, except the sailing corvette Cumberland, to be scuttled. When
it is considered that he then had several hundred trusty men at his
disposal, the act seems almost like treason. Aware, possibly, of the
inefficiency of McCauley, the Government, on the 19th, had dispatched
Commodore Hiram Paulding in the steam-frigate Pawnee to assume
command at Norfolk. Taking on board a reinforcement of four hun
dred and fifty Massachusetts volunteers at Fortress Monroe, he pro
ceeded safely through the obstructions to the Navy Yard, which he
reached at half-past eight p. m. on the 20th.
Commodore Paulding, however, arrived too late to save the ships or
the guns. The former had been scuttled and the latter spiked by his
predecessor in command, and it was determined with what, now,
appears needless precipitancy, to complete the destruction already
commenced and abandon the Yard. Accordingly, the books and
papers of the establishment were transferred to the Pawnee. Every

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

76 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.
loyal North was electric. The citizens every where formed themselves
into relief and vigilance committees, the young and ardent rushed to
arras, and the older and richer organized meetings, and subscribed with
a liberal hand for equipping troops to aid the Government. The au
thorities of the several cities voted means, and the State Executives
convened the legislatures to provide for the exigencies of the nation.
Governor Yates, of Illinois, convened the legislature for April 23d, to
adopt such laws as were necessary for the more perfect equipment of
the militia, and to render efficient assistance to the General Govern
ment. Governor Buckingham, of Connecticut, issued a proclamation
for troops to rendezvous at Hartford. New Hampshire promptly
mustered her troops, and subscriptions of money from citizens and
corporations were tendered on all hands. All the States set themselves
eagerly to the work, and the troops first ready immediately started for
Washington. ,
The call of the President was for seventy-five thousand of the State
militia, which, under the laws of Congress, could not be required to
serve more than three months in the year. As Congress was not in
session and the Government was almost without means, it was evident
that the troops must be equipped and forwarded at the States' expense.
Accordingly most of the States immediately voted loans. The quota
of New York was thirteen thousand, but a bill passed the legislature
in a few hours, authorizing thirty thousand volunteers for two years,
and creating a military board to organize them. On the 24th of April
an agent was sent to England to buy twenty-five thousand Enfield
rifles. A loan was authorized for three million dollars, which was soon
taken. The common council of New York voted one million dollars,
which was promptly advanced by the banks, and various public asso
ciations subscribed funds to equip the troops that were promptly mus
tering, and to aid their families. In all, twenty-three regiments of
three months' troops, comprising a force of more-than fifteen thousand
men, were put into the field by the State, in compliance with the Presi
dent's proclamation. Among these were a number of well-equipped and
disciplined organizations from the cities of New York and Brooklyn.
In Massachusetts, Governor Andrew, in anticipation of a collision
between the rebels and Federal authorities, had previously equipped
two thousand militia, who were mostly ready to move. The. call for
troops was received April 15th, and two regiments mustered on the
16th. The Third Regiment of State Militia, Colonel Wardrop, de
parted on the 17th for Fortress Monroe, where it arrived in time for
the expedition to Gosport Navy Yard on the 20th. The Fourth and
Sixth Regiments were also ordered forward at once, the former to
Fortress Monroe, and the Sixth to Washington via New York and
Baltimore.
v The excitement in the latter city was great. On the 18lh the
Governor of Maryland issued a proclamation, exhorting the people to
keep the peace, and assuring them that no troops would be sent from
Maryland unless to defend the National capital. On the same day the
Mayor of Baltimore issued a proclamation concurring with the
Governer. The rumors of approaching troops from other States began,

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 77
however, to inflame the disaffected, and preparations commenced to
resist the Sixth, Massachusetts Regiment, which started on the 1 7th,
passed through New York on the 18th, in a sort of triumphal march,
and on the morning of the 19th arrived at Camden Station in Balti
more, together with a portion of the Seventh Pennsylvania.
Several of the cars containing the troops pushed through the city
with horses to the Washington Depot, but the remainder, from want
of horses, were unable to proceed. Meanwhile an excited and angry
crowd gathered in the vicinity of the Camden Station, and while a por
tion tore up the rails and otherwise obstructed the track, others began
to make threatening demonstrations against the remaining Massachu
setts and Pennsylvania troops. These remained quiet for a short time,
when the infuriated mob assailed them with stones, bricks, and other
missiles, wounding several of the soldiers. The men then alighted,
formed a solid square, with fixed bayonets, and with the Mayor of
Baltimore and a body of police at their head, started through the city.
The mob rapidly increased in numbers and ferocity, and the shower of
missiles upon the troops momentarily thickened., interspersed with
shqts of revolvers and discharges from the muskets taken from the
soldiers. As the wounded soldiers dropped they were taken into the
centre, sustained by their comrades, and the column pushed on. Two
were now dead and several wounded, when some of the exasperated
soldiers returned the fire by single shots. After a severe and pro
tracted struggle, the men finally gained the Washington Depot, and
immediately embarked, having sustained a loss of three killed and eight
wounded. Eleven of the rioters were killed and an unknown num
ber wounded. The Pennsylvanians were also attacked and many in
jured ; as they were unarmed, they were sent back whence they came.
The mob now'ruled supreme. The gun-shops were plundered, other
stores closed, and a public meeting summoned for the afternoon. The
Mayor and Governor both notified the President that no more troops
could pass through Baltimore, and also advised the President of the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad that the troops then in the city should be
sent back, which was done. The mob then waited at Canton for the
train coming from Philadelphia, compelled the passengiers to alight,
and went back in the train to Gunpowder Bridge, which they burned,
after which they burned Cushman Bridge and Canton Bridge.
The news of this conflict, as it flew North, caused great excitement.
The Northern blood boiled with indignation, and all were eager to
save the capital of the Nation. Troops hastened their preparations to
press forward and force a passage to the seat of Government. The
fact did not fail to impress itself on the public mind, that this first
conflict, in this great strife, was the anniversary of the day, the 19th
of April, 1775, when the Massachusetts yeomen drew the first blood,
from the invading English, at Lexington. The lineal representatives
of these men, after a lapse of eighty-six years, were the first to open
the war on the soil of Maryland. . The deep movement of the popular
passions was manifest in many ways. The National flag, which had
gone down before the guns of the enemy, became at once the emblem
of patriotism and of decided purpose. It fluttered from every build-

78 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.
ing, and was borne by every person. The stopping of the highway
to the capital served to give point to the public purpose, and " through
Baltimore" became a rallying-cry. General Scott, at Washington,
immediately took measures to open the communication on that side.
The news had no sooner reached him than he issued a general order,
adding Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania to the military depart
ment of Washington, and placing Major-General Patterson, of the
Pennsylvania volunteers, in command, with orders to post Pennsyl
vania troops all along the line, from Wilmington, Delaware, to Wash
ington City.
The enthusiasm in New York was very demonstrative, showing a
great contrast to the apparent apathy that had prevailed, since its long-
continued efforts to effect some compromise had ceased to be of any
avail. The political sentiment as well as the material interests of New
York were ever eminently conservative. Her geographical position
had made her the commercial centre of the Union, and her acquired
wealth had made her its financial head. The capital of the whole coun
try came to her for investment. Her own vast capital moved the crops
of the West, and the exchanges, based on Southern productions, were
negotiated in her market. She was the factor for every producer, the
banker for every merchant ; she was, so to speak, the negotiator be
tween every section of the Union and foreign nations. She had debt
ors in every town and hamlet of the country, and every producer, even
of the most remote region, was directly or indirectly her customer. In
every harbor her shipping was to be found, and her capital insured the
merchandise on every lake and river. She could not, therefore, but re
gard the approach of hostilities with dissatisfaction and dread. She
knew that she held the purse-strings of the Nation ; that, whatever Con
gress might plan, or President execute, nothing could be effected with
out her aid, and that the first burden of every struggle must fall upon
her. She therefore strove earnestly to avoid the difficulty ; but when
once it burst upon the country, 6he offered her vast means upon the
altar of the Nation, and frankly accepted the situation. Her troops at
onee assembled in imposing force. Every armory and drill-room was
busy with active officers, mustering, organizing, and preparing for the
march. The Seventh militia regiment, long the pride of the city, was
the first ready, and its departure was a day of triumph long to be re
membered. It marched at four p. m. of the 19th, amidst unparalleled demon
strations of enthusiasm from the dense multitudes who thronged the
streets ; and on the same day the Rhode Island artillery, Colonel
Tompkins, and the Massachusetts Eighth, Colonel Monroe, with Gen
eral B. F. Butler, went through New York. The troops now began to
move in crowds from all quarters. "Through Baltimore," was the
rallying-cry, and the hurrying tread of departing regiments of deter
mined men was drowned amid the cheers and acclamations of the
throngs, which peopled house-top, street, and wharf, alive with flags
and banners, and vocal with patriotic strains. Every Northern State
and every condition of life sent its enthusiastic patriots to meet the
National foes, and defend the old Stars and Stripes, that, born of inde-

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 79
pendence, has so often been' flung to the breeze in the strife of liberty.
Massachusetts, in six days from the date of the President's call, had
six regiments on the way, including a battalion of riflemen and a bat
tery of artillery. Rhode Island had sent two under Governor Sprague,
New York had sent seven. This Northern " avant-garde," as they
passed on, were joined by the troops of Ohio and Pennsylvania. In
Indiana, six regiments were raised and mustered into service in a week
after the call was made. All the other States were prompt and effect
ive in their aid. The living stream poured on by rail and flood, and
Baltimore, which had, under the bad impulse of the moment, attempted
to stay its course, only caused by its resistance an accumulation of
force that threatened to sweep the city from existence.
The New York Seventh arrived in Philadelphia at four o'clock a. m.
of the 20th. The universal desire of the regiment was to push
through, and emulate the gallant Massachusetts men, if it did not
avenge them. The difficulties that presented themselves were, how
ever, very grave. The bridges were burned in many places, the rails
torn up forty miles from Baltimore, and the road was commanded by
the mob, to quell which was no part of the business in hand. The
great object was to throw a force into Washington, which should pro
tect the Government; that, once safe, the riot would be taken in hand
in its turn. To effect that object, it was necessary to go round Balti
more, and accordingly the regiment proceeded by water to Annapolis,
where it arrived on the afternoon of the 22d, in company with the
Eighth Massachusetts, under General Butler.. The regiment was
quartered in the Naval School. On the 23d, General Butler took mili
tary possession of the Annapolis and Elkridge Railroad ; and on the
same day, the Seventy-first New York arrived. On the morning of
the 24th, the troops began their march to Washington.
The track had been torn up between Annapolis and the junction
with the Baltimore and Washington Railroad, and here it was that the
wonderful qualities of the Massachusetts Eighth regiment came out.
The locomotives had been taken to pieces by the inhabitants, in order
to prevent the march. A Massachusetts volunteer stepped up, and
looking at a piecemeal engine, remarked, " I helped make this engine,
and I can put it together again." Engineers were wanted when the
engine was ready ; nineteen stepped out of the ranks. The rails were
torn up ; practical railroad-makers out of the regiment laid them again ;
and all this without care or food. These brave men were nearly starv
ing while they were doing this good work. As they marched along
the track that they had laid, they greeted the New York Seventh with
ranks of smiling but hungry faces. One boy said, with a laugh on his
young lips, "that he had not eaten any thing lor thirty hours." There
was not a haversack in the Seventh regiment that was not emptied into
the hands of these ill-treated heroes, nor a flask that was not at then-
disposal. The march continued until the next morning, with a short halt here
and there. There were two roads to Washington ; one by the rail-
track, and the other the common country road. The commander had
information that the latter was beset by parties of cavalry, intending

80 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.
to cut off the march, which was therefore directed by the railroad.
The sleepers made the march terribly fatiguing, and as the road required
to be explored inch by inch, exceedingly slow. But the troops finally
reached Washington on the 25th, and succeeding, regiments following
by the same route, soon insured the safety of the capital.
1 The position of Maryland had been from the first very critical. She
had sympathized strongly with the Southern States, yet she had a large
conservative element, which was manifested in her vote at the Presi
dential election. The total vote cast in the State was ninety-two thou
sand five hundred and two. Of these, forty-two thousand four hundred
and eighty-two were cast for Breckenridge, forty-one thousand seven
hundred and sixty for Bell, and five thousand nine hundred and sixty-
six for Douglas. Of the remainder, Mr. Lincoln received two thousand
two hundred and ninety-four. When the difficulties thickened, it be
came evident that, in case of a conflict, Maryland, with her small re
sources and exposed situation, would suffer greatly. Her Governor,
Hicks, strongly opposed secession in an address to the people, in
January. He refused to convene the legislature, saying : —
" I firmly believe that a division of this Government would inevitably produce civil
war. The secession leaders in South Carolina, and the fanatical demagogues of the
North, have alike proclaimed that such would be the result, and no man of Bense, in
my opinion, can question it. What could the legislature do in this crisis, if convened,
to romove the present troubles which beset the Union ?
*************
" That Maryland is a conservative Southern State, all know who know any thing of
her people or her history. The business and agricultural classes, planters, merchants,
mechanics, and laboring men ; those who have a real stake in the community, who
would be forced to pay the taxes and do the fighting, are the persons who should be
heard in preference to excited politicians, many of whom, having nothing to lose from
the destruction of the Government, may hope to derive some gain from the ruin of the
State. Such men will naturally urge you to pull down the pillars of this ' accursed
Union,' which their allies at the North have denominated a ' covenant with hell.' The
people of Maryland, if left to themselves, would decide, with scarcely an exception, that
there is nothing in the present causes of complaint to justify immediate secession."
Notwithstanding that the legislature did not meet, the excitement in
the State, particularly in Baltimore, continued very great. Upon the
receipt of the first call for troops, the Governor wrote to the Secretary
of War to be informed if the troops were to be used solely in the limits
of the State, and for the protection of the National capital. He was in
formed that the troops were only for the defence of the capital. The
Secretary of War, also, April 18th, notified him that fears were enter
tained that the passage of the troops through Baltimore would be
obstructed, and hoped the State authorities would prevent it. The
Governor on the 20th replied, that the mob had control, that the mili
tary fraternized with them, therefore he declined sending troops, and
insisted that no more should be sent through Maryland. The Govern
ment replied, that the troops would be sent round Baltimore. On the
22d, the Governor repeated his request in respect to troops, and sug
gested that Lord Lyons " should be requested to act as mediator between
the contending parties of our conntry." The Secretary of State replied,
declining foreign mediation, and aflirmed the right to send troops through

3LILEAM HI SEWAIRffl),
SECRETARY OF STATE. .

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

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 83
through Baltimore. On Monday, May 1 3th, a train from Philadelphia
passed through with the National flag displayed, and numbers were
hung out from stores and dwellings. On the following day, the First
Pennsylvania regiment passed through Baltimore fully equipped. In
the afternoon of the same day, a train from the Relay House ar
rived with the Sixth Massachussetts, and the Eighth New York
regiments, with a battery. They marched through South Baltimore
and took possession of Federal Hill, a high point commanding both
the city and Fort McHenry, which is east of it, one mile distant.
Here General Butler fixed his head-quarters, and issued a proclamation
intended to soothe the conquered citizens of Baltimore. He also de
manded the delivery of a quantity of arms stored in the city, which was
acceded to, and the Federal authority became fully established. On
the 15th of May, the Star-spangled banner was raised once more over
the post-office and custom-house.

CHAPTER V.
Confederate Congress. — Davis's Message. — Virginia. — Beauregard's Proclamation.—
Border States' Convention. — Western Virginia. — State Re-orgaization.
According to the proclamation of Jefferson Davis, the Confederate
Congress met at Montgomery, Alabama, April 29th, and Mr. Davis
delivered a message, which opened with assurances that the constitution
framed for the establishment of a permanent government for the Con
federate States had been ratified by conventions in each of those States
to which it was referred. To inaugurate the Government in its full
prpportions and upon its own substantial basis of the popular will, it
only remained that elections should be held for the designation of the
officers to administer it.
He stated that the declaration of war against the Confederacy
by the President of the United States, in his proclamation of April
15th, made it necessary to convene the Congress at the earliest possible
moment. He reviewed the events that, from the formation of the Gov
ernment, had been gradually producing the present state of affairs, and
recounted the circumstances that attended the mission of commission
ers to Washington. The reply of the Federal Government, rendered
only on April 8th, although dated March 15th, had, he said, been
withheld, while assurances calculated to inspire hope in the success of
the mission had been made.
" That these assurances were given, has been virtually confessed by the Government
of the United States by its sending a messenger to Charleston to give notice of its
purpose to use force, if opposed in its intention of supplying Fort Sumter. No more
striking proof of the absence of good faith in the conduct of the Government of the
United States towards this Confederacy can be required, than is contained in the oir-
cumstances which accompanied this notice. According to the usual course of navigation,
the vessels composing the expedition designed for the relief of Port Sumter, might be

84 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.
expected to reach Charleston Harbor on the 9th of April ; yet with our commissioners
actually in "Washington, detained under assurances that notice should be given of any
military movement, the notice was not addressed to them, but a messenger was sent to
Charleston, to give notice to the Governor of South Carolina, and the notice was so
given at a late hour on the 8th of April, the eve of the very day on which the fleet
might be expected to arrive. That this manoeuvre failed in its purpose was. not the
fault of those who contrived it. A heavy tempest delayed the arrival of the expedition,
and gave time to the commander of our forces at Charleston to ask and receive the
instructions of this Government. Even then, under all the provocation incident to the
contemptuous refusal to listen to our commissioners, and the tortuous course of the
Government of the United States, I was sincerely anxious to avoid the effusion of blood,
and directed a proposal to be made to the commander of Fort Sumter, who had avowed
himself to be nearly out of provisions, that we would abstain from directing our fire
on Fort Sumter, if he would promise not to fire upon our forces unless first attacked.
This proposal he refused, and the conclusion was reached that the design of the United
States was to place the besieging force of Charleston between the simultaneous fire of
the fleet and the fort. There remained, therefore, no alternative but to direct that the
fort should at once be reduced."
Mr. Davis then proceeded to recount the contents of the proclamation
of President Lincoln, and the mandates of that document were re
ceived with " shouts of laughter."
" Apparently contradictory,'7 said Mr. Davis, " as are the terms of this singular docu
ment, one point was unmistakably evident. The President of the United States called
for an army of seventy-five thousand men, whose first service was to be the capture of
our forts. It was a plain declaration of war which I was not at liberty to disregard,
because of my knowledge that under the Constitution of the United States, the Presi
dent was usurping a power granted exclusively to Congress."
He advised the immediate passage of a law authorizing the accept
ance of proposals for privateers. He denounced the proclamation of
the United States in relation to Southern ports, as a mere paper block
ade. He stated, that under the law authorizing a loan of five million
dollars, a call was promptly answered by offers of more than eight mil
lion dollars at par, and the whole was accepted. Mr. Davis said that
a much larger amount was , now become necessary to defray the ex
penses of the war.
" There are now in the field at Charleston, Pensacola, Forts Morgan, Jackson, St.
Philip, and Pulaski, nineteen thousand men, and sixteen thousand are now en route
for Virginia. It is proposed to organize and hold in readiness for instant action, in view
of the present exigenciesof the country, an army of one hundred thousand men."
In the Confederate army there was but one grade of general — that
of brigadier-general, but in the State organization there were major-
generals, and Mr. Davis advised the equalizing the rank. He concluded •
""We feel_ that our cause is just and holy ; we protest solemnly in the face of mankind
that we desire peace at any sacrifice, save that of honor and independence; we seek no
conquest, no aggrandizement, no concession of any kind from the States with which we
were lately confederated ; all we ask is to be left alone ; that those who never held
power over us shall not now attempt our subjugation by arms. This we will, this we
must resist to the direst extremity. The moment that this pretension is abandoned, tho
sword will drop from our grasp, and we shall be ready to enter into treaties of amity,
and commerce that cannot _ but be mutually beneficial. So long as this pretension is
maintained, with a firm reliance on that Divine Power which covers with its protection
the just cause, we will continue to struggle for our inherent right to freedom, inde
pendence, and self-government."

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 85
' The military resources of the Confederacy were mostly those which
had been derived from the Federal Government. Each State had seized
the forts, arsenals, and munitions of war that were within its limits.
The forts situated within the limits of the slave States were as follows :
War
,' Garrison, No. of
Where located. Cost Ho, of Men. Guns.
*Fort McHenry, Baltimore  $ 146,000 350 74
*Fort Carroll, Baltimore  135,000 800 159
*Fort Delaware, Delaware River, Del  539,000 750 151
*Fort Madison, Annapolis, Md  '.  15,000 150 31
*Fort Severn, Maryland  6,000 60 14
*Fort Washington, Potomac River, Md  575,000 400 88
?Fortress Monroe, Old Point Comfort, Va  2,400,000 2,450 371
Fort Calhoun, Hampton Roads, Norfolk, Va.  {.. .1,664,000 1,120 224
Fort Macon, Beaufort, N. C  460,000 300 61
Fort Johnson, Cape Fear, "Wilmington, N. C  5,000 60 10
Fort Caswell, Oak Island, N. C  571,000 400 81
Fort Sumter, Charleston, S. C  677,000 650 146
Castle Pinckney, Charleston, S. C  43,000 100 25
Fort Moultrie, Charleston, S. C  75,000 300 54
Fort Pulaski, Savannah, Ga  923,000 800 150
Fort Jackson, Savannah, Ga  80,000 70 14
Fort Marion, St. Augustine, Fla  51,000 100 25
*Fort Taylor, Key West   1,000 185
*Fort Jefferson, Tortugas   '¦ 1,500 298
Fort Barrancas, Pensacola  315,000 250 49
Redoubt, Pensacola  •. . . 109,000  26
*Fort Pickens, Pensacola  759,000 1,260 212
Fort McRae, Pensacola  384,000 650 151
Fort Morgan, Mobile. . . . . ¦  1,212,000 700 132
Fort St. Philip, Mississippi River  143,000 600 124
Fort Jackson, Mississippi River  817,000 600 150
Fort Pike, Rigolets, La  472,000 300 49
Fort Macomb, Chef Menteur, La  447,000 300 49
Fort Livingston, Barataria Bay, La  342,000 300 62
In addition to these were incomplete works at Ship Island, Missis
sippi Sound ; Georgetown, South Carolina ; Port Royal Roads, South
Carolina; Tybee Island, Savannah; Galveston, Brazos Santiago, and
Matagorda Bay, Texas.
Hampton Roads is the great naval depot station and rendezvous of
the Southern coasts, and the only good roadstead on the Atlantic,
. south of the Delaware.
Pensacola is very strong, and the only good harbor for vessels of
war, and the only naval dep6t, on the gulf.
The fortresses at Key West and Tortugas, on the southern point of
Florida, are among the most powerful in the world ; and every vessel
that crosses the gulf passes in sight of both.
With the exception of Fort McHenry, Fort Pickens, and others
marked, (*) all these had passed into the possession of the Confederates.
Each State in succession, by ordinance, turned over to the Confederate
Government the fortifications within its limits. The Confederate Gov
ernment had thus at its disposal all that in those States had belonged
to the United States. After the proclamation of President Lincoln,
calling for troops, an effort was made to force the Border States into

86

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.

secession, and the rebel leaders began to send troops into those States.
On the 6th of May an act was passed by the Confederate Congress,
recognizing the existence of war with the United States, and authoriz
ing the President of the Confederate States to use the whole land and
naval forces, and to issue letters of marque, and prescribing regulations
for the conduct of privateers. Another act prohibited the export of
cotton or cotton yarn from any of the Confederate States except through
their seaports, under penalty of a forfeiture of the cotton, a fine of
$5,000, and six months' imprisonment. This did not apply to exports
through Mexico. The act was to continue in force as long as the
blockade should last. This Congress also proposed that the planters
should be invited to put their crops into the hands of the Government,
receiving bonds for their value. Meantime the Confederate troops
continued to pour into Virginia, until in May considerably more than
50,000 had been collected at various points. Of these General Robert
E. Lee* was on May 10th placed in command.
On the other hand, the Federal troops were not idle, and an advance
into Virginia, which took place on the 23d of May, caused an immense
excitement at the South. In Virginia, particularly, the influx of troops
was hastened in consequence, and from all quarters they began to con
centrate to defend Manassas Junction and the other approaches to
Richmond. Brigadier-General Beauregard assumed command in the
Department of Alexandria, and on the 1st of June issued the following
remarkable proclamation :
A PROCLAMATION TO THE PEOPLE OF THE COUNTIES OF LOUDON,"
FAIRFAX, AND PRINCE WILLIAM.
" Head-Quarters, Department of Alexandria, )
" Camp Pickens, June 1st, 1861. j
" A reckless and unprincipled tyrant has invaded your soil. Abraham Lincoln, re
gardless of all moral, legal, and constitutional restraints, has thrown his abolition hosts
among you, who are murdering* and imprisoning your citizens, confiscating and destroy
ing your property, and committing other acts of violence and outrage too shocking and
revolting to humanity to be enumerated.
"All rules of civilized warfare are abandoned, and they proclaim by tKeir acts, if not
on their banners, that their war-cry is ' Beauty and Booty.' All that is dear to man—
your honor, and that of your wives and daughters — your fortunes and your lives, are
involved in this momentous contest.
" In the name, therefore, of the constituted authorities of the Confederate States— in
the sacred cause of constitutional liberty and self-government, for which we are contend
ing — in behalf of civilization itself, I, G. T. Beauregard, Brigadier-General of the Con
federate States, commanding at Camp Pickens, Manassas Junction, do make this my
proclamation, and invite and enjoin you by every consideration dear to the hearts of
freemen and patriots, by the name and memory of your revolutionary fathers, and by
the purity and sanctity of your domestic firesides, to rally to the standard of your State

* Robert Edmund Lee is the son of General
Harry Lee, of revolutionary fume, and was born
In Virginia, about 1S08. He was graduated at
West Point, second in his class, in 1829. entered
the Engineer Corps, became captain in 1SS8, and
served in the Mexican war as chief engineer: was
breyetted major, lieutenant-colonel and colonel
for gallant conduct at Cerro Gordo, Contreras,
Chnrubusco, and Chapultepeo; superintendent of
West Point Academy 1852-65; lieutenant-colonel
of Second Cavalry 1855, and colonel of First Cav
alry, March 10th, 1861; resigned his commission

April 25, 1861, and joined the Southern Confedera
cy ; was made general, and after holding commands
in Western Virginia, and on the coast, succeeded
General Johnson in command of the rebel army
in Richmond, June, 1862; led the invasion into
Maryland, and was defeated at Antietam, Septem
ber, 1862 ; commander-in-chief in the campaigns
of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsvllle; Gettysburg,
Petersburg, and Richmond, 1862-65; appointed
fenerat-in-ehief of the rebel army, January 81,
365; capitulated to General Grant April 9, 1865.

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 87
and country, and by every means in your power compatible with honorable warfare, to
drive back and expel the invaders from your land.
" I conjure yoju to be true and loyal to your country and her legal and constitutional
authorities, and especially to be vigilant of the movements and acts of the enemy, so aa
to enable you to give the earliest authentic information at these head-quarters, or to the
officers under this command.
" I desire to assure you that the utmost protection in my power will be given to you
all. " G. T. Beauregard,
"Brigadier-General Commanding.
" Thomas Jordan, Acting Ass't Adj't- General." *
This mendacious and vindictive proclamation found ready believers
and hearty sympathizers in the misguided masses, who were then gath
ering at Manassas Junction.
The course adopted by Virginia, North Carolina, Arkansas, and Ten
nessee, after the President's call for troops, has been elsewhere related.
In all these States the leaders of the rebellion showed a determination
to hurry the people out of the Union, without regard to a fair expression
of opinion at the polls. A Border States' convention was summoned at
Frankfort, Kentucky, but Virginia, North Carolina, and Arkansas,
having joined the Confederacy, did not send delegates, neither did
Maryland. One appeared from Tennessee and four from Missouri, to
meet those of Kentucky. The convention met on May 27th, and Senator
Crittenden was chosen president. Two addresses were adopted — one
to the people of the United States, and the other to the people of Ken
tucky. The first proposed such amendments to the Constitution as
should secure the rights of slaveholders, or on the failure of that, to
call a convention of all the States to devise means of peaceable adjust
ment. The other address defended the course of the Executive in re
fusing troops to the United States, professed strong attachment to the
Union, but urged the necessity of neutrality. It condemned the course
of the Southern States in withdrawing from the Union, and expressed
the determination of Kentucky to adhere to it. Notwithstanding this
" conditional loyalty," as it was called, Kentucky, thanks to her prox
imity to the Free States, was sound to the core, and in her election for
members of Congress, held in June, returned nine Unionists to one seces
sionist, by a vote of 92,365 to 36,995 ; showing a majority of 55,370 for
the Union. In Missouri, Governor Jackson and the legislature en
deavored to take the State out of the Union ; but the State Convention
called to promote secession proved loyal, and deposed both the Gov
ernor and the legislature.
The Southern Confederacy now began to concentrate its power, and
the new machinery of its Government came daily more decidedly into
action in place of the Federal authority. The Congress, having made
all necessary provisions, adjourned on the 20th of May, to meet at
Richmond, the proposed future seat of Government, on the 20th of
July. The finances and military forces had been provided for as far as
possible, and the new Postmaster-General, John H. Reagan, took
charge of thet ransmission of mails on June 1st, the Postmaster-General
of the United States, having announced that on that day postal com
munication would close with the seceding States, with the exception
of some counties in Western Virginia.

88 l HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.
The action of Western Virginia forms a remarkable episode in the
course of events. On the vote upon secession, the western counties
gave a majority against it. In the northwestern part of the State, or
"pan-handle," a narrow strip which runs up between Pennsylvania
and Ohio, the vote was largely for the Union. A convention of these
western counties, thirty-five in number, was held at Wheeling on the
13th of, May, at which resolutions were passed pronouncing the ordi
nance of secession null and void, and a provisional convention sum
moned to meet June 11th. When it assembled on that day, Arthur J.
Boreman was chosen permanent chairman, and a resolution, declaring
a division of the State of Virginia, and the organization of the counties
represented into a new State, to be a paramount object, was carried
by a vote of fifty-seven to seventeen. There was subsequently passed
a declaration and ordinance for reorganizing the government of the
State. The declaration set forth that the Richmond Convention was
unconstitutional, and its proceedings void. The ordinance provided
that the delegates elected in May, which was the regular time of election
of such officers in Virginia, and. the senators who should appear and
qualify, should constitute the legislature of the State. An oath of alle
giance to the United States was prescribed, and all oflices held by
persons who failed to take that oath were declared vacant. Francis
H. Pierpont was elected Governor, and Daniel Paisley Lieutenant-Gov
ernor. Governor Pierpont, on taking the oath of office, delivered a
speech, in which he thus defined the position of the western counties :
" We have been driven into the position we occupy to-day by the usurpers at the
South, who have inaugurated this war upon the soil of Virginia, and have made it the
great Crimea of this contest We, representing the loyal citizens of Virginia, have
been bound to assume tho position we have assumed to-day, for the protection of
ourselves, our wives, our children, and our property. We, I repeat, have been driven
to assume this position, and now we are but recurring to the great fundamental prin
ciple of our fathers, that to the loyal people of a State belongs the law-making power
of that State. The loyal people are entitled to the government and governmental
authority of the State. And, fellow-citizens, it is the assumption of that authority
upon which we are now about to enter."
To this speech, and the action of the western counties, the rebel
Governor, Letcher, replied in a proclamation under date of June
14th, 1861, in which he urged the inherent right of the Commonwealth
of Virginia to separate itself from the United States, institute a new
government, and ally itself to the Confederate States. The people
of Western Virginia, he contended, had united in the vote on the
question of secession, and being overborne by the majority in the
other counties, it was their duty to submit to the will of the majority
without factious opposition. He announced his intention of main
taining the position of Virginia as a member of the Confederacy by
force of arms, and then proceeded to adduce as reasons why the
western counties should unite with the eastern in fighting against the
Union, the intermixture of the blood of the east and the west, and
the friendships hallowed by a thousand cherished recollections and
memories of the past, and of the great men of other days. He ap
pealed also to their pecuniary interests, reminding them that the
unequal taxation from which they had so long suffered had been

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 89
modified in their favor, and that this magnanimity on the part of the
eastern counties ought to awaken their gratitude and secure their
attachment. The appeals, threats, and blandishments of Governor Letcher proved
alike unavailing. The western counties remained loyal, and at the
extra session of Congress two senators, Messrs. Carlile and Willey,
appointed by their legislature, were admitted, to seats in the Senate
of the United States.

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

90

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.

small force was pushed across the long bridge which connects Wash
ington with Virginia. Various bodies of infantry, cavalry, and artillery
followed, some of which held the tite du pont on the Virginia side,
while others occupied Arlington Heights, opposite the city, or marched
to Alexandria, six miles distant.
Meantime the New York Fire Zouaves, under Colonel Ephraim E.
Ellsworth, had left their camp, on two steamers, and landed at Alexan-
¦ dria at four a. m. of the 24th, at the same moment that a Michigan
regiment, coming from the Long Bridge, entered the place. The town
was occupied with scarcely any resistance ; the depot of the Orange
and Alexandria railroad, with the rolling stock, seized, and a company
(thirty-five men) of rebel cavalry captured.
During the night, Sherman's and Ricketts's batteries of regular artil
lery crossed the bridge, with a working force to throw up fortifications
on Arlington Heights, and by noon of the 24th the territory west of
the Potomac, which had formerly formed part of the District of Colum
bia, but which had been retroceded to Virginia, was without loss occu
pied by Federal forces.
One melancholy catastrophe marred the complete success of these
operations. Colonel Ellsworth, with a rashness characteristic of a
brave and enthusiastic, but inexperienced officer, ascertaining that a
rebel flag was flying conspicuously from the Marshall House, a hotel
kept by one Jackson, a violent secessionist, proceeded with the chap
lain of his regiment and a single private, to the roof of the house,
hauled down the flag, and wMle descending the stairs to regain the
street, was shot dead by Jackson. The latter was instantly killed by
the private accompanying Ellsworth. The event caused much regret,
Ellsworth being considered a young officer of unusual promise, and of
approved loyalty. Had he remained by his regiment, as he should have
done, and deputed another to perform what was, after all, a duty too
trivial to devolve upon an officer of rank, he might have lived to render
important services to his country.
The Federal troops being in possession of the western bank of the
Potomac, it was erected into a department, and Major-General Sandford,
of the New York Militia, was placed in command. His head-quarters
were the elegant mansion of General Lee, on Arlington Heights. On the
28th he was succeeded by General McDowell* of the regular army,
recently appointed a brigadier, while General Mansfieldf was placed in
command of the troops at Washington.
The strengthening of the positions in Virginia, and the organization

* Irvin McDowell was born in Ohio, in 1818,
graduated at West Point, 1888, and brevetted cap
tain for gallant conduct at the battle of Buena Vis
ta, 1847 ; major, 1856, and brigadier-general in the
regular army, May 14th, 1861 ; commanded at the
first battle of Bull Run ; major-general of volun
teers, March, 1862, and appointed to command of
Second Army Corps, Department of the Rappahan
nock; took part in second Bull Bun campaign;
tried by Court of Inquiry for his conduct and ac
quitted, 1S63 ; president of retiring board 186S-'64;
commander of Department of Pacific, 1864-'65.
t Joseph King Fenno Man sfleld was born in New

Haven, Conn., in 1S0S, graduated at West Point
in 1822, second in his class, and was -for several
years actively engaged in engineer duties ; cap
tain, 1888; brevetted major.lieutenant-colonel and
colonel for distinguished services in the Mexican
war, 1846; Inspector-General, with rank of colonel,
1858; brigadier-general of the regular army, May
14th, 1861, and commander of Department of
Washington ; subsequently stationed at Newport
News and Suffolk, Va. ; commanded Banks's corps
at Antietam, and mortally wounded, September,
1862.

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 91
•
of the troops as they continued daily to arrive, were prosecuted with
great vigor by General McDowell. The enemy in front were not very
enterprising, although the threats and evident desire to capture Washing
ton by no means abated. On June 1st, the Federal steamers Freeborn
and Anacostia engaged the rebel batteries at Acquia Creek, emptying
into the Potomac fifty-five miles below Washington, and the terminus of
the Richmond andPotomac Railroad. After two hours' firing the bat
teries were silenced, with the loss of one man. On the same night Com
pany B, Second Cavalry, seventy-five men, under Lieutenant Tompkins,
made a dash into the village of Fairfax Court-House, where they encoun
tered a large cavalry force of the enemy. After a sharp skirmish, in
which the Union loss was one killed and four wounded, the Federal
cavalry retired. A number of the enemy were killed, and five taken
prisoners. On the following day detachments of Ellsworth's Zouaves
and Wilcox's Michigan Regiment skirmished with the enemy in the
vicinity of Alexandria.
On the 11th of June, General McDowell, learning that a force of the
enemy from Centreville were at Vienna, a Tew miles from Washington,
ordered Brigadier-General R. C. Schenck, a newly appointed officer,
to dislodge them. He took the First Ohio Volunteers, Colonel
McCook, and proceeded by the Alexandria Railroad slowly towards
Vienna. When within a quarter of a mile of the place, on turning the
curve, in a deep cut, the train received a discharge of shells and grape
from a battery of three guns, which killed and wounded several men.
The party then left the cars and retired into the woods right and left.
The enemy's force appeared to be about fifteen hundred South Caro
linian troops. General Schenck withdrew his men slowly along the
track, about four miles, until they met the First and Second Connecticut
Regiments coming to their support. The engineer had meantime gone
back with all speed to Alexandria. The loss was five killed and six
wounded.

CHAPTER VII.
Occupation of Fortress Monroe. — Engagement at Big Bethel — Increase of Army.
— Army Organization.— Want of Arms. — Advance to Centreville. — Bull Run.
The occupation of Fortress Monroe was rendered complete by the
arrival of the Massachusetts Fourth, on the 20th of April, and subse
quently the force was gradually increased, without attracting much
attention. On the 22d of May, General Butler, who had been appointed
major-general of volunteers on the 16th, took command of the Depart
ment of the South, with head-quarters at Fortress Monroe, and pro
ceeded to organize the troops there.
The question of what to do with the slaves in this department was
becoming every day one of more serious magnitude. Considerable
numbers of blacks, escaping from or abandoned by their masters,

92 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.
sought the Federal lines, and had to be provided for. General Butler,
therefore, on May 27th, issued an order declaring them " contraband
of war," and ordered the able-bodied to be employed at a fixed rate of
pay, against which was to be charged the expense of keeping them.
Hence arose the familiar phrase by which the colored population of the
South were designated during the war, and which will in all probability
cling to them for many years to come.
The Federal forces at this time were concentrated to the number of
about ten thousand in and about Fortress Monroe. All the adjoining
region of the peninsula formed by the York and James Rivers was con
trolled by the Confederates, who had strong works at Yorktown, and
outlying posts at Big Bethel, Little Bethel, and other places. Finding
his position uncomfortably cramped, General Butler soon after his
arrival sent a force to oecupy Newport News, a point of land on the
left bank of the James River, near its mouth; and on the 9th of June
ordered a reconnoissance in force towards Little Bethel, about six miles
distant from Fortress Monroe, where the enemy were supposed to be
fortifying. The expedition was put in command of General Pierce,
a Massachusetts brigadier of militia, and comprised three regiments
and one battalion of infantry and a detachment of light artillery, under
Lieutenant Greble of the regular army. General Pierce was ordered
to send Duryea's New York Zouaves, at one o'clock a. m. of the 10th,
to the rear of the enemy, or between Little and Big Bethel, to be
followed an hour later by Townsend's Third New York Regiment,
with two mounted howitzers. Colonel Phelps, at Newport News, was
directed to send forward a battalion under Lieutenant-Colonel Wash
burn, aided by Lieutenant Greble with two howitzers, to make a
demonstration at Little Bethel, with Bendix's Seventh New York
Regiment and two field-pieces as a reserve. The two supporting regi
ments coming from Fortress Monroe and Newport News, were to effect
a junction at the cross-roads near Little Bethel. The attack was to be
made at daybreak, and if the enemy retreated, Duryea was to follow
and attack the works at Big Bethel. ' For a while all worked well.
Duryea's Zouaves reached the appointed position in rear of Little
Bethel, and Colonel Washburn was in position in front, while Bendix
was posted at the cross-roads to hold it. At daybreak Townsend's
regiment, with General Pierce and staff at its head, approached to form
the appointed junction, when Bendix, supposing the troops to be rebels,
opened on' them with artillery and musketry, by which Townsend's
men were thrown into temporary confusion, and a number of them
killed and wounded. Colonel Washburn, in advance, hearing the firing,
and. supposing his communication threatened, fell back, as did also
Duryea ; and General Pierce, supposing he had been attacked by the
enemy, sent to General Butler for re-enforcements. All hope of a sur
prise at Little Bethel was destroyed by this mishap, and when the ad
vance was resumed it was found that the rebels had fallen back upon
the works at Big Bethel, which were attacked by General Pierce at
half-past nine o'clock. Notwithstanding his force had been strength
ened by the arrival of two more regiments, the commanding general
handled his troops with little skill. The men, though displaying no

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.

93

lack of bravery, were for the most part deficient in discipline ; while
their officers, bewildered by being brought for the first time under fire,
committed all kinds of blunders. Finally, after an engagement of
several hours, in which, although the infantry had partial shelter, the
artillery were posted in an open field to batter harmlessly at the rebel
earthworks, a retreat was ordered, and the force brought off in good
condition. This was the first battle of the war, and for that reason excited a
degree of interest throughout the country far beyond its actual impor
tance. The enemy had ten guns and about eighteen hundred men in posi
tion, under Colonel Magruder,* who was attended by Colonel de Russy
and other late officers of the United States Army, and sustained but a
trivial loss. That of the Federal troops amounted to about a hundred,
including the casualties resulting from the unfortunate collision between
the two New York regiments. Among the killed were Lieutenant
Greble and Major Winthropf of General Butler's staff. The latter, in
the act of leading a body of troops to the charge, mounted a log,
waved his sword, and shouted to his men to come on, when a North.
Carolina drummer-boy leaped upon the battery and shot him in the
breast. The body was recovered by a flag sent from Fortress Monroe.
The water communication between Washington and Fortress Mon
roe was now more or less threatened by the enemy, who had lined the
Virginia side of the Potomac with batteries, which the Federal gun
boats sought frequent opportunities of attacking. On the 27th of
June, an engagement took place at Mathias Point, Virginia, between
the gunboats Pawnee and Freeborn, and a number of rebels on shore.
The loss of the enemy was not known, but the Union force had to
deplore the death of Captain James H. WardJ, United States Navy, in
command of the Freeborn. Several sailors belonging to the Freeborn
were wounded.
It was very soon manifest that the militia, called out under the proc
lamation of April the 15th, could not be efficiently armed and organ
ized before their time of service would expire, and that, consequently,
other and more permanent measures must be adopted. Accordingly,
on the 3d of May, a second proclamation called for forty-two thousand
additional volunteers, to serve during the war, besides providing for an
increase of the regular army. This was to consist of a regiment of

* John Bankhead Magruder was born in Vir
ginia, about 1811, graduated at West Point in I88O1
and was brevetted major and lieutenant-colonel
for gallantry at Cerro Gordo and Chapultepec; re
signed his commission and entered the rebel army
April, 1861; commanded at Torktown, 1 861-'62;
major-general, 1862: commanded rebel troops at
battle of Malvern Hills, July, 1862, and subse
quently transferred to the Department of Texas,
where he held command until superseded by Gen
eral Kirby Smith. At the surrender of the latter
to Genera] Canby in May. 1S65. General Magruder
commanded the Department of Arkansas.
t Theodore Winthrop was born in New Haven,
Conn., in 1829, and graduated at Yale College in
1848. After several years of travel and adventure
he settled in New York, and at the outbreak of
the rebellion, accompanied the Seventh New
York militia regiment to Washington. At the

time of his death he was military secretary to
General Butler, with the rank of major. Several
novels and magazine tales by him of great literary
promise were published posthumously.
$ He was the eldest son of the late Colonel
James Ward, a prominent citizen of Hartford,
Connecticut, and was born in that city in the year
1S05. He entered the navy March 4th, 1828. and
made his first cruise as a midshipman in the Con
stitution, under Commodore McDonough, with
whom he sailed for four years in succession. He
was one of the best educated men in the navy.
Before his appointment as a midshipman, he was
for two years a stndent in the Norwich, Vermont,
University tCaptain Partridge's Military School),
and after he entered the navy, he passed a year
of leave in Washington (now Trinity) College.
He was an indefatigable student oil his life, and
a most exemplary offloer.

94 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.
cavalry, twelve companies, numbering eleven hundred and eighty-seven
officers and men ; one regiment of artillery of twelve batteries, six
pieces each, numbering nineteen hundred and nine officers and men ;
nine regiments of infantry, each regiment to contain three battalions
of eight companies each, numbering two thousand four hundred and
fifty-two officers and men — making a total increase of twenty-two thou
sand and sixty-eight infantry, officers and men ; and an addition to the
etrength of the regular army of twenty-five thousand one hundred and
sixty-four men, infantry, artillery, and cavalry.
The small army of the United States hitherto had borne in numbers
no proportion to the officers who graduate annually from West Point,
and it required very few general oflicers. The exigencies of the Gov
ernment now demanded an army on the scale of those of Europe, and
a new system of organization was deemed advisable. On the organi
zation of an army depends much of its efficiency in the field ; and such
has been the progress of modern military science, that a well-organized,
drilled, aud equipped army is, at the present day, \ machine of im
mense power, and withal of the most costly description.
The company is generally considered the unit of military organiza
tion, and is supposed to average, on the war basis, one hundred men,
officers included. The ordinary rule for the organization of such a
company gives to it one captain, two lieutenants, from four to six
sergeants, as many corporals, and eighty-five men. The first sergeant
is called the orderly sergeant, and has charge of the books of the com
pany, and the calling of the roll morning and evening. The company
is formed, when in line, into two platoons and four sections, each pla
toon commanded by a lieutenant, and each section by a sergeant.
A regiment is composed of several battalions, each containing from
four to ten companies, the battalion being the tactical unity. Li the
United States service, ten companies, divided into two battalions, have
usually constituted a regiment.
The oflicers of a regiment, independent of company officers, are a
colonel, lieutenant-colonel, one major, adjutant, quartermaster, and
commissary. „ Each separate body of troops must have a commissary
and quartermaster, but in a large army they are appointed to regiments
or brigades. A full regiment will be formed thus : one colonel, one
lieutenant-colonel, one adjutant, one quartermaster, one commissary,
one major, ten captains, ten first and ten second lieutenants, fifty ser
geants, forty corporals, and eight hundred and fifty private men ; mak
ing nine hundred and seventy-six, but in reality there are some others;
each company has regularly a drummer and fifer, which make a regi
mental band of twenty besides the drum-major. Thus the regiment,
when full, is made up regularly to one thousand men. When the
volunteer force was called out by the President, a new organization
for_ the regiments to be added to the regular army was suggested.
This question was fully considered by officers of the army, and it was
determined to adopt the French regimental system of three battalions,
of eight companies each, to a regiment. Each battalion is commanded
by a major, with a colonel and lieutenant-colonel for the general com
mand of Jhe regiment. This, it is believed, is the best organization

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 95
now existing. The number of field officers is less for the same number
of men than under the old plan, and, therefore, the expense is greatly
reduced. This change of organization, however, did not apply to the
old regiments of the regular army, nor to the volunteers.
A brigade should be composed of two or three regiments of infantry,
several squadrons of cavalry, and one or two batteries of field artillery.
If these were all full, a complete brigade, operating alone, would in the
American service number about three thousand five hundred men.
A division is composed of two or more brigades, with a proportional
addition of cavalry and artillery, making, with the whole staff and
music, about seven thousand men. During the first year of the rebellion
this was the highest element of organization in the service.
The corps is composed of two or more divisions, frequently of four
or five, and is, in the French service, properly commanded by a field
marshal — an officer unknown to our country ; and the corps is properly
a complete army in itself. In the American service, a major-general
commands such an organization.
In the field, all orders and operations are carried on through the
staff of the army, which consists of the aides, the adjutant-general,
the engineer, the quartermaster and commissary-generals, and some
other officers, varying in size and in its component parts with the im
portance of the organization to which it is attached.
Through the adjutant-general orders are conveyed to each particular
post. By the quartermaster-general all transportations, and vehicles,
and horses, are furnished ; by the commissary, all supplies ; by the
engineer the topography of the country is examined; the practicability
of passes determined, and fortifications built or attacked.
The warlike ardor of the people manifested itself so promptly in
response to the call for troops, that by the 1st of July more than two
hundred regiments had been accepted. All of these were infantry and
riflemen, with the exception of two battalions of artillery and four
regiments of cavalry. Of the whole number, upwards of one hundred
and fifty regiments were in active service on the 1st of July, by which
time it was estimated that seventy-three thousand men were collected
in Washington and its vicinity principally from the Eastern and Middle
States, and the remainder were in readiness before the close of the
month. The troops moved rapidly forward to the various dep6ts and
camps. The Government was sufficiently rich in men, but in a very distressed
condition for arms to give them. An old law of Congress required the
Secretary of War to deliver to each State, on the requisition of the
Governor, its quota of arms in proportion to its militia. These requi
sitions had long been neglected, but while preparations for secession
were making, each Southern State drew its arms, and great numbers
were transferred from the North to the South, by the order of Mr.
Floyd, Secretary of War, thus stripping the Northern arsenals for the
benefit of the South. In addition, great numbers of arms had been
purchased on account of the Southern States. Some of them were
seized on their way thither, but, as already stated, were in many in
stances restored to their owners.

96

HISTORI OF THE GREAT REBELLION.

Previous to the early part of 1860, the Government had a supply of
arms and munitions of war sufficient for any emergency; but, in the
words of Secretary Cameron, "through the bad faith of those intrusted
with their guardianship, they were taken from their proper depositories
and distributed through portions of the country expected to take part
in the contemplated rebellion." In consequence of the serious loss
thus sustained, there was available, at the commencement of the out
break, a much smaller supply than usual of all kinds.
Some patriotic American citizens, resident in Europe, fearing that
the country might not have a sufficient supply, purchased on their own
responsibility, through co-operation with the United States ministers
to England and France, a number of improved cannon and muskets,
and the War Department accepted the drafts drawn to defray the out
lay thus assumed. A complete battery of six Whitworth twelve-pounder
rifled cannon, with three thousand rounds of ammunition, the munifi
cent donation of sympathizing friends in Europe, was also received
from England. ,
The chief dependence had been upon the Springfield Armory, the
capacity of which was, at the outbreak of the rebellion, twenty-five
thousand muskets per annum. The Nortiiern armories had, to a con
siderable extent, been stripped to supply the Southern States. The pri
vate armories were able to furnish only a few thousand annually, and
Harper's Ferry had been captured with a loss of fifteen thousand
muskets. Hence, until arms could be procured from Europe, many
regiments were detained in camp. The Springfield Armory was worked
to its fullest extent, and with the help of outside machine-shops, before
the close of the year, could produce eight thousand per month, and
can now supply twenty-five thousand per month.
On the morning of the 27th of June, the report of General Mansfield,
commanding at Washington, gave the number of troops in the city at
twenty-two thousand eight hundred and forty-six men present for
duty. The force of General Patterson,* commanding on the Potomac,
at Williamsport and Martinsburg, above Washington, was seventeen
thousand one hundred and eighty-eight, of whom five hundred and
forty-two were sick. The force in Virginia, beyond the Potomac,
under McDowell, was fifteen thousand seven hundred and sixty-six
men, with the colors.
The left of McDowell occupied Alexandria, while his right was
pushed some distance up the Potomac, mostly on the Maryland side,
towards Patterson's left. The Confederate general having adopted, for
the present, a defensive policy, had so disposed his troops as to prevent
an advance of the Federal force into Virginia. This had finally been
determined upon. Popular impatience could no longer endure the idea
of a large army lying apparently idle about Washington, and from all
parts of the country came the demand for an aggressive movement,

* Robert Patterson w.-is born in Tyrone, Ireland,
in 1792; emigrated early to the United States ;
•erved as an officer in the war ofl 812 : afterwards
engaged in commercial pursuits in Philadelphia,
and was a major-genernl of volunteers in the
Mexican war ; appointed by Governor Curtin to

command the Pennsylvania throe months' volun
teers, 1S61, and was stationed on tho Upper Poto
mac; discharged from the service July 27th)
was severely criticised for neglecting to pre
vent the rebel General Johnston fromre-en-
forclng Beauregard at the battle uf Bull Run.

HISTORY OE THE GREAT REBELLION. 97
which should end the war in a single campaign. The utter lack of dis
cipline in the troops; the brief period, now almost expired, for which
most of them had enlisted; the inexperience of the officers, and the
general ignorance which prevailed respecting the numbers or positions
of the enemy, were all overlooked ; and the Government was urged at
once to order an advance upon Richmond. At (the commencement of
all great wars the opposing parties acquire experience at a bitter cost,
and it will be seen that the Federal troops paid dearly for theirs ;
although, viewed by the fight of .subsequent events, what seemed mis
fortunes at the time, were of unmistakable benefit in effecting the final
overthrow of the rebellion.. . , ,
The physical formation of Virginia is such that there are but few
practicable routes for an invading force coming from the North. A, fine
drawn from Georgetown, through Fredericksburg, Richmond, and
Petersburg to Weldon,, North Carolina, would mark the western limit
of what is called the lower country or tide-water section. , It is a low
plain, without any considerable elevation, but scooped out by the action
of water into deep ravines, through which flow broad, sluggish rivers.
To the west of this line is the middle country, an undulating district
extending to the Blue Ridge,, which forms a continuous chain, except
where pierced by the Potomac, James, and Staunton Rivers, of about
two hun dred and fifty miles, running north-east and south-west. To the
west of this lies the great ridge, which is a prolongation of the Penn
sylvania Kittatinny Mountain, and which, running parallel with the
Blue Ridge, rises two thousand one hundred to two thousand five
hundred feet in height. The Shenandoah River flows northerly into
the Potomac through the gre^t valley that lies between the two ridges,
and gives its name tp it. West of the great ridge runs the line of
Alleghanies, separating Western Virginia from, the eastern part of the
State. This region is somewhat hilly, but contains no considerable
elevation. Such being the configuration of the country, an invading
force, destined to operate against Richmond, would choose one of four
routes : from Alexandria via" Culpepper and Gordonsville, overland ;
from Aquia Creek vid Fredericksburg; from the Chesapeake vid the
York River and the Peninsula ; or from Harper's Ferry or the Point of
Rocks, down the Valley of the Shenandoah, vid Staunton, Charlottes
ville, and Lynchburg. From Harper's Ferry to Richmond, by the last
route, the distance is about two hundred and fifty miles, the road lying
through a fertile and beautiful valley for the first half of the way. It
was from this valley that Morgan derived a large portion of his famous
riflemen in the Revolution ; and its chief county, Augusta — " Old Fed
eral Augusta" — is still celebrated for the proficiency of her citizens in
this important arm of military service. The- counties of Rockingham,
Shenandoah, and Page, which also border it, are inhabited by a sturdy
race of farmers, descendants of German emigrants from Pennsylvania.
Of these several routes, General McDowell proposed to take the first.
To oppose this movement, General Beauregard was in force at Manas
sas Junction, a station on the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, twenty-
five miles south-west of Washington, whence diverges the Manassas
Gap Railroad, connecting the upper middle region of Virginia with the
7

98

HISTORY OF THE" GREAT REBELLION.

Valley. Being in easy communication with Gordonsville, Richmond,
Lyjachburg, and the Valley, it was partietilarly adapted for purposes of
concentration ; while its natural strength, greatly increased by a series
of elaborate earthworks, together with the rugged and wooded country
surrounding it, rendered it a formidable obstacle in the path of an
army advancing on Richmond. General Johnston,* with about eighteen
thousand men, was at Winchester, in the Shenandoah Valley, watching
General Patterson.
There were also troops in Richmond, Gordonsville, and elsewhere,
within easy supporting distance of both Beauregard and Johnston ;
and the increasing force of the rebels and their threatening attitude,
combined with, perhaps, an undue confidence in the skill and bravery
of the Federal troops, notwithstanding the latter had never been exer
cised in movements in brigade, and few of them knew their superior
officers by sight, caused the 8th of July to be finally fixed upon for a
forward movement by McDowell. The plan of operations, and the
estimate of force required, were made with the understanding that
Johnston should be held in check by Patterson. It was impossible,
however, to get the horses for the wagons and trains of artillery for
more than a week after the appointed time, and the 15th still found the
expeditionary army incomplete, notwithstanding the most strenuous
exertions. The movement was, nevertheless, ordered to take place,
and numbers of Congressmen and 'civilians accompanied the march as
spectators. On Tuesday, July 16th, McDowell broke up his camp and marched
for Manassas, with an army of about thirty-five thousand men, all of '
whom, with the exception of less than a thousand regulars of the old
army, were raw troops, who not only had never smelt powder, but
were Scarcely grounded in the simplest exercises of the manual. Of
tactical evolutions they knew next to nothing. The best of them were
militia regiments, whose term of service would expire within four or
five days, but who were nevertheless launched into the campaign,
under a sort of vague idea that they "had long enough to serve for the
purpose of the expedition." This undisciplined and unstable mass was
divided into five divisions, each consisting of two or more brigades,
and was commanded by the following officers :

First Division-
Second "
Third "
Fourth "
Fifth "

'Brigadier-General D. Tyler, Connecticut Militia.
Colonel David Hunter, Third TJ. S. Cavalry.
Colonel S. P. Hejntzelman, Seventeenth U. S. Infantry.
Brigadier-General T. Runyon, New Jersey Militia.
Colonel Dixon S. Mills, Second TJ. S. Infantry.

* Joseph Eccleston Johnston was born in Vir
ginia, about 1810; graduated at West Point iu
1829; brevetted captain for gallant conduct in
the Florida war, 1842, and appointed lieutenant-
colonel of VoltigouTB in 1847 ; brevetfcd colonel
for gallantry in Mexico; lieutenant-colonel of
First Cavalry, 1855; quartermaster-general. 1860;
resigned April, 1861, and appointed general In the
Confederate army. His first command was on
the Upper Potomac, whence he brought off the
greater part of his troops to Bull Bun in time to
turn the scale against the Federals. He subse

quently commanded at Richmond in tho early
port of the Peninsular campaign, and waB severely
wounded nt Fair Oaks, after which he was assigned
to the Trans-Mississippi Department. He con
ducted the campaign of 1864, against General
Bherman, with great skill ; but after his retreat
across the Chattahoochee, was superseded by
General Hood, in obedience to a popular clamor
against what was called his " Fabian policy of re
treat." In the early' part of 1865 ho was reas
signed to tho command of the troops operating
against Sherman, to whom he capitulated in May.

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 99
Accompanying the army were fifty-five pieces of artillery, and an un
necessarily large train. Owing to the inexperience of the troops in
marching, find the obstructions placed in the way by the retiring rebels,
the progress of the army was slow, and it was, not until noon of the
18th that the division of General Tyler, forming the advance, entered
Centreville, a small village about seven miles north-east from Manassas
Junction, and separated from it by Bull Run, which is a fordable
stream flowing in a south-easterly direction into the Potomac. From
Centreville two roads diverge towards Bull Run, of which the more
easterly and direct strikes the stream at Blackburn's Ford, not far from
the Junction ; while the other, known as the Warrenton Turnpike, fol
lows a westerly- course and crosses Bull Run at the Stone Bridge, four
miles higher up. The village itself lies on the west side of an elevated
ridge, and is capable of being strongly fortified.
Without waiting -for the main body to come up, General Tyler im
mediately pushed forward a reconnoissance to Blackburn's Ford, where,
rather unexpectedly, the rebels were found in large force. A heavy
skirmish ensiled, with, considerable artillery firing; but the enemy's
position, sheltered by dense woods, being considered too strong to be
carried without developing a general engagement, the Federal troops
were ordered back to Centreville, having experienced a loss of about one
hundred. That of the enemy was somewhat less. During the 18th and
19th, McDowell's army, with the exception of Runyon's division, which
was left at Fairfax Court-House, seven miles in the rear, to protect the
Federal communications, was concentrated in and around Centreville,
with a view of attacking the rebels along Bull Run, and between the
stream and Manassas Junction, on Saturday, the 20th. Here again the
dilatoriness, which seemed to be inseparable from the movements of
this army, manifested itself. The 'subsistence, which should have been
ready on the evening of the 18th, did not arrive until twenty-four hours
later, so that the forward movement was postponed to Sunday, the 21st.
The intervening time was occupied in reconnoitring Bull Run above
and below the Stone Bridge. By the evening of the 20th McDowell
had arranged his plan of battle, which in general terms contemplated
a flanking movement in force against the enemy's left wing, with feints
on his right and centre. As it was found impracticable to cross the
stream at Blackburn's Ford or the Stone Bridge, on account of the steep
ness of the opposite bank and the obstructions accumulated by the ene
my, he decided that Hunter's and Heintzelman's divisions should make
the passage at Sudley Spring, two miles above the Stone Bridge, while
Tyler demonstrated at the latter place and Blackburn's Ford, in readiness
to cross and support the main attacking column when occasion should
offer. Miles' s division was to be stationed as a reserve at Centreville.
The rebel forces, on the 20th, weredistribnted along the right bank of Bull
Rim from Union Hill, two miles below Blackburn's Ford, to the Stone
Bridge, and on that day comprised probably not far from twenty-five
thousand men, under the command of General Beauregard. By the cul
pable^ not criminal, negligence of GeneralPatterson, Johnston's troops
had been permitted to slip away from Winchester in the Valley, and a
considerable portion of them had already arrived with their commander.

100 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.
Although the latter ranked Beauregard, he waived his privilege of
assuming the chief direction of the rebel army, upon seeing the dispo
sitions made by his associate. As an illustration of the wide-spread
treachciy then pervading the Federal War Department, it maybe
stated that the rebel senerals were not only thoroughly informed of the
strength of McDowell's army and of his plan of attack, but had even
obtained possession of a map of the region west of Washington, whieh
was completed only two days before the advance reached Centreville.
This sort of thing was of frequent occurrence during the first year of
the war ; but notorious as it was, no clue to the perpetrators of the
acts has ever been discovered, or at least made public.
Every thing being now prepared for an advance, the Federal troops,
supplied with three days' rations, were ordered to move at 2 a. m. of
the 21st. But neither officers nor men seemed aware of the importance
of adhering to* the strict letter of their orders, and so much valuable
time was wasted in getting ready to march, and in the march itself,
that it was nearly 10 o'clock before the head of the flanking column
reached Sudley Spring, a distance of not above nine miles, whereas it
should have been there, according to General McDowell's calculation,
three or four hours earlier. Arriving at the stream, the men halted to
fill their canteens, which caused another delay ; so that when the lead
ing brigade of Hunter's division, commanded by Colonel Burnside,
marching down the right bank of Bull Run towards the Stone Bridge,
debouched from the shelter of the woods into a rolling plain, which
skirted the Warrenton Turnpike, it was well upon noon. The slowness
with which the flanking movement was executed afforded an excellent
opportunity to Beauregard to bring up to the neighborhood of the
Stone Bridge that portion of his forces which was stationed below
Blackburn's Ford. He judged wisely that the Federal troops left in
front of both places were not intended to make a serious attack, and
the heavy clouds of dust arising in the direction of Sudley Spring
seemed to indicate beyond doubt that thither the main body of the
opposing army was marehing. He even projected a flank movement
of his own from Blackburn's Ford against Centreville, which failed
through a miscarriage of the order. Since the preceding day further
instalments of Johnston's troops had arrived, so that more than
thirty thousand rebels were riow concentrated near the Junction.
Shortly before noon the action commenced by an attack of the rebel
batteries, well protected by woods, upon Burnside's brigade, which for
a few minutes was subjected -to a severe fire. But Porter's brigade,
with Griffin's battery and the battalion of regulars, coming up to its
support, the rebels were pushed back beyond the Warrenton Turnpike,
thus enabling Sherman's and Keyes's brigades of Tyler's division to
cross Bull Run a short distance above the Stone Bridge and take part
in the engagement. This division, in accordance with the plan ot the
battle, had been demonstrating during the morning against the Stone
Bridge, and one of its brigades, Schenk's* still remainea in position on
the left bank of the stream. The remaining brigade, under Colonel
Richardson, conducted the feint at Blackburn's Ford. Heintzelman's
division, which crossed at Sudley Spring in the rear of Hunter's, now

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 101
came up, and the united Federal force on the right bank of Bull Run,
amountingto abouteighteen thousand men, pressed the rebels fiercely up
the slopes of a hill beyond the Warrenton Turnpike, whence some well-
posted batteries played with effect upon the advancing columns. The
contest for the possession of this hill soon waxed exceedingly hot, and
the raw Federal troops, though fighting on unknown ground against
an enemy for tho most part protected by woods and other natural cover,
showed unquestionable pluck, and considerable steadiness,, notwith
standing some regiments failed to keep their order under heavy firing.
Colonel Hunter, who led* the flanking column, having been severely
woimded early in the action, the command devolved upon Colonel
Heintzelman. Inch by inch the enemy was pushed back, making
many gallant attempts to rally, and aiming particularly to disable or
capture Ricketts's and Griffin's batteries of the regular army, which
had boldly advanced to within a few hundred yards of his line of
battle. Three desperate charges were made upon the former, the
horses of which had been killed or disabled, and as often repelled, and
at their third repulse the rebels were driven completely out of sight
within the shelter of the adjoining woods. The brigade of Keyes had
meanwhile made a detour of the hill to take the enemy on his right
flank, and operations had commenced to clear the obstructions in front
of the Stone Bridge, so as to allow the remaining brigade of Tyler's
division to cross and co-operate with the main body. .
It was now three p. m., and victory had thus far attended the Federal
arms. The enemy had been driven upwards of a mile and a half from
his original position, and his final disappearance gave his opponents
a few moments of much needed rest. But the latter were scarcely in
a condition to reap the fruits of victory, and considering that for
twelve hours they had been on the march or in line of battle, it is not
to be wondered that they were exhausted. " They had been up," says
General McDowell in his official report, " since two o'clook in the morn
ing, and had made, what to those unused to such things, seemed a long
march, before coming into action, though the longest distance gone
over was not more than nine and a half miles ; and though they had
three days' provisions served out to them the day before, many, no
doubt, either did not eat them or threw them away on the march or
during the battle, and were therefore without food. They, had done
much severe fighting. Some of the regiments#whieh had been driven
from the hill in the first two attempts of the enemy to regain posses
sion of it, had become shaken, were unsteady^ and had many men out
of the ranks." On the other hand, the rebels had marched a com
paratively short distance, and were still tolerably steady, although, as
was the case with the Federals, such of their troops as had been under
hot fire were considerably shaken. But they fought under the ad
vantage of knowing that every hour would add to their strength, and
would correspondingly weaken their enemy. With every train from
the Valley came, by regiments or brigades, portions of Johnstons
army, while no re-enforcements had been sent by McDowell to his
weary troops, and none seemed likely to be sent. Hence the posi- ,
tion of the rebels, even after they had been driven into the woods, ,

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

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 103
The Federal los«, according to the official reports, was four hundred
and eighty-one killed, one thousand and eleven wounded, and twelve
hundred and sixteen missing ; the casualties being almost exclusively
confined to the troops which crossed Bull Run. Twenty-three
pieces of artillery were abandoned during the retreat, including the
batteries of Ricketts and Griffin, which, through loss of horses, fell
into the enemy's hands at the commencement of the panic. But so
inefficient was the pursuit, that several pieces abandoned on the north
side of Bull Run were on the succeeding day brought safely off the
field. Avast amount of material of war was also left on the field. It is
worthy of notice, as an exceptional occurrence during the war, that the
Fourth Pennsylvania Regiment of volunteers, and a battery attached to
the Eighth New York militia, demanded their discharge, to which they
were entitled, on the eve of the battle, and moved away, in the scorn
ful language of General McDowell, " to the sound of the enemy's
cannon." Other regiments, whose terms of service had also expired,
cheerfully volunteered to remain until the issue of the battle should
be determined. The rebel loss, as stated by General Johnston, was
three hundred and seventy-eight killed, fourteen hundred and eighty-
nine wounded, and thirty missing. On the Federal side, Colonel
Cameron, of the Seventy-ninth New York Volunteers, a brother of
the Secretary of War, was killed, Colonels Hunter and Heintzelman
wounded, and Colonels "Corcoran and Wilcox, and Captain Ricketts,
of Ricketts's batteiy, were taken prisoners. The rebel Generals Bee
and Bartow were killed, and Kirby Smith wounded. Having re
covered from the exhaustion Of the conflict, the rebels followed the
retreating army at a respectful distance, and thenceforth, for many
months, practically invested the southern side of the National Capital.
Such was the famous battle of Bull Run, of which more absurd
misstatements have been circulated than of almost any other conflict
of modern times, and the result of which filled the rebels with an idea
of their invincibility and a contempt for their enemy, for which they
were subsequently destined to pay dear. Abroad it Was considered
to have settled the superiority of Southern, over Northern soldiers,
and at once the Confederacy acquired a prestige of no little value,
besides gaining hosts of aristocratic admirers. That the defeat was
more the result of an untoward and disgraceful accident than of any
special skill or bravery of the enemy, must have been sufficiently
apparent from our description. The Federal troops, fighting under
many disadvantages, were uniformly successful until demoralized by
their sudden panic ; and the vigor with which they pushed the enemy
may be seen in the rebel lists of killed and wounded, and in the utter
failure of the latter to pursue the beaten army. Too many instances
are on record of causeless panics among veteran troops to single out
this occurrence for special opprobrium, and criticism may better deal
with those causes which paved the way for a disastrous defeat of our
arms. Two of these only need be mentioned here : the numerous
delays experienced from the inception of the campaign to its close, and
the failure of Patterson to prevent Johnston from going to the assist
ance of Beauregard. Had the battle been fought a day or even a few

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

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

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 105
mostly Germans, using the most opprobrious epithets, striking them,
attacking them with stones, and finally firing at them. A few of the
soldiers returned the fire, at first without injuring any one ; but the
provocations being increased, the captain of one of the companies gave
the order to fire, and twenty-five of the by-standers were killed or
wounded, some of them women and children. The next day, a large
body of the German Home Guard passing up Walnut Street, were
hooted and fired upon, and one soldier was killed. The head of the
column turned and fired among the crowd, killing six men and wound
ing several others. . Several of the killed were members of the regi
ment. These events caused an intense excitement in St. Louis, as well
as at the capital of the State, where the legislature, which was in
Session, immediately passed a bill creating a military fund, by seizing
all the money in the State treasury, including the educational funds,
making a forced loan from the banks of five hundred thousand dollars,
and issuing one million dollars in bonds, payable in one, two, and three
years. The militia of the State, embracing every able-bodied man,
were placed under the command of the Governor, and were required
to take an oath to obey him alone. General Harney, who had been
appointed commander of the Western Department, issued a proclama
tion the next day, declaring this bill a nullity. The General was, how
ever, soon after, induced by Sterling Price, then in command of the
State (rebel) forces, to enter into a delusive agreement for the mainte
nance of peace in the State. On the 30th of May, General Harney was
relieved of his command, and Captain Lyon, who for his efficiency on
the 10th had been commissioned a brigadier-general of volunteers,
appointed his successor. On the 12th of June, Governor Jackson
issued a proclamation, violently denouncing the United States Govern
ment, and calling for fifty thousand men to " repel invasion, and pro
tect the lives, liberty, and property of the citizens of Missouri." On
the 13th, General Lyon left St. Louis, on a steamer, with fifteen hun
dred men, for Jefferson City. Governor Jackson fled, burning the
bridges behind him to obstruct pursuit. General Lyon took posses
sion of. the capital and of the Government, and on the 17th issued a
proclamation to the people of the State, assuring them of his intention
to protect their liberties, persons, and property, to arrest and punish
those who were traitors, and to uphold the United States Government
in that State. Leaving Colonel Henry Bbernstein in command, he
departed for Booneville,- in pursuit of Jackson.
The troops in Illinois and Missouri had gradually increased in num
bers to about twenty thousand men, of 'whom, at this time, about eight
thousand were stationed at Cairo, under the command of Brigadier-
General B.M. Prentiss, and the remainder were at St. Louis and other
points in Northern and Central Missouri. Of these troops, General
Lyon took Colonel Blair's regiment (First Missouri Volunteers), two
sections of Totten's battery (regulars), and a detachment of piopeers,
in, all about fifteen hundred men, and the necessary camp equipage,
provisions, &c, for a long march. The rebels, under Governor Jackson
and General Price, were at Booneville, where they had organized
resistance. General Lyon landed four miles below the town, and

106 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.
opened a cannonade upon the rebels, who, under cover of the wood,
kept up a brisk fire upon the Federal troops. In order to draw them
out, General Lyon ordered a hasty retreat. The ruse succeeded. The
rebels ran out into a wheat-field, when General Lyon halted, faced
about, and poured in such a fire of grape and musketry, that they
dropped their arms and fled in all directions. A large number of ,
prisoners, besides arms, ammunition, &c, were taken. It does not
appear that the irebels had any commander. Price, being sick, left
before the arrival of the Federal troops, and Governor Jackson was
not in the field.
Colonel Boernstein issued a proclamation establishing a Provisional
Government in Missouri, and called upon Union men to assist him.
General Lyon, from his camp in Booneville, June 19th, also issued, a
proclamation for the people to return to their duty.
The enemy now concentrated in South-western Missouri, under
Governor Jackson and Generals Rains and Price, to the number of
several thousands ; and on July 3d, at Brier Forks, seven miles from
Carthage, they were met by Colonel Sigel with fifteen hundred men,
who immediately gave them battle. The first onset resulted in the
State troops being driven back some distance, and the officers ordered
a retreat. The centre gave way, but, the order not being heard on the
flanks, the advancing United .States troops were in danger of being
surrounded themselves, and fell back, They retreated slowly, keeping
up the fight, and making fearful havoc with their artillery among the
enemy's ranks.
At the crossing of Dry Fork our lines were very near being broken,
when, by the timely arrival of two hundred Union men, they crossed,
with a loss of but five killed and two mortally wounded. The battle
continued, the United States troops alternately fighting and retreating
until dark, when they reached Carthage, having crossed Buck Branch
and Spring River. On the way, the fighting was all done with the artil
lery, Colonel Sigel retreating as soon as the enemy got into position,.
and playing on his advancing ranks. The retreat of the Federal
forces, which were outnumbered about three to one, was conducted
in a style worthy of veteran troops, and with as much coolness as if
on a parade-ground, instead of a field of battle. ,
The loss of the Federal- troops was thirteen killed and thirty-one
wounded ; that of the Confederates was estimated at two hundred
killed and wounded. Colonel Sigel retreated in the direction of Spring
field, where he met re-enforcements under Lyon, who assumed command.
Meanwhile, by the following order, GeneralFremont had been assigned
to an extensive command, of which, Missouri formed a part :—
"Was Department, Adjutant-General's Office
" WASHlveTOlT, July 3d, X861. !
"The State of Illinois, and the States and Territories west of the Mississippi River,
and on this side of the Rocky Mountains, including New Meiico, wiU in future consti
tute a separate military command, to he known, as the 'Western Department,' under
the command Of Major-General Fremont, of the United States Army. Headquarters
at St. Louis. By order. '- "L. Thomas, Adjutant- General*1 <

108 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.
The operations in Maryland were, meantime, progressing. On the
16th of May, General Banks was appointed major-general of volun-.
teers, and on the 10th of June assumed command at Annapohs, in
place of General Butler, transferred to Fortress Monroe. The seces
sionists continued busy in this department with various schemes of
resistance, but did not escape the vigilance of the commanding officer,
who, on the 27th of June, issued a proclamation announcing the arrest
and confinement in Fort McHenry of George P. Kane, chief of police,
and appointing Colonel Kenly provost-marshal. On the 1st of July,
in pursuance of the policy of weeding out treason in his district, Gen
eral Banks caused the members of the board of police to be arrested
and confined in "Fort McHenry. The strength of the department at
this time was about ten thousand men. On the 19th of July, Major-
General Dix was appointed to the Annapolis Department, thenceforth
called that of Maryland, headquarters Baltimore; and General Banks,
transferred to the Valley of Virginia, vice Patterson, whose term of
service expired July 27th.
While the troops from the East had been pouring into Washington
to defend the capital, and had gradually developed the advance move
ment into Virginia, the Pennsylvania troops were assembling at Cham-
bersburg, to operate in the Valley of Virginia, near Harper's Ferry,
and at4he close of May numbered some twenty thousand men, under
the command of General Patterson. In addition to these, there were
between Washington and Harper's Ferry about six thousand troops,
under Major-General Cadwalader.
Much impatience manifested itself on the part of the public for Pat
terson to make a demonstration, which was by no means appeased by
the excuse that it required time- to perfect the necessary preparations.
Finally, on June 17th, Colonel Thomas, in command of his first bri
gade, crossed the PotomaG at William sport, but returned into Maryland
on the succeeding day, and for two weeks longer Patterson remained
inactive at Hagerstown. The enemy, under General J. E. Johnston,
held Harper's Ferry, and the line of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
to Cumberland, until the 14th, and was also in force at the Point of
Rocks oh the Potomac. Influenced by rumors of the approach of Patter-.
son, the rebels then burned the costly railroad-bridge at Harper's" Ferry,
and having destroyed whatever public property they could, retreated
to Winchester and Leesburg. ' On the 29th they made another dash at
the place, and inflicted additional damage. On the 1st of July orders
were issued to cross the Potomac at -two -points under cover of the
night, the main body directly under the command of General Patter
son, at a ford a mile and a half above Shepardstown, and about three
miles fromSharpsburg; while ^ve regiments, under the command of
General Cadwalader, were to cross at the, ford opposite William sport.
The troops were to marchwithout knapsacks, taking five days' rations
in their haversacks, and with forty rounds of cartridges. The baggage-
wagons were to follow on as quickly as possible.
Ihe enemy, in greatly inferior force, posted on a large bend of the
river, opposite Williamsport, were encamped mainly in the vicinity of
Falling Waters. By Cadwalader's advance in front, it was hoped to

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 109
occupy the attention of the enemy, while by the flank attack he would
be cut off in the rear and thus captured. The attempt to cross at the
lower ford was, howevei', frustrated by unusual depth of water, and
the original plan, having thus failed, it was ordered that the troops
should cross at Williamsport.
The crossing was safely accomplished on the 2d of July. The ad
vance pushed boldly into the stream, but the remaining regiments took
the matter less impetuously. They marched leisurely into a field on
the margin of the river, removed their boots, stockings, trowsers, and.
drawers, wound these articles around their necks, and thus, with the
whole lower portion, of their bodies nude, and their white muslin shirts
flying in the wind, preceded by a full band in similar undress, they
plunged into the stream and reached the opposite shore. Here they
readjusted their dress* thus avoiding the wet garments and soaking
shoes of their predecessors. Such acts were of not unfrequent oc
currence in the early stages of the war on both sides.
A small force of the enemy was encountered, which* after a sharp
skirmish, retreated three miles to Hainesville, and again fell back
before the vigorous attack of the advancing column. The rebels were
stated to be three thousand five hundred Virginians, under Colonel
Jackson. The Union loss was three killed and fifteen wounded.
The enemy left eight dead on the field, and it was reported there were
sixty killed.
On the 8th of July, General Patterson was established in Martins-
burg, and had before him the enemy's force under General Johnston.
That day was the one fixed for the advance of General McDowell
upon Manassas ; but as we have seen, in describing his operations, he
was delayed, and had his forces diminished also by sending re-enforce
ments to Patterson. The latter was also at this time joined by Colonel
Stone's command, u»der General Sandford, of the New York militia,
who left Washington July 7th with his staffj and a complete military
equipment of howitzers, grape and canister, &c.
On July 13th, General Patterson's column left Martinsburg for
Winchester. At Bunker Hill, on the 15th, his advance encountered
an advance-guard of six hundred rebel cavalry, belonging to John
ston's command, who were speedily routed. On the same day John
ston fell back to Winchester. On the 18th he was five miles beyond
Winchester, and near Strasburg, the terminus of the railroad leading
to Manassas. After the fight at Bunker Hill, Patterson, most un
accountably, as it seemed, retrograded to Charleston, where he was on
the 17th, the day he was telegraphed by General Scott to follow John
ston closely ; but Johnston was then beyond his reach, and on his way
to re-enforce Beauregard at Manassas, which he reached by rail m
time to turn the tide of battle at Bull Run.
Patterson, in reply to the strictures on his remissness in not follow
ing up Johnston, in a private letter, dated Harper's Ferry, 22d of July,
said : —
" General Johnston retreated to "Winchester, where he had thrown up extensive in-
trenchments, and had a large number of heavy guns. I could have turned his position
and attacked him in the rear, but he had received large re-enforcements from Missis-

110 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.
sippi, Alabama, and Georgia, a total force of over thirty-five thousand rebel troops, and
five thousand Virginia militia. My force is less than twenty thousand men. Nineteen
regiments, whose term of service was up, or would be within a week, all refused to
stay an hour over their time but four, viz. : two Indiana regiments, Frank Jarrett's
(the Eleventh Pennsylvania), and Owens's (the Twenty-fourth Pennsylvania). Five
regiments have gone home. Two more go to-day, and three more to-morrow. To
avoid being cut off with the remainder, I fell back and occupied this place."
The excuse is utterly inadmissible. There is no evidence that such
re-enforcements as he alludes to ever reached Johnston ; but on the
contrary, every thing went to show that the latter was only too
anxious to get away from the valley. He also admits that he had his
command unbroken by departures of three months' regiments at the
very time he should have been pushing Johnston. The question of
how long his troops had to serve, he had nothing to do with. Had he
performed his allotted duty and obeyed the particular instructions
given to him, his troops would have rendered invaluable services down
to the hour of their discharge. As it was, they proved to be worse
than useless.
These events closed the operations' of the army in the Valley of
Virginia. The movements in the Department of the Ohio come next
in order.
On the 10th of May, by general order, the States of Ohio, Indiana,
and Illinois were constituted a Fourth Military Department, under the
command of Major-General G. B. McClellan, of the Ohio Volunteers,
head-quarters Cincinnati. The army of this department was imme
diately organized and disposed for active service, and at the close of
May the force in the department numbered over twenty thousand
men, who were intended to operate against the rebels in Western
Virginia. On the morning of the 2d of June a movement was made by the
troops under General Morris, forming a part of the force of this de
partment, to dislodge the rebels under Colonel Porterfield, who held
Philippi in Barbour County, Virginia, with fifteen hundred to two thou
sand troops. The command was divided into two divisions under Colo
nels Kelley and Lander, and the plan was to attack the place at four
o'clock in the morning ; Colonel Kelley in the' rear, and Colonel Lander
in front. Storm and darkness, however, caused the combination to fail.
As Lander approached Philippi a woman fired twice, and sent her little
boy across the mountains to give Porterfield notice. Kelley missed .his
point, and instead of coming in on the Beverly road above the town to
cut off the rebel retreat, did so below the town, and much behind time.
Thus the enemy were apprised of the movement, and were enabled to
escape with slight loss, leaving their camp equipage and a number of
small arms behind. While leading a charge, Colonel Kelley receive^
a shot and fell. He was carried to the rear, and received prompt atten
tion. The enemy retired to Leedsville, two miles distant, where they
were again vigorously attacked and repulsed. In acknowledgment of
his bravery on this occasion, Colonel Kelley was appointed brigadier-
general of the Western Virginia troops.
The rebels, falling back upon Beverly, received large re-enforcements,

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.

Ill

and again advanced towards Philippi, taking post under General Gar-
nett, at Laurel Hill.
On the 11th of June, Colonel Wallace, with the Eleventh Indiana
Zouaves, left Cumberland, Maryland, for Romney, Hampshire County,
Virginia, twenty miles distant, where were stationed five hundred seces
sion troops. After a sharp conflict he completely routed them, seized
a quantity of stores and ammunition, and returned to Cumberland. The
rebels retreated towards Winchester.
The rebels were now concentrated in considerable numbers in West
ern Virginia. The Alleghany Mountains, running in a south-westerly
course from Cumberland to Covington, Virginia, present a wall through
which the rebel forces could escape into Eastern Virginia only at the
Cheat Mountain Pass. This was held, at the close of June, by a con
siderable force under General Jackson. From Cheat Mountain the
road proceeds northerly, and parallel to the mountain range, through
Huttonville to Rich Mountain, which was held by the rebel Colonel
Pegram with three thousand men and some five or six guns, and was
strongly intrenched. From Rich Mountain the road passes through
Beverly to Laurel Hill, held by Brigadier-General Garnett. Thus
the enemy held three strong positions, and had, in all, probably fourteen
thousand men.
On the 6th of July, General Morris received orders to move his
whole force to within a mile of the enemy's fortifications at Laurel
Hill. On the 10th sharp skirmishes took" place between his advance,
composed of the Ninth Indiana, Milroy, and the Fourteenth Ohio, Steed-
man, and some Georgia troops belonging to Garnett's force. The ene
my's cavalry attacked, and were repulsed with a few rounds of shell,
and General Morris so disposed his troops as to guard every outlet
from Laurel Hill, except that which leads to Beverly. In the mean
time the column under McClellan pursued a route more to the west, and
arrived near Rich Mountain on the 10th of July. On the 11th Briga
dier-General Rosecrans,* who had been promoted from the colonelcy
of the Twenty-third Ohio, advanced with his column, composed of the
Eighth, Tenth, and Thirteenth Indiana, and Nineteenth Ohio, and by a'
forced march of eight miles through the mountain reached the turnpikej
three miles in the rear of the enemy at Rich Mountain, defeated his
advance-guard, and captured two guns. General McClellan, advancing
in front, completed the defeat of the enemy, who lost all his guns,
wagons, &c. Rosecrans immediately pushed on to Beverly, following

* William 8. Rosecrans wis born In Ohio in
1S19, graduated at West Point in 1842 as second
lieutenant of engineers, was acting assistant profes-
soi- of engineers at West Point until 1844, and of
natural and experimental philosophy to 1847. He
received a commission as first lieutenant in March,
1858, and retired to civil life in 1854. On the break
ing out of the rebellion he was made brigadier-gen
eral in the regular army and appointed to a com
mand under General McClellan. He served with
distinction in Western Virginia, and succeeded Mc
Clellan th the chief command there, of which he
was relieved by General Fremont in 1862. He
succeeded General Pope in command of a corps in
the army under General Grant, June, 1862, a few

months later assumed command of the Army of
the Mississippi, and on October8d and 4th inflicted
a signal defeat on Van Dorn and Price at Corinth.
In November of the same year he took charge of
the Department of the Cumberland, and at the close
of the year gained the hard-fought battle of Mur-
freesboro', over Bragg; In the succeeding summer
he drove Bragg into Northern Georgia and oc
cupied Chattanooga : but having been routed by
Bragg at Chickamanga, September 20, he was re
lieved from his command. In, the early part of
1864 he was assigned to the Department of Mis
souri, which he commanded until the close of the
year, without however, participating actively in
military operations.

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

2k_

MAX GEN. GEORGE B. M9CLELLAN.

CONFEDERATE.

Killed.

Wounded.

Prisoners.

25

40

15

50

100

110

—



600

60

140

300

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 113
union.
Killed. Wounded.
Laurel Hill  4 7
Rich Mountain  20 40
Beverly  — —
St. George  13 40
Total  37 87 135 280 1,025
These energetic and able movements cleared Western Virginia of
Confederate forces, and exposed Johnston, who was then in front of
Patterson. They closed General McClellan's career in the Department
of the Ohio, within a few days of the disastrous events which dis
organized the Army of the Potomac, and the prestige which he thus
acquired seeming to indicate his ability to reorganize and consolidate
the Army of the North, he was transferred to the command of the Army
of the Potomac.

CHAPTER IX.
Effect of the Battle of Bull Run. — Confederate Congress. — Davis's Message. — Pri
vateering. — Affairs in Missouri. — Commissioners to Europe. — Southern Armies and
Finances. We have now brought our history to the close of its first period,
when the impatience of the people, and the imperfect preparation and
training of the troops, hitherto unskilled in the art of war, led to the
disastrous battle of Bull Run. From the humiliation which followed
that defeat, the North emerged with a purer patriotism, a courage and
zeal which rose above defeat, and a determination to put forth all her
energies to crush out the rebellion. The work of enlistment went on
with great rapidity, and before the Confederate forces had recovered
from the terrible havoc made in their ranks, the danger which for a
few days after the battle had threatened the Federal capital was past,
and new regiments were stretching their lines of defence in every di
rection around it. At the South the effect was different ; it seemed to
sustain the views there held, that the Northern troops could not with
stand the shock of arms when opposed to the South. This impres
sion, it has been alleged, was of great detriment to the Southern cause,
since it prevented that persevering and energetic preparation which
was indispensable even to a defensive policy, and which the North un
dertook with vigorous determination and patient perseverance.
The Confederate Congress, which had adjourned May 20th, at Mont
gomery, to meet in Richmond, assembled July 20th, in the hall of
the House of Delegates. The names of the executive, cabinet, and
members of Congress of all the States except Tennessee, Texas, and
Arkansas, are embraced in the following list :
8

114

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.

THE EXECUTIVE.
President  Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi.*
Vice-President  Alexander H. Stephens, of Georgia. J
THE CABINET.
Secretary of State  Robert Toombs, of Georgia. J
Secretary of the Treasury  C. G. Memmingef, of South Carolina.
Secretary of War  Leroy P. Walker, of Alabama.
Secretary of the Navy  Stephen R. Mallory, of Florida.
Postmaster-General  J. H. Reagan, of Texas.
Attorney-General  Judah P. Benjamin, of Louisiana.
MEMBERS OF CONGRESS.
Virginia^ — James A. Seddon, Wm. Ballard Preston, R. M. T. Hun
ter, John Tyler, Wm. H. Macfarland, Roger A. Pryor, Thomas S. Bo-
cocke, Wm. S. Rives, Robert E. Scott, James M. Mason, J. W. Brock-
enbrough, Chas. W. Russell, Robert Johnson, Walter R. Staples,
Walter Preston.
North Carolina. — Geo. Davis, W. W. Avery, W. N. H. Smith,
Thomas Ruffin, T. D. McDowell, A. W. Venable, J- M. Morehead, R.
C. Puryear, Burton Craige, E. A. Davidson.
Alabama.— R. W. Walker, R. H. Smith, J. L. M. Curry, W. P.
Chilton, S. F. Hale, Colin J. McRae, John Gill Shorter, David P. Lewis,
Thomas Fearn.
Florida.^— Jackson Morton, J. P. Anderson, J. Powers.

* Jefferson Davis was born June 8d, 1808, in
Christian County, Kentucky, but removed with
his family in childhood to Mississippi. He en
tered Transylvania University, Lexington, Ken
tucky, in 1822 or 1828, and in 1824 left the Uni
versity to enter the Military Academy at West
Point, where he graduated in 1828. He remained
in the army sever, years, was promoted tc a
first-lieutenancy, served in the Black Hawk
war, and in 1835 resigned his commission and
retired to a plantation in Mississippi. In 1S44
he was one of the Democratic Presidential elec
tors. In 1845 he was elected a Representative
in Congress, and in July, 1846, resigned his seat,
and took command of the First Regiment of
Mississippi Volunteers in the Mexican war, dis
tinguished himself at Monterey and at Buena
Vista, ;and in the latter battle was severely
wounded. He was appointed brigadier-general
of volunteers by President Polk, but declined on
State Rights grounds. He was elected to the
United States Senate in January, 1848, to All an
unexpired time, and in 1860 re-elected. He
resigned in 1851, to run as candidate for Governor
of Mississippi, but was defeated by Henry . S.
Foote, the Union candidate. In 1S58 he was
called Into President Pietce'e cabinet as Secre
tary of War, and in 1857 returned again to the
Senate. He resigned his seat in the Senate on
the 21st of January. 1861, on the occasion of the
secession of Mississippi, and in February was
elected provisional President of the Confederate
6tates. In the succeeding November he was
elected first permanent President under the reg
ular constitution, and retained that office until
captured at Irwinsvtlle, Georgia, in May, 1865,
and conveyed to fortress Monroe, On May 26th,

he was indicted for treason by the grand jury of
the District of Columbia.
t Alexander H. Stephens was born in Georgia
on the 11th of February, 1812. Assisted by
friends, he entered the University of Georgia in
182S, and in 1832 graduated at the head of his
class. In 1834 he commenced the study of the
law, ami soon entered upon a lucrative practice.
From 1887 to 1840 he was a member of the Geor
gia Legislature. In 1842 he was elected to the
State Senate, and in 1843 was elected to Con
gress as a Whig, retaining his seat until
1859. In 1854 he was Chairman of the Com
mittee on Territories, and effected the pas-
sago of the Kansas-Nebraska bill through the
House. He was at first a strenuous opponent of
secession, but nevertheless was elected provisional
Vice-President of the Confederate, States in Feb
ruary, 1861, and in November permanent Vice-
President. In May, 1S65, he was arrested in
Georgia, and imprisoned in Fort Warren, Boston
harbor. ± Robert Toombs was born in Washington,
Wilkes County, Georgia, July 2d, 1810, graduated
at Union College, Schenectady, New York, in
1828, and studied law at the University of Vir
ginia. In 1S86 he served as captain of volunteers
under General Scott, in the Creek war. Ho was
elected to the State Legislature in 1887, to Con
gress In 1S45, to the United States Senate in ISM,
and re-elected in 1859. He withdrew from tho
Senate January 28d, 1861, on the secession of
Georgia, was appointed Secretary of State of the
Confederate States, February 21st, and in July
resigned, and was soon after appointed a briga
dier-general in the Confederate army. In this
capacity he never rose above mediocrity.

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 115
Georgia. — Robert Toombs, Howell Cobb, Pres't, Francis S. Bar
tow, Martin J. Crawford, Eugenius A. Nisbett, Benjamin H. Hill, A.
B. Wright, Thomas R. R. Cobb, Augustus H. Keenan, Alex. H.
Stephens. Louisiana. — John Perkins, Jr., A. Declouet, Charles M. Conrad, D.
F. Kenner, Edward Sparrow, Henry Marshall.
i Mississippi. — Willie P. Harris, Walker Brooke, W. S. Wilson, A.
M. Clayton, W. S. Barry, James T. Harrison, J. A. P. Campbell.
I South Carolina.— R. B. Rhett, Sr., R. W. Barnwell, L. M. Keitt,
James Chesnut, Jr., C. G. Memminger, W. Porcher Miles, Thomas J.
Withers, W. W. Boyce.
\ Mr. Davis sent in a message, in which he congratulated the Con
gress on the accession of new members from North Carolina, Ten
nessee, and Arkansas. He criticised with great severity the message
of President Lincoln recently communicated to Congress, and charged
that the acts of the Federal authorities implied a recognition of the
Confederate Government ; also that the war was waged with a savage
ferocity unknown in modern civilization ; that grain crops and private
houses, deserted by peaceable citizens flying from the outrages of a bru
tal soldiery, were consumed by the torch ; and that property respected
by British and Hessians in 1*781, was pillaged and destroyed by people
pretending to be fellow-citizens. " Mankind," he said, " will shudder
at the tales of outrages committed on defenceless families by soldiers
of the United States ;" and he complained that special war was made
upon the sick women and children by seeking to deprive them of med
icines. He referred to the Border States and their sympathies with
the South ; to the suspension of the habeas corpus by the Federal ex
ecutive, and other measures.
" "We may well rejoice," said he, " that we have forever severed our connection with
a Government that thus tramples on all principles of constitutional liberty, and with a
people in whose presence such avowals could be hazarded."
He alluded to the additional force required ; to the abundance of the
crops ; and stated that fifty millions had been subscribed in cotton.
The proceedings of the Congress were mostly conducted in secret
session, and among its first acts was the ratification of the convention
of Paris in 1856 in respect to maritime law. The interpolations of
the Paris convention into maritime law had been a subject of discus
sion between the foreign powers and Mr. Pierce's cabinet. The prop
osition had been made that enemies' goods should be respected in neu
tral ships, and that neutral ships and goods should be free from the
"belligerent right of search. To this was added the abolition of pri
vateering in time of war. Mr. Marcy, then Secretary of State, replied
that the United States Government would accept the proposition in
all respects except in relation to privateers. He stated that it was not
the policy of the United States to maintain large standing armies or
navies, which were opposed to the genius of our institutions ; that the
United States depended in time of war upon militia for protection ;
that merchant vessels or privateers were our " militia of the seas, and
we could not be expected to deprive ourselves of that arm. Never-

116 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.
theless, if the governments would consent that all private property
should be exempt from capture in time of war, he would consent to abolish
privateering. When men-of-war are empowered to capture and destroy
merchant vessels, they only do what privateers are commissioned for, and
there was no justice in doing away with the latter, unless the former
were restricted to public ships in their operations. To this proposition
Great Britain and France refused their assent, and the matter re
mained in abeyance. Soon after Mr. Seward entered upon his duties
as Secretary of State, he renewed the proposition, but it was again re
jected. He then proposed to accede to the principles laid down by the
Paris convention, including privateering. Earl Russell signified his
willingness to sign the convention when the Emperor of the French
had consented to it ; but on the 29th of July, he stated to Mr. Adams,
the American minister, that " on the part of Great Britain the en
gagement would be prospective, and would not invalidate any thing al
ready done." An explanation of this statement being sought, he gave
it in the form of a declaration, that her majesty did not intend there
by to undertake any engagement which should have a bearing, direct
or indirect, on the internal differences now prevailing in the United
States. As this left Southern privateering untouched, Mr. Seward re
fused to assent to the convention. " i
In Missouri, Governor Jackson demanded that no United States
troops should be quartered in or marched through the State; but
General Lyon asserted the right of the Government to send troops
into any part of the State, and his forces continued to gather strength.
On the 13th of June, Jackson fled from the capital, and gathered
what secession force he could in the south-west part of the State. The
State convention reassembled at the capital on the 25th of July, and
on the 30th, by a vote of fifty-six to twenty-five, passed a resolution
vacating the State offices, ana appointed a new election to be held in
November. _ Hamilton R. Gamble was appointed Provisional Gov
ernor. He issued a proclamation enjoining all citizens to enroll them
selves for the defence of the State, and ordering Confederate troops
to quit it. L
The Confederate Congress now passed a law to admit Missouri into
the Confederacy, on condition that she should duly ratify the constitu
tion of the Southern Confederacy through her legally constituted
authority, which authority was declared to be the government of Gov
ernor Jackson, who was deposed by the State convention. Mr. Davis
was also authorized to muster into the Confederate service, in Mis
souri, such troops as should volunteer to serve in the Southern army.
The_ bill likewise empowered the President of the Confederate States,
at his discretion, at any time prior to the admission of Missouri as a
member of the Confederacy, to perfect and proclaim an alliance, offen
sive and defensive, with the said government, limited to the period of
the existing war between the Confederacy and the United States; the
said treaty or alliance to be in force from the date thereof, and until
the same should be disaffirmed or rejected by the Congress.
Early in the year there had been appointed two Commissioners to
Europe, Mr. Rost and Mr. Yancey, to negotiate a recognition of the

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 117
Southern Confederacy, and also, if practicable, treaties 01 commerce.
As these persons did not meet with the desired success, the Confed
erate Congress empowered the President to appoint two more, with
full powers. The arrest at a subsequent period of these agents upon the
high seas gave rise to very serious complications.
The Confederate Congress now passed another act of great impor
tance, ordering all citizens of the United States to depart the country
within forty days. The essential part of it was as follows :
" Sec 3. Immediately after the passage of this act, the President of the Confederate
States shall, by proclamation, require all citizens of the United States, being males of
fourteen years and upward, within the Confederate States, and adhering to the Govern
ment of the United States, to depart from the Confederate States, within forty hours
from the date of such proclamation ; and such persons remaining within the Confeder
ate States after that time shall become liable to be treated as alien enemies."
This law fell with particular hardship upon many Northerners, and
such of them as had ventured into the Confederate States to secure
property were arrested. It was of the same nature as the alien and
sedition law enacted by the Adams Administration in 1798, which had
excited the ire of the State-rights men of that time, and it invested
the executive with discretionary power to order aliens whom he might
deem dangerous out of the country. With the same scope and intent
as this act was the " Sequestration Act," passed August 30th, of which
the title was as follows : " A Hill to be entitled an Act for the seques
tration of the estate, property, and effects of alien enemies, and for
indemnity of citizens of the Confederate States, and persons aiding
the same in the existing war with ihe United States."
The bill recited in its preamble the departure of the Government
and the people of the United States from the usages of civilized war
fare, in confiscating and destroying the property of the people of the
Confederate States, of all kinds, whether used for military purposes
or not ; and the necessity of retaliation to restrain the wanton excesses
of the enemy, and proceeded as follows :
" Be it enacted by the Congress of the Confederate States, that all lands, goods,
rights, and credits within these Confederate States, owned by any alien enemy since
the 21st day of May, 1861, be sequestrated by the Confederate States of America,
and shall be held for the full indemnity of any citizen and a resident of these Con
federate States, or other person aiding said Confederate States in the prosecution of
the present war, and for which he may suffer any loss or injury under the act of the
United States to which this act is retaliatory, authorizing the seizure or confiscation of
the property of citizens or residents of the Confederate States, and the same shall be
seized and disposed of as provided for in this act."
This law was meant to indemnify such persons as suffered through
the confiscations made by the United States under the law of August
6th. The military legislation was actively pushed. The Secretary of
War had reported that the number of troops raised amounted to
ninety-four regiments and thirty-four battalions, with some additional
cavalry troops, and he advised the further raising of the number to
three hundred regiments. The Southern forces consisted of two dis
tinct armies — the provisional and the regular Confederate armies.

118 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.
The provisionals were enlisted for the space of twelve months, to go
wherever ordered. Most of the forces belonged to this class, which
was generally made up of volunteer State militia. Their uniform varied
like that of the Northern State militia, and their pay was eleven dollars
per month. The services of all volunteers who offered themselves
were accepted, if they passed inspection. The regulars were enlisted
for three years. These were composed of the lowest class of the white
population, gathered up from the levees of New Orleans, Mobile, and
other seaports. Placards, announcing large bounties in advance, were
extensively circulated in the different cities throughout the whole
Southern country, and recruiting offices were established in Mobile,
Montgomery, New Orleans, and other towns in the South-west. Their
pay was only seven dollars per month.
The number of men raised Was very large for the population. This
was the more practicable because, the blacks being employed in all
domestic labor, the whites were left free to enlist, and the excitement
was so great that almost all the able-bodied white population was
drawn off to the army in the Border States. The projected increase
required a proportionately large number of generals. Mr. Toombs
resigned as Secretary of State, and received the appointment of briga
dier-general, retaining his seat in the Congress. This was permitted
by the constitution, which allowed members to hold appointments
from the Confederate Government. In this the provisional constitu
tion differed from the old United States Constitution, which forbids
members to hold offices of emolument. From the month of September,
1861, the favorable aspect of affairs in the Confederate States began
to decline. Their currency rapidly depreciated, and it became difficult
to supply their soldiers with the necessary equipments and rations.
Extraordinary exertions were made, and, in many instances, as re
markable sacrifices, to furnish what was needed ; but under the dis
comforts which were the lot of the private soldier, volunteers were
not readily procured, and the Confederate leaders began to talk of
drafting early in the autumn. The army in the field did not at any
time before January, 1862, exceed two hunded and ninety thousand
men. The Confederate Senate confirmed General Beauregard full general,
the highest grade in the Confederate service, with commission dating
from July 21st, 1861, the date of the Bull Run victory. Brigadier-
General Robert E. Lee, formerly of the United States army, was
about the same time commissioned a general, and B. F. Cheatham, of
Nashville, and Felix R. Zollicoffer, of Nashville, formerly member of
Congress, brigadier-generals in the Confederate army.
The finances of the Confederate Congress were by no means in a
flourishing condition. The seceding States had, for many years past,
exported by far the greater part of their agricultural products, their
exports of cotton, rice, sugar, and tobacco amounting, annually, on an
average of the five years ending June 30th, 1860, to about $213,000,000,
out of a total export from the United States of about $400,000,000.
The greater parfcof this amount was expended either in the Northern
cities, for manufactured goods, or in travel at the North or in Europe.

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 119
The goods bought at the North were usually purchased on a year's
credit, so that the proceeds of the produce exported were anticipated.
The blockade, by preventing the shipment of the cotton, rice, sugar,
&c, rendered these products almost valueless, and speedily induced a
financial panic. The banks of the seceded States held, on the 1st of
January, 1861, $25,821,993 in specie, and had an outstanding circula
tion of $55,223,960. This amount of specie was considerably increased
during the next five months by their drawing whatever balances stood
to their credit from the New York banks, and by a passage of an act
of the Confederate Congress, May 21st, 1861, prohibiting all debtors
owing money to Northern creditors from paying them, and requiring
the payment of the amount into the Confederate treasury either in
specie or treasury notes, for which they were to receive a certificate
of the payment, bearing interest, and redeemable at the close of the
war. The payment of the interest on the bonds of the several States
was also ordered to be made only in the Confederate States, and the
strictest scrutiny was instituted to prevent the payment of such in
terest to any person or the agent of any person who was not a citizen
of the Southern Confederacy, or if an alien, at least a well-wisher to
that Confederacy. The banks of the seceding States held a convention
at Atlanta, Georgia, on the 3d of June, 1861, at which they resolved to
issue their notes to the Confederate Government on the deposit of its
eight per cent, twenty-year bonds, of which the issue of $100,000,000
had been authorized, and recommended the taking of Confederate
treasury notes by railroad companies, tax collectors, &c. The banks
had been authorized to suspend specie payments, by the several States,
in the winter previous, and the treasury notes, which were payable six
months after the ratification of a treaty of peace with the United
States, as well as the bank notes, soon began to depreciate seriously.
In August, gold and silver were at fifteen per cent, premium, and
before January 1st, 1862, two paper dollars would only buy one in
specie, while the tendency of the currency was still downward. In
some of the States the Confederate scrip stood very far below the
bank notes, and was regarded as almost valueless ; but the stringent
laws passed by the Confederate Government, punishing the refusal to
receive it with imprisonment, and if persisted in, with death, led to its
.general reception, but occasioned an enormous inflation of the prices
of every article of merchandise. Boots, shoes, clothing of all kinds,
thread, needles, cotton and woollen goods, tea, coffee, sugar, molasses,
salt, &c, were held at from ten to fifty times their ordinary value.
The Government had formed several plans of finance ; the first by
taxation. The Secretary of the Treasury issued the following circular
to the States' officers: "CONFEDERATE STATES OT AMERICA, TREASURY DEPARTMENT,
"Richmond, June 26th, 1861.
" Hon. E. W. Cave, Treasurer of Stale of Texas, Austin, Texas :
"Sir: I have as yet been unable to obtain from your State the information required
by Congress, with a view to its legislation at the ensuing session. Permit me to solicit
any information in your possession upon the following points as to your State :
" 1. The assessed value of real estate, and whether assessed at the market value.

120 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.
" 2. The same information as to personal estate, and what general items constitute
the personal estate.
" 3. The amount of money at interest.
" 4. The amount of banking and railroad and other Btock.
" 5. The number of slaves, and the value per head.
" 6. The amount and rate of the last tax in your State.
" 7. The population. ,, _ _ ,r
" Tery respectfully, C. G. Memmdtgeb,
" Secretary of the Treasury."
A war tax was then levied upon real estate, including all lands and
estates therein, with ferries, bridges, and mines; slaves of all ages;
merchandise of all kinds for sale, except agricultural products of the
country ; bank stock, except such as may be retained by the banks ;
railroad and other stock ; money at interest, including bills, and all
notes and securities bearing interest, except Confederate bonds ; cash
on hand or deposit, in bank or elsewhere; cattle, horses, mules, raised
or held for sale; gold watches; gold and silver plate, pianos, and
pleasure carriages.
The plan of a produce loan was projected, and met with some
success. The mode seemed complicated, but was, in fact, simply a
loan of money to the Government. It was called a produce loan,
because the sales of produce form the only means of the planter.
When he sent his produce to his factor for sale, he sent an order with
it to pay over to the Government, in exchange for its bonds, bearing
eight per cent, interest in specie, a certain portion of it, such as he
might deem expedient. The difficulty of selling the crop cramped
both parties, the Government as well as the planters, and produced
great distress. The treasury notes of the Government that had become
the general currency were greatly depreciated, although receivable for
the war taxes. They were also fundable in eight per cent, bonds.
There was also paper money issued, not only by the Confederate
Government, but by the States, cities, and individuals. The merchants
and others, early foreseeing the difficulties, sold their goods for coin,
and hoarded it. Hence the whole metallic currency speedily disap
peared. Its price, therefore, rose in the double ratio of the flood of
paper money and the disappearance of gold. The currency was
speedily ruined, and the most frightful evils followed in its train.
The supplies of produce and food were large because the crops were
fair, and a much greater breadth of land, than usual was put into
crops. The difficulties suffered by the South in this emergency were
very similar to those encountered by the colonies in the Revolutionary
war, and also by the United States in 1812, from a deficiency of home
manufactures. The great distress of the Northern States from 1809
to 1814 had been productive of great good, however, since it called
into being manufactures, which took root and subsequently flourished,
but which might not, perhaps, in many years have been undertaken,
had the capital of the country continued peacefully employed in
agriculture and in commerce. The South had hitherto employed all
its capital in the production of tobacco, sugar, and raw materials.
The blockade compelled attention to other pursuits, and the Slave
States began to develop a manufacturing industry. The production

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 121
of cotton, however, has probably been but momentarily checked,
even if the dream which has occupied the English imagmation for
sixty years, of raising cotton in India, should prove true, since the
wants of the civilized world in that particular far outrun the capacity
of the South to supply. The development of manufactures in the
Southern States will serve to keep at home an immense capital, to
reproduce itself through the labor of that portion of the white race
which has hitherto not added much to the Southern wealth.

CHAPTER X.
Meeting of Congress. — President's Message. — Naval and Military Affairs. — Estimates
for Year. — Senators Expelled. — Acts passed. — Confiscation. — Operations of the
Treasury.— The Different Loans authorized. — Difficulties of the Government. —
Habeas Corpus. — The Press. — Newspapers Suppressed.
The Thirty-seventh Federal Congress assembled at Washington in
extra session, July 4th, pursuant to the call of the President. There
were present forty-three senators at the opening of the session ; of
whom nine represented Border States : Delaware, Messrs. Bayard and
Saulsbury; Kentucky, Messrs. Breckinridge and Powell; Maryland,
Messrs. Kennedy and Pearce; Missouri, Messrs. Polk and Johnson ;
Tennessee, Mr. Johnson.
The senators from Kansas also appeared: Mr. Pomeroy, for the long
term, and Lane, for the short term ; from California, Mr. McDougall ;
and from Illinois, Mr. Browning, in place of Senator Douglas, deceased.
In the course of the session appeared also Messrs. W. S. Willey and
J. S. Carlile, from the loyal legislature of Virginia, and were admitted
to seats as senators.
In the House of Representatives, there were present one hundred
and fifty-nine members, including five who were elected from Western
Virginia, and were admitted as members. The' clerk of the House
called the roll for all the States, including the Southern seceded States,
but of course from them none were present. Mr. G. A. Grow, of
Pennsylvania, was elected speaker, and Hon. Emerson Etheridge, late
member from Tennessee, was elected clerk. The message of the
President was brief, and confined mostly to the public exigency for
the consideration of which Congress was assembled. The President
restated the position of affairs on his accession to the Government, the
functions of which had been suspended in six States, where a new
government had been organized, which was seeking foreign recogni
tion. It was incumbent upon the new Administration to prevent a
dissolution. The inaugural address had indicated the policy to be
pursued. The proceedings relating to Fort Sumter were alluded to,
and the desire of the Government to maintain possession of it. The
ejection of the United States troops left no recourse but to call out the
war power of the Government. He thought that he had done nothing

122 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.
which it was beyond the power of Congress to sanction ; and he an
ticipated a full endorsement of his acts. He then asked for four hun
dred thousand men, and four hundred million dollars in money, to
"make the contest a short and decisive one." The message also
argued against the right of a State to secede, and stated what was to
be the course of the Government towards the Southern States after
the rebellion shall have been suppressed.
The message met with approbation from the loyal citizens of the
Union, who saw in it evidence of the determination of the President
to take care, as his oath had bound him to do, "that the laws were
faithfully executed," and that the Republic suffered no detriment from
any hesitation or half-measures on his part. The exigencies of his
position were without a precedent in the history of the country, and
while he had called Congress together for an extra session at as early
a date as it could be convened, owing to the fact that in some of the
States the election of members of Congress did not take place till
June, he had in the mean time been compelled to take upon himself
great responsibilities, which his message, as well as his own character
for integrity, demonstrated that he had used wisely and well. The
people felt that his acts, committed under such necessity, should be
cordially sanctioned by Congress, wherever there was any doubt as to
their validity, which only existed in regard to the enrolling of volun
teers for the war, since the militia act of 1795 fully authorized his
course in calling out the militia.
The Secretary of War in his report recounted the seizures of pub
lic property that ha4 taken place on the part of the Confederates pre
vious to the inauguration of Mr. Lincoln, and stated the -esults of
the proclamation calling for troops, as follows :
Regulars and volunteers for three months, and flr the war  235,000
Eifty-five regiments of volunteers for the war, accepted  50,000
New regular regiments  25,000
 V5,000
Total force called out by Government to July 4th  31 0,000
Deduct three-months men.  80,000
Authorized force  230,000
For the maintenance of this force, and supplying of the necessary
ordinance, arms, and reserve stores, in addition to the ordinary appro
priation, $185,296,397 was required. The Secretary stated that the
new regular regiments would be officered one-half from the regular
army, and one-half from civil life. The civilians appointed to regimental
commands were all either West Point graduates, or had before served
with distinction in the field, and many of the second-lieutenants were
created by the promotion of meritorious sergeants from the regular
service. He alluded, also, to the large disaffection of army oflicers
with whom State allegiance was paramount to Federal duty. "
The report of the Secretary of the Navy furnished a complete abstract
of the condition of the navy. On the 4th of March, the total number
of vessels of all classes was ninety, designed to carry two thousand
four hundred and fifteen guns. Of these, the available force was sixty-

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 123
nine vessels, with one thousand three hundred and forty-six guns, of
which forty-two, carrying five hundred and fifty-six guns, were in
commission. Of the sixty-nine available vessels, the Levant was lost
in the Pacific, the steamer Fulton was seized at Pensacola, and one
frigate, two sloops, and a brig were burned at Norfolk. The other
vessels destroyed there were considered worthless. There remained
sixty-three, of which fifty-nine were put in commission. In addition to
which, nine steamers were chartered, and twelve steamers and three sailing
vessels were purchased, making an entire force of eighty-two vessels
and eleven hundred guns. On the Atlantic coast, the blockading
squadron, twenty-two vessels, with two hundred and ninety guns and
three thousand three hundred men, was under the command of flag-
officer Stringham. The Gulf squadron, consisting of twenty-one vessels,
with two hundred and eighty-two guns and three thousand five
hundred men, was under flag-officer Mervine. The East Indian,
Mediterranean, Brazil, and African squadrons were recalled, adding
two hundred guns and two thousand five hundred men for home
service. Since the accession of Mr. Lincoln, two hundred and fifty-nine
naval officers had resigned. The department, he added, had contracted
for the building of twenty-three steam gunboats of five hundred tons
each, to be followed Dy larger and fleeter vessels. The eight vessels
ordered by the preceding Congress were being rapidly pushed to
completion. The Secretary of the Treasury put forth a statement of the financial
wants of the Government. He stated that the estimates, of the year
required $319,000,000; that $80,000,000 of this, or the amount required
for the ordinary expenses, should be raised by taxation, and that
$240,000,000 must be borrowed. He proposed an increase of the
duties, which he estimated? would raise the customs to $57,000,000,
and he estimated that the public lands would give $3,000,000. He
advised a tax on real and personal estate, to make up the remaining
$20,000,000 ; also a reduction of forty per cent, on all salaries. To
raise the $240,000,000 which must be borrowed, he proposed a national
loan of $100,000,000, in small bonds, bearing 7.30 per cent, interest
per annum, and redeemable after three years; a loan of $100,000,000,
at seven per cent, in stock, payable after thirty years, in London; and
the issue of $50,000,000 in $10 and $20 notes, bearing 3.65 per cent.
interest, payable in one year, or without interest payable in coin on
demand. Through tnese reports the military and financial condition of the
country was laid before Congress. The leading measures of the
session were promptly brought forward. In the Senate, the chairman
of the military committee introduced six bills. The first was designed
to ratify what the President had done on his own responsibility; the
second, " to authorize the employment of volunteers to aid in enforcing
the laws;" the third, to "increase the present military establishment of
the United States; the fourth, "for the better organization of the mili
tary establishment of the United States; the fifth, "for the organization
of a volunteer militia, force, to be called the National Guard of the
United States;" and the sixth to promote the efficiency of the army.

124 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.
These bills were discussed at considerable length in both houses.
The opposition to them in the Senate came principally from Messrs.
Breckinridge, of Kentucky, and Polk, of Missouri, both of whom, in the
autumn of 1861, went over to the rebels, and accepted military com
mands under them ; and in the House from Mr. Burnett, of Kentucky,
who also seceded to the rebels a short time after the close of the
session, and his friend, Mr. Vallandigham, of Ohio.
The approval of the action of the President, which it was first
proposed to make in the form of a resolution, was finally passed as a
clause of one of the military bills, and Congress showed its hearty
concurrence in his views in regard to the prosecution of the war by
voting almost unanimously 500,000, instead of 400,000 men.
On the 22d of July, Mr. Crittenden, of Kentucky, in the House,
and, on the 26th, Mr. Johnson, of Tennessee, in the Senate, moved.
the following resolution:
'Resolved, That the present deplorable civil war has been forced upon the country
by the disunionists of the Southern States, now in revolt against the constitutional
Government, and in arms around the capital; that in this national emergency, Congress,
banishing all feelings of mere passion or resentment, will recollect only its duty to the
whole country; that this war is not waged on their part in any spirit of oppression, or
for any purpose of conquest or subjugation, or purpose of overthrowing or interfering
with the rights or established institutions of those States, but to defend and maintain
the supremacy of the Constitution, and to preserve the Union with all the dignity,
equality, and rights of the several States unimpaired; and that as soon as these objects
are accomplished, the war ought to cease."
This resolution passed the Senate by yeas thirty, nays five, and the
House by yeas one hundred and seventeen, nays two. This declaration
of the objects for which the war was prosecuted, offered by loyal
citizens of the Border States, was cheerfully accorded by Congress, the
great body of the members of which still clung to the idea that within
a few months the people of the seceded States would gladly return to
their allegiance. The duration of the war beyond the close of the year
was not deemed possible.
The Senate, on the 11th of July, expelled the senators James M.
Mason and R. M. T. Hunter, of Virginia ; Thomas L. Clingman and
Thomas Bragg, of North Carolina ; Louis T. Wigfall and J. W.
Hemphill, of Texas ; Charles B. Mitchell and William K. Sebastian, of
Arkansas ; and A. O. P. Nicholson, of Tennessee, all of whom were
absent, having withdrawn on the secession of their respective States.
The propriety Of this course was so obvious that there was but very
slight opposition to it. Mr. Bayard, of Delaware, and Mr. Latham, of
California, urged the substitution of a resolution declaring their seats
vacant, instead of expelling them, on the ground that they ought not
personally to suffer for what was the result of the action of their
States. But the fact of their full sympathy with and co-operation in
the work of secession was so patent, that this view met with little sup
port from the other senators. Messrs. Breckinridge and Polk voted
against the resolution. The vote stood ayes thirty-two, noes ten. On
the 13th of July, Mr. Johnson, of Tennessee, presented the credentials
of Messrs. W. T. Willey and J. S. Carlile, elected senators of Vir-

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

126 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.
held to labor or service, under the laws of any State, shall be required
or permitted by the person to whom such labor or service is claimed to
be due, or by the lawful agent of such person, to take up arms against
the United States, or shall be required or permitted by the person to
whom such service or labor is due, or by his lawful agent, to work or to
be employed in or upon any fort, navy-yard, dock, armory, ship, or in-
trenchment, or in any military or naval service whatever, against the
Government and lawful authority of the United States, then, and in
every such case, the person to whom such service is claimed to be
due, shall forfeit his claim to such labor, any law of the State or of the
United States to the contrary notwithstanding ; and whenever there
after the person claiming such labor or service shall seek t*> enforce his
claim, it shall be a full and sufficient answer to such claim, that the
person whose service or labor is claimed had been employed in hostile
service against the Government of the United States, contrary to the
provisions of this act." This bill passed both branches of Congress.
In the House the vote was — ayes, sixty ; noes, forty-eight.
f- The bill, it will be seen, limited within narrow bounds the confis
cation of rebel property; it would have been more comprehensive
(though probably not so sweeping as the confiscation law of 1862, for
neither Congress nor the people were then ripe for that measure), but
for the scruples which were entertained by some of the members in
regard to the constitutionalityof the confiscation of property for trea
son, without a previous trial and conviction of the traitor. These
scruples, though honestly entertained, arose from the error of con
founding the action against; persons with the action against property,
as was very clearly shown some months later by Hon. Henry Winter
Davis, of Maryland, in a very elaborate published opinion on the sub
ject. The action of Congress in making provision for a vigorous prosecu
tion of the war, had greatly encouraged the people, and the enlist
ments were made with rapidity, and resulted in securing a very supe
rior class of soldiers. There was, however, a pressing necessity for a
large amount of financial resources to meet the heavy drain which the
war was making on the national treasury. Fortunately for the na
tion, an accomplished and skilful financier was at the head of the treas
ury, a man capable of comprehending and providing for the emer
gency. In December, 1860, when very few supposed war probable, Hon.
Howell Cobb, Mr. Buchanan's Secretary of the Treasury, had offered
$5,000,000 of United States treasury notes, payable one year from
date, and had only received bids for $500,000 at twelve per cent, in
terest, and this when New York seven per cent, stocks were selling at
101. _ Secretary Chase needed to borrow by hundreds of millions, and
that in the beginning of a_ great war of uncertain duration; but the
capitalists had confidence in him and in the Government for which he
acted, and though he had been bound very closely by Congress in re
gard to the terms on which the loans were to be made, and the
amount to be derived from taxation did not promise to yield enough
to pay the interest on the loans, he succeeded in negotiating for all the

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.

127

money he needed at an interest not exceeding an average of seven per
cent. The loans at this time authorized by Congress were :

Payable.
1. Bonds, Coupons, or Registered*.. After 20 years, sold not less than par...
2. Bonds, Coupons, or Registered . . . After 20 years, sold in Europe, do 
8. Bonds, Coupons, or Registered. . .After 20 years, equal to 7 per cent 
4. Bonds, Coupons, or Registered.. .Within 1 year 
6. Treasury Notes  At 8 years....'. 
6. Treasury Notes  At 1 year 
7. Treasury Notes  In coin on demand, not less than $5. ...

Interest
per cent.
7 7

7.80
8.65
None.

Limit.
$100,000,000 20,000,00060,000,000

No effort was made to negotiate a loan abroad, as the English cap
italists were not inclined to invest in American securities. At a later
date they purchased the bonds and treasury notes eagerly, and at a
premium. Until he could make arrangements for the issue of his
treasury notes at seven and three-tenths per cent., the Secretary ob
tained a loan for sixty days, on his twenty-year bonds as collateral, of
$5,000,000. This sum was taken up in a single half-day in New York.
Having visited Philadelphia, New York, and Boston, he succeeded in
effecting an arrangement with the banks of the three cities, by which
they took $50,000,000 of the seven-thirty notes at par, New York tak
ing $35,000,000, Boston, $10,000,000, and Philadelphia, $5,000,000,
the payments to be made about ten per cent, weekly, while interest
was payable from the date of issue. The Secretary meantime was to
open agencies throughout the country for subscriptions to the loan, and
the money so received was to be paid over to the banks, for whose
account these sales were made. The banks were to have the option
of taking on similar terms two subsequent issues of the treasury notes,
each of $50,000,000. The amount of" subscriptions on the first issue,
bearing date August 19th, 1861, was $38,000,000, leaving but $12,-
000,000 on the hands of the banks when they had paid in full for the
first issue. They then took the second $50,000,000, which bore date
October 1st, 1861 ; but the circulation of demand notes, and the great
number of State loans in the market, causing for the time a falling off
in the subscriptions for investment, tbey declined taking the third
issue, and took in preference the twenty-year six per cent, stock at
89.322, which was equivalent to a seven per cent, stock at par. The
whole subscription outside of banks and moneyed institutions for the
seven-thirty treasury notes up to January 1st, 1862, somewhat ex
ceeded $50,000,000. About $24,000,000 of demand notes had been
issued up to that time, and $50,000,000 of twenty-year stock, from
which there was realized $45,795,478 48. There had also been issued
two-year notes (six per cents.) to the amount of $14,019,034 66, and
borrowed on sixty-day six per cent, notes $12,877,750, making an ag
gregate of $197,242,588 14. Of the subsequent financial measures of

* The difference between a registered stock and
ft coupon bond is, that the former is inscribed up
on the hooks of the Government, in the name of
the owner, and is transferred on the books by the
owner to the party to whom be sells. The inter
est is paid to him in whose name the stock stands.
The bond is not inscribed, bat is transferred by

delivery, like a bank note. It has attached to it
small bonds, one for each six months' interest un
til the maturity of the bond itself. The holder
cntsoff the one due, and presents it for payment.
These are called " coupons," from tho French
emtper, to cut.

128 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.
the Government, the new loans, and the tax and tariff bills prescribed
at the second (first regular) session of the thirty-seventh Congress,
and the steady rise in the value of Government securities, notwith
standing the large amounts issued, we shall have more to say further
on. The tax of $20,000,000 on real and personal estate was appor
tioned to the several States ; that portion due from the seceded States
was only collectable by means of a law subsequently passed, authoriz
ing the seizure of real estate to liquidate those taxes. That due from
loyal States was assumed by them, they accounting for it, less fifteen
per cent, discount for cost of collection ; and as nearly all of them had
advanced sums for the equipment of their troops, which the Govern
ment had agreed to refund, the tax was generally set off against these
sums, and thus, while the money did not come into the United States
treasury, the Government debts were liquidated by it.
The energy, determination, and resources of the people of the
North, which for a little time had seemed paralyzed at the idea of
such a war, were now developed in all their grandeur, and showed that
so soon as they realized the magnitude of the struggle they were ready
for it. The shock of war had disturbed the usual flow of capital, and
deprived the North of more than $200,000,000 due to it from the
Southern merchants. Had this large sum been recovered, it would
have been subscribed to the Federal loan ; on the other hand, the Con
federacy took prompt measures to turn it into its own coffers by the
act of May 21st already alluded to, directing that money due Northern
citizens be paid into the Confederate treasury, and bonds bearing
eight per cent, interest be issued therefor. This, in point of fact, com
pelled Northern creditors to subscribe to the Southern loans.
The rebel States were now beginning to appreciate the financial
difficulties and personal hardships which beset the path to independ
ence. Stringent laws punished by banishment and confiscation of
property all who did not give in their adhesion to the new govern
ment. Those who remained, as well as the Southern citizens, were
not exempt from severe assessments in support of the armies in the
field. The contributions levied were very onerous in most districts,
and the mode of their assessment is indicated in the following notice
of General Beauregard's course : —
" All classes of citizens of "Virginia are called upon to contribute their quota of
forage for Beauregard's army, and with those who are forgetful of their obligations,
the general says that ' constraint must be employed.' "
The ranks of the rebel army were filled by means quite as peremp
tory, as may be seen by the following official notice of the Mayor of ,
Memphis : —
"To the Citizens of Memphis: — Applications have repeatedly been made to me,
as executive officer of the city, for protection against indiscreet parties, who are
sent out to impress citizens into service against their will on steamboats. Many of
these men have been dragged from their beds, wives, and children, but never has there
been a man taken who had on a clean shirt. I hereby notify anv citizen who may wish -
a pass within the city of Memphis to call on me, and I will furnish the same, and will
see he will be protected. One poor man being shot yesterday by one of these outlaws,
as they may be called, causes me to give the above notice. ' John Paek, Mayor.
1 " August 16ft,"

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 129
The following notice issued in Virginia, is also significant :¦ — :
" All- the militia belonging to the Eighty-ninth Regiment Volunteer Militia are ordered
to meet at Oakland, on Monday next, as early as they can, in order to march to head
quarters,, Winchester, forthwith; and I would make a friendly request of those men
that failed to go before^ for them" to turn out now, like true/hearted Virginians, and
what they have done will be looked over, but if they do not regard this call, they
will work their own ruin. They can never be citizens of Virginia, and their property
will be confiscated. The General will send a troop of horse to Morgan as soon as we
leave, and all those men that fail to do their duty will be hunted up, and what the
consequence will be 1 am unable to say. ;l
"Samuel Johnstow, Col. 89th Regiment, V. M..
" July lUh, 1861."
As an indication of the temper of the times, the following, from a
Southern paper, expresses a degree of ferocity somewhat startling : —
"We unhesitatingly say that the cause of justice, and the cause of humanity itself,
demands, that the. black flag shall be unfurled, on every field — that extermination and
death shall be proclaimed against the hellish miscreants who persist in polluting, our
soil with their crimes. We will stop the effusion of blood, we will arrest the horrors
of war, by terrific slaughter of the foe, by examples of overwhelming and unsparing
vengeance. ¦ When Oliver Cromwell massacred the garrison of Drogheda, suffering
not a man to escape, he justified it on the ground that his object was to bring the war
to a close— to stop the effusion of blood — and that it was, therefore, a merciful act on
his part. ¦ The- South can afford no longer to trifle — she must strike the most fearful
blows — the war-cry of extermination must be raised."
That this was not mere idle newspaper bluster, numerous occurrences
in different parts of the country fully demonstrate. An instance may
suffice. The Nashville (Tenn.) Courier says : —
"We learn that a squad of twelve men were sent to Franklin yesterday, to arrest
some Lincolnites. They had collected to the number of twelve or fifteen at the house
of one of their number, one Bell; and defying the party, fired at them, killing one
man, said to be Lee, of Jiouisville, and wounding one or two more.1 Our men then
charged the house,, and set fire to it, burning it and all of the men in it, it is believed,
but two, who escaped."
John Beman, a watchman employed on a Southern steamboat, who
had a family in Boston, was arrested by a committee, for opinions ex
pressed against the Confederacy. The committee proposed to forgive
him if he would take an oath to support the Southern States. , He
indignantly repelled the proposition, and said he would die first, when
they immediately hung him. Volumes would not suffice to relate the
acts of cruelty perpetrated on unoffending men in what was claimed
to be the interests of Southern independence.
Such proceedings, vigorously pressed, stifled all open expression of
opinions opposed to the South, and, as a matter of course, no news
papers were tolerated that did not support the Confederate Govern
ment. Attempts were made to overawe or purchase the Louisville
(Kentucky) Journal, but without success. The Knoxville (Tennessee)
Whig was edited by W. G. Brownlow, who steadily; advocated
the Union cause. He was forced to suspend its publication, and, in
his farewell address to his readers, said, that he would neither give a
bond to keep the peace, nor take an oath to support the Jeff. Davis
9

130 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.
Confederacy. He was indicted by the grand jury for treason, because,
as he said, he refused to publish -garbled accounts of skirmishes in
Kentucky, and other articles, the insertion of which in his sheet was
insisted upon by the rebels. This gentleman, known as Parson
Brownlow, after a long imprisonment, was -allowed to visit the
Northern States, where he addressed large audiences, giving an ac
count of the cruelties inflicted on Union men, and published a narrative
of bis own sufferings.
- . Not only were Northern citizens deprived of their property and of
all legal, redress, but they were banished from the States, and for
bidden to return even to look after their rights, under penalty of arrest.
Measures were taken also to prevent any further immigration here-
softer from the North, in order to prevent the growth of anti-secession
sentiments ; and not only was no diversity of opinion tolerated among
the Southern people, but their personal liberty and property were all
at the disposal of the Government to carry on the war for disunion.
The advent of civil war, under the extraordinary circumstances that
marked the accession of Mr. Lincoln to power, involved the Federal
Executive in proceedings which called up lively discussions in relation
ibo his power, under the Constitution. No Government ever before
occupied so singular and trying a position as was forced upon that
which came into power March 4th, 1861. The process of breaking up
the Union had been going on for many years, and had culminated
under the Administration of Mr. Buchanan, whose cabinet contained
at least three members who were only waiting the signal to leave the
Government of the Union and join the ranks of the Southern Con
federacy. Mr. Thompson, Secretary of the Interior, was known to
have acted as a secession envoy to North Carolina, even while he held
a seat as a member of the Federal Cabinet. Mr. Cobb, Secretary of
the Treasury, resigned to assume his seat as a member of the Southern
Convention ; and Mr. Floyd, Secretary of War, followed in the same
direction, after having plundered the Northern armies and arsenals to
furnish arms to the South for the anticipated strife. Under the
gradual development of the plan of secession, the whole Federal
patronage had been designedly so bestowed as to fill the important
subordinate offices with men who favored the Southern movement,
and who had nothing to expect from the incoming Administration.
A large number of the officers of the army and navy were waiting to
resign at the signal of secession, and range themselves in opposition
to the Government. The patronage of the Government under, such
an Administration, it was evident, had been used in furthering the
views of the leading and active members. The diplomatic corps
abroad and the incumbents of office at the North were most of them
inclined to thwart the action of the new Administration, and in their
train was a large number of active men on whom the Government
could not depend, if it had no open opposition to encounter. The
new Administration found itself thus completely in the power of the
secession party, and all its secrets, from the Cabinet debates to the
details of orders, _ were known to the South. The bureaus of the
departments, the judiciary, the army and navy, and the public offices

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 131
were filled with persons who were eagerly watching to catch up and
transmit every item of information that might aid the Confederates,
or thwart the Government. Under such circumstances, the Executive
was driven to proceedings very different from those which were rec
ognized in time of peace. The prompt and vigorous arrest of all
suspected persons was, under these circumstances, necessary for present
safety, aud as a means of intimidating those disposed to oppose the
Government. In some of these proceedings it was admitted that he
had overstepped his authority ; but it was believed that the exigencies
of the case, and the support of public opinion at the North, fully
justified such possible infractions of the organic law of the country, as
necessary to the public safety.
During the year a number of citizens were arrested and imprisoned,
by order of the Federal Government, for alleged treasonable conduct,
without the usual process of law, and whenever the bodies of these
prisoners were demanded under a writ of habeas corpus, their delivery
was refused. The writ was suspended by the President, and the
question was raised, whether, under the Constitution, the power to
suspend it pertained to the President or to Congress. In the case of
John Merryman, a citizen of Maryland, arrested on the 25th of May,
the application for a writ of habeas corpus was made to Roger B.
Taney, Chief-Justice of the United States, who issued it. General
Cadwallader, to whom the writ was directed, refused to obey, alleging
that the President had authorized him in such cases to suspend the
writ. The Chief-Justice then ordered an attachment to issue against
General Cadwallader, but the officer who went to Fort McHenry to
serve it was not admitted. The Chief-Justice then prepared and sent
to the President an opinion, in which he took ground adverse to his
power to suspend the writ. The President referred the question to
the Attorney-General, Hon. Edward Bates, as the constitutional adviser
and law officer of the Government. Mr. Bates, on the 5th of July,
rendered an elaborate opinion on the questions at issue, which were,
whether the President had the right to arrest persons on suspicion of
intercourse with the insurgents, and if he was justified in refusing to
obey a writ of habeas corpus, sued out to ascertain whether the
alleged suspicions were just. The answer was in the affirmative. The
opinion of the Attorney-General was : —
" Unity of power is the great principle recognized in Europe ; but a plan of ' checks
and balances,' forming separate departments of Government, and giving to each depart
ment separate and limited powers, has been adopted here. These departments are co
ordinate and coequal; that is, neither being sovereign, each is independent in its
sphere, and not subordinate to the others, either of them or both of them together.
If one of the three is allowed to determine the extent of its own powers, and that of
the other two, that one can, in fact, control the whole Government, and has become
sovereign. The same identical question may come up legitimately before each one of
the three departments, and be determined in three different ways, and each decision
stand irrevocable, binding upon the parties to each ease, for the simple reason that tho
departments are co-ordinate, and there is no ordained legal superior with power to re
vise and reverse their decision. To say that the departments of our Government are
co-ordinate, is to say that the judgment of one of them is not binding upon the other
two, as to the arguments and principles involved in the judgment. This independence
of the departments being proved, and the Executive being the active one, bound by

132 HISTORY OF THE 'GREAT REBELLION.
oath to perform certain duties, he must be therefore of necessity the sole judge both
of the exigency which requires him to act, and of the manner in which it is most pru
dent for him to employ the powers intrusted to him, to enable him to discharge liis
constitutional and legal duties."
Hon. Reverdy Johnson, of Maryland, a constitutional lawyer of
note, also published an opinion on the subject, in which he reviewed
the opinion of Chief-Justice Taney, and demonstrated its error. The
power of the suspension of the writ he showed to have been intended,
by the very terms in which it was authorized in the Constitution, to
inhere in the Executive and the Executive only, and that the Chief-
Justice had himself so decided in the case of Luther and Borden, in
1 Howard, 1. He also showed that Alexander Hamilton, one of the
framers of" the Constitution, had, in his essays on that document,
expressly assigned the power to the President, to which Mr. Madison^
another of the framers, in his review of those essays, had tacitly
assented; and that President Jackson had exercised it without ob
jection. The persons thus arrested and imprisoned by the Executive being
for the most part those who had sought to overthrow the Government,
little public sympathy was manifested in their behalf; and even if
mistakes were made in individual cases, it was considered that these
were inevitable under such complicated circumstances.
The Judges of the United States Courts expressed their opinions
very decidedly in regard to these aiders and abettors of treason.
Judge Betts, of the United States District Court at New York, in a
charge to the Grand Jury, thus defined treasonable acts, and pointed
out what constituted misprision of treason : —
" Giving aid or comfort to the enemies of the country consists in furnishing them
military supplies, food, clothing, harbor or concealment, or communicating information
to them, helping their hostilities against the country and its Government.
" It is most probable that complaints will be laid before you under this branch and
definition of the crime. Within it will be included acts of building, manning, or in
any way fitting out or victualling vessels to aid the hostilities of our enemies ; send
ing provisions, arms, or other supplies to them ; raising funds, or obtaining credit for
their service ; indeed, every traitorous purpose manifested by acts, committed in this
district by persons owing allegiance to tho country, will be acts of treason. It is not
necessary that the accused should have raised or created war by his own acts; he
levies war by acting with those who have set it on foot, or by seizing or holding ports,
or like acts of hostile aggression. The kindred crime of misprision of treason is this:
If any person owing allegiance to the Government, has knowledge of acts of treason,
committed by others within the jurisdiction of the court, and does not make it known
to the President of the United States, or one of the judges of the United States, or the
Governor of the State, or a judge or magistrate thereof, he becomes guilty of misprision
of treason, and subject to seven years' imprisonment, and a fine of one thousand dollars
for the offence ; and it is the duty of the Grand Jury to present for trial therefor such
offender, whatever may be his individual connection or relationship with the offender."
In the Circuit Court of the United States for New York, Judge
Nelson, at a later day, thus defined the overt act of treason :—
" There is more difficulty in determining what constitutes the overt act under the
second clause of the Constitution— namely, adhering to the enemy/giving him aid and
comfort. Questions arising under this clause must depend very much upon the facts
and circumstances of each particular case. There are some acts of the citizen, in his
relations with the enemy, which leave no room for' doubt— such as giving intelligence

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 133
with intent to aid him in his act of hostility ; sending him provisions or money ; fur
nishing arms, or troops, or munitions of war; surrendering a military post, &c, all
with a like intent. These and kindred facts are overt acts of treason, by adhering to
the enemy. Words, oral, written, or printed, however treasonable, seditious, or crimi
nal of themselves, do not constitute an overt act of treason within the definition of
the crime. When spoken, written, or printed in relation to an act or acts which, if
committed with a treasonable design, might constitute such overt act, they are admis
sible as evidence, tending to characterize it, and show the intent with which the aet
was committed. They may also furnish some evidence of the act itself against the
accused. This is the extent to which such publications may be used, either in finding
a bill of indictment or on the trial of it."
The sympathy of the masses of the people with the Government,
and their hostility to those who advocated treason or sought to justify
the acts of the conspirators against the Union, was manifested in the
very commencement of the rebellion. In New York City the offices
of the Herald, Journal of Commerce, Daily News, Day Book, and
Express, were visited, on the 16th and 17th of April, 1861, by excited
crowds, and compelled to raise the American flag. Some of these
papers required only this hint to lead them to change their course,
which had been opposed to the suppression of rebellion by force of
arms; others, and among them the Journal of Commerce, the News.,
the Day Book, and the Freeman's Journal, continued to attack the
Government, and were at length seized and forbidden to be circulated
in the mails or by express. The Journal of Commerce changed
editors, and was then allowed to circulate through the mails. The
News and Day Book were stopped, and the Freeman's Journal
appeared under a new name and with moderated tone. In several
instances grand juries presented papers of this description, and this
generally proved sufficient to lead them to change their course. In
six instances, -the offices were assailed and destroyed by mobs, viz. : the
Democratic Standard of Concord, N. H. ; the Democrat of Bangor,
Me. ; the Essex County Democrat, at Haverhill, Mass. ; the Bridgeport
Farmer, at Bridgeport, Conn.; the Jeffersonian, at West Chester,
Penn.; and the Sentinel, at Easton, Penn. ; and in one instance only,
that of the Essex County Democrat, the editor was taken from his
house and subjected to personal indignities. The rioters in this case
were arrested and punished. This exercise of mob authority was
opposed by good citizens, and was speedily repressed. At the same
time the feeling was very general that the authority of Government
should be exercised to control, and if needful suppress those public
prints which thus openly aided the rebellion. In a few instances of
the most aggravated character, not exceeding ten, the Government did
interfere for the suppression of such papers; and singularly enough, in
four instances these were professedly religious periodicals. The papers
thus suppressed were the Christian Observer of Philadelphia, which
was principally owned in Richmond, Va.; the Christian Advocate of
St. Louis; the True Presbyterian and the Western Recorder of Louis
ville, which were suffered to go on again after a short period on
promise of better behavior, a promise which was subsequently
violated; the War Bulletin, Missourian, and Evening News, of St.
Louis; the True American, of Trenton, N. J.; the Franklin Gazette,

134 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.
of Franklin, N. Y.; and possibly one or two other papers of small
circulation. The repeated and determined efforts of the Confederate Government
to send agents and ministers to the European courts to advocate their
cause, a measure difficult of execution in consequence of the blockade;
as also the frequent arrival of those who had been engaged in political
or financial negotiations abroad for the benefit of the Southern Con
federacy, led the Government to keep a watchful eye on the movements
of passengers, and finally to organize a passport system for those who
desired to visit Europe, as well as for those returning thence to this
country. This at first occasioned some uneasiness, as it had always
been our boast that there were no restrictions upon the freedom of
transit to or from the United States; but the good effect of the measure
was apparent in the arrest by its means of persons who would other
wise have been of great service to the Southern Confederacy.
The confiscation act of Congress having authorized the seizure of the
property of those who were in rebellion against the Government, when
that property was found within the loyal States, money and other
personal property, and vessels, belonging to persons identified with the
rebellion, were seized to a considerable amount. Ultimately, it having
appeared to? the Government that in many cases the information on
which seizures were based was the result of personal hostility or greed,
and that in some cases the seizures had done injustice to parties really
loyal, they were discontinued. In no case were money, bonds, or
promissory notes retained by Government where it was not evident
that they were intended to be used directly for the rebellion; a course
of conduct in marked contrast with that of the Confederate leaders,
which we have already exhibited.

CHAPTER XI.
Modern Art of War. — Great Wars of Europe.— New Principles.—" Strategy."—
"Tactics."— Formation of Soldiers. — Education of Officers. — Scientific Aspect of the
Present War. — McClellan's Order. — Restoration of Discipline. — Army Organization.
— Inactivity of the Enemy. — His Projects. — Hatteras Occupied. — General Fremont
in Missouri.— Battle of Dug Springs.— Battle of Wilson's Creek.— Death of Lyon.—
Retreat of the Army under Sigel. — Martial Law. — Position of Forces. — Colonel
Blair's Charges.— Fremont's Proclamation.— Manumission.— Capture of Lexington.—
Advance of Fremont.— Retreat of Price.— Major Zagonyi.— Fremont Relieved.
The modern art of war, as perfected by the great captain of the
present century, may be said never to have been practised upon this
continent previous to the present contest. The old colonies developed
their independence after a protracted struggle, under the defensive
military genius of the father of his country, operating with rare judg
ment on the old maxims of the art. The determined valor, endurance,
and devotion of the men of the Revolutionary armies were important
elements of success, and in the course of the struggle, much native

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 135
practical military capacity was evolved. Happily for the country,'
with the close of the struggle, peace brought with it other pursuits,
and the military art fell, if not into disrepute, at least into disuse. The
United States were too distant from the powers of Europe to be
involved in those cabals, intrigues, and coalitions, which had there
prolonged the struggle against Republican France through twenty
years of bloodshed, and which were fatal to Poland, and to the inde
pendent action of most small powers. So completely isolated was the
American Union, that, in accordance with the farewell advice of
Washington, it had no "foreign policy." If the Academy at West
Point educated a certain number of young men in the theory of war,
there was never any field of action for the fruits of those studies to
develop themselves. In Europe, on the other hand, during the quarter
of a century which followed American independence, war on a grand
scale was conducted under the greatest military genius of any age.
That he was a graduate of a military academy may, in some degree, ,
have aided his progress. But he was certainly not indebted to the
teachings of professors for his wonderful Success. On the contrary,
they had failed to discover any thing remarkable in the student. The
general principles then taught may be said to have been by him
reversed. Thus the broad rule that an army occupying a central
position between two others, would necessarily be defeated, because
exposed to simultaneous attacks on each flank, he demonstrated was
only relatively true, and that in fact such a central army occupied the
strongest position, if properly handled ; concentrating a strong force at
, . the decisive point, it could meet and assail one army, in time to return
and overwhelm the other. Following the same principle, France,
holding a central position in regard to Europe, instead of being weak
in consequence, was strong, so long as her internal connections were
open, and her force concentrated. A revolution Was also produced in
the old maxims in relation to fortified places. Their value fell
immensely before the active movements of the French. It was ascer
tained that they were of themselves not formidable, unless they were
the key or gateway to some important district. A mere fort that
commanded no necessary route was found to be of little value, and the
powerful combination of columns was much more effective than spade-
work, in the hands of an able commander. These ideas were novel,'
and he conquered Europe in illustrating them. When the Austrian
power held Italy, and he, with forty thousand ill-clad, ill-armed, and
ill-provided, but veteran troops, turned the Alps and made his attack'
at Montenotte, the chances were very far from being in his favor; but
genius in conception, power of combination, rapidity of movement, and
unparalleled vigor in execution soon did their work upon the legions of
Austria, and the veteran marshals, retiring before the blows of the
" sans culotte," exclaimed in disgust, " Who ever saw such tactics !"
Up to that time the difference between "strategy" and "tactics"
Was ill defined. The latter had been as old as the art of war itself.
The former was the consequence of dealing in war on a large scale.
The master-mind on the broad field of Europe, with numerous armies
to move, deduced broader principles from more numerous and ex-

136 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.
tended facts. "Tactics" pertains to handling an army in the field;
"strategy", projects the campaign, and directs the movement of the
armies. "Tactics" fights the battle; "strategy" teaches when and
where to fight it, and under what conditions. It remained for the
master-mind of Napoleon to apply the doctrine of "long chances" to
war; that is, so to arrange and plan his campaign that if often battles
he should lose seven, yet the results of the three gained would be
such as to give him the campaign. The campaign ending at Marengo
is an instance in point. While Napoleon was preparing to cross the
Alps, Massena held Genoa with an obstinate valor that immortalized
his name, with the view of detaining the Austrians in that corner of
Italy, until the Grand Army should have gained their rear. This was
accomplished, and the French troops were so disposed along the only
route between the Alps and the Apennines by which Melas could'
retreat, that he would require to win six battles to get through,
whereas the loss of one was ruin. That one he lost at Marengo.
Therefore, when the English historian, Alison, wrote that the charge
of Kellermann at Marengo "placed the crown on Napoleon's head,"
he showed a want of appreciation of the military situation, since the
gain of that battle and four others would not have saved Melas from
destruction if he had lost the sixth.
It is a remarkable fact that in the history of the world there have
been but about fifteen battles which drew after them such consequences
as decided a war. Such a battle was Austerlitz, which was the result
of masterly " strategic " movements which brought the Allies to fight at
that place, and of consummate "tactical" skill which utterly destroyed
them in the field. When Napoleon sat on his horse that misty morn
ing, surrounded by his generals,, with his cold gray eyes fixed with
grim satisfaction on the movements of the Alhed generals, as with
presumptuous fatuity they marched their troops by the flank, from left
to right, he quietly restrained the ardor of his lieutenants by admonish-,
ing them "never to interrupt an enemy while he was making a
mistake." " If," said he, " you stop him now, it will be an ordinary
battle; let him complete his movement, and we shall destroy him."
The result was, that before the glorious " sun of Austerlitz " had set,
the Allied centre was taken, and the victory won. This was but a
repetition of what had occurred years before on a smaller scale, on the
plateau of Rivoli. An Austrian force had there passed to the left and
rear of the French, who looked uneasily over their shoulders at what
they thought a danger. "Those people are ours," said the young
commander; "we will take them at our leisure." The unerring
sagacity with which the required blow was discerned, and the celerity
and vigor with which it was delivered, astounded alike friend and foe.
When shut up in Mantua, with the immense Austrian armies approach
ing, Napoleon did not dig and " work i' the earth," but sallied out,
chose his battle-field, made the bridge of Arcole famous while the
world stands, destroyed his enemies, and returned in triumph. Never
theless, the ablest generals said he had no plan, and was fighting by
hazard. Thus, when the army invaded Spain, and was stopped before
the pass of the Somosierra, a steep acclivity, at the top of which the

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 137
guns of thirteen thousand Spanish troops were in position, the French
generals reported the place impassable. Napoleon reconnoitred in
person, ordered, the Polish legion to charge up the pass, and take the
guns. They did so, and the army proceeded. Such a movement was
out of all rule, and was pronounced foolhardy. But genius is above all
rules. The prompt application of common sense to the exigencies of
the moment is a mark of genius. Thus an obvious want of prompt
conveyance foi- men, where the necessity exists, of combining the
strongest force on a given point, as well in the "strategy " of .a cam
paign as in the " tactics "' of the battle-field, produced continual
changes. For this end Napoleon organized the voltigeurs, or regi
ments of infantry, acting with regiments of cavalry. When required
at certain points on the battle-field, the infantry man vaults behind the
horseman, and a double force is thus transported with celerity to, a
given point. Thisinnovation produced great discussion among military
martinets and theorists — as to whether an infantry soldier was any
better for being taught cavalry exercise. A pamphlet war raged
fiercely on the subject, while the real motive of the master-mind that
directed the organization was not at all comprehended.
The vast strategic abilities of the great captain were not shared by
his lieutenants, great as they were as "tacticians." The battle once
arranged, each fulfilled his duties in a masterly manner. Thus of
Lannes, the emperor remarked, that he found him a " pigmy, and left
him a giant," referring to the ability with which, as a tactician, he
could handle twenty thousand men on the battle-field. Soult,, he said,
was the "only military head" in Spain, under Joseph. He could
bring his army into the field, and properly place it, but could go no
further. When Napoleon himself was in Spain, driving the English,
under Sir John Moore, before him, he heard of the approach of the
Archduke Charles, the first general of the Allies, upon Ratisbon, with
two hundred thousand Austrians; he hastened to the spot, and found
his own immense army so misplaced that he said to Bessieres, " If I
did not know your friendship, I should think you were betraying me."
He spent the night receiving reports, and issuing his orders to the
various corps, and thus brought about those marvellous results on the
following day which caused Wellington to exclaim, "The art of war
was never perfected until now." The same strategic combination
directed his armies with fatal effect upon the Allies at Lutzen and
Bautzen, when, after the Russian campaign, he was struggling against
combined Europe. The several corps fulfilled their orders with the
usual vigor, and on the field of Bautzen all that saved the Allies from
annihilation, was the hesitation of Ney to follow up his advantage,
from a misunderstanding of the "strategical" combination, although
Jomini, present with him in the field, advised him to develop his blow.
The Allied generals were slow to learn, and unable to compete with
the great captain. When prolonged war had weakened the resources
of France, and Europe was banded in vast numbers against him, their
theory was not to fight, but to elude his grasp. The conquest of
Europe under such a leader was effected by lieutenants, each of whom
in his own person represented the highest order of some species of

138 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.
military talent, and these talents had been drawn out in a lifetime of
camp duty; but very few, if any, of the lieutenants ever arrived at the
necessary ability to manage an independent corps of fifty thousand
men in the field. Without the master-mind, the vast power of France
ceased to be formidable to the Overwhelming numbers brought agamst
her. In the early days of the French Revolution, vast numbers of
men were sent to the frontiers to defend the country, and these
gradually became veteran soldiers of the best description. From their
ranks rose the celebrated marshals who were the instruments of
Napoleon's glory. But the draft was too great upon the male popula
tion of France, and as the struggle was prolonged through the life
of a generation, although the genius of the emperor remained, the
material of execution began to fail, and disaster closed the wars of the
empire. The United States have now reached a position where not only have
armies and military ability become necessary to the safety of the na
tion in its integrity, but Europe has been brought nearer to us by
steam, and other empires are becomipg consolidated to the continent,
in such a manner as to make a foreign policy necessary, as well in re
gard to Canada, Mexico, and South America, as to Europe. The
great conflict between the North and the South, like the revolution of
France, has had the effect of calling over a million of men from peace
ful pursuits to the camps, and experienced foreigners agree that no
nation ever presented finer material for soldiers. The difficulty at the
outset Was not a want of oflicers who had studied the military theory,
but of those who had so constantly applied the principles of science to
actual warfare, as to have them all at command to apply with prompt
energy at the critical moment. It is evident that a man who, twenty
years ago, read medicine for a few months only, and then went into
some other pursuit, is not a physician to be compared to him who has
jnlployed his life in continual practice at the bedside. The military
science, equally with all others, requires practical experience. The
greatest writers on the science in Europe were very indifferent com
manders in the field. It is for these reasons that with such un
equalled material for troops, and such lavish resources, patience be
came the chiefest of public virtues. General Scott, it is true, per
formed a brilliant, short, and effective campaign in Mexico, but it will
be remembered that he was a life-long commander, of considerable
natural skill, and that his command, composed of regular troops
mostly, was, after all, but a trifle in numbers as compared with any of
the corps now in the field. In relation to the " tactical aspects " of the
contest, it will be observed that the Union troops at the commence
ment of the war occupied an immense line, running from the Potomac
to the Mississippi, and another running on the Atlantic coast down to
the Gulf of Mexico ; while the enemy held the centre of the region
enclosed by these lines, which, as we have seen of France in respect to
Europe, is the strong position. The law of strategy in this case re
quires the party occupying the circumference to close his circle, and
gradually contract it. But no commander or nation ever before had
So vast a circle to close. The enemy, in accordance with the same,

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 139
laws, was required to concentrate his force, remain on the defensive at
all points, keeping his internal communications always clear, and pre
pared to direct his condensed columns against the first opposing army
that should approach. He held what is known in military parlance as
"interior lines;" that is to say, a greater number of Confederate troops
could reach a given point at a given time than of Federal troops, un
less the latter should be so enormously superior in numbers as to make
any resistance to them hopeless. This, however, was by no means the
case at that stage of the war of which we are now writing, and it will be
seen in the course of this narrative how the rebels, by a skilful use of
their interior lines, for years baffled the efforts of the best Federal
generals to penetrate to the heart of the revolted territory.
In the following pages we shall observe expeditions sent to hold
each of the Atlantic cities, thus forming a chain on that line ; and on
the northern line a succession of armies, which have to perform a left-
wheel movement, turning on the army of McClellan in front of Wash
ington. The whole, in so moving, must preserve the line like the
simple left-wheel of a single platoon, because the army which out
marches the others so as to lose their support, will be crushed by a
vigilant enemy. The whole line will then be broken.
In resuming the thread of military events from the defeat of Ma
nassas, it may be considered that preparations for the war were but
fairly commenced with the recovery of the public mind from the effects
of that disaster. The whole movement, from the attempt to re-enforce
Fort Sumter in the beginning of April, had been irregular and spas
modic. It was impelled by the first impatient burst of popular enthu
siasm, and had not been prepared or directed by the sagacious foresight
which important movements require. If the secession movement at
the South had been long planned and deliberately considered, with all
the contingencies foreseen and the necessities of the case provided for,
such had not been the case at the North. The last session of the
thirty-seventh Congress had passed away amidst vain attempts at com
promise on the part of the minority, to which the majority only op-,
posed a *+ masterly inactivity," while the impression was disseminated
that no outbreak would take place. The fall of Sumter, the sudden
activity of the Executive, the calling out of the militia, the hasty
assembling of troops, the hurried marches, and the premature attacks,
were all apparently impulsive, without any deliberately considered pol
icy, andj as was but natural, the result was by no means encouraging.
All the armies that were forming, and which composed the aggregate of
two hundred and forty thousand men reported by the Secretary of
War on the meeting of Congress, felt the paralyzing influence of the
defeat at Bull Run. The force at Fortress Monroe, under General
Butler, was diminished in order hastily to re-enforce Washington.
General Banks evacuated Harper's Ferry, and. concentrated nearer to
Washington, at Point of Rocks, where he was anxiously watching
Western Maryland.
The Army of the Potomac was now massed for the protection of
Washington, and General Wool, appointed on the 20th of August to
the command of Fortress Monroe, found little beside Newport News

140 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.
and the fortress itself in -his possession. In Western Virginia, Rose--
crans, the successor of McClellan, held his position and commanded
the key of the mountain passes. The seventy-five thousand militia, or
what was left of them, who had been called out for three months, had
returned to their homes, and their places were more than filled by a body
of stalwart volunteers, who had enlisted for three years or the war,
but who, though furnishing the best material for soldiers in the world,
were as yet utterly undisciplined. The Confederate force was scarcely
so strong as ours ; had it been, the Capital would have been in serious
danger. The brilliant victories of Rich Mountain and Beverly had
given a prestige to the name of General McClellan, which seemed to
justify the Government in calling him to the work of organizing this
rapidly increasing mass of volunteers into a well-ordered, well-dis
ciplined army. There was no lack of money, and the munitions of war
were becoming abundant; but the formation of an army required time
andpatience, and the people, convinced of this by the sad disaster of -
Bull Run, were disposed to grant both. They felt that henceforth it
was no holiday work in which they were engaged. The Southern vol
unteers, inflamed to hate of the North by the artful proclamations and
appeals of their leaders, were a more formidable foe than they had
been supposed, and though not the equals of the Northern soldiery in
steady, persistent valor, they were brave, and under able and, efficient
leaders. It was felt, indeed, that there was some danger of European inter
ference, which the desire for cotton, the eagerness for free trade, and
the misrepresentations of the agents of the Confederacy, combined
with the disaster of Bull Run, seemed likely to provoke. Such an
interference the aristocratic element in Great Britain and the friends
of despotism in France would have rejoiced to see ; but, fortunately,
the scanty and insufficient crops of England and France, and the
necessity of procuring breadstuff's from us, bound these two great
powers to keep the peace ; and thus, enormous as was the expendi
ture, there was time for the needful delay.
When the Army of the Potomac retired upon Washington, many
regiments were in a state of demoralization. Military duties were, to
a considerable extent, abandoned, and disorderly troops, with the re
mains of their equipments, crowded the streets. The bars and hotels
were filled with officers whose commands were scattered and disorgan
ized. The citizens were uneasy, and the small shop-keepers trembled
for their little stores. There was no efficient head to enforce obedience
or restore order. In the midst of this condition of affairs, General
McClellan was called ii-om Western Virginia to take command, the
extent of which was designated in the following order : —
"Wab Dkpartithht, Adjutant-General's Office,
"Washington, July 15th, 1861.
" There will be added to the Department of th« Shenandoah the counties of Wash
ington, Alleghany, in Maryland, and such other parts of Virginia as may be covered
by the army in its operations. And there will be added to the Department of Wash
ington the! counties of Prince George, Montgomery, and Frederick'. The remainder
of Maryland, and of all Pennsylvania and Delaware, will constitute the Department of

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 141
Pennsylvania; head-quarters, Baltimore. The Department of Washington and the
Department of North-eastern Virginia will constitute a geographical division under
Major-General McClellan, United States Army, head-quarters, Washington."
On the following day, July 26th, General McClellan arrived in
Washington, and immediately set about the work of reform. On the
30th of July, amidst the prevailing confusion, the following order ap-

" Head-Quarters, Division of the Potomac,
" Washington, July 30th, 1861.
" The General commanding the division has with much regret observed that large
numbers of officers and men stationed in the vicinity of Washington are in the habit of
frequenting the streets and hotels of the city. This practice is eminently prejudicial
to good order and military discipline, and must at once be discontinued.
" The time and services of all persons connected with this division ¦should be de
voted to their appropriate duties with their respective commands. It is therefore
directed that hereafter no officer or soldier be allowed to absent himself from his camp
and visit Washington, except for the performance of some public duty, or the trans
action of important private business, for which purposes written permits will be given
by the. commanders of brigades. The permit will state the object of the visit. Bri
gade commanders will be held responsible for the strict execution of this order.
" Colonel Andrew Porter, of the Sixteenth United States Infantry, is detailed for
temporary duty as provost-marshal in Washington, and will be obeyed and respected
accordingly. Colonel Porter will report in person at these head-quarters for instruc
tions. By command of "Max-Gen. McClellan.
' "S. Williams, Assistant Adjutant- General."
Colonel Porter, an active officer of the regular army, and a man of
great determination and vigor, at once organized his patrols, and,
while the guard-houses were speedily filled, the streets were emptied.
Washington, which went to bed, in very poor spirits one night, found
that the evil had vanished in twenty-four hours, and that the next
night she could sleep in peace. Another order, issued in support of
the former, followed, by which the evil was entirely remedied, and
the troops, confined to their quarters, began, to bend to the force of
discipline. The insubordination had previously reached to the extent
of open mutiny in a part of one or two regiments., The enforcement
of rigid discipline was as first distasteful to numbers, but the great
intelligence of the men came in aid of the efforts of the General, and
they were not slow in acknowledging the necessity and in submitting
to it cheerfully. Some discontented spirits required rooting out, but
the whole came gradually to feel the master's hand. The Spanish
General Lana, who had been at Washington on a visit, thus describes
the state of affairs in a letter of the same date as the order of General
McClellan, to an Havana journal:—
" It is necessary to see this place to be convinced of what is occurring, and to form
an idea of what an army is, composed of men without any military habits, and led
by officers — chiefs and generals — who are for the most part devoid of the necessary
knowledge.. Excepting the -w;ar material in, the transportation department, such as
wagons, gun-carriages, ambulances, &c, &c, which is magnificent, all else is a con
fusion of ill-clad men without any military instruction, and, what is worse, without
trying to acquire it, according to appearances, since during the time I remained there
I have seen them pass days and nights in the camps without doing any thing, with

142 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.
the exception of battalion drill for a short while in the morning and again, in the
evening." Mortifying to our national pride as was such a state of things,
announced by a foreigner, it was nevertheless not exaggerated, and
afforded evidence of the task that was to be accomplished. The new
general exerted himself to the utmost in urging forward troops, and
in one case a senator was so much impressed by his statements, that
he telegraphed, on his own responsibility, to the Governor of his
State, to send at once every regiment he could muster to Washington.
These exertions, added to those of the Administration, were soon fol
lowed by a stream of military setting into Washington to replace the
three-months' men departed, and the broken bands that had fallen
back from Manassas. These new troops were untainted by the de
moralization that marked the old ones. The material of some of the
Northern regiments could not be excelled. Splendid men, young, tall,
robust, intelligent, and accustomed to adventure, filled the ranks.
These, as they arrived, were sent over the river and put to incessant
drilling and the construction of field-works. At first they were em
ployed in the construction of a great abattis from Fort Ellsworth, at
Alexandria, across the front of the position, and gradually in the
formation of numerous camps. By the 1st of September there were
upwards of seventy-five thousand troops of all arms in the neighbor
hood of Washington, not including Banks's column at Harper's Ferry,
or the command of General Dix, at Baltimore. General McDowell
remained in command of the troops at Arlington. The head-quarters
of General McClellan were in Washington. Thus gradually, an army
was formed, and Washington encircled with defences. The men were
drilled and inured to camp duties, while the Government was using
every exertion to supply them with arms.
The laws which had passed Congress provided for two branches of
service — the volunteer and the regular army. The number of volun
teers was to be five hundred thousand, though, by the passage of two
bills, authority was inadvertently given for raising one million. They
were to serve for three years or during the war, and to be organized
into regiments of ten companies, each having from seventyrseven to
one hundred and one men, the maximum number of officers and men
in the regiment being one thousand and forty-six. From three to five
regiments formed a brigade, under a brigadier-general, and two or
more brigades a division, under a major-general. At first the most
experienced colonels served as acting brigadiers, and in some in
stances as acting major-generals ; but very soon a considerable number
of brigadier-generals and the requisite number of major-generals were
nominated by the President, and most of them confirmed by Congress.
The whole number ¦ of brigadier-generals thus confirmed, to the close
of the session of Congress in July, 1862, was one hundred and eighty.
In some instances these appointments were made as a reward for ser
vices rendered in raising recruits, &c, but for the most part the officers
appointed proved skilful and efficient commanders.
The pay of the volunteers was the same as that of the regular, army,
but in order to encourage the re-enlistment of the three^months' men,

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 143
and to fill up the ranks speedily, most of the States ami many of the
towns and counties added to' the emoluments of the men, by laws
making extra allowance of pay, and of monthly provision for such as
had families. These swelled the pay of volunteers to twenty dollars,
and in some cases more, per month. There were many complaints
among the volunteers in regard to food, but these seemed not on the
whole to be well founded, but arose from the change from home com
forts to camp life. No army in the world had better rations than the
troops of the United States, yet there was much dissatisfaction. Some
mutineers were sent to the Tortugas, and some organizations were
disbanded and others punished. At Fortress Monroe, General Butler
had to bring his guns to bear upon some mutinous men.
Notwithstanding the increase authorized in the regular army, the
inducements offered to volunteers were so much, greater that not one
of the new regiments was filled up. It was believed that, as it would
undoubtedly be necessary, at the close of the war, to maintain a con
siderably larger army than before, a sufficient number could at that
time be readily enlisted from the volunteers, and no special efforts
were made to recruit the new regiments to their maximum.
The question of increasing the number of cadets in the Military
Academy at West Point was discussed for a long time in Congress ;
but the country had suffered so severely from the treason of a large
number of the graduates of that institution, which had furnished a
President and all its ablest military leaders to the Southern Confed
eracy, that there was a strong opposition to any enlargement of the in
stitution, and the cadets in attendance were required to take an oath
of allegiance in a new form, by which they bound themselves to
maintain and defend the sovereignty of the United States, paramount
to any and all allegiance or fealty which they might owe to any State
or country whatsoever.
Congress also invested the President, as commander-in-chief of the
army and navy of the United States, with the indispensable power of
dismissing or removing officers at pleasure, without a court of inquiry,
as well as of assigning them positions of higher or lower rank, as he
might deem for the good of the service, and the successful prosecution
of the war.
By the month of September the Federal front on the Virginia side
of the Potomac, with a breadth of five miles from the river, had its
left a short distance below Alexandria, and its right near Lewinsville,
a distance of twenty-four miles, following the lines. The Potomac
forms a half-circle from Great Falls, eight miles above the chain bridge,
to Mount Vernon, eight miles below Alexandria. Thus the Federal
troops formed a crescent on the western side of the river, with Wash
ington as its convex side, and the Confederate troops touching the
river above and below, enclosed this half-circle. At Lewinsville the
Union right flank was on the east bank of the. river, under General
Banks whose head-quarters were at Poolesville. He there faced the
left flank of the Confederates, who held Leesburg, six or eight miles
west of the river. The whole Virginia side of the Potomac in that
region is rough and mountainous, and mostly covered with a dense

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

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 145
purposes, who were equal in discipline to their opponents and far
superior in numbers, and as these facts transpired a forward movement
began to be urged.
The Confederate forces which confronted Washington were not in
a condition particularly favorable to an offensive movement. They
had suffered a heavy loss in killed and wounded at Bull Run, and
their resources, whether in money, men, or munitions of war, were
less than those possessed by the Federal Government. Availing them
selves of the panic which followed the battle, they might have pressed
on, and possibly have taken, though they could, not have held, the
Federal Capital ; but as time passed their strength did not increase in
a ratio at all corresponding with that of the Federal forces, and the
repeated and successful attacks made upon the Southern coast during
the summer and autumn distracted their attention^and rendered them
cautious and fearful. The policy of their leading commander, General
Beauregard, whom the Confederate President had raised to the highest
rank in their army on the field of Bull Run, was one of defensive
rather than offensive warfare.
The want of means of transportation was one of the alleged causes
of the inactivity of the Confederates, but both General Lana and
Prince Napoleon, the latter of whom visited both the Union and rebel
lines in July, expressed the utmost admiration of the quality of the
mules and horses which are so abundant at the South. Without the
power to make a decided movement, the rebel troops acted in a man
ner to keep up the profound and unnecessary anxiety which occupied
the mind of the new Union commander, and their lines gradually ad
vanced on the right to within two and a half miles of .Alexandria,
while their left accumulated strength towards the Upper Potomac.
Winchester, connected by railroad with Harper's Ferry ; Strasburg, an
important town of the Shenandoah Valley, and communicating by the
Manassas Gap Railroad with Manassas Junction ; and Leesburg, already
mentioned, the terminus of the Alexandria, Loudon and Hampshire
Railroad, were each occupied by bodies of their troops. They had also
a force between Fairfax Court-House and Alexandria. As this dis
position was supposed to threaten Banks at Harper's Ferry, General
McClellan ordered that general to concentrate his forces nearer to
Point of Rocks. Likewise, by collecting boats in the creeks of the Poto
mac, below Washington, and erecting batteries at Aquia Creek, where
the railroad to Richmond commences, and also at Matthias Point,, they
were supposed to be aiming to cross the Potomac to Port Tobacco,
whence a march of twenty-five miles would bring them in the rear of
Washington. The time, however, passed away, and the Confederates
made no attempt, while every day the Union position was becoming
more impregnable and the army more perfect, either for defence or of
fence. On the 12th of September, General Smith made a successful
reconnoissance with two thousand men to Lewinsville, which; General
McClellan noticed in a special report, remarking at the close, "We
shall have no more Bull Run affairs." The following, general order
was issued in the first week in September: —
10

146 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.

" Head-Quarters Army of the Potomac, )
"Washington, September 6th, 1861. j
"The Major-General Commanding desires and requests that in future there may be
a more perfect respect for the Sabbath on the part of his command. We are fighting
in a holy cause, and should endeavor to deserve the benign favor of the Creator. Un
less in case of attack by the enemy, or some other extreme military necessity, it is
commended to the commanding officers that all work shall be suspended on the Sab
bath ; that no unnecessary movements shall be made on that day ; that the men shall,
as far as possible, be permitted to rest from their labors ; that they shall attend Divine
service after the customary Sunday morning inspection ; and that officers and men
alike use their influence to insure the utmost decorum and quiet on that day.
" The General Commanding regards this as no idle form. One day's rest in seven is
necessary for men and animals. More than this, the observance of the holy day of
the God of mercy and of battles is our sacred duty.
" George B. McClellan,
[Official.] % "Major-General Commanding.
"S. Williams, Assistant Adjutant- General."
On the 26th of August, the first of a series of naval expeditions, de
signed to occupy the sea-coast, in accordance with what was familiarly
known as the " Anaconda Plan," by which the Confederates were to
be encircled and their power of resistance crushed, as in the folds of
an anaconda, left E'ortress Monroe. Hatteras Inlet, on the coast of
North Carolina, had formed a convenient refuge for privateers, and a
number of steamers issued therefrom to prey on the Northern com
merce. It is an opening in the long sand-bank which encloses the
shallow sheets of water known as Albemarle and Pamlico Sounds, the
former of which receives the waters of the Roanoke and Chowan
Rivers, and the latter those of the Neuse and Pamlico. At this point
the Confederates had erected two works, Forts Clark and Hatteras,
mounting fifteen heavy guns, which it was determined to seize. The
naval force consisted of the Minnesota, flag-ship, with the steamers
Wabash, Monticello, Pawnee, and Harriet Lane, accompanying which
were eight hundred troops, under General Butler, in transports. On
the morning of the 28th, the fleet opened fire upon the forts, which
was returned by them with considerable activity, but with little effect.
At the close of the day the enemy still held out, and during the night
they were re-enforced. This proved, however, of little avail, as the
bombardment, which was renewed in the morning, was even more
destructive than on the previous day. General Butler also landed
several hundred men to attack the forts in the rear. Seeing that further
resistance was hopeless, the commander of Fort Hatteras, Samuel
Barron, of the Confederate navy, offered to surrender both works —
the officers to go out with side-arms, and the men to retire. This was
refused, and an unconditional surrender demanded by General Butler,
with which Commodore Barron was fain to comply.
This person, as a former officer of the United States navy, found, in
arms against his Government, had forfeited his life, and was justly
amenable to the penalty of treason in the first degree; but it was one
of the many exemplifications of the leniency which the United States
Government has . exercised towards prominent traitors when taken
prisoners, that he only suffered the imprisonment duo to ordinary

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.

147

prisoners of war. He was, at the time of his capture, assistant secre-
of the Confederate navy.
The prisoners numbered seven hundred and fifteen, oflicers and men.
Two forts, thirty-one cannon, only half of which were mounted, one
thousand stand of arms, and some ammunition, were also captured.
The losses in the forts were eight killed and a few wounded. None of
the United States forces were injured. The prisoners were brought
to New York.
The interest of the war now turned once more to the West, where
General Fremont had assumed command, July 26th, of the Depart
ment of the West, embracing Illinois, and the States and Territories
between the Mississippi and the Rocky Mountains. He established
his head-quarters at St. Louis, and made that the point for the gathering
of troops. He also located a camp at Jefferson City, for the recep
tion of Illinois and other volunteers, and placed it under the command
of General Pope,* who, on the 19th of July, issued a proclamation to
the people of North Missouri, stating that he had come to maintain
the authority of the Government.
Immediately on his arrival, General Fremont exerted himself to
raise and arm a force for the rescue of the State from the secessionists,
who were determined to possess it. Regiments of undisciplined troops
soon began to pour in, but there were neither arms nor equipments
sufficient for them, and the condition of things was critical. Cairo and
St. Louis were threatened by the large Confederate force at Columbus,
and below; while in South-western Missouri the gallant Lyon, who had
pushed on to Springfield, was in peril from the greatly superior force
of McCulloch and Rains, who were advancing to meet him, his own
little army being reduced meanwhile by the expiration of the term of
service of the Iowa three-months' regiments. He was, however, receiv
ing a considerable number of new recruits. General Fremont was
placed in a difficult position. His force at St. Louis, undisciplined and
poorly armed as it was, was hardly sufficient to resist an attack with
Buch force as the enemy could bring against it; and Cairo, a point of
the utmost strategical importance, was only defended by a handful of
disorganized troops. If he sent any re-enforcements to General Lyon,
they could hardly reach him in time, while their withdrawal would
seriously imperil St. Louis and Caira Forced to decide between

* John Pope was born in Illinois in 1S28, and
graduated at West Fointin 1842, at which time he
-was commissioned second- lieutenant of engineers.
He won his brevetas flrst-lieutenantnt Monterey,
in 1840, and as captain at Buena Vista, in 1847. In
1S49 he conducted the Minnesota exploring expe
dition, having accomplished which, he acted cs
topographical engineer in New Mexico, ftntil
lS03,.wnen he was assigned to the command- of
one of the expeditions to survey the rou t e of the
Pacific Katlroad. From 1S54 to 1869 he was
engaged in this work, during which time — viz.,
on the 1st of July, 1856 — he was promoted to a
captaincy in the corps of topographical engineers.
On the 17th of Mav, 1861, he was appointed a
brigadier-general of volunteers, and assigned to a
command in North Missouri. In December he
served in Central Missouri, under Genera) Halleck.
On the 17th of that month ho scattered the rebel

camp at Shawnee Mound. On the 18tb he surprised
another camp near Milford, and took some 1,301*
prisoners. Thiscampaignclearedthisdistrict On
the 14th of March, 1662, he captured New Madrid,
and on April 7th the rebel garrison of Island No.
Ten, amounting to nearly 7,000 men, for which
services he was made a major-general. He was
next appointed commander of a corps d'armee to
co-operate with Halleck in tho reduction of
Corinth. In June, 1862, he was assigned to tho
command of th"e Army of Virginia, over Fremont,
Banks, and McDowell, and on July 14th was
commissioned a brigadier-general in the regular
army. At the conclusion of the second Bull Eun
campaign, September S, be was relieved at his
own reqaest, and was assigned to the command
of the Department of the North-west, whence, in
the spring of 1865, he was transferred to that of
Missouri.

148

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.

such alternatives, he felt himself compelled to retain the force at his
command in a position to repel the expected assault on Cairo and St.
Louis. He was further led to adopt this course by the knowledge
that General Lyon's little army was composed of brave and disciplined
troops, well armed, and with a superior park of artillery, which could
be well handled by his experienced artillerists. At the most, if the
Federal troops were driven back from Springfield, the ground, could
soon be regained, while the capture of Cairo or St. Louis would be
disastrous to the Union cause.
Meantime General Lyon occupied Springfield with about six thousand
men, and eighteen guns. The Confederate Generals McCulloch, Rains,
Price, and Parsons were at Marysville, Arkansas, not far from the
Missouri line, drilling and organizing their troops. In the last days of
July they moved northward in two columns to Sarcoxie and Cassville,
and on the 1st of August commenced an advance towards Springfield.
Their force at this time was from twenty thousand to twenty-five
thousand. On the 1st of August, General Lyon ordered his troops to
rendezvous at Crane Creek, ten miles south of Springfield, with a view
of moving thence rapidly upon one of the rebel columns, and -over
whelming it before it could be joined by the other. With his reduced
force he was obliged either to do this or retreat.
The whole column was under the immediate command of Major-
General Lyon, while acting Brigadier-Generals Sweeny and Sigel, and
Major Sturgis, were intrusted with the most important subsidiary
charges. The march commenced at five o'clock on the afternoon of Angust
1st. The baggage-wagons, one hundred and eighty in number, were
scattered over a distance of three miles. The camp at Crane Creek
was reached about ten o'clock, the men marching slowly, and making
frequent halts to get the benefit of shade or water. On the following
day the march was continued to Dug Springs, where one of the
enemy's columns, under General Ben McCulloch, appeared in sight.
By feigning a retreat, Lyon enticed the enemy to advance, when he
suddenly turned upon them, and by a few well-directed shots drove
them away in confusion. He immediately occupied the battle-ground,
and found upon the field the bodies of forty killed, and forty-four
wounded, of the invaders. On the side of the Union troops, the loss
was eight or ten killed, and thirty wounded. McCulloch then marched
raptdly westward, and joined the main rebel column, under General
Sterling Price, which was moving from Sarcoxie upon Springfield, and
Lyon, finding their combined forces stronger than his own, fell back
upon the latter place, followed slowly by the enemy.
General Lyon, having rested his men, determined, on the 9th, to
attack the enemy in his camp at Wilson's Creek, ten miles south of
Springfield. Accordingly, his force was formed in two columns : the
main body under himself; the second under Colonel Sigel.* The first

* Franz Sigel was born in the Grand Dnchy of
Baden, in 1824, nnd wos educated In the military
school of Carlsruhe. He became chief urijutant
in the Baden army in 134,7, iwwl was called tlie best

artillerist in Germany. In the revolution of 1848
he was commander-in-chief of the revolutionary
army, and being defeated by an immense force,
migrated to tikis country in 1850. Ho was tat

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.

149

marched at five p. m. on the 9th, making a detour to the right, to
strike the northern point or left of the enemy's camp. They came
within sight of the enemy's fires at one o'clock, a. m., and halted
until dawn. A line of battle was then formed, and advanced until
the outposts of the enemy were driven in. The rebel camp extended
in a valley along Wilson's Creek for three miles, and followed the
bends of the stream to the north at its western extremity, and to the
south at the eastern. Sigel's column was to make an attack at the
latter point, the flank and rear of the enemy, while Lyon pushed the
line in front. At five a. m. the line of Lyon advanced with great
energy, taking the enemy by surprise and driving him in. He soon
brought up fresh troops, and the battle raged with great fury. Now,
however, it became apparent that the struggle was a most unequal one.
Although repeatedly driven back in confusion, the rebels, in con
sequence of their great preponderance in numbers, were enabled to
return again and again to the charge. Several hours of this sort of
work continued, when General Lyon, who had been in the thickest of
the fight, received two wounds, one in the head and one in the leg,
his horse being killed at the same time. He walked slowly to the
rear, saying, " I fear the day is lost." He then procured another horse,
and, swinging his hat in the air, called the troops nearest him to follow.
The Second Kansas gallantly rallied around him, headed by Colonel
Mitchell. In a few moments the colonel fell severely wounded ; about
the same time a fatal ball was lodged in the General's breast, and he
was carried from the field a corpse. " Thus gloriously fell as brave a
soldier as ever drew a sword — a man whose honesty of purpose was
proverbial — a noble patriot, and one who held his life as nothing when
his country demanded it of him."
The battle was sustained some time after the fall of Lyon, when
about noon the order to retire was given, the enemy having been
temporarily driven from the field, and the retreat upon Springfield
commenced. This was rendered a vital necessity from the fact that
Sigel's column, which numbered only twelve hundred men, had been
defeated, with the loss of five guns and a stand of colors. The dis
aster was attributed by General Sigel to the three-months' men. The
loss of his brigade was eight hundred and ninety-two men. The
whole Union loss was two hundred and twenty-three killed, including
General Lyon and a number of officers, seven hundred and twenty-
one wounded, and two hundred and ninety-two missing, out of some
what more than five thousand men engaged. The rebel loss, according
to their own account* was two hundred and sixty-five killed, eight
hundred wounded, and thirty missing. When the retiring Union

several months major of the Fifth New York
militia regiment, subsequently professor of mil
itary science at St Louis, and at the outbreak of
the rebellion became colonel of the Third Missouri
Volunteers, and acting brigadier under General
Lyon. He was made a brigadier-general in August,
1861, his commission dating from May 17th. He
made a famous retreat from Wilson's Creek ; was
present at the battle of Pea Eidee, February,
1862, for his skill in which battle ho was made

major-general, and received a command in West
ern Virginia. He served through Pope's Virginia
campaign, took a prominent part in tho second
battle of Bull Bun, and in September. 1862, was
appointed to command the Eleventh Army Corps.
He was relieved early in the following year. In
the spring of 1864 he commanded in the valley
of the Shenandoah, but having been twice badly
defeated, was relieved in May. In May, 1868, he
resigned his commission in the army.

150

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBEIXION.

troops reached Springfield, the command devolved upon Sigel, who
gave'orders for continuing the retreat towards Rolla, where it arrived
unmolested with its train on the 19th.
Meantime, the Confederates, under McCulloch, occupied Springfield,
and on the 12th the General issued an order congratulating the
troops on their victories, and enjoining the most scrnpuloxis respect for
private property. He also issued a proclamation to the people of
Missouri, calling upon Unionists to return to their homes, and assuring
them of protection, and avowing his intention to release Union pris
oners. He called upon them to choose their own destiny — to side
either with the North or the South.
, On the next day, General Pope, in Northern Missouri, issued a
proclamation regulating the free navigation of the Missouri River.
The defeat at Springfield left the most considerable interior points
of the State in the hands of the Confederates. The most important
military line south of the Missouri River, and west of Jefferson City,
is the Osage River. This fine was now almost completely in the
possession of the enemy. Bodies of .their troops held Warsaw, Tus-
cumbia, and Osceola ; and the most important strategical points on the
Missouri River, north of this line, viz., Kansas City, Lexington, and
Booneville, were unoccupied by the Unionists, and were exposed to
capture by the advance of either Hardee's or Price's forces from the
south, and the whole efforts of the Unionists were now directed to
the security of St. Louis and Jefferson City. For this purpose the
most essential strategical points against an attack from the south were
Rolla, Ironton, and Cape Girardeau. Ironton was easy of defence
from its superb natural advantages^ to which a few judiciously erected
batteries had added material, strength. Cape Girardeau was much
exposed, and its possession by the enemy would have given him control
of the Mississippi, and enabled him to send troops by boats to St.
Louis. There was, however, no force to send there. Rolla was the
most exposed. It was held by the remains of Lyon's army, which,
owing to the departure of the three-months' men, consisted of little
more than six thousand men.
General Sigel immediately went to St. Louis to arrange plans for
future operations with Major-General Fremont. His chief want was
artillery and cavalry, which the department was unable to supply.
Jefferson City was garrisoned by five thousand troops, under the
command of General Grant.* Fortifications were ordered to be

* Ulysses S. Grant is a native of Ohio, and was
born in 1822. He graduated at West Point in
184S, served in the Mexican war, and was second-
lieutenant and acting regimental quartermaster
of tho Fourth Infantry. For gallant conduct at
Molino del Key and Chapultepec he was brevetted
first-lieutenant and captain, in 1847 he was pro
moted to a first-lieutenancy, and In 1852 made
captain. Having resigned in 1853, he settled in
mercantile business in St. Louis and subsequently
in Galena ; but at the outbreak of the rebellion
was made colonel of the Twenty-first Regiment of
Illinois Volunteers, and having been appointed
brigadier-general, August, 1861, took command of
South-cast Missouri, with his head-quarters at

Cairo, ne occupied Pndacnh, Ky., on the 6th of
September; fought tho Confederates at Belmont
on the 7th of November; commanded at the cap
ture' of Fort DonelBon in February, 1862, and
at the severe battle of Shiloh in March ; and in
September was appointed commander of the Army
of west Tennessee, with head-quarters at Jack
son, Tennessee. On February 4th, 1868, he as
sumed command of the land forces before Vicks
burg; in the succeeding May defeated the enemy
at Champion Hills and Big Black River bridge,
and on the 18th occupied Haines's Bluff, and com
pleted tho investment of Vicksburg. On July
4th he received the surrender of the place from
General Penabertou. la October he was appointed

HISTOEY OE THE GREAT REBELLION.

151

erected, and home guards organized, as had been done in St. Louis,
with a view to secure proper defences for the Capital at the least
possible expense of men.
The forces of McCulloch and Price * were meanwhile slowly advan
cing towards the north. After having issued the proclamation at Spring
field, McCulloch, who was profuse in protestations of mild treatment,
released most of his prisoners unconditionally, and sent them home. .
This was supposed to have been intended to affect the State election
for a convention, then about to take place.
Meantime, the news of the defeat at Springfield had produced great
excitement in St. Louis, and many with Southern sympathies did not
conceal their joy at the fall of Lyon. Apprehensions of disorder were
excited, and it was judged expedient to take steps towards declaring
martial law. Still other urgent considerations, such as the known
antecedents»and sympathies of certain police officials, suggested the
propriety of such a course. The proclamation declaring martial law
was as follows : — " Head-Quarters, Western Department,
" St. Louis, August 14th.
" I hereby declare and establish martial law in the city and county of St. Louis.
Major J. McKinstry,,TJnited States Army, is appointed provost-marshaL All orders
and regulations issued by him will be respected and obeyed accordingly.
"J. C. Fremont,
" Major- General Commanding."
Provost-Marshal McKinstry thereupon issued a proclamation calling
upon all good citizens to obey the rules it had been deemed, necessary
to establish, in order to insure and preserve the public peace, and
stating that the civil law would remain in force, and the military
authority only be used when civil law proved inadequate to maintain
the public safety. All persons were forbidden bearing arms, and no
arms were allowed to be sold or given away from the date of the
proclamation. On the 15th of August, Provost-Marshal McKinstry suppressed the

to the military depai-tment of the Mississippi,
with plenary powers, and assumed command of
troops at Chattanooga, where, on November 24th
and 25th, he gained an important victory over
General Bragg. In March, 1864, he was commis
sioned lieutenant-general, and assumed command
of all the armies of the United States, and on
May 4th he commenced the campaign against
Richmond by ordering the Army of the Potomac
across the Rapidan. On April '9th, 1865, he re
ceived the surrender of the rebel army under
General Lee, which practically ended the war.
* Sterling Price was born in Virginia, whence
he emigrated to Missouri, and became a member
of Congress in 1845. He first became prominent
as a military character during the Mexican war,
in which he appeared as colonel of a volunteer
regiment of Missouri cavalry. On the 20th of
July, 1847, he was made brigadier-general of the
United States Volunteers. He commanded in. an
engagement at Canada, New Mexico, January 24th,
1848, and at the battle of Santa Cruz de Bosales,
March 16th, 1848 ; in the former he was wounded.
His troops were disbanded in November, 1848.

He was Governor of Missouri from 1S53 to 1857.
and bank commissioner in 1861. He was president
of the State Convention in February of that year,
and subsequently commander-in-chief of .the
State Militia, in which capacity he endeavored to
take Missouri 'out of the Union: fought at the
battle of Wilson's Creek, and on September 17th
captured Lexington, Mo., with two thousand five
hundred prisoners. In the succeeding winter he
was appointed major-general in the Confederate
army, fouebt at Pea Eidge in March, 1862, at laka
and Corinth in the succeeding autumn. After
serving in Mississippi, under Pemberton, he was
again sent to the trans-Mississippi Department,
participated in the rebel defeat at Helena, Arkansas,
July 4th, 1868. Thenceforth, until the close of
the warThc served in that part of the country. In
September, 1864, he invaded Missouri with a large
force, but was repeatedly defeated, and finally
driven, in October, into Arkansas. He accom
plished nothing else of importance. He was
included in the capitulation of General Kirby
Smith to General Can by.

152

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION.

publication of the War Bulletin and, the Missourian, two newspapers
which had exhibited marked secession sympathies.
On the 20th of August, the Confederate general, Price, at Spring
field, issued another proclamation, stating that the army under his
command had been organized under State laws, and that it had gained
a glorious victory over the invaders. He invited all good citizens to
return to their homes, promising them protection, and added: —
"I, at the same time, warn all evil-disposed persons who may support the usurpa
tions of any one claiming to be provisional or temporary Governor of Missouri, or who
shall in any other way give aid or comfort to the enemy, that they will be held as
enemies, and treated accordingly."
On the 24th of August, H. R Gamble, who, on July 30th, had been
appointed by the Missouri Convention provisional Governor, issued a
proclamation calling out forty-two thousand troops fortsix months,
unless peace in the State was sooner restored, and stating that it
might become necessary to resort to a draft if there should be a defi
ciency. Meantime, the Confederates had steadily pushed forward their
advanced corps. They occupied Warsaw and Lime Creek, and
advanced on the 29th of August to Lexington, which they surrounded
and attempted to capture, but were repulsed with a loss of eight killed
and twenty wounded, and left the vicinity. The Federals still held
Ironton, Rolla, and Cape Girardeau, and on the 19th of August five
hundred men were sent from the latter plaee to relieve Commerce, forty
miles below Cairo, 111., the capture of which by the Confederates
would have suspended river communication with Cairo. General
Pillow* occupied New Madrid, General Hardee f occupied Greenville,
General Jeff. Thompson, Pikestown. On the other hand, General
Prentiss commanded the Union forces from Ironton to Cairo, and
operated in the direction of Hardee ; and Grant was still at Jefferson
City. On the 19th of August an engagement took place at Charles-
town, Mo., between the National forces, about two hundred and fifty
strong, under command of Colonel Dougherty, and the Confederate

?Gideon J. Pillow was born in Williamson
County, Tenn., in 1S06. He commenced his mili
tary career in 1846, when he was appointed
brigadier-general of volunteers. He was made
major-general in the army April 13th, 1847, and
during a campaign in Mexico commanded a divi
sion under General Scott. He was wounded at
Oefro Gordo. In July, 1848, his troops were dis
banded. ' He became a general in the Confederate
forces, and was in command at Columbus, and
subsequently at Fort Donelson, and Island No.
Ten. He Berved throughout, the war in the South
western States, but never acquired much distinc
tion. Ho was included In the surrender of Gen
eral Taylor's forces in May, 1865.
T William J. Hardee was born in Georgia about
1819. He entered the Military Academy at West
Point in 1884; and in 1888 was commissioned as
second-lieutenant of dragoons. In April, 1S89,
he was appointed assistant commissary of sub
sistence, and in December of the same year was
Sromoted to a flrst-lientenancy. During the
iexlcnn war he was brevetted major for gallantry
at Medelin, near Vera Cruz, and on the 20th of

August, 1S47, lieutenant-colonel for services at St
Augustih. In 1858 he was employed by the War
Department to superintend the publishing of
" Rifle and Light Infantry Tactics." In 1856 he
was appointed commander of the corps of cadets,
and instructor of cavalry, artillery, and infantry
tactics. At the commencement of the war ho
offered his services to the Confederates, and was
made a brigadier-general by them, and sent to
Missouri to co-operate with Generals Price and
Rains. In 1S62 he commanded a division in Gen
eral Polk's Corps, and participated in the invasion
of Kentucky by Bragg. In October he was made a
lieutenant-general. Subsequently he had com
mand of a corps in Braeg's army, fought at Mur-
freesboro', Ohickamangd, and Chattanooga, and in
the campaign of 1864 held a high command in John
ston's army. When Sherman advanced upon
savannah he occupied the city with fifteen
thousand men, but retired into South Carolina
before the capitulation. He subsequently held
command under Johnston in North Carolina, and
was included in tho surrender of that general In
May,lS65.

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 153
force, estimated at six to seven hundred, commanded by Colonel
Hunter, of Jeff. Thompson's army. The National force was victorious,
completely routing the enemy, killing forty, and taking seventeen
prisoners. The National loss was one killed and eight wounded, among
whom was Colonel Dougherty, slightly. Captain Noleman, with fifty
mounted men, left Biud's Point at about six o'clock, August 20th, for
Charlestown, to join the forces under Colonel Dougherty, but failed to
form a junction with them. They met a party of Confederates, about
one hundred strong, and gave them battle, killing two, and taking
thirty-three prisoners, also capturing thirty-five horses, without the
loss of a man.
Towards the close of August,, troops began to collect in considerable
numbers in St. Louis, and the necessary contracts for all descriptions of
army supplies gave a stimulus to business, which was also increased
by the construction of fortifications around St. Louis, which consisted
_ of palisades, block-houses, and earthworks, on the west and south sides,
' so distributed that a small force could hold it, and the greater part of
the troops be spared for other operations in the State. On the 16th of
August, a train on the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad was fired into
near Palmyra, and some soldiers killed. In consequence, General
Pope sent Brigadier-General Hurlbut into the county, with orders_ to
levy contributions to the extent of fifteen thousand dollars. Guerrilla
parties scoured the country west of Jefferson City, and a train with
two hundred and fifty United States soldiers was fired into near that
city, with loss of life.
The boldness of the Confederate forces, and the number of recruits
they were obtaining for guerrilla and army service in the western part of
the State, evidently required severe measures of repression. During the
month of August a considerable number of volunteers had arrived at
St. Louis, and. as fast as they could be armed and drilled for service,
they were employed either in garrison duty at St. Louis, or, if they
were sufficiently disciplined for service, in protecting the Hne of the
Missouri River, and the northern part of the State, which was threatened
by marauding bands of secessionists. Notwithstanding the extraordi
nary efforts made by the commanding general to procure arms, there
was yet less than half a supply for the force already collected.
Believing that the proclamation of martial law against those con
cerned in promoting the rebellion, the confiscation of their property,
and the freeing of their slaves, would be the most effectual blow he
could then strike at secessionism in the State, since it would compel
the secessionists to desist from their forays upon the property of Union
men, in order to preserve their own, General Fremont issued, on the
31st of August, the following proclamation: —
" Head-Quaeters op hie Western Department, )
St. Lotus, August SI**, 1861. )
" Circumstances, in my judgment, of sufficient urgency, render it necessary that the
commanding general of this department should assume the administrative powers of
the State. Its disorganized condition, the helplessness of the civil authority, the total
insecurity of life, and the devastations of property by bands of murderers and marau
ders, who infest nearly every county of the State, and avail themselves of the public
misfortunes and tho vicinity of a hostile force to gratify private and neighborhood ven-

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

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION. 155
only for the forfeiture and emancipation of the slaves of rebels, when
such slaves had been actually employed in hostile service of any kind
against the Government of the United States. The President, there
fore, addressed a letter to General Fremont, requesting him to modify
the proclamation so as to make it correspond with the Confiscation
Act, to which the General replied, expressing his preference that the
President should himself make the modification. Accordingly, on the
11th of September, a letter from Mr. Lincoln to Majof-General Fre
mont was published, in which, after stating the above facts, he con
cludes as follows : —
"It is therefore ordered that the said clause of said proclamation [the clause in rela
tion to the confiscation of property and the liberation of slaves] be so modified, held,
and construed as to conform with, and not to transcend, the provisions on the same
subject contained in the act of Congress, entitled ' An Act to confiscate property used
for insurrectionary purposes,' approved August 6th, 1861 ; and that the said act be
published at length with this order."
Previous to the reception of this order, General Fremont had
granted deeds of manumission to two slaves of Thomas L. Snead, an
active and prominent rebel of St. Louis.
An incident, having no connection with this proclamation, occurred
at this juncture to increase the feeling against General Fremont.
Montgomery Blair, Postmaster-General of the United States, and his
brother, the Hon. Francis P. Blair, Jr., a member of Congress from
St. Louis, had been friends of the General, and had requested from the
President his assignment to the Western Department, and Francis P.
Blair, Jr., had taken command of a volunteer regiment raised in St.
Louis. Disapproving, however, of his commander's management,
Colonel Blair wrote to his brother on the 1st of September (after the
promulgation of the order above cited), complaining of want of disci
pline in the army which General Fremont was collecting, and closed
his letter thus : —
" My decided opinion is, that he should be relieved of his command, and a man of
ability put in his place. The sooner it is done the better."
On hearing of this letter, General Fremont, in accordance with the
articles of war, caused the arrest of Colonel Blair, and asked from the
President a copy of the letter. The PostmasterrGeneral replied, for
warding a copy of the letter, and requesting his brother's release from
arrest. General Fremont complied with his request, releasing Colonel
Blair, and directing him to resume the command of his regiment.
This he refused to do, but early in October addressed a series of
charges against the General to Adjutant-General Thomas. Amongthe
specifications of these charges were, that General Fremont had failed
to repair promptly to St. Louis and enter upon his duties ; that he had
neglected to re-enforce Lyon and Mulligan; that he suffered. Brigadier-
General Hurlburt, " a oommon drunkard," to continue in command ;
that he refused to see people who sought his presence on matters of
urgent business ; that he had violated the President's orders in the mat
ter of his proclamation of August 31st ; that he had made efforts
to procure commendation from his officers; that he persisted in

156 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
keeping disreputable persons in his employ ; and that he had unjustly
suppressed the St. Louis Evening News. Other parties, about the
same'time, made complaints through the public prints of his extrava
gance in his purchases, of his unnecessarily fortifying St. Louis, of his
having given contracts to California speculators, and of his wasting
the public money in the construction of gunboats.
No trial was had on these charges, although they were the subject
of two special ex parte investigations; and it may be remarked that
subsequent developments, the course of his successor, General Halleck,
and his own appointment to another important independent command,
appear to have exonerated him at least from those which were most
insisted upon.
We will now proceed with the narrative of events. The Federal
garrison of Lexington, which, on the 29th of August, had repulsed
a greatly superior force of rebel troops, consisted of only four hundred
and thirty men. There was reason to suppose that General Price in
tended to attack the place so soon as his forces, which were collecting
at Springfield, should become sufficiently large to enable him to do so.
Accordingly, on the 1st of September, General Fremont ordered
Colonel Mulligan, then at Jefferson City, in oommand of the Irish
brigade, to re-enforce the garrison at Lexington, which, though in
trenched, needed a larger body of troops. Colonel Mulligan arrived
at the town on the 9th of September. It lies on the south side of the
Missouri River (which here flows from west to east), one hundred and
twenty miles west of Jefferson City, and contained at that time not
far from five thousand inhabitants. It is situated on a high rocky bluff,
which slopes almost precipitously directly down to the bed of the river,
making a very steep ascent from the landing up into the city. Old
Lexington was the early settlement, situated back on the hill. It has
been superseded by New Lexington* farther up the river, where the
steamboat landing now is, and which is the principal village. There
are scattering houses along the bluff between the two, and both are
now united under the name of Lexington. From the rear of the city
the land recedes slightly in alternate successions of beautiful prairie
and choice timber, and is well occupied by finely-cultivated farms, yield
ing a rich support to this hitherto thriving place.
The re-enforcements brought by Colonel Mulligan raised the whole
strength of the garrison to about eighteen hundred men, including
several hundred home guards. His artillery consisted of five brass
pieces and two mortars, but the mortars were valueless, as he had no
shells. He at once commenced increasing and strengthening the forti
fications, which were placed on Masonic Hill, between the old and new
towns, and consisted of earthworks ten feet in height, with a ditch
eighth feet in width. Within these fortifications was a solid brick
building, erected for a college, which was used as quarters for the
Union soldiers, and had been strengthened to resist an artillery attack.
The lines of the fortifications were extensive, and were capable of con
taining a force of ten thousand men.
On the 7th of September a detachment of the Federal troops went
from Lexington to Warrensburg, twenty miles distant, and took a

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 157
quantity of coin from the bank there, but were pursued by the Con
federate forces under General Price, who was in the vicinity of War
rensburg. They reached Lexington on the llth, and on the 12th the
Federal pickets were driven in by skirmishers from the advance-guard
of the Confederates, under command of General Rains, who attacked
them with nine pieces of artillery, but was repulsed. Skirmishes
occurred every day after this, and meantime the Confederate force
was constantly increasing. Colonel Mulligan dispatched messengers to
Jefferson City for re-enforcements, but they were captured. General
Fremont had, hpwever, learned of his critical position, and made
efforts to relieve him, but unsuccessfully. The Confederates had sur
rounded the town, and their force was so large that they could repel
the troops sent to the relief of the beleaguered town. Fifteen hundred
Iowa troops, who had arrived within sixteen miles of the river, were
met by a greatly superior force and compelled to retire. Major Stur-
gis, with four thousand more, reached the north bank of the river a
fevf miles below, but the Confederates had destroyed or captured all
the ferry-boats for miles above and below, and they could not cross in
time. General' Lane, from the south-west, near the Kansas River, and
Colonel Davis, from the south-east, had both been sent forward, and
their united forces amounted to eleven thousand men ; but they could
not reach the scene of action till it was too late.
Affairs, meantime, were getting desperate with the besieged. On
the 17th the water gave out, and the Confederates had cut them off
from the river, while the shells, falling into the intrenchments, where
their cattle, horses, and mules were picketed, and their train was
placed, produced great havoc. Rations also began to grow short, and
the home guard were becoming discouraged and mutinous. On the
18th, General Price sent a summons to Colonel Mulligan to surrender,
to which that gallant commander replied: " If you want us, you must
take us." The sufferings ,of the Federal "Troops for water were very
severe. A shower of rain falling, they spread out their blankets, and,
absorbing what they could of it, wrung it out and drank it. The
moon through the nights shone brightly, and the firing night and day
was incessant. It was evident, however, to the gallant Colonel, that
his little force could not hold out longer, and, after several desperate
charges of the enemy had been repulsed, he sent out a flag of truce for
a parley on the afternoon of the 20th September. The only terms
General Price would grant were unconditional surrender, the officers to
be retained as prisoners of war, the men to be allowed to depart with
their personal property, surrendering their arms and accoutrements.
Reluctantly this was acceded to, and the surrender took place. At
four p. m. on Saturday, the 21st, the Federal forces, having laid down
their arms, were marched out of the intrenchments to the tune of
" Dixie," played by the rebel band; They left behind them their arms
and accoutrements, reserving only their clothing. The prisoners were
first made to take the oath not to serve against the Confederate States,
when they were sent across the river, and, in charge of General Rains,
marched to Richmond, sixteen miles ; from there they were marched
to Harville and released.

158 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
The Confederate General Price, in his official report, stated the re
sults as follows :
" Our entire loss in this series of engagements amounts to twenty-five killed and
seventy-two wounded. The enemy's loss was much greater. The visible fruits of this
almost bloodless victory are great. About three thousand five hundred prisoners, among
whom are Colonels Mulligan, Marshall, Peabody, and Whitigrover, Major Van Horn
and one hundred and eighteen other commissioned officers, five pieces of artillery, and
two mortars, over thirty-three thousand stand of infantry arms, a large number of
sabres, about seven hundred and fifty horses, many sets of cavalry equipments, wag
ons, teams, ammunition, more than one hundred thousand dollars worth of commis
sary stores, and a large amount of other property. In addition to all this, I obtained
the restoration of the great seal of the State and the public records, which had been
stolen from their proper custodian, and about nine hundred thousand dollars in money,
of which the bank at this place had been robbed, and which I have caused to be re
turned to it."
There is good reason to believe that Price's return of killed and
wounded was much greater than he has stated. His return of prison
ers captured is grossly inaccurate.
The force of Colonel Mulligan had been weakened by the desertion
of many of the home guard, and at the time of his surrender the num
ber of officers and men was actually only two thousand six hundred
and forty. The Confederate force was about twenty-one thousand five
hundred. The loss of men snstained on the Federal side, in the course
of the siege, was forty-two killed and one hundred and eight wounded.
General Fremont learned of the surrender on the 23d, and immedi-
•ately forwarded to Washington the following dispatch :
" Head- Quarters Western Department,
"St. Louis, September 23d, 1861.
"Colonel B. f>. Townsend, Adjutant- General:
"I have a dispatch from Brookfield that Lexington has fallen into Price's hands, he
having cut off Mulligan's supply of water. Re-enforcements, four thousand strong,
under Sturgis, by the capture of ferry-boats, had no means of crossing the river in
time. Lane's forces, from the southwest, and Davis's, from the southeast, upwards of
eleven thousand in allt could also not get there in time. I am taking the field myself,
and hope to destroy the enemy either before or after the junction of the forces under
McCulloch. Please notify the President immediately. "J. C. Fremont,
"Major-General Commanding."
There was considerable excitement throughout the country at the
intelligence of General Mulligan's surrrender, and there were not
wanting those who bestowed severe censure upon General Fremont
for not re-enforcing him; but when the circumstances were fully under
stood, it appeared that these censures were unjust. Colonel Mulligan
himself declared that General Fremont was not in fault. The troops
he had ordered to. Lexington to aid the besieged were more than three-
fourths of his entire available force at this time.
Pursuant to his telegraphic dispatch to the Government, under
date of September 23d, General •Fremont, on the 27th of Septem
ber, left St. Louis for Jefferson City, and soon concentrated there
twenty thousand men, preparatory to an advance on Lexington.
Price, at Lexington, had meantime been preparing for an offensive

» HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 159
movement. His effective force was about twenty thousand. On
September 28th he crossed over the river at Lexington, with four
thousand mounted men. This force took up its line of march for the
railroad, with the view of its total destruction, after which sad
havoc was to have been made with all the Government forces in
Northwest Missouri. But intelligence received from some of his spies
at St. Louis and Jefferson City, led him to change his plans; Fremont
was approaching, and might cut him off from his base in Southwestern
Missouri. He therefore countermanded his order for sending troops
to the railroad, and a messenger having been immediately dispatched
after those already startedj they recrossed the river on Sunday morn
ing. That night Price issued orders for a movement south. In the
mean time General Sturgis, who had been holding St. Joseph's, came
down from the north in time to shell the rear-guard of Price from
across the river, as they left Lexington; and General Hunter approached
with his troops from Rolla. Price and all his force left on the 30th in
the direction of Papinsville, but returned to Greenfield on the road to
Springfield. General Fremont", who had followed westward as far as
Warsaw, crossed the Osago River there after a short delay to bridge
it, and moved towards Springfield by forced marches. General Sigel,
leaving Bolivar, also pushed for Springfield. On the 25th of October,
a rear-guard of two thousand Confederates, who held Springfield, was
charged by three hundred of the body-guard of General Fremont,
under Major Zagonyi, and routed; with a loss of ninety killed and
wounded, the Federals losing fifteen killed, twenty-seven wounded,.
and ten missing. On the 27th, General Fremont occupied Springfield,
after forced marches, in which his troops had suffered tei-ribly. Mean-
' while Lexington had been reoccupied by a Federal force. While
Price was retreating, McCulloch was advancing from the south,
and these two formed a junction, with which they again menaced
Springfield. The charges against General Fremont had led the Secretary of War,
Hon. Simon Cameron, to visit Missouri in person, taking with him
Adjutant-General Thomas. They made a rapid visit to St. Louis, and
to the camp of the general at Tipton, and on their return to St. Louis
transmitted to General Fremont the following order : —
. "St. Louis, Mo., October Uth, 1861.
"General: — The Secretary of War directs me to communicate the following, as his
instructions for your government .
"In view of the heavy sums due, especially in the quartermaster's department in
this city, amounting to some $4,500,000, it is important that the money which may
now be in the hands of the disbursing officers, or be received by them, be applied to
the current expenses of your army in Missouri, and these debts to remain unpaid until
they can be properly examined, and sent to Washington for settlement ; tho disbursing
officers of the army to disburse the funds, and not transfer them to irresponsible agents
— in other words, those who do not hold commissions from the President, and are not
under bonds. All contracts necessary to be made, to be made by the disbursing officers.
The senior quartermaster'here has been verbally, instructed by the Secretary as above.
"It is deemed unnecessary to erect field-works around this city, aud you will direct
their discontinuance; also those, if any, in course of construction at Jefferson City. In
this connection it is seen that a number of commissions have been given by you. No
payments will be made to such officers, except to those whose appointments have been

160 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
approved' by the President. This, of course, does not apply to the officers with volun
teer troops. Colonel Andrews has been verbally so instructed by the Secretary; also,.'
not to make transfers of funds except for the purpose of paying the troops.
"The erection of barracks near your quarters m this city to be at once discontinued.
"The Secretary has been informed that the troops of General Lane's command are
committing depredations on oar friends in Western Missouri. Your attention is di
rected to this, in the expectation that you will apply the correetive.
" Major Allen desires the services of Captain Turnley for a short time, and the
Secretary hopes you may find it proper to accede thereto. I have the honor to be,
very respectfully, your obedient servant, ¦ , "L Thomas, Adjutant- General.
" Majbr-General J. C. Fremont,
"Commanding Department of the West, Tipton, Mo."
This order indicated that his removal was intended, but he still
pushed on after the enemy, resolved, if possible, to achieve a victory
before laying down his command. On the 2d of November, however,
he received at Springfield an order, to iransfer his command to Major-
General Hunter, with whifh he promptly complied, and after issuing
a farewell order, taking leave of his troops, he left for St. Louis, his
staff and body-guard accompanying him. On the day previous to his
removal, he had entered into an agreement with the Confederate
General Price, by which both parties bound themselves to break up
the practice of arrests for the mere entertainment or expression of
political opinions, and to protect peaceable citizens in their houses.
This agreement General Hunter repudiated on the 7th of November.
The Federal force in Missouri at that time was estimated at twenty-
seven thousand men, of whom five thousand were under the imme
diate command of General Hunter, four thousand under General Sigel,
four thousand five hundred under General Asboth, five thousand five
hundred under General McKinstry, four thousand under General Pope,
two thousand -five hundred under General Lane, and one thousand five
hundred under General Sturgis. It was understood that General Price
was at Cassville with twenty-five thousand men, and that McCulloch,
with ten thousand more, was advancing with the intention of offer
ing battle at Wilson's Cr.eek, the scene of their former victory.
The Union army was concentrating. Generals Lane, Sturgis, Pope,
and McKinstry reached Springfield November 2d, and General
Asboth, who accompanied General Fremont to St. Louis, left his
division in charge of General Carr. .

CHAPTER XII.
Kentucky. — Vote of the State. — Meeting of Legislature. — Message of Governor.-^
Kentucky for the Union. — Breckinridge's Proclamation. — Military Movements. —
Cairo. — Columbus, its Position and Strength. — Paducah. — Concentration of Troops,—
Mill Spring. — Defeat and Deatli of Zollicoffer. — Construction of Gunboata — Capture
of Port Henry. —Bowling Green Evacuated. — Fort Donelson. — Escape of Pillow and
Floyd. — Pall of Nashville. — Columbus Evacuated. — Missouri under General Halleck.
The State of Kentucky attempted to maintain her neutrality for
several months after her Governor, Magoffin, had peremptorily refused

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 161
to supply troops at the call of the President, when the fall of Sumter
had aroused the North. The address already alluded to, which was
issued in May, to the people of Kentucky, while advising .that she
should remain true to the Constitution and the Union, and insist upon
her constitutional rights in the Union, defended neutrality in the fol
lowing language : —
" Your State, on a deliberate consideration of her responsibilities — moral, political,
and social — has determined that the proper course for her to pursue is to take no
part in the controversy between the Government, and the seceded States but that
of mediator and intercessor. She is unwilling to take up arms against her brethren
residing either north or south of the geographical line by- which they are unhappily
divided into warring sections. This course was commended to her by every considera
tion of patriotism, and by a proper regard for her own security. It does not result
from timidity; on the contrary, it could only have been adopted by a brave people^-
so brave that the least imputation on their courage would be branded as false by their
written and traditional history.
" Kentucky was right in taking this position — because, from the commencement of
this deplorable controversy, her voice was for reconciliation, compromise, and peace.
She had no cause for complaint against the General Government, and made none. The
injuries she sustained in hei1 property from a failure to execute laws passed for its pro
tection, in consequence of illegal interference by wicked and deluded citizens of the
Free States, she considered as wholly insufficient to justify a dismemberment of tho
Union. That she regarded as no remedy for existing evils, but an aggravation of them
all She witnessed, it is true, with deep concern, the growth of a wild and frenzied
fanaticism in one section, and a reckless and defiant spirit in another, both equally
threatening destruction to the country, and tried earnestly to -arrest them, but in vain.
We will not stop to trace the causes of the unhappy condition in which we are now
placed, or to criminate either of the sections to the dishonor of the other, but can say
that we believed both to have been wrong, and, in their madness and folly, to have
inaugurated a war that the Christian world looks upon with amazement and sorrow ;
and that liberty, Christianity, and civilization stand appalled at the horrors to which it.
will give rise."
The address was signed by J. J. Crittenden, President; James
Guthrie, R. K. Williams, Archibald Dixon, F. M. Bristow, Joshua F.
Bell, C. A. Wickliffe, G. W. Dunlap, C. S. Morehead,* J. F. Robinson,
John B. Huston, Robert Richardson. Ex-Governor Morehead, who
signed this document, was subsequently arrested and confined in Fort
Lafayette on a charge of treason.
So restricted had the intercourse between the North and South now
become, that communication was to a great extent closed, except by
the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. It had been long manifest that
the blockade of the South could not be complete until the transit of
supplies by this route was cut off. The doubtful position of Ken
tucky, however, made this interference with her internal trade a deli
cate matter. The road in question is one hundred and eighty-five
miles long, of which only forty-seven miles are in the State of Tennes
see ; and the greater part of the cost of building and equipping it had
been sustained by citizens of Kentucky. On the 1st of July, a Ten
nessee general, Anderson, ordered the company to keep more rolling
* Mr. Morehead appended to the address the foi- General Government to prosecute the civil war
louring explanation : " I have signed the foregoing now going on, and the policy of neutrality, with-
address, because I approve of the policy therein out considering myself committed to all that is
indicated, of refusing to furnish troops to the | said upon other matters, C. S. Mobeuead.
11

162 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION-
stock in Nashville. To this James Guthrie, of Kentucky, president
of the road, replied that he was not under the military orders of Ten
nessee. General Anderson consequently seized two trains going out
Of Nashville, and one that came in, and then demanded a fair division
of the rolling stock. Mr. Guthrie, in response, implied assent, if he
could have a guarantee against further interference. This brought
out Governor Harris, of Tennessee, as the real mover in the matter.
Mr. Guthrie then refused assent, whereupon Governor Harris imme
diately closed the road ; an act of great folly, since it stopped supplies,
of which the South was much in need, coming from Louisville, and
not only effected that completion of the blockade which the Federal
Government sought, but decided Kentucky in favor of the Union, by
placing the Confederates clearly in the wrong. All further questions
in relation to the blockade were thus disposed of. There were, in
deed, other routes for supplies through Kentucky, but the closing of
that road gave such a turn to affairs as to decide the whole question.
Towards the close of the summer a small encampment of Union
troops, called " Camp Dick Robinson," was formed in Garrard County,
which was complained of as an infringement of neutrality. It was
stated, however, in reply, that the troops were assembled at the call
of the Union men of Kentucky to defend the State in case of in
vasion. Commissioners were sent to President Lincoln in August to
remonstrate against the presence of the force and demand its removal
from the State, in order that peace might be preserved. The President
refused to comply with this demand, stating that citizens of Kentucky
had requested the troops to remain. A similar letter was sent to
Jefferson Davis, in consequence of the invasion of Kentucky by a
Tennessee force, and the fact that the Confederate Congress had,
August 18th, passed an act authorizing the enlistment of troops in
Kentucky. Davis replied, to the effect that neutrality, to be entitled
to respect, must be strictly maintained towards both parties. The
Legislature of Kentucky met September 3d, and a large barbecue
was held on the 5th. These events caused great alarm among Union
ists, the more so that the State Guard was invited to attend. They
were about fifteen thousand strong, and under the control of the
secessionists of the State. Their fears, however, proved to be ground
less. The Legislature stood — Senate, twenty-seven Union, eleven
secession; House, seventy-six Union, twenty-four secession. The
message of the Governor asserted the right of Kentucky to a neutral
position, and that she had not approved of the sectional party in the
Free States, or of the secession of the Southern States. He complained
that Kentucky had suffered outrages from both sides ; that a Federal
camp had been organized in the State without the State authorities
being consulted, and declared that troops in Kentucky should be
obtained under authority of its constitution only. He therefore ad
vised the passage of resolutions requesting the disbanding of the mili
tary bodies not under State authority. About the same time a body
of Confederate troops, under General Leonidas Polk, entered the State,
and intrenched themselves at Hickman and Columbus. Governor
Magoffin immediately received a dispatch from General Grant, com-

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 163
manding at Cairo, stating that Tennessee troops had entered Columbus.
Governor Magoffin telegraphed to Governor Harris, protesting against
this, to which Governor Harris replied, that he would request President
Davis to withdraw the troops at once. General Polk issued the fol
lowing proclamation at Columbus, Kentucky, September 14th: —
"The Federal Government having, in defiance of the wishes of the people of
Kentucky, disregarded their neutrality by establishing camp dep6ts of armies, and by
organizing military companies within her territory, and by constructing military works on
the Missouri shore, immediately opposite and commanding Columbus, evidently in
tended to cover the landing of troops for the seizure of that town, it has become a
military necessity, for the defense of the territory of the Confederate States, that the
Confederates occupy Columbus in advance. The major-general commanding has, there
fore, not felt himself at liberty to risk the loss of so important a position, but has de
cided to occupy it in pursuance of this decision. He has thrown sufficient force into
the town, and ordered to fortify it. It is gratifying to know that the presence of his
troops is acceptable to the people of Columbus, and on this occasion he assures them
that every precaution shall be taken to insure their quiet, protection to their property,
with personal and corporate rights."
In consequence of this movement of General Polk, General Grant
left Cairo on the 6th with two regiments of infantry, one company of
light artillery, and two gunboats, and took possession of Paducah,
Kentucky, near the mouth of the Tennessee River. He found secession
flags flying in different parts of the city, in expectation of the arrival
of the Southern army, which was reported three thousand eight
hundred strong, sixteen miles distant. The loyal citizens tore down
the secession flags on the arrival of the Federal troops.
General Grant took possession of the telegraph office, railroad depdt,
and marine hospital. He found large quantities of complete rations
and leather for the Southern army, fie then issued the following proc
lamation : —
" I have come among you, not as an enemy, but as your fellow-citizen. Not to
maltreat or annoy you, but to respect and enforce the rights of all loyal citizens.
"An enemy in rebellion against our common Government has taken, possession of
and planted his guns on the soil of Kentucky and fired upon you. Columbus and
Hickman are in his hands. He is moving upon your city. I am, here to defend you
against this enemy, to assist the authority and sovereignty of your Government.
"I have nothing to do with opinions, and shall deal only with armed rebellion , and
its aiders and abettors. You can pursue your usual , avocations without fear. The
strong arm of the Government is here to protect its friends and punish its enemies.
" Whenever it is manifest that you are able to defend yourselves, and maintain the
authority of the Government, and protect the rights of loyal citizens, I shall withdraw
the forces under my command. "TJ. S. Grant, Brigadier- General Commanding.^'
On the 9th, the following statement by four commissioners, appointed
from Tennessee to maintain friendly relations with Kentucky, was
communicated by Governor Magoffin to the Legislature : —
" The undersigned yesterday received a verbal message, through a messenger, from
Governor Harris. The message was — that he (Governor Harris) had, by telegraph
dispatch, requested General Polk to withdraw the Confederate troops from Kentucky,
and that General Polk had declined to do so; that Governor Harris then telegraphed
to Secretary Walker, at Richmond, requesting that General Polk be ordered to with
draw his troops from Kentucky, and that such order was issued from the War Depart*
ment of the Confederacy ; that General Polk replied to the "War Department that the

164 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
retention of the post was a military necessity, and that the retiring from it would be
attended by the loss of many lives."
On the same day a dispatch from General Polk to Governor Ma
goffin was laid before the Legislature, the substance of which was,
that he had occupied Columbus and Hickman, on account of reliable
information that the Federal forces were about to occupy these points ;
that he considered the safety of Western Tennessee and of the Con
federate army in the vicinity of Hickman and Columbus demanded
their occupation by the Confederate forces ; and that, in corroboration
of these statements, the Federal troops had been drawn up in line on
the river opposite to Columbus prior to its occupation by the Confeder
ate forces, causing many of the citizens of Columbus to flee from
their homes, for fear of the entrance of the Federal troops. General
Polk proposed substantially, that the Federal and Confederate forces
should be simultaneously withdrawn from Kentucky, and enter into
recognizances and stipulations to respect the neutrality of that State.
It was .so evident that the purpose of this proposal was to place
Kentucky in a condition favorable to her being dragged into secession,
that the loyal Legislature had no hesitation in regard to the course to
be pursued. On the llth of September the House of Representatives
adopted a series of resolutions directing the Governor to call out the
military of the State to expel the Confederate troops, encamped on the
soil of Kentucky. The vote on the passage of the resolutions stood
seventy-one in favor to twenty-six against. The House then refused to
amend the resolutions, in order to require both the Federal and Con
federate troops to evacuate the State. The Governor vetoed the res
olutions passed. Both houses, however, immediately passed them
over his veto.
Meantime, General Felix Zollicoffer, of Tennessee, had, with a large
body of rebel troops, marched through Cumberland Gap into Kentucky.
He telegraphed to Governor Magoffin on September 14th that the
safety of Tennessee demanded the occupation of Cumberland Gap and
the three long mountains in Kentucky, and that he should hold them
until the Union forces were withdrawn. This was laid before the
Legislature. The decision expressed by the resolutions above mentioned was
hailed with great satisfaction by the friends of Union. It is difficult
to exaggerate the importance of this act on the part of the State.
Whether viewed in its relation to the material or moral aspects of
the^ civil strife in the land, the active adhesion of Kentucky to the
Union cause was a momentous event. But it was specially valuable
forthe testimony it bore to the rightfulness and the necessity of the
belligerent issue which the National Government had been compelled
to accept. Colonel Thomas L. Crittenden, of the Sixth Indiana Regi
ment, was the first to bring troops in aid of the State ; and Governor
Magoffin issued his proclamation, ordering him to execute the objects
coutemplated by the resolutions of the Kentucky Legislature in refer
ence to the expulsion of the invaders. General Crittenden ordered
the military to muster forthwith into service. Hamilton Pope, Briga-

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 165
dier-General of the Home Guard, also called on the people of each
ward to meet in the evening, and organize into companies for the
protection of the city.
General Robert Anderson, the hero of Fort Sumter, by order of the
Federal Government, assumed command of the State and National
forces on September 20th, and issued the following proclamation,
September 21st : —
" Kentuckians : — Called by the Legislafure of this my native Statej I hereby assume
command of this department. I come to enforce, not to make laws, arid, God willing,
to protect your property and lives. The enemies of the country have dared to invade
our soil. Kentucky is in danger. She has vainly striven to keep peace with her
neighbors. Our State is now invaded by those who professed to be her friends,
but who now seek to conquer her. No true son of Kentucky can longer hesitate as to
his duty to his State and country. The invaders must, and, God willing, will be ex
pelled. The leader of the hostile forces [General Buckner] who now approaches is, I
regret to say, a Kentuckian, making war on Kentucky and Kentuckians. Let all past
differences of opinion be overlooked. Every one who now rallies to the support of bur
Union and our State is a friend. Rally, then, my countrymen, around the flag our
fathers loved, and which has shielded us so long. I call you to arms for self-defence,
and for the protection of all,that is dear to freemen. Let us trust in God, and do our
duty as did our fathers. Robert Anderson,
" Brigadier- General U. S. A."
Brigadier-General Crittenden also issued a proclamation calling for
troops, and dn-ecting the State Guard to rendezvous at Louisville.
Immediately upon the appearance of these documents, General A. S.
Johnston, general and commander of the Western Department of the
army of the Confederate States, head-quarters at Memphis, issued a
counter-proclamation, to the. effect that his troops were present to aid
the people of Kentucky in maintaining their neutrality, by helping
them to drive out the Federal invaders. Thus was Kentucky launched
into the contest for the maintenance of the Government and the pres
ervation of the Union. On the 23d of September, a bill was passed
by her Legislature, authorizing a loan of one million dollars, for the
defence of the State, in addition to a like sum authorized May 24th, in
State bonds, payable in ten years, and levying a tax to pay the bonds
and interest. A bill calling out forty thousand volunteers was also
passed — sixty-seven to thirteen in the House, twenty-one to five in the
Senate — to serve one to three years ; and one declaring that Kentuck
ians voluntarily taking service with the Confederate States should be
incapable of acquiring real estate in Kentucky, unless they returned to
their allegiance within sixty days. Thanks were returned to Ohio,
Illinois, and Indiana, for forwarding troops to the State's aid. On the
1st of October, a resolution was passed — twenty to five in the Senate,
fifty-five to thirty-one in the House — requesting John C. Breckinridge
and L. W. Powell to resign their seats as senators in Congress.
Should they fail to comply, Congress was requested to investigate their
conduct, and if it was found to be in opposition to the Government, to
expel them. The banks of Kentucky promised to furnish their quota
of the two loans of a million dollars each, which had been authorized
in May and September. Under these laws, the State was brought
fully into the field, with arms and money, for the cause of the Union.

166 HIST0EY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
The Legislature then adjourned until November 27th, having issued
an address to the' people of the State, in which it was declared that
the neutral attitude of Kentucky had been admitted by the United
States, but violated by the Confederates, leaving the State no choice
but to exert its authority and drive out the invaders. In the mean
time, the Confederates continued to pour across the border, and gradu
ally concentrated to the number of thirteen regiments of infantry, six
field batteries, three battalions of cavalry, with three steamboats on
the Mississippi River, at Columbus under Generals Polk and Pillow,
and at Cumberland Gap under General Zollicoffer. General Buckner,
formerly commander of the State forces, to whose treachery the Legis
lature charged the demoialization of the State troops, appeared within
twenty-five miles of Louisville. He had advanced under assurances
of large re-enforcements, but as these were not forthcoming, he fell
back upon Bowling Green.
The different recruiting stations and points occupied by the Confed
erates for offensive operations in Kentucky, at the beginning Of Octo
ber, were estimated to contain forces numbering as follows : —
.Hickman, under General Polk  '  10,000
Bowling Green, under General Buckner  7,000
Cumberland Gap, under General Zollicoffer  5,000
Owen County, under Humphrey Marshall^ ....;¦  600
Warsaw  400
Near Hazel Green, under J. C. Breckinridge  800
, Near West Point.  - 300
Bloomfield  ,  200

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

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 167
that they were Union men, approached within a short distance, and
took deliberate aim before the falsehood was discovered. The Indiana
troops, not relishing this cowardly trick, returned a well-directed and
steady fire, and the enemy precipitately retired. During the engage
ment Colonel Coburn wa< twice re-enforced, and repelled two successive
attacks made by Zollicoffer's troops, who finally retired to Barbour-
ville. The Federal loss was six killed and twenty wounded. The
rebel loss was much more considerable. General Schoepf s head-quar
ters were soon after established at Somerset, thirty miles east of Lon
don, where he had command of about seven thousand men, or, with
the force at Camp Calvert, ten thousand. General George B. Critten
den commanded the Confederate troops in East Tennessee and East
Kentucky, and was at Cumberland with a large force, threatening East
Kentucky. There were al-o a number of Union troops at London and
Wild Cat, on the Lexington and "Cumberland road.
General Buckner, on occupying Bowling Green, issued a proclama
tion to the people of Kentucky, dated September 18th. He charged
the Legislature with having been faithless to the will of the people, and
asserted that it was only after the State had, under the proclamation
of President Lincoln, been occupied by United States troops, that the
Confederates entered the State ; also, that the Confederate troops, on
the invitation of the citizens of Kentucky, entered the State to assume
a defensive position only.
" We do not," said he, " come to molest any citizen, whatever may be his political
opinions. Unlike the agent of the Northern despotism, who seek to reduce us to the
condition of dependent vassals, we believe that the recognition of the civil rights of
citizens is the foundation of constitutional liberty, and that the claim of the President
of the United States to declare martial law, to suspend the privilege of the writ of
habeas corpus, and to convert every barrack and prison in the land into a Bastile, ia
nothing but the claim which other tyrants have assumed to subjugate a free people.
The Confederate States occupy Bowling Green as a defensive position."
The southern portion of Kentucky was now in complete possession
of the Confederates. The re-enforcements that Buckner expected on his
advance to Louisville he did not get ; but the news of the surrender
of Mulligan at Lexington, Missouri, caused great numbers to rally
round him, and all opposition to the Southern invaders seemed to be
extinguished in Southern Kentucky. Bowling Green was fortified
and held, and Buckner sent troops from town to town, expelling the
refractory, receiving the submission of the weak and mercenary, and
bringing the whole country under Confederate sway. On the 24th of
September General Anderson issued the following order : —
" Head-Quabtebs Departmbnt oy the Ciijiberlajjd, )
"Louisville, Ky., September %Uh, 1861. f
" The commanding general, understanding that apprehension is entertained by citi
zens of this State who have hitherto been in opposition to the policy now adopted by
the State, hereby gives notice that no Kentuckian shall be arrested who remains at
home, attending to his business, aud does not take part, either by action or speech,
against the authority of the General or State Government, or does not hold correspond
ence with, or give aid or assistance to, those who have chosen to array themselves
against us as our enemies. Robert Anderson,
"Brigadier-General U. S. A., Commanding:1

168

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.

The health of General Anderson soon failed him, and he was com
pelled to relinquish his command on the 8th of October, which he did
by the following order : —
" Head-Quarters Department of the Cumberland, )
" Louisville, Ky., October 8th, 1861. }
" The following telegraphic order was received yesterday at these head-quarters : —
'' ' Brigadier-General Anderson :
" ' To give you rest necessary to restoration of health, call Brigadier-General Sherman
to command the Department of the Cumberland. Turn over to him your instructions,
and report here in person as soon as you may without retarding your recovery.
" ' Winfield Scott.
" ' Washington, D. C, October 6th, 1861.'
" In obedience to the above order, I hereby relinquish the command of this depart
ment to Brigadier-General Sherman. Regretting deeply the necessity which renders
this step proper, I do it with less reluctance because my successor, Brigadier-General
Sherman, is the man I had selected for that purpose. God grant that he may be the
means of delivering this department from the marauding bands who, under the guise
of relieving and befriending Kentucky, are doing all the injury they can to those who
will not join them in their accursed warfare. " Robert Anderson,
Brigadier- General U. S. A., Commanding.''
Brigadier-General W. T. Sherman, of Ohio, who succeeded to the
command, was himself disabled by ill health in a few weeks, and on
the 8th of November General Don Carlos Buell* was appointed in his
place. On the 8tb of October, J. C. Breckinridge issued an address to the
people of Kentucky, resigning his senatorsbip. He said : —
" I exchange, with proud satisfaction, a term of six years in the United States
Senate, for the musket of a soldier  There is no longer a Senate of
the United States within the meaning and spirit of the Constitution — the United
States no longer exists — the Union is dissolved."
Mr. Breckinridge was occupied at Prestonburg raising troops for
the Confederate army.
In the beginning of November, a small Federal force was collected
in Eastern Kentucky under the command of General Nelson, a lieu
tenant in the navy, who had been detached from his naval duties and
sent to his native State, Kentucky. Having occupied Prestonburgj
November 2d, without resistance from the enemy, who fell back about
six miles, he issued the following proclamation : —

* Don Carlos Buell was born in Ohio abont
1818, entered West I'oint in 1887, graduated in
1841( and was promoted to a first-lieutenancy
in 1848. He received the brevet rank of captain
for gallant conduct at Monterey in 1846, and sub
sequently that of major, for meritorious behavior
at Contreras and Ctaurubusco, where he was
wounded. He served as assistant adjutant-gen
eral in 1848 and for several years afterwards, and
in 1851 relinquished his rank in the line. In Au
gust, 1S61, he was appointed brigadier-general of
volunteers, and assigned to a command on the
Potomac. He sneceeded General W. T. Sherman
in command of the Department of the Ohio on
tho' 8th of November, 1861, and was confirmed as

major-general of volunteers in March. 1S6B. , Hlti
took part in the second day's fight at the battle of
Shlloh, aud in June, 1662, assumed command of the
military district of Ohio. He occupied the fortified
posts in Northern Mississippi and Alabama, until
Bragg's invasion of Kentucky, where he essayed
to pursue him. He reached Louisville, without
overtaking Bragg, on September 24, and was soon
after relieved of his command. But having been
temporarily restored, he again followed the rebel
army on its retreat into Tennessee, but too slowly
to overtake it. On October 80th. he was perma
nently relieved. A court of inquiry acquitted
him of blame in this campaign, but no held no
farther command, and in 1361 resigned.

HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 169

" Head-Quarters, Camp at Prestoxburo, )
" November 5th, 1861. J
" Having this day occupied the town of Prestonhurg with the lorces under my
command, I declare to all whom it may concern : That the jurisdiction of the State
of Kentucky is restored in this section of the State, and that the regular fall terms of
the courts will be held in those counties in which the time for holding the same
has not passed. All the civil officers are ordered to attend at the times and places of
holding said courts, and attend to the duties of their respective offices.
"Given under my hand, this 6th day of November, 1861. " W. Nelsoh.
"By command of Brigadier-General Nelson,
" Jno. M. Duke, Aide-de-Camp."
A Confederate force at this time occupied Piketon, the capital of
Pike County, on the west fork of the Big Sandy River, under Colonel
John S. Williams. It numbered about one thousand men, but was
expecting to be re-enforced by artillery, and had in charge a large
amount of public property. On the 8th of November, General Nelson
sent a considerable force, by way of John's Creek-, to turn the left of
the Confederate position, while with three Ohio regiments, a battalion
of Kentucky volunteers, and two sections of artillery, he himself
proceeded on the direct road to Piketon. But Colonel Williams, by
skilful manoeuvring, delayed the Federal advance until the property in
his charge could be hurried off, when he retreated rapidly with slight
loss. On the 17th of December, four companies of the Thirty-second Indi
ana, thrown cut in advance of Mumfordsville, on the Louisville and
Nashville Railroad, forty-two miles north of Bowling Green, encoun
tered a party of Texan Rangers, who charged them, and were received
with a sharp fire. The infantry were then ordered to rally upon an
adjoining wood. In the act they were charged by the Texan horse
men, and a desperate hand-to-hand encounter ensued, the IndianianS
making use of their sword-bayonets. TTiey soon gained the woods,
and were re-enforced by two other regiments, when the Texans fled,
leaving many dead, including their colonel, upon the field. The Fed
eral loss was thirteen killed and as many wounded.
The main operations of this season were in Western Kentucky, where
the Northern troops were being organized with the view of opening
and defending the navigation of the Mississippi. The State of Illinois
furnished a large portion of the men who fought in Missouri and Ken
tucky, and in September had already sent into the field over fifty thou
sand infantry, four thousand cavalry, and ten batteries of artillery,
besides over ten thousand men in squads and companies, who had en
listed in other States. It had also furnished the following general
oflicers to the army : —
Major-General David Hunter. Brigadier-General John A. McClernand.
Br|gadier-General John Pope. Brigadier-General Benjamin M. Prentiss.
Brigadier-General U. S. Grant. Brigadier-General E. A. Paine.
Brigadier-General S. A. Hurlbut.
Two of these generals, Pope and Hunter, were in command in Mis
souri, and General Grant at Cairo, where Illinois troops had assembled

170 HISTOEY OP THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
in April. This city, situated in Southern Illinois, at the confluence of
the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, is surrounded with levees forty-two
feet above low water, to protect it from the overflow of the rivers,
which rise, at ordinary floods, thirty-five feet, and is entirely com
manded by Bird's Point, Missouri. Troops can cross from Kentucky
to Missouri from old Fort Jefferson, four miles below Cairo, and have
easy access to Bird's Point without being seen from Cairo. On the
Kentucky shore there is a ridge which also commands Cairo. The
width of the Mississippi and the Ohio at this point is about three-
quarters of a mile each. Cairo, on its occupation, became an impor
tant point of concentration for men and gunboats in the expedition
against the Confederates in Kentucky and Tennessee. In August the
railroads in Western Tennessee were taken possession of by the. State
authorities, as was alleged, for the purpose of conveying troops towards
Cairo. This movement had caused the. difliculty between Tennessee
and Kentucky. About eight thousand troops, however, crossed the
river to New Madrid, in Southeastern Missouri, where they were
joined by others from Tennessee, Arkansas, and Missouri, the whole
of whom, it was asserted, were about to attack Cairo. It was this in
tended expedition which engaged General Fremont's attention soon
after his arrival at St. Louis, in July, 1861, The troops sent by Fre
mont raised the Union force at Cairo to eight thousand men, and Illi
nois troops were subsequently added, under the command of General
Grant. The Confederates, upon taking possession of Columbus, September
4th, immediately commenced to fortify it with all the means at their
disposal, the position being regarded in the Confederacy as the north
ern key to the mouth of the Mississippi. It is situated in Kentucky,
on the Mississippi River, eighteen miles below Cairo by water, forty-
seven miles from Paducah, and forty-five miles above Island No. 10, in
the Mississippi River, and is the terminus of the Mobile and Ohio Rail
road. Nine miles below, at Hickman, the Nashville and Northwest
ern Railroad terminates. The town lies on the slope of a high bluff on
the Mississippi bank, and commands the stream for five miles. Here
were placed in battery three one hundred and twenty-eight pound
guns, seventy-five feet above the water. Farther up were fourteen
rifled guns ; on the northern slope of the bluff were two light bat
teries, and a rifle-pit one mile in length. These were designed to pro
tect the place against a land attach from the north. On the summit of
the hill was a strongly intrenched work commanding the position in all
directions, and arme.l with eight guns on the south side ; and to protect
the town from a rear attack, was a small battery of eight guns. The
guns in position were estimated at over one hundred. On the river was
a floating battery of twenty guns, capable of being moved to the most
exposed points. The number of troops occupying and manning these
batteries was probably not far from thirty thousand, under General Le-
. onidas Polk. While these movements were in progress, Paducah was
seized by the Union troops under General Grant, barely in time to
anticipate General Polk, who had already moved with the same inten
tion. It is a place of considerable military importance, and its position

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 171
near the mouth of the Tennessee River, fifty miles from Cairo, made it
a desirable rendezvous to the Unionists for expeditions down the Mis
sissippi ; while by the Confederate general it was considered necessary
to the defence of his rear on the Mississippi. By the 6th of September
about five thousand Federal troops were concentrated at Paducah, who
could thus assail the Confederate position in the southwest, by a line
Bhorter and less exposed than from Missouri. The closing of the rail
road also stopped the departure of large supplies of provisions and
military stores, which for months previous had been going to the South.
As the place commands the Tennessee River, the commerce of that
stream was also stopped. The surface of the country presented no
means of defence against expeditions either on the line of the railroad
or up the river.
On both sides great accumulations of troops continued to be made
through the month of November. On the 1st of December, the Fed
eral troops in Kentucky were estimated at over fifty thousand, consist
ing chiefly of Western regiments. At the same time, according to the
official returns of the State military board at Frankfort, Kentucky, the
number of recruits from that State in the United States army was up
ward of twenty-five thousand. These large preparations were crowned
with such success, that by March 1st, 1862, every Confederate soldier
had left the State.
When, about the middle of November, General Zollicoffer made his
camp at Mill Spring, on the southern bank of the Cumberland, he de
termined also to occupy the opposite, or northern bank, at Camp Beach
Grove. , This he fortified with earthworks, and placed there five regi^
ments of infantry, twelve guns, and several hundred cavalry — keeping
at» Mill Spring two regiments of infantry, and a few hundred horse.
About the first of January General George B. Crittendeu arrived and
took command, and soon after the brigade of General Carroll came
from Knoxville. On the 6th of January General Crittenden issued a
proclamation calling upon the people to join the Southern standard
and repel the invaders, and denouncing in strong terms what he called
the duplicity and falsehood of the Federal Executive. His address
does not appear to have been followed by any very important results.
He seems to have been, at this very time, far more in want of food
than of men.
At the same time a Union force was at Columbia, twenty-five miles
northwest of Beach Grove Camp, and Schoepf held Somerset, fifteen
miles east. Between these two positions runs Fishing Creek, then so
much swollen by rain that itcould not be crossed. On the 1 7th of
January, pursuant to orders from General Buell, General Thomas
advanced and occupied Logan's Cross-Roads, ten miles north of the
Beach Grove camp. The enemy were in a position which was unten
able, for want of provisions. They were on short allowance, and the
neighboring country had been exhausted. The Union troops at_Co-
lumbia commanded the Cumberland River, by which supplies might
have been drawn from Nashville. In every direction the roads were
so bad that wagons could not be serviceable. In this state of affairs
it was determined to attack the Union troops at Cross-Roads before

172 HISTOEY OP THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
the force at Somerset shouldjbe able to join them, and, if possible, be
fore the reserve at Columbia could be brought up. Accordingly, on
the 19th the brigade of Zollicoffer moved in advance, followed by that
of Carroll and the reserve, and about two miles from their camp en
countered and drove in the Federal cavalry. The enemy advanced
rapidly up the road, Zollicoffer leading, with two Mississippi companies
deployed as skirmishers, one on each side of it, and soon encountered
the main body of the Federal troops, with whom was commenced a
sharp engagement. The Confederate general, surrounded by his staff,
was leading his men, when Colonel Fry, of the Fourth Kentucky, shot
him dead with a pistol. This circumstance had a very depressing effect
upon the enemy, and a correspondingly favorable one upon the Fed
erals. In the confusion of the moment the Ninth Ohio charged with
the bayonet, turning the enemy's flank, and driving him from the field.
The enemy then fell back to his intrenchments on the Cumberland,
where he was cannonaded until dark. In the evening General Schoepf
came up with additional regiments, and on the following morning the
cannonading was recommenced, with Parrott guns, which were also di
rected upon the ferry across Fishing Creek, to prevent the enemy from
crossing. Upon approaching the intrenchments, it was found that the
enemy had retired during the night, abandoning every thing — twelve
guns, with caissons filled, one hundred and fifty wagons, one thousand
horses, and many stores. After crossing, they had. burned the ferry
boats, so that pursuit was impossible. As they could not hold the
camp, there was no alternative but to abandon every thing, save
the army, and retreat to the most accessible point of supply. The
Union loss in the battle was thirty-nine killed, and two hundred and
seven wounded. The enemy lost Generals Zollicoffer and Baillie Pey
ton, and one hundred and ninety killed, sixty-two wounded, and eighty-
nine prisoners, besides a large number drowned in crossing the Cum
berland. The enemy at the same time sustained another loss. Early in Jan-
nary, Humphrey Marshall, with four regiments and four guns, held an
intrenched position five miles south of Paintsville, in Eastern Kentucky.
A movement was made, January 1th, to dislodge him. For this pur
pose, Colonel Garfield, with two thousand five hundred men, advanced
upon him from Muddy Creek, while a smaller force approached by way
of Paint Creek. Learning of the approach of these two bodies, Mar
shall burnt large quantities of grain, broke up his camp, and retired to
the heights of Middle Creek, two miles from Prestonburg, leaving
some troops at the mouth of Jennis Creek. These being attacked
vigorously by Federal cavalry, retired upon the main body. The Union
loss was one killed and thirteen wounded ; that of the Confederates
was stated at twenty-seven killed, sixty wounded, and twenty-five
prisoners. Marshall retreated towards Abingdon.Virginia, and Colonel
Garfield occupied Prestonburg. Thus two Confederate forces were
driven out of Kentucky at nearly the same time.
The enemy, however, still held four formidable positions in Kentucky
viz. : Fort Henry, on the Tennessee, and Fort Donelson, on the Cum
berland, about seventy miles from the mouths of those rivers, and

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.

173

closing the way by water into Tennessee and Alabama ; Bowling Green,
near the middle of the State ; and Columbus, on the Mississippi. The
Union forces held Mumfordsville, between Mill Spring and Bowling
Green, and various less important points. The two great rivers, the
Tennessee and the Cumberland, both fall into the Ohio near the western
corner of Kentucky, and, for a distance of seventy miles from their
mouths, run nearly parallel, about ten miles apart. Otherwise, however,
their courses are different ; the Cumberland rising in Kentucky, and
flowing through that State and Northern Tennessee, while the Tennes
see rises in Eastern Tennessee, and, after passing through Northern
Alabama, flows for the last three hundred miles nearly due north. The
Cumberland is navigable for steam to Nashville, two hundred miles,
and for boatB three hundred miles farther. The Tennessee is navigable
for steam two hundred and seventy-five miles, to Florence, Alabama,
and for boats two hundred and fifty miles farther. These two great
arteries afforded the means of not only penetrating into the interior of
Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama, but also of causing the rebels to
abandon the defences of the Mississippi, which had been so elaborately
prepared by the enemy. Early in the summer the necessity of pre
paring a fleet of gunboats at Cairo, for the purpose of commanding the
navigable waters of the West, became apparent, and before the suc
ceeding spring the Government had in readiness twelve gunboats, to
carry, m all, a hundred and twenty-six guns, viz. : the Benton, six
teen guns; Mound City, Cincinnati, Louisville, Carondelet, St. Louis,
Cairo, and Pittsburg, each thirteen guns; the Lexington, Essex,
Conestoga, and Tyler, each nine guns. They were for the most part
river steamboats converted into war vessels, and several were iron-clads.
The guns, many of them rifled, were thirty-two-pounders, foTty>-two-
pounders, sixty-four-pounders, and the Essex threw a shell of one hun
dred and twenty-eight pounds. Thirty-eight mortar boats, each sixty
feet long and twenty feet wide, surrounded by iron-plate bulwarks,
seven feet high, were also ordered, but only a part were built. This
fleet was placed under the command of Flag-Officer A. H. Foote.*
The completion of the fleet and the organization of the land force de
layed the expedition until February, 1862.
On the 20th of January, the Conestoga, Captain Phelps, felt its way
up the Tennessee and shelled a battery just below Fort Henry, but
receiving no response, withdrew. This work, situated on the right
bank of the river, near the boundary-line between Tennessee and Ken
tucky, mounted seventeen guns and a number of mortars, and was
specially intended by the rebels to defend the railroad communications
between Memphis and Bowling Green. On the 6th of February the
fleet, under Flag-Officer Foote, proceeded up the river, to the fort, which

•Andrew H. Foot*, son of the late Governor
Foote, born in Connecticut, in 1806, entered the
navy, as midshipman, in 1832. lie served in the
East Indies against the pirates — on the African
coast, to prevent the slave-trade — and at Canton
in 1856, where he greatly distinguished himself
bv the eapt are of the Barrier Forts ; and in April,
1861, commanded at the Brooklyn Havy-Yard. In
the fall of 1861, he was assigned to the Mississippi ;

superintended the building and equipment of the
Government gunboats; captured Fort Henry;
was wounded at the bombardment of Fort Donel-
son ; conducted the naval attack against Island
No. 10, but alter its reduction was obliged to re
linquish his command in consequence or Mb
wound. He was subsequently appointed rear-
admiral and chief of the bureau of equipment and
recruiting; and died in New York, June 26,1868.

174 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
was then occupied by a number of men hardly sufficient to work the guns,
although a force of some five thousand Confederates was encamped
outside, commanded by General Lloyd Tilghman, of Kentucky, a
graduate of West Point. The naval part of the expedition consisted
of the iron-clad gunboats Cincinnati, flag-ship, Captain Stembel-; Essex,
Commander Porter; Carondelet, Commander Walker; and St. Louis,
Lieutenant Paulding ; and the wooden gunboats Conestoga, Lieutenant
Phelps ; Tyler, Lieutenant Gunn ; and Lexington, Lieutenant Shirk.
Accompanying the gunboats was a fleet of transports conveying a land
force of ten thousand men, under General Grant, who were to co-operate
in the attack upon the fort. When within a few miles of the fort the
troops were landed, and sent to attack the land side, while the gun
boats moved against the water front. They did not, however, reach
the fort until it had surrendered to the gunboats. On arriving within
one thousand seven hundred yards of the fort, the flag-ship, the Cin
cinnati, opened fire, followed by the rest of the fleet, and as the distance
was gradually lessened, the fire both from the gunboats and the fort
increased in rapidity and accuracy Of range. The fort was. soon
wrapped in a cloud of smoke, which rose lazily up and floated away
over the hills, and through it the flashes of her guns broke like gleams
of lightning.
For nearly an hour this fierce conflict continued, the boats gradually
approaching nearer and nearer, until within a few hundred yards of
the fort, when the rebels' fire slackened, and suddenly a white flag was
raised on the ramparts ; but the dense smoke prevented its being seen
by the boats, and the firing still continued. In a few moments more
the rebel flag, which had been proudly flaunting from a tall pole in the
centre of the fort, was hauled down, and Fort Henry was won. Cap
tain Phelps was ordered to land and take possession. Only sixty-three
prisoners, with General Tilghman, surrendered to Foote, the force that
had surrounded the fort having dispersed, without firing a shot.
Among the guns of the fort was a sixty-pound rifled gun, which had
sent a shot through the boiler of the Essex, causing an explosion that
wounded twenty-nine oflicers and men, including Captain Porter, and
compelling the Essex to drop astern, out of the fight. It burst, how
ever, before the surrender. The capture of Fort Henry caused much
rejoicing. It proved the value of the gunboats, and opened the navi
gation of the river, as was shown by the successful voyage of three
gunboats to Florence, Alabama, where two steamers and a gunboat
were captured ; and six others, loaded with stores, were burnt by the
enemy to prevent their falling into the hands of the Federals. The
railroad bridge over the Tennessee, ten miles south of Fort Henry, was
also destroyed. Much Union feeling manifested itself in Northern
Alabama. The success of the attack on Fort Henry was followed by other im
portant results, among which was the uncovering of the enemy's
positions at Columbus and Bowling Green. The latter place had been
ordered to be occupied by General A. S. Johnston, when he assumed'
the command of the Confederates in that Department of the West. He
deemed it then necessary, because of the action of the Kentucky Legis-

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 175
lature against the Confederates. Towards the close of the year the
force' under General Buckner had, with difficulty, preserved its strength,
although great efforts had been made to concentrate men and arms.
January 16th a notice was published in Barren County, requiring all
guns belonging to persons who " will not volunteer," to be delivered
to the inspector of arms, at Glasgow ; and all persons between eighteen
and forty-five, who were possessed of taxable property to the value of
five hundred dollars, and had no gtm, were to pay twenty dollars, for
which an evidence of debt against the Confederate Government would
be issued— delinquents to be fined fifty dollars and imprisoned. The
results of this measure were not remarkable, and while the Union
troops continued to increase in numbers and strength, Bowling Green
became no stronger, and the utmost efforts of General Johnston brought
little aid from the South. The capture of Fort Henry and the gather
ing strength of the Federal forces in Kentucky finally rendered the
longer occupation of the place impracticable, and the troops there were
ordered to move south. Bowling Green was occupied immediately,
on the 15th, by a Federal force under .General Mitchel.
Preparations now commenced for the attack upon Fort Donelson,
which lies directly east of Fort Henry, on the left bank of the Cumber
land River, and adjoining the town of Dover. It occupied the summit
of a high bluff, enclosed an area of about one hundred acres, and was
protected on the river side by two formidable water-batteries, and on
its land front by outlying rifle-pits, batteries, and abatis, as also in a great
measure by the rugged and impracticable character of the surrounding
country. The work completely commanded the navigation of the
Cumberland River, and was regarded of such enormous strength that
over sixteen thousand troops under Generals Buckner and Pillow were
concentrated there, awaiting with apparent unconcern the approach of
the Federal army and fleet. On February 13th, General Floyd, for
merly of Buchanan's Cabinet, arrived and assumed command. For
the reduction of the fort, General Grant, who was now stationed at
Fort Henry, relied upon the considerable force which had concentrated
there, upon re-enforcements expected from Buell's army, and from St..
Louis, Cairo, Cincinnati, and elsewhere, and also very considerably
upon the fleet which had done such gallant service at Fort Henry.
The gunboats, it is true, were in need of repairs after their recent
engagement, but as it was deemed of great importance to follow up
the first success at once by another blow, they proceeded, after a brief
delay at Cairo, to the Cumberland River. On the 12th, General Grant
marched from Fort Henry with about fifteen thousand men, having
first sent a portion of his force in transports to Paducah, whence, in
company with his re-enforcements, and conveyed by the guuboats, they
were to sail for Fort Donelson. His land force therefore comprised
two separate bodies of about equal strength, one of which marched
overland with himself, while the other went by water. _
On the afternoon of the 12th the troops from Fort Henry arrived in
front of the rebel outposts, and on the succeeding night the column
which went by water disembarked about three miles north of the fort.
Delays of various kinds prevented the junction of the two columns

176 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
until the evening of the 14th. The interval was improved by the
troops first on the ground in driving in the rebel skirmishers and com
mencing regular lines of investment. The weather was bitterly cold,
and the troops, inadequately supplied with shelter or food, suffered,
severely ; but not a murmur was heard, and the men cheerfully biv
ouacked at night on the snow-clad ground, in the confident expectation
that in a day or two the rebel stronghold would be theirs. As at Fort
Henry in the previous week, Flag-officer Foote, without waiting for
the co-operation of the land' forces, proceeded on the afternoon of the
14th to open fire upon the river batteries of Fort Donelson. For an
hour and a half the gunboats poured a steady stream of shot and shell
into the batteries, which,- being fully manned,, replied with vigor and
effect. Gradually, however, their fire began to slacken, and the pros
pect of capturing or completely silencing the works seemed flattering,
when two shots, discharged with fatal accuracy, disabled the steering
apparatus of the flag-ship St. Louis, and the Louisville, which in con
sequence became unmanageable, and drifted out of fire. The enemy
immediately returned to their guns, and the remaining vessels, de
prived of the services of their two most powerful consorts, were
obliged to haul off, considerably shattered by the hard pounding they
had received. In this action Foote was severely injured in the ankle
by the fragment of a sixty-four pounder shot, and his ship was struck
sixty-one times.
The morning of the 15th dawned cold and dull, and so soon as suf
ficient light was afforded for the movement, the rebels, without a mo
ment's notice, threw out a heavy column of infantry, supported by
two batteries, upon the ¦ Federal right, commanded by General
McClemand. The onset at first was irresistible, and the regiments
which attempted to withstand it were broken and routed. For several
hours the rebels continued to gain ground, but finally, as fresh Federal
regiments and batteries were brought up, the tide was turned, and the
enemy pushed back towards their intrenchments. Undismayed by
the repulse of the gunboats and the vigor which the rebels showed
by this sally, General Grant soon after noon ordered his left, under
command of General C. F. Smith, to make a general assault upon the
rebel intrenchments, which, in consequence of the enemy having
massed on the Federal right, he wisely judged would be the more
easily carried. At three p. m., Smith moved forward at the head of
ten regiments, and sending his main body somewhat to the right, to
divert attention from the real point of attack, detailed the Second and
Seventh Iowa and the Fifty-Second Indiana regiments to storm a line
of rifle-pits on the crest of a steep hill, about half a mile distant from
the fort. The storming column, headed by himself, pressed impetu
ously up the hill in the teeth of a severe fire, and never pausing, burst
over the intrenchments, from which the enemy fled in confusion.
Federal re-enforcements arriving soon after, the ground thus gallantly
won was secured beyond the possibility of recapture. Meanwhile ou
the right and centre a division under General Wallace, encouraged by
the success on the left, advanced against the rebel rifle-pits in that
quarter, and after a stubborn resistance drove the enemy completely

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 177
within his works. So favorable did the prospect now seem that the
troops clamored to be led to the final assault ; .but as day was closing,
it was deemed prudent to postpone this until the next day. Another
bivouac on the frozen ground had little effect in weakening the enthu
siasm of the troops, who at dawn of the 16th sprang to their arms, in
the expectation of being led at once against the fort. But before
hostilities could be resumed a flag of truce arrived proposing an
armistice until noon, and the appointment of commissioners to agree
upon terms of capitulation. By the departure of Generals Floyd and
Pillow during the night with two thousand five hundred men, the fort
had been left in command of General Buckner, the former commander
of the Kentucky State Guard. To this officer General Grant returned
the following reply : — *
" Head-Quarters on the Field, Fort Donelson,
"February 16, 1862.
"To General S. B. Buckner:
"Sir: — Yours of this date, proposing an anniBtice and the appointment of com
missioners to settle on the terms of capitulation, is just received.
" No terms, except unconditional and immediate surrender, can be acceptable.
" I propose to move immediately on your works.
"lam very respectfully your obedient servant,
"TJ. S. Grant, Brigadier- General Commanding."
To this General Buckner replied as follows : —
"Head-Quarters, Dover (Tennessee),
"February 16, 1862.
" Brigadier-General TJ. S. Grant, TJ. S. Army:
" Sir: The distribution of forces nnder my command, incident to an unexpected
change of commanders, and the overwhelming force under your command, compel me,
notwithstanding the brilliant success of the Confederate arms, to accept the ungenerous
and nnchivalrous terms which you propose.
" I am, sir, your servant, " S. B. Buckner, Brigadier-General C. S. Army."
The fort was accordingly at once given up to the Federal com
mander, and the rebel garrison, numbering nearly fourteen thousand
men, marched put as prisoners of war. Their loss in killed and
wounded was one thousand two hundred and thirty-eight, and that
©f the Federal troops two thousand one hundred and eighty-one, be
sides one hundred and fifty taken prisoners. Among the spoils were
seventeen heavy guns, over forty field-pieces, many thousand stand of
arms, horses, commissary stores, &c. This first important success of
the Federal arms since the commencement of the war infused universal
joy into the loyal people of the North, and laid the foundation of
(general Grant's fame. His reply to Buckner has become historical,
while the latter's rejoinder afforded an amusing illustration of that
spurious chivalry which the Southern leaders were wont to cultivate.
The blow was a most disastrous one to the enemy, not only in its
material, but in its moral results. The city of Nashville was incapable
of defence, and strong forces were advancing from Bowling Green
and up the Cumberland. Nashville was therefore ordered to be
abandoned, and at Murfreesborough, the broken columns of Cntten-
12

178 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
den coming from Mill Spring, and the fugitives from Donelson and
Bowling Green, were formed on the main body brought from Nash
ville, and the whole ultimately united with Bragg's corps at Corinth^
in North-eastern Mississippi, by a very hazardous march, to co-operate
with Beauregard for the defence of the Mississippi.
Meantime, the Union forces poured on. Commodore Foote, with
two gunboats, reached Clarksville, the last defensible place before
Nashville. He found it evacuated, the enemy having burned the
railroad bridge. GenerafBuell with his army advanced on Nashville
from Bowling Green, and General Nelson proceeded by the way of
the Cumberland River. On the 16th, the troops that had evacuated
Bowling Green passed through the city, and on the same day Floyd
arrived from Donelsdh, when, for the first time, the inhabitants learned
the fall of that place* The Governor and Legislature at once de
parted for Memphis, carrying off the public archives ;¦ gunboats in
process of construction were burned, railroad bridges destroyed, and
the public stores were distributed to those who wished them. On the
19th, Governor Harris issued a proclamation announcing the fall of
Donelson, and calling upon every able-bodied man to enlist in the
army. On the morning of the 23d, Buell's advance guard appeared
at Edgehill, opposite Nashville. General Nelson also arrived up the
river, and on the 25th the city was surrendered by the mayor, on as
surances that persons and property would be respected. On the 26th
the mayor issued a proclamation assuring citizens of protection from
the National forces, and urging them to resume their usual occupations.
Afer the occupation of the capital of Tennessee, and the flight of its
Government, a new one was organized, and Senator Andrew Johnson
was appointed military governor, with the rank of brigadier-general.
These events in the interior of the State made the longer occupation
of Columbus by the Confederate troops useless, and it was evacuated
on the 27th of February. On the 2d of March, a reconnoitring
party, sent by Flag-officer Foote from Cairo, discovered the evacuation,
and, on their report, a force was sent to take possession, but a party of
Illinois cavalry sent from Paducah by General Sherman had already
occupied it. The enemy fell back to Island No. 10, forty miles below
Columbus. Thus, during the two months ending with February, the
enemy had been driven from their positions in Kentucky and Tennes*
see. The army of Marshall took refuge in Virginia ; and the shattered
remains of all the others were combining to make a new stand at
Corinth. After General Hunter, in November, assumed command in Missouri,
and repudiated the treaty of General Fremont with Price, the Union
army began slowly to retire from Springfield, and was followed step
by step by the Confederates under Price, in three divisions, with the
apparent intention, of moving upon Kansas. On the 30th of Novem
ber, his right wing, five thousand troops, held Stockton ; his left, four
thousand, under General Rains, was at Nevada; and the centre, five
thousand, under Price, at Monticello. Early in November, the Con
federates held Belmont, Missouri, opposite Columbus, with a small
force, and it was determined to make a demonstration in that direction,

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 179
for the purpose of preventing them from sending troops to Price on the
one hand, or to Bowling Green on the other. Accordingly, on No
vember 6th, Generals Grant and McClernand left Cairo for Belmont,
with the Twenty-second, Twenty-seventh, Thirtieth, and Thirty-first
Illinois, and the Seventh Iowa, together with a battery and some cav
alry — in all, two thousand eight hundred and fifty men, who were
embarked on several steamboats, and convoyed by the gunboats Lex
ington and Tyler.
The Federal forces landed a short distance above Belmont, at 8 a. m.
on the 7th, were formed in line of battle, and immediately attacked the
rebel works. They were met by the rebels under General Cheatham,
whom they drove through their camp, capturing a battery of twelve
guns, burning their camp, and taking the rebel baggage, horses, and
many prisoners. Large bodies of rebels, meanwhile, crossed from
Columbus and re-enforced those at Belmont, when another severe fight
took place, and the National forces withdrew to their boats. Their
retreat was well covered by the gunboats. The whole action lasted
several hours. The loss on the Confederate side was between six hun
dred and one thousand ; on that of the Union, eighty-four killed, and
about three hundred wounded and missing. The Unionists also car
ried away two guns, and destroyed two. This operation had the
desired effect of preventing the movement of troops to aid Price.
On the 18th of November, General H. W. Halleck arrived at St.
Louis, and took command of the Western Department. The division
of General Hunter and that of General Pope were on the line of the
Pacific Railroad, awaiting orders. Generals Sigel and Asboth, with
their divisions, arrived at St. Louis. General Hunter was transferred
to the Department of Kansas. The plan of General Price, whose chief
difficulty was want of arms, was to procure them from the borders of
Kansas ; but being unsuccessful in this, he was obliged to retreat south
of the Osage. General Halleck soon after issued a series ot military
orders, which declared that active rebels and spies had forfeited their
rights as citizens, and were liable to capital punishment ; all persons
in arms against the Government, or aiding the enemy, should be ar
rested, and their property seized ; all persons giving information to the
enemy be shot as spies, and unenlisted marauders treated as criminals ;
officers were required to enforce the law confiscating slave property
used for insurrectionary purposes ; citizens who had been robbed by
insurrectionists were to be quartered at the expense of insurrection
ists ; prisoners of war or slaves to be employed on military defences ;
and all municipal oflicers were required to take the oath of allegiance.
These orders had an important influence in suppressing the disorders
that had existed, and in reducing the number of guerrillas, very many
of whom were arrested at different points in the State. General Pope
was assigned to the command of all the National forces between the
Missouri and Osage Rivers, which constituted the largest part of the
armv which General Fremont took to Springfield. He immediately
took active measures to clear that part of the State. Price was on the
Osage, and with him about five thousand men, waiting recruits and
supplies from the North. General Pope, December 15tb, left Sedalia

180 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION '
with two brigades, one under Colonel J. C. Davis, of Indiana, and th3
second under Colonel F. Steele. On the 16th his advance-guard fell
in with a part of General Rains's force, between Warrensburg and Rose
Hill, and captured sixteen wagons and one hundred and fifty prisoners ;
and the pursuit continued under Lieutenant-Colonel Brown, the main
body moving towards Warrensburg. The scouts having reported on
the 18th a large force of the enemy coming from Waverley and Arrow
Rock, Colonel Davis went forward with eight companies of cavalry
and a section of artillery towards Milford, to turn his left and rear,
while Major Marshall was sent with ten companies of horse to turn his
right and rear. The movement was successful. The enemy, finding
himself in presence of a large force, surrendered, to the number of
thirteen hundred men, including three colonels and fifty-one oflicers,
with seventy-three wagons loaded with powder and stores, five hun
dred horses, and one thousand stand of arms. This was a heavy blow
to Price, who had been anxiously expecting these supplies. Meantime
General Prentiss, with some companies of the ThirdMissouri cavalry and
of Bridge's sharpshooters, attacked and defeated a Confederate force at
Mount Zion, Boone County, December 27th and 28th. The Union loss
was three killed and ten wounded. The Confederate power in Mis
souri was soon after much weakened by the withdrawal of McCulloch's
force ; and a few stringent measures of General Halleck settled affairs
there.

CHAPTER XIH.
Affairs in Western Yirginia. — General Eosecrans. — Oppression by General Wise.—
Population of Western Yirginia. — The Confederate Troops. — Gauley Bridge.  Ka
nawha Expedition. — Eosecrans's Command. — Proclamation. — General Lee.— -rElk
River. — Cheat Mountain. — General Reynolds. — His Command. — Carnifex Ferry. —
The Battle. — General Benham. — Retreat of the Enemy .—Dogwood Gap. — Big Sew-
all. — General Floyd. — General Reynolds. — Green River. — Enemy's Loss. — Chapman-
ville. — Gauley Bridge. — Guyandotte. — Romney. — Camp Alleghany.
" The state of affairs in Western Virginia when General McClellan
was ordered to the command of the Potomac Department was favora
ble for the National cause. Brigadier-General Rosecrans had succeeded
to the command of the Department of the Ohio. General Wise was
in command of the Confederates, occupying the line of the Kanawha,
and had conducted his operations in such a manner as greatly to aid
the development of the Union sentiment of that section, the population
of which, as per census of 1860, was as follows : —
„_ „....,. Blacks. WMteS. Total. '
western Vwgp'm, thirty-nine counties  10,101 271,685 281,186
Rest of Virginia, one hundred and nine
counties  410,786 811,627 1,282,413
490,887 1,083,312 1,573,199
For weeks General Wise kept his guerrillas scouring the counties

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLIOIT. 181
of Kanawha and Jackson, seizing all the cattle and horses of Union
men, and pretending to buy them of disunion men. These cattle and
horses he sent to the east, until there were very few good animals left.
Other counties fared but little better. He burned nearly every bridge
in the valley except the fine suspension bridge across Elk River, which
he ordered to be cut down and fired. These and similar proceedings
had produced great dissatisfaction even among those who regarded
secession favorably. In this state of affairs, General Cox advanced
against Wise, at Gauley Bridge, July 26th. As soon as the Union
scouts were seen, intelligenpe was conveyed to Wise, who beat a pre
cipitate retreat, leaving behind one thousand five hundred muskets, a
large lot of ammunition, tents, and other camp equipage. In his re
treat he burned all the bridges on the road, and fell back on a position
at White Sulphur Springs, eighteen miles above Gauley River. His
force was about three thousand five hundred badly-equipped jnen.
Colonel Tyler, of the Seventh Ohio, joined Cox on the same day. and
the two corps were united.
Meantime General Rosecrans was at Grafton, on his way to take
command of the Kanawha expedition. Cheat Mountain Pass, beyond
Huttonville, and the route at '?Red House," by which the remnant of
Garnett's division escaped, were strongly fortified and occupied ; a de
tachment was left at Cheat River Pass, on the Baltimore and Ohio
Railroad ; the two railroads were guarded, and the remainder of the
available force in Western Virginia was concentrated and precipitated
on the rebels in the Kanawha region.
On the 12th of September, the enemy, nine thousand strong, with
eight to twelve pieces of artillery, under command of General R. E.
Lee, advanced by the Huntersville pike, on Elk Water, held by a
brigade of Indiana troops, under General Joseph J. Reynolds. Our
advanced pickets gradually fell back to our main picket station, two
companies of the Seventeenth Indiana, under Colonel Hascall, cheeking
the enemy's advance at the Point Mountain turnpike, and then falling
back on the regiment, which occupied a very advanced position on our
right front, and which was now ordered in. The enemy threw into
the woods on our left front three regiments, which made their way to
the right and rear of Cheat Mountain, took a position on the road
leading to Huttonville, broke the telegraph wire, and cut off Reynolds's
communication with a regiment of Indiana cavalry on Cheat Summit.
Simultaneously another force of the enemy, of about equal strength,
advanced by the Staunton pike in front of Cheat Mountain, and threw
two regiments to the right and rear of Cheat Mountain, which united
with the three regiments from the other column of the enemy. (The
two posts, Cheat Summit and Elk Water, are seven miles apart by a
bridle-path over the mountains, and eighteen by the wagon-road vid
Huttonville; Cheat Mountain pass, the former head-quarters of the
brigade^ being at the foot of the mountain, ten miles from the summit.)
The enemy, advancing towards the pass, by which he might possibly
have obtained the rear or left of Elk Water, was met there by three
companies of the Thirteenth Indiana, ordered up for that purpose, and
by one company of the Fourteenth Indiana, from the summit. These

182 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
*
four companies engaged and gallantly held in check greatly superior
numbers of the enemy, foiled him in his attempt to obtain the rear or
left of Elk Water, and threw him into the rear and right of Cheat
Mountain — the companies retiring to the pass at the foot of the moun
tains. The enemy, about five thousand strong, were closed in on Cheat
Summit. So matters rested at dark on the 12th, with heavy forces in
front, and in plain sight of both posts, communication cut off, and the
supply train for the mountain, loaded with provisions, which were
needed, waiting for an opportunity to pass "up the road. Under such
circumstances, General Reynolds, resolving to force a communication
with Cheat Mountain, ordered the Thirteenth Indiana to cut their
way, if necessary, by the mail-road, and the greater part of the Third
Ohio and Second Virginia to do the same by the path, the two com
mands starting at three o'clock. This was effected, and communica
tion opened.
Meantime General Lee advanced on Elk Water, when one rifled
ten-pound Parrott gun, from Loomis's battery, was run to the front
three-fourths of a mile, and delivered a few shots at the enemy, which
caused him to retire. He renewed the attack early on the 1 4th, and
was met by the Fifteenth Indiana with such vigor that he withdrew
ten miles. The result of these affairs was a loss of one hundred of the
enemy killed, including Colonel John A. Washington, aide-de-camp to
General Lee (the same who was arrested by John Brown at the cap
ture of Harper's Ferry, in 1859); and about twenty prisoners. The
Unionists lost nine killed.
Early in September General Wise was encamped at Dogwood Gap,
a few miles from Carnifex Ferry, on the Gauley River, which was held
by General Floyd, with five thousand men and sixteen guns, intrenched
in a very strong position on the top of the mountain, around the south
ern base of which winds the Gauley River, forming a semicircle, in the
centre of which is Gauley Bridge. His rear and both flanks were thus
perfectly protected. The front was masked by a thick wood and
jungle. General Rosecrans, on the 10th of September, after a march
of seventeen and a half miles with Benham's brigade, reached the front
of this position. The Ohio Tenth Regiment, of General Benham's
brigade, was in advance, and drove a strong detachment of the enemy
out of camp east of the position, the site of which was unknown.
Shortly afterwards bis scouts, consisting of four companies, suddenly
discovered themselves in the face of a parapet battery, and a long line
of palisades for riflemen, when the battle opened fiercely. °The
remainder of the Tenth and Thirteenth Ohio were brought into action
successively by General Benham, and the Twelfth afterwards by Cap
tain Hartsuff, whose object was an armed reconnoissance. The enemy
played upon the National forces with musketry, rifles, canister, and
shell, causing some casualties. Colonel Lytle led several companies
against the battery, when he was brought down by a shot in the leg.
Colonel Smith's Thirteenth Ohio engaged the rebels on the left, and
Colonel Lowe's Twelfth Ohio directly in the front. Lowe fell dead at
the head of his regiment in the hottest fire, by a ball in the forehead.

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION 183
A howitzer battery and two field-pieces, meantime, were got into the
best position possible under the circumstances, and soon silenced two
of the rebel guns. The fire slackened at intervals, but grew more
furious as night approached, when a German brigade was led gallantly
into the action by Colonel McCook ; but after a furious fight of three
hours the troops were recalled, and the men lay on their arms within a
short distance of the enemy all night.
General Floyd retreated during the night. In doing so he sank the
boats in the river, and destroyed the temporary bridge which he had
made when he first occupied the position. The turbulence and depth
of the river, and the exhaustion of the troops, made it impossible to
follow him. He left his camp equipage, wagons, horses, large quanti
ties of ammunition, and fifty head of cattle. The National troops#lost
fifteen killed, and about seventy wounded, generally flesh wounds.
Floyd's personal baggage, with that of his oflicers, was also taken by
General Benham's brigade, which suffered most. The Confederate
general, who had been wounded in the arm, retired with his men
"fifteen miles on the main Charleston road, whence the retreat was
continued towards Greenbrier River. On September 14th General
Floyd and his forces encamped on the summit of the Big Sewall
Mountain, and General Wise took a position east of him, on "the
Western slope of the Big Sewall, which he called Camp Defiance.
Thinking his position not tenable against a large force, Floyd fell
back on the 17th to Meadow Bluff, under the impression that Rose
crans was before him with fifteen thousand men. He ordered Gen
eral Wise to follow, covering his rear; but the latter concluded that
his position was strong enough to make a good defence against
large numbers, and decided to hold the place at all hazards, as the
best means of covering Floyd's army. On the 20th, General Lee
, arrived at Floyd's camp, and, subsequently inspecting Wise's position,
ordered him to hold it until further orders. General Wise had one
thousand seven hundred men, but on the 24th General Lee moved for
ward with a force which raised the number to five thousand five hun
dred men, with eleven guns, at a point where the Staunton turnpike
ascends the Alleghany Mountains. General Floyd remained at
Meadow Bluff with one thousand five hundred men. On the arrival
of General Lee, General Wise was ordered to report in person to the
Secretary of War, at Richmond.
This being the position of the enemy, General Reynolds, on the
night of October 2d, started from the summit of Cheat Mountain,
twelve miles from Greenbrier, with about five thousand men, to con
duct a reconnoissance in force. The Confederate camp was located
on a high, steep elevation, known as Buffalo Hill, at a sharp turn of the
road, and so situated that an attacking force had to come directly
under the guns and intrenchments of the right of the camp to obtain
even a view of the left. The formation, of the ground is particularly
favorable for the construction of terraces, and the enemy had made
good use of its advantages. Their defences rose one above the other,
far up the hill, extending even into the forest above the camp. The
sole attack contemplated was directly in front, with artillery, the in-

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

HISTOEY PF THE GEEAT REBELLION. 185
andotte, on the Ohio River, were attacked by a superior force of Con
federates. The Unioa soldiers were invited to the houses of the
citizens by previous arrangement, and when the Confederates made the
attack, signals were displayed from the houses where the Federal
troops were quartered, in consequence of which ten or twelve were
killed and twenty or thirty wounded ; although, in the attempt to ex
ecute this inhuman massacre, the rebels lost nearly or quite as many
as they killed of the Union soldiers. In retaliation, on the arrival of
Colonel Zeigler with a Union force, a part of the town was burned, t
Meantime Brigadier-General Kelley, with twenty-five hundred men,
of Virginia and Ohio volunteers, left New Creek, Virginia, on the
night of the 26th of October, on an expedition against Romney. At
Mill Creek, five miles from Romney, he came upon the outposts of the
enemy, which were driven in, and advanced to the Indian Mound
Cemetery, to the west of the town, where "the enemy made a stand
and opened fire with a twelve-pound rifled gun, placed in a command
ing position, and a mountain howitzer. One twelve-pounder and two
six-pounders responded to the artillery on Kelley's part, until the
general was enabled to fully comprehend the enemy's position, when
he soon gave the command to charge upon their batteries and intrench
ments. The cavalry dashed across the river (which was fordable at
this point), while the infantry rushed over the bridge to encounter the
foe at the very muzzles of his guns. No sooner did the enemy per
ceive this movement, than they immediately abandoned their positions,
and commenced a precipitate retreat, rushing pell-mell through the
town, and directing their flight towards Winchester. General Kelley
captured sixty prisoners, among whom was Colonel E. M. Armstrong,
late a member of the Richmond Convention, two hundred horses, three
wagon-loads of new rifles, two cannon, a large quantity of corn, tents,
and many other stores. The loss on either side was slight.
On the 12th of December about fourteen hundred Union troops,
under command of General R. H. Milroy, marched towards the enemy's
camp, on the top of the Alleghany Mountains, eight and a half miles
beyond Camp Bartow, on the Greenbrier River. The column reached
Camp Bartow about eight o'clock p. m., where it halted and rested.
At this point the force was marshalled into two divisions, each about
seven hundred strong, one of which marched on what is known as the
old " Greenbank road," to attack the enemy on the left, while the other,
accompanied by Brigadier-General R. H. Milroy and his staff, took the
Staunton turnpike. The latter reached the vicinity of the Confederate
camp about daylight ; but owing to the badness of the roads, and ob
structions from felled trees, the first division could not reach the field
in season to co-operate, and the little force contended single-handed for
about three hours with an enemy of three or four times their number,
driving the rebels back to their camp repeatedly ; but as they were
largely re-enforced, Colonel Jones, who was in command, fell back in
good order to the head-quarters of General Milroy. Just after it re
tired, the other division came up and engaged the enemy for six hours,
when it, too, fell back in order, bringing off all its wounded and most
of its dead. The Union Joes in both actions was twenty killed, one

186 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
hundred and seven wounded, and ten missing. The Confederate loss
was reported as twenty-five killed, ninety-seven wounded, and thirty
prisoners, among them a major and several other officers.
At Huntersville, about forty miles from Staunton, the Confederates
had a depot of munitions and stores, which General Milroy, on the 31st
of December, sent a force of seven hundred and fifty men to break up.
On the 3d of January the advancing force encountered the Confederate
pickets at Greenbrier River, six miles from Huntersville. The rebels
fell back upon the main body four miles in the rear, when the whole
retreated, leaving the Union troops in possession of the stores, which
were destroyed to the amount of $25,000 or $30,000.
On the 4th of January, 1862, the Confederate General Jackson made
a reconnoissance in force towards Hancock, Md., where General Lander
was in command. After .tearing up a portion of the Baltimore and
Ohio Railroad in the neighborhood of this place, and partly destroying
the Little Cacapon bridge, he sent a flag of truce over to Hancock, de
manding its surrender within an hour, under threat of bombardment.
General Lander replied by planting his cannon on a hill, and bombard
ing Jackson's camp, which led to his speedy withdrawal.
On the 7th of January a detachment of General Kelley's forces, com
manded by Colonel Dunning, Fifth Ohio, left Romney, and attacked
the Confederates, two thousand strong, at Blue Gap, Va., east of
Romney. The enemy were completely routed, with a loss of fifteen
killed, two pieces of cannon, their wagons, tents, &c, with twenty
prisoners, including one commissioned officer.
The operations of the Confederates became less energetic in that
section of the State until February 13th, when their force having con
centrated at Blooming Gap, it was surprised and dispersed by General
Lander, with a loss of thirteen killed and seventy-five prisoners. Gen
eral Lander then reported the department entirely clear of Confeder
ates, and asked to be relieved of his^command on the ground of ill-
health, he having never recovered from the wound received at Ed
wards's Ferry. He died on the 2d of March, 1862, of congestion of
the brain, induced by over-exertion while still suffering from his wound.

CHAPTER XTV.
Strength of the Navy. — Blockade. — Captures by the Navy. — Large Increase of Ships
of War. — Right of Blockade. — Propositions of the American Government. — Action
of England and Prance. — Privateers.— The Sumter. — The Nashville. — Trial of Pri
vateers. — Laws of Piracy. — Retaliation of the Confederates. — Exchange of Prisoners.
The navy of the United States, like the army, had never previous to
the rebellion been kept up on a scale in any degree proportioned to the
commercial interests, or the rank of the nation, as compared with
other Governments. The_ commercial marine was of itself, however,
regarded as the main portion of our naval power, since in it were nur-

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 18T
tured and trained those hardy seamen who, in time of war, man the
national ships, or, as privateers, form the " militia of the seas." Any
nation which has a large and thriving commerce is necessarily a naval
power : on the other hand, those Governments which have not a well-
developed commerce cannot become great naval powers, no matter
what may be their resources in other respects ; at least, this has here
tofore been the experience of the world. The immense changes
wrought by steam in naval science, however, render a comparatively
smaller number of trained seamen necessary to work powerful steam
batteries, and may therefore alter the relative naval strength of na
tions. ' The United States had made but little progress in this direc
tion, and on the outbreak of the war, vessels, whether steam or sail,
were by no means in sufficient numbers for the exigencies of the Gov
ernment. On the 16th of January, 1861, the whole naval strength of
the United States, available for the defence of the entire Atlantic
coast, according to a report of the Congressional Committee, was the
steamer Brooklyn, of twenty-five guns, and the store-ship Relief, of two
guns. The committee called attention to the extraordinary defence
less state in which the coast was thus left, stating that the number of
ships lying in port dismantled and unfit for service was twenty-eight,
mounting eight hundred and seventy-four guns, and that from six
weeks' to six months' time would be required to make them service
able. The gradual arrival of vessels from abroad soon imparted more
strength to the coast defence. In March, the Cumberland, flag-ship of
Commodore Pendergrast, arrived at Norfolk, and was detained there.
Commodore McCauley, in command of the Norfolk navy-yard, was
cautioned in the beginning of April to put the public property there in
a condition to be moved,, but to act so cautiously as not excite alarm
at the South. The results we have seen in a previous chapter, where the
loss of the Gosport navy-yard was recounted. The Government, on
learning the aggressions of the Confederates, exerted itself to hasten at
once the completion of all pubic armed vessels, and issued orders in
Boston, Philadelphia, and New York to purchase, charter, arm, and
equip all such steamers as could be found suitable for the public service.
The whole naval force was required to carry into effect the proclama
tions declaring an embargo or blockade of the Southern ports. On
account of the great extent of coast, three thousand miles, the force
was divided into two squadrons, one for the Gulf of Mexico and one
for the Atlantic. At Hampton Roads notice was given of this block
ade by Flag-officer Pendergrast, and on the 13th of May, Flag-officer
Stringham, having arrived in Hampton Roads with the Minnesota,
proceeded to carry it into effect. Meantime the President had issued
the following proclamation :—
"By the President or the United States of America.
"Whereas, for the reasons assigned in my proclamation of the 19th instant, a
blockade of the ports of the States of South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama,
Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas, was ordered to be established; and whereas, since
that date public property of the United States has been seized, the collection of tho
revenue obstructed, and duly commissioned officers of the United States, while en
gaged in executing the orders of their superiors, have been arrested and held in cus- .

188 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION
tody as prisoners, or have been impeded in the discharge of their official din)ies, with
out due legal process, by persons claiming to act under authority of the States of
Virginia and North Carolina, an efficient blockade of the ports of these States will
therefore also be established.
" In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the Uni
ted States to be affixed.
''Done at the City of Washington, this 27th day of April, in the year of our Lord
one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, and of the independence of the United
States the eighty-fifth.
"By the President: Abraham Lincoln.
L " William H Seward, Secretary of State.1'
As the Government vessels returned from foreign stations, they were
immediately employed in carrying out the blockade. The Niagara
arrived at Boston, from Japan, April 24th, and immediately proceeded
to Charleston Harbor, and thence to the Gulf of Mexico, to intercept
the shipment of arms and munitions from Europe to the Gulf States.
Flag-officer Mervine arrived in the Gulf, June 8th, with the steamer
Mississippi, in advance of his flag-ship, the Colorado. The blockade
of Mobile (Ala.) harbor was commenced May 27th, and Fort Morgan,
which guards its entrance, welcomed the blockading fleet by display
ing the United States flag, with the Union down, below the Confed
erate flag, on the same staff. The Cumberland, Pawnee, Monticello,
and Yankee were enforcing the blockade off Fortress Monroe. The
steamers Philadelphia, Baltimore, Powhatan, and Mount Vernon, of the
Aqnia Creek line, recently taken possession of by the Federal Gov
ernment, were cruising on the Potomac, all heavily armed.
In Chapter IX. we have given the condition of the navy as stated
in the report of the Secretary, July 4th, to Congress. According to
that report, from March 4th to July, two hundred and fifty-nine officers
had resigned from the navy. This number, with those that, previously
gave up their commissions, made three hundred and thirty that left the
service after November, 1860. For this reason, many vessels were
without a full complement of officers. There were, however, numbers
who, having in times past left the service for civil pursuits, came
promptly forward to offer their services, and many masters and mas
ters' mates were taken from the mercantile service. So promptly did
seamen present themselves, that only two or three vessels experienced
any detention for want of crews. The navy underwent a most rapid
increase, as well in men as vessels. The aggregate of the purchases up
to January, 1862, was as follows: —
No. Gum, Toni. Total Coat,' Cost Each.
Steamers, side-wheel  86 160 26.680 »2,418,108 *12,000 to |200,000
... ewew  42 170 19,955 2,18T,6ST 6,000 to 172,500
SWPl  18 62 9,998 818,603 7,000 to 40,000
?¦•*¦  H 7S 8.186 843,400 11,500 to 82,000
Schooners  25 60 6,458 241.790 6,000to 1S.000
Barges   2 4 * 460 19,000 9,000to 10,000
The side-wheel vessels carried from one to ten guns each, the screws
from one to nine, the ships one to eight. Of the side-wheel steamers,
nine were first-class ships. Among the steamers were eighteen ferry
boats, bought from the Brooklyn and New Jersey ferry companies.
The armed vessels, in the operation of enforcing the blockade, cap
tured a considerable number of vessels, from April to November.

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION 189
The vessels purchased were, however, few of them suitable for the
blockading service, which required continuous duty off the coast in
all weathers. The department therefore contracted for the construc
tion of twenty-three gunboats, of five hundred tons each, and made
arrangements for larger and fleeter vessels, in addition to taking steps
towards carrying out the order of Congress of the preceding session,
for the construction of seven sloOps-of-war. Of these latter, two were
directed to be built at each navy-yard — Portsmouth, Boston, New
York, and Philadelphia — making eight. The following table gives the
names* character, and cost of the vessels built : —
FOURTEEN SCREW SLOOPS, 1,200 TONS EACH, CAREYING SEVEN GTJNS. .
Builder of Price of
Name. Place built. guilder of hull. machinery. machinery.
Kearsarge  Portsmouth  Government  Woodruff & Bench, . .$104,000
A i u u J Reliance Machine I „„ nnr>
0»8lPeB    1 Oo.,MyBtic, f 98'00l)
c L u u 1 Taunton Locomd- I 11:m
Sacramento  "  "  < tlve Co. j 11''000
Wachusett  Boston  "  Geo. W. Quintard.... 104,000
Honsatonic  "  •'  J. Corry & Oo  110,000
Canandalgua.... "  "  Atlantic Works  110,000
Adirondack..... New York  "  •.  Novelty Works  125,000
Ticonderoga  " "  "  Allaire Works  110,000
Oneiila....  " "  "  Murphy <fc Co  102,000
Lackawanna.... u "  "  Geo. W. Quintard.... 110,000
Juniata  Philadelphia  "  Pusey, Jones & Co.. . 95,000
Tuscarora  "  "  Merrick&Sons  102,000
Monongahela... "  u  u "  110,000
Shenandoah.... «  "  " "  110,000
TWENTY-THEEE SCREW GTTNBOATS, 500 TOSS EACH, CAEEYIXO FOUE SPKS.
Price Builder of Price of
Kame. Place built. Builder of hull. of hull. machinery. machinery.
Tahoma  Wilmington, Del. ... W. & A. Thatcher  $53,500 .. . Eeany & Archbold .... $46,500
Wissahickon ...Philadelphia  JohnLynn  58,500... Merrick & Sons  45,000
Sctota..  "  Jacob Blrely  52,000. ..J. P. Morris & Co  44,000
Itasca  "  Hillman & Streaker  53,000... " "  45,000
Unadilla  New York  John Englis  56.500... Novelty Works  81,500
Ottawa  " "  J. A. Westervelt  56,500... " "  81,500
Pembina.  " »  Thomas Stack.  56,500... " »  81,500
Seneca.  "i "  J. SiMonson  56,500... " "  81,500
Chippewa  .. " "  Webb 4 Bell  55,000... Morgan Works  46,000
Winona.  " "  O. & E. Poillon  55,000.. .Allaire Works  46,000
Owasco  Mystic River..  Maxon, Fish & Co  58,000.. ;Novelty Works..'  46,000
Kanawha  East Haddam  E. G. & W. H. Goodspeed. 52,000. . .Pacific Works  45.500
Cayuga  Portland, Conn  Gildersleeve & Son  52,000... Woodruff* Beach  45.500
Huron  Boston  Paul Curtis  55,000... H. Loring  46,000
Chocura,  "  Curtis & Tilden  53,000... "  45,000
Sagamore  "  A. <fc G. Sampson  55,000. ..Atlantic Works  46,000
Marblehead. ...Newbnryport  G. W. Jackman, Jr  52,000.. .Highland Works  ,. 48,000
Kennebec.  Thomaston, Me  G.W.Lawrence.  52,000... Novelty Works  45.500
Aroostook  Kennebec  N W.Thompson  68,000... " "  ;.. 47,500
Kineo  Portland  J.W.Dyer  52,000... Morgan Works  46,500
Katahdin  Bath  Larrabee & Allen  52,000... " "  45.500
Penobscot  Belfast  C. P Carter  52,000 ..Allaire Works  42,000
Pinola  Baltimore  J. J, Abrahams  52,000... C. Beeder  46,000
TWELVE SIDE- WHEEL STEAMERS, 700 TONS EACH, CARRYING FOUR GTTNS.
Builder of Price of
Name. Place built. Builder of hull. machinery. machinery.
Sebago  Portsmouth  Government  Novelty Works .. ..$50,000
Mohnska  "  "  Morgan Works. :  50,000
Sonoma  "  »  NoveltyWorks  50,000
Conemaugh  "  "  " "  ,50,000
Maratanza  Boston  "  H. Loring  48.000
Tioga.  "  "  Morgan Works  50,000
Genesee  "  :  "  NeptuneWorks  48,000
Octorara  NewYork  "  " "  -.4f'S*2
Port Royal .... " "  Thomas Stack  Vessel complete  lm-<'™
Miami  Philadelphia.  Government  Merrick A Sons  ,**2001
Cimerono  Bordentown, N. J.. .D. 8. Merchon  Complete . .......  100,000
Paul Jones  Baltimore  J. J.Abrahams  Eeany & Archbold.... 50,000

190 BISTOBY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.

THREE IRON-CLAD STEAMERS, 1,500 TONS EACH, CARRYING TWO, TWELVE, AND EIGHTEEN GTjNfl.
, Price o,f , F
Nnme. Placo built. Builder of hull. machinery.'
Galena  Mystic,:..!  Bushnell & Co  Complete for..  $285,000
Monitor  New York  John Ericsson  " "  280,000
Ironsides  Philadelphia  Merrick & Sons  " "  780,000
The names of most of this new fleet are of Indian origin, imparting
at least " an odor of nationality," if they are not easily borne in mind.
The first of the gunboats launched was the Unadilla, August 17th, and
thirty days later she made a very satisfactory trial trip. A descrip
tion of her construction will serve for that of all. Her length is one
hundred and sixty-eight feet, width twenty-eight feet, and depth of
hold twelve feet. She is schooner rigged, and has two engines, fur
nished by the Novelty Works, each complete in itself. They are what
is termed back action ; the cylinders are thirty inches in diameter,
with an eighteen-inch stroke ; the boilers are of the vertical tubular
form ; there are fifty-two feet of grate surface, and two thousand feet
of heating surface. The propeller is nine feet in diameter, with a
mean pitch of twelve feet ; the shaft is sixty-four feet long. There is
accommodation for over one hundred and fifty tons of coal on board.
She averaged nine miles per hour, the boiler showing twenty-eight
pounds of steam, and the propeller making seventy-five to eighty revo
lutions per minute. With the aid of canvas, her speed was estimated
at fifteen miles per hour.
As the strength of the Federal navy increased, greater effect was
given to those proclamations of the President by which a blockade
of the Southern coast was established. Out of this right of blockade,
however, grew many interesting questions, particularly in respect to
the effectiveness of the blockade. The authority of the President to
institute a blockade at all was, in some quarters, denied. It was in
sisted that this poWer, under the Constitution, could exist only in the
legislature. The Circuit Court of Washington, however, held that the
President was commander-in-chief of the army, and navy, and, as such,
had a right to employ them in the manner he deemed most effectual
to subdue the enemy ; as chief of the navy, he had an undoubted rignl
to order a ship to capture an enemy's vessel, and to shut up his port is
only another mode of attack. The facts set forth in the proclamation
show that civil war exists. Blockade is a belligerent right, and can
only legally have place in a state of war. A sovereign nation, engaged
in the duty of suppressing an insurrection of its citizens, may act in
the twofold capacity of sovereign and belligerent. By inflicting
through the judiciary the penalty which the law affixes to the crimes
of treason and piracy upon those found guilty of those offences, it acts
in its capacity of sovereign. By instituting a blockade of the ports
of its rebellious subjects, and enforcing that measure by capturing its
vessels and cargoes, and capturing the vessels of any or all nations
that shall attempt to violate the blockade, it is exercising a belligerent
right, and the courts in adjudication of prizes are organized as prize-
courts. The question was also raised whether a nation could blockade its
own ports and collect duties, since the Constitution declares that no

HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 191
preference shall be given to one port over another, and treaties with
foreign powers gave them the right of visiting our ports.
The old law of blockade, introduced by Holland as far back as 1580,
consisted simply in a diplomatic notice that sucb or such a place was
blockaded, without much effort to make it real. When England suc
ceeded to the supremacy of the seas, she greatly developed and ex
tended this system, so that, whenever she was at war, the interests of
neutral nations became more precarious than even those of the enemy.
In the wars with Napoleon the whole French coast was declared under
blockade by Great Britain. The proclamation was notified to all
neutral nations, who were thenceforth to abstain from all intercourse
with the interdicted territory. Allied to this belligerent right, also,
was that of seizing enemies' goods on board neutral vessels; also,
neutral goods found in enemies' vessels. In the progress of civilization
these remains of barbarism came to be modified, and in 1854, on the
occasion of the war with Russia, the various powers agreed that block
ades, to be binding, must be effective ; that is to say, maintained by
forces sufficient really to prevent access to the coast of the enemy.
The same convention abolished privateering in time of war. On the
return of peace, in 1856, these principles were agreed to, in the declara
tion of Paris, by Austria, France, Great Britain, Sardinia, Prussia,
Russia, and Turkey, and were then submitted to the United States.
Mr. Marcy, then Secretary of State, in Mr. Pierce's Administration,
objected to the clause which abolished privateering. "It is," said he,
" not the policy of the United States to maintain vast standing armies
and navies. When, unfortunately, we go to war, we depend upon our
people to protect us on the land, and on our ship-owners to defend us
on the water. If you will make all private property exempt from cap
ture at sea, we will cease privateering ; but why ask us to abolish at,
while you maintain and send out your great ships of war, which are
neither more nor less than privateers ? They go forth to do exactly
the same things as the ships we license in time of war to burn, plunder,
and destroy. Make all private property exempt from capture at sea,
and then we will agree that privateering shall cease." The English
Government would not agree to this, although the view had many
advocates in England. The discussion was continued, and it was' pro
posed, by Mr. Buchanan, that the law of blockade should also be modi
fied in so far that it should be confined to national vessels, and naval
arsenals and towns which were at the same time invested by an army
on the land ; that all merchant vessels, with their cargoes, should be
free to pass in and out. In 1859 Mr. Cass sent a circular to this effect
to the representatives of the United States at all the European capitals.
The British Government replied that " the system of commercial block
ade is essential to our naval supremacy." It is somewhat remarkable,
however, that in the case of the Russian war the allies acted on the
principle proposed by Mr. Buchanan. That war was declared in March,
1854, but the ports of Southern Russia were not declared in a state of
blockade until March, 1 855. The allies temporized for a year with their
right and power to close the commercial ports of the Black. Sea, whilst
carrying on the most sanguinary struggle before the naval arsenal of

192 HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
Sebastopol, in order to allow the exportation of food from Russia, to
make good the deficient harvests of England and France. Upward of
half a million quarters of grain reached England from that region in
1854. Here, at least, is a precedent for the policy of restricting block
ades to fortified places, and leaving commercial ports unmolested.
Had the proposition of Mr. Marcy, in relation to private property and
privateers, and Mr. Cass's proposition in relation to blockade, been
accepted by England and the other powers, they would have suffered
no inconvenience from the present war, since their vessels would have
had access to the Southern ports, whence, also, no privateers would
have issued. When the blockade was instituted, the British Govern
ment recognized it as a belligerent right, and the Queen issued a
proclamation enjoining the strictest neutrality. The British minister,
in reply to some merchants of Liverpool who proposed fitting out ves
sels to trade to New Orleans, in the belief that under the treaty they
had a right to enter any port of the United States, and that the attempt
to enforce the blockade against British ships was an infringement of
national law, stated: —
"The United States and the so-called Confederate States are engaged in a civil war,
and her Majesty's Government has recognized that state of things, and has taken up a
position of neutrality between the contending parties. Under these circumstances, if
any British ship, being a neutral, knowingly attempts to break an effective blockade,
she is liable to capture and coademnatiou."
In France, application was also made to the minister, and he replied
more at length to the same effect as the English minister. Complaint
was made that no notification was given to the ministers of the several
powers that the blockade was instituted, but this was not considered
essential to its validity, if it was effective. Fifteen days were allowed,
after the establishment of the blockade, for vessels to come out of the
ports. It appears that whether they were loaded or not at the time
the blockade was established, provided they came out within fifteen
days, their passage was allowed. On the other hand, the United
States Government declined to permit vessels to be sent to ports which
were blockaded for the purpose of bringing away the property of Brit
ish subjects, or the vessels or property of other nations. An applica
tion for such permission was made, to which the Secretary of State
replied that if such a facility were granted it would be used by Ameri
can citizens wishing to bring away property. The chief object of the
Government, in the prompt announcement of the blockade, was to pre
vent the egress of privateers that might prey upon the Northern com
merce. The proclamation of Jefferson Davis to grant "letters of
marque," had been followed, May 6th, by the act of the Confederate
Congress recognizing the existence of war between the United States
and the Confederate States, and authorizing privateers. The act gave
effect to the proclamation of Davis, and regulated the action of priva
teers and established prize-courts for the adjudication of prizes.
The announcement of this privateering poliqy produced a great sen
sation at the North, where there was so much at risk. There were,
nevertheless, two great difficulties in the way of privateers. One was

HldTOBY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 193
the want of vessels, and the other the want of some place where prizes
could be carried for condemnation. It was soon ascertained, however,
that a number of vessels, mostly those taken from the Government,
and others belonging to Northern owners, which happened to be in
Southern ports at the outbreak of the rebellion, were at the command
of the Confederates, and were being fitted for cruising. A number of
them ran the blockade and proceeded to prey upon commerce. Among
these was the Aiken, a revenue cutter, which had been surrendered by
its commander to the Charleston authorities, just previous to the fall
of Sumter. She was refitted, and, under the name of Petrel, ran the
blockade in July, and, mistaking the frigate St. Lawrence for a mer
chant vessel, ran towards her, and when within range was crushed by
a single broadside. The Calhoun was a side- wheel steamer of one
thousand and fifty-eight tons, carrying one twenty-four-pound gun and
two eighteen-pound Dahlgrens. She was commanded by George N.
Hollins, formerly of the United States navy, and made numerous cap
tures. The steamer W. H. Webb, formerly a New York towboat of
six hundred and fifty tons, and the Dixie, a schooner of one hundred
and fifty tons, were also busy. The Jeff. Davis, Captain Coxsetter,
ran north as far as the Nantucket Shoals, making prizes on her way,
but was soon after lost at St. Augustine, Florida. The Bonita, a New
York brig, the Sallie, a schooner, formerly the Virginia, of Brook-
haven, and. others, committed serious depredations upon Northern
commerce. Many of the prizes captured by these vessels were carried
into Southern ports and condemned in the prize-courts.
When the Confederate authorities had proposed to issue letters of
marque, little attention was paid to the matter, under the supposition
that they had neither the facilities to equip vessels nor the' power to
break the blockade. The prompt appearance of the vessels on the
ocean compelled the European powers immediately to define their
positions in relation to them. The ground taken was, as in the case
of recognizing the blockade, to regard both parties as belligerents, and
to apply the same rules to the vessels of each. On the 1st of June
the English Government issued a proclamation containing- the follow
ing clause : —
" In order to give full effect to this principle (neutrality), her Majesty has been
pleased to interdict the armed ships, and also the privateers of both parties, from car
rying prizes made by them into the ports,' harbors, and roadstead^,, or waters of the
United Kingdom, or any of her Majesty's colonies or possessions abroad.!'
The French Government decreed that no vessel of war or privateer
of either party should be allowed to remain in a French port more
than twenty-four hours, and forbidding any sale of goeds- belonging to
prizes. The Spanish Government issued a similar deeree.
These regulations much circumscribed the Confederate action ;; but
at Havana it was notified : —
" Vessels bearing the Confederate flag are allowed to enter Cuban ports under their
own flags, to discharge and take away cargoes, and do all other things of Business
necessity, with the same privileges as favored nations, but without recognition" of the
new nationality."
The two most important of the Confederate war-vessels were the
13

194 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
Sumtei" and the Nashville, because of the extent of their operations
and their long-continued impunity. The former was originally called
the Marquis de la Habana, and had belonged to the Mexican General
Miramon. She had been captured off Vera Cruz, March 5th, 1860, by
the United States sloop-of-war Saratoga; for refusing to show her
colors and firing into the latter when hailed ; and being carried to
New Orleans, she was subsequently taken possession of by the Confed
erate Government, and fitted for sea under command of Raphael
Semmes. Her appearance, when her smoke-stack was lowered, which
was often the case for the purpose of disguise, was that of a clumsily
rigged bark. On the morning of the 30th of June she left the Missis
sippi, vainly pursued by the United States steamer Brooklyn. She
made a number of prizes and sent them in to Cienfuegos, but they were
not allowed to remain. The Sumter coaled at that port, however, and
sailed on July 1th. She continued in the West Indies making prizes,
and coaling in the different ports, pursued by the United States
steamer Powhatan from port to port, until November, when she ran
into Martinique for supplies, which the Government refused, but per^
mitted her to buy them of the English merchants of St. Pierre. While
she lay there the United States gunboat Iroquois, Captain Palmer,
made her appearance. The local government, however, interposed, to
prevent any infraction of belligerent rights, and*detained the Iroquois
until twenty-four hours after the departure of the Sumter. She then
crossed the ocean, and ultimately arrived at Tangiers, Africa, where
some of her officers were seized by the American consul, and sent
home. The Nashville ran the blockade on the night of October 26th, and
excited much attention by the rumor that she carried out Messrs.
Slidell and Mason, the Confederate commissioners to Europe. This
rumor was, however, a blind to cover the actual departure of the com
missioners in the Theodora. The Nashville was a side-wheel steamer
of one thousand two hundred and twenty tons, belonging to the New
York and Charleston line of steamers, and was of great speed. She
had a> crew of eighty men, and carried two long twelve-pound rifled
cannon, and was commanded by Captain Pegram, formerly of the
United States navy. She arrived at Bermuda in three and a half days,
where she coaled from private sources, the Government refusing sup
plies. On the 5th of November she sailed for England. 6n the 19th
of November she fell in with and captured the ship Harvey Birch,
Captain Nelson, from Havre for New York, three days out. The
captain and crew were taken as prisoners of war, and the ship, a vessel
of one thousand four hundred tons, was destroyed by fire. She then
proceeded to Southampton, where the prisoners were set at liberty
with all their effects. The Nashville remained a long time in the Eng
lish port to refit, being pursued thither and watched by the United
States steamer Tuscarora. They were both ultimately ordered to
leave the port, to prevent an infraction of the neutrality laws, the Tus
carora being compelled to give the Nashville a start of twenty-four
hours. As the Federal navy increased in strength, the number of privateers

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 195
became less, and their depredations almost altogether ceased. There
remained, however, the question of the mode of treatment for those
captured. On the 3d of June, the crew (twenty men) of the schooner
Savannah were captured by the United States trig Perry, and carried
into New York, in irons, to await trial for piracy. William Smith,;
one of the crew of the Jeff. Davis privateer, had also been captured
and sent to Philadelphia for trial. These two trials took place on the
same day, viz., October 22d. Soon after their capture, July 6th, Jef
ferson Davis sent a dispatch to President Linpoln, stating, that should
any of those prisoners be executed, he would, retaliate, man for man,
and' he proposed to exchange these prisoners. The seaman of the Jeff.
Davis was tried before Judges Grier and Cadwallader, who charged
the jury to the effect, that "he could not be regarded as a privateer,
because he acted under a government that had not been recognized.''
The law in relation to piracy had been laid down in Boston, May
16th, by Judge Sprague in a charge to the grand-jury. He cited the
laws of Congress of 1*790, 1820, 1825, 1846, and 1847; as to what con
stitutes the general crime of piracy. These laws were based on the
power of Congress to define and punish piracy. But he was of opinion
that the power to regulate commerce afforded basis for additional
penal enactments. These laws, being constitutionally made by Con
gress, cannot be impaired by the acts of any State or States. No
man breaking these laws under State authority can escape the conse
quences. But if States band together and make war, their authority
to commence privateering cannot be recognized by the judiciary, until
the Government, has conceded to them belligerent rights. As long as
the Government refuses to do this, the judiciary can only regard the
acts of the individuals as piracy. The judge held further, that if a
citizen of the United States should commit depredations upon its com
merce, under a commission even from France or England, be would
be dealt with as a pirate under the act of 1790 ; and citizens of foreign
countries which have treaties with the United States, such as are
alluded to by the law of 1847, may be deemed pirates, if they, under
a commission from any foreign Government, cruise against the United
States. The charge of Judge Grier sustained these views, and Smith
was convicted of piracy.
The trial of the Savannah crew, of whom eight were foreigners-,
was had before Judges Nelson and Shipman, in New York. Judge
Nelson charged, that a pirate, by the law of nations, was one that
cruised against the vessels of all nations; as the prisoners only cruised
against one, the United States, their crime fell short of piracy ; but
still, under the act of 182Q, they were pirates. The commission of
Jefferson Davis could not bp set up or defended, because the United
States did not recognize such authority. Again, a pirate was one who
depredated for private gain ; if this motive was wanting, in respect to
the prisoners, their crime was not piracy. The jury could not agree,
smd a new trial was ordered. The views of all the judges seemed to
centre in one point, viz., that the judiciary had no recourse but to
condemn them under the act, inasmuch as their acts were piracy under
existing laws, and the authority on which the men acted was not

196 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
recognized by the Government. Meantime, pending these trials, the
Confederate Government ordered the selection of a number of men from
the Richmond prisons, by lot, to be dealt with in the same manner
aa the privateers should be dealt with. The choice fell on Colonel
Corcoran, of the New York Sixty-ninth regiment, and others captured
at Bull Run. The Federal Government, under these circumstances,
delayed the execution of these prisoners.
While these events were taking place, R. B. Forbes and others, of
Boston, applied for authority to arm the propella Pembroke, about to
sail for China, as a privateer. The Secretary replied, that the power
to do so might be found under the act of August 5th, 1 861, empowering
the President to authorize " commanders of any suitable vessels to
subdue, seize," &c. It does not appear, however, that any vessels
were armed under that authority.
The proclamation of the President in relation to treating privateers
as pirates created much sensation in England, and on May 16th a
debate on the question took place in the House of Lords. The Earl
of Derby sai4 that privateers were not pirates by the law of nations, and
ho one nation could make it so. " He knew the United States treated
the privateers as mere rebels, and liable to the penalties of treason.
That was not the doctrine in this country, because we have declared
that they have belligerent rights. The Northern States could not
claim belligerent rights for themselves, and deal with the other parties
as rebels." Lord Brougham said, " it was very clear that privateering
was not piracy." Lord Kingsdown said the United States dealt with
the privateers as rebels. " He believed the enforcement of that doc
trine would be an act of barbarity which would produce an outcry
throughout the civilized world." The English Government, however,
took no active steps in the matter, and the question soon resolved itself
into one respecting the exchange of prisoners.
The question of exchange of prisoners early forced itself upon the
notice of the Government, which had the undoubted right to punish
those captured as traitors, taken in the act of levying war upon the
Government. To pursue this course, however, would provoke retri
bution, and would cause the war to degenerate into a savage contest.
On the other hand, the Government hesitated to systematize the ex
change of prisoners according to the laws of war, lest it might be
construed into an acknowledgment of the belligerent rights of the
Confederate States, The necessity of exchange became, however,
urgent. The friends of those who were languishing in Southern
prisons were kept anxious by the rumors of barbarities there com
mitted, and were clamorous that something should be done for their
relief. By effecting an exchange of prisoners, no rights of sover
eignty are conceded. There is a well-defined distinction recognized
by the United States Courts, between necessary intercourse and admis
sion of rights. By exchanging prisoners nothing is conceded but
what is patent to the world, viz., that active war exists, and that it
should be conducted by a Christian people according to the usages of
civilized nations.
Previous to the battle of Bull Run, the number of prisoners on

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 197
either side was not large. By that disaster a large number of Northern
troops became prisoners. It was then that the threat of retaliation
was held out in respect to the privateers. In view of this fact, the ques
tion of punishment could no longer be entertained. The Confederates
bad, from time to time, released prisoners on parole, and, in an infor
mal manner, numbers were from time to time> discharged on either side.
On the 3d of September, a formal interchange of prisoners took" place
between General Pillow and Colonel Wallace. This was followed, on
the 12th of October, by a proposition from General Polk, commanding
at Columbus, Kentucky, to General Grant, to exchange prisoners ac
cording to the terms of the exchange between General Pillow and
Colonel Wallace. General Grant did not think proper to comply, on
the ground that he recognized no " Southern Confederacy." On the
23d of October, General McClernand, understanding the necessities of
the case, sent Colonel Buford to General Polk, offering to release three
Confederate prisoners. General Polk wished to make a general ar
rangement, but Colonel Buford having no authority, General Polk
released, unconditionally, sixteen Union prisoners on this occasion.
The treaty made by Fremont with Price, on the first of November,
provided for the exchange of prisoners, in terms as follows :— r
" And the parties so named are hereby authorized, whenever applied to for that
purpose, to negotiate for the exchange of any and all persons who may hereafter be taken
prisoners of war and released on parole ; such exchanges to be made upon the plan
heretofore approved and acted upon, to wit, grade for grade, or two officers of lower
grade as an equivalent in rank for one of a higher grade, as shall be thought just and
equitable." This was repudiated by General Hunter on the 7th of November.
Early in 1862 commissioners were appointed by the Federal Govern-
ment to proceed to the Confederate States, and examine into the con
dition of the Union prisoners. They were refused admission, but suc
ceeded in entering upon negotiations which ultimately led to the
adoption of a regular cartel.

CHAPTER XV.
Improved Efficiency of the Navy. — Expeditions. — Port Eoyal. — The Fleet. — The
Assault. — Troops Landed. — Proclamation. — Stone Fleet. — Ship Island. — General
Butler. — Proclamation of General Phelps. — Burnside's Expedition. — Fort Pickens..
— Galveston. — Combat on the Mississippi. — Effectiveness of the Blockade.
We have seen in a former chapter, in relation to the tactical aspect
of the present war, that the South, occupying a central position, and
the North the circumference of the theatre of operations, it was neces
sary to close the circle by occupying the leading points of the sea-
coast with strong detachments. This operation was long delayed
through the want of a sufficient number of available vessels in the
navy, at a time when a large number were required to maintain an
efficient blockade over an extended coast line. As soon, however, as a

198

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.

moderate blockading squadron was supplied, attention was turned to
the organization of a series of expeditions, havirig for their object the
capture of the best harbors on the coast, and the occupation of ex
tended tracts of country in their vicinity.
When General Wool took command at Fortress Monroe, August
13th, he found preparations in progress for the expedition to Hatteras
Inlet, of which the details are given in Chapter XL, and the results of
which were the occupation of that point by the Union forces, on the
29th of August. A fortification called Fort Oregon, at Ocracoke
Inlet, fifteen miles below Hatteras, was abandoned by the Confeder
ates, and destroyed by the Union troops. On the 1st of October, the
Steam:tug Fanny, with her two brass guns, and thirty-five of the New
York Ninth Volunteers, together with a considerable quantity of
stores, was captured by the Confederates. On the 4th, the Twentieth
Indiana, stationed at Chicamacomico, thirty miles above Hatteras,
Were attacked, and a considerable number of them made prisoners.
The next day, the Monticello and Susquehanna ran down and shelled
the Confederates, killing a number, and driving the remainder to their
boats. The Hatteras expedition having proved successful, the United States
Government undertook a larger and more formidable one. The finest
harbor on the Southern eoast is that of Port Royal, South Carolina —
a broad estuary, formed by the junction of Broad and Port Royal
Rivers, and Archer's Creek, and their debouchure into the Atlantic.
The interlacing of these and other rivers has formed a large group of
islands, of which Hilton Head, Hunting, St. Helena, Paris, and Port
Royal are the principal. This harbor is, nearly equidistant from
Charleston on the north and Savannah on the south, with both of
which cities it has ah interior water communication for small vessels.
The parish of which these islands form a. part is the richest cotton dis
trict in Sbuth Carolina. The population was about forty thousand, of
whom thirty-two thousand were blacks. The chief production is the
long-staple cotton, known as sea island, used for the first class of cotton
goods, and produced only along the coasts of South Carolina, Georgia,
and Texas. Rice is also largely cultivated. The village of Beaufort,
on Port Royal Island, and the adjacent islands, formed the summer resi
dence of many of the wealthy planters of South Carolina. This har
bor, after, consultation with Captain Dupont,* of the navy, was fixed
upon as the, best point for a basis of operations on the Southern coast,
and preparations on a very extensive scale for an expedition thither
were at once commenced. After many delays the expedition finally
took its departure from Fortress Monroe, October 29th. It consisted
of fifty vessels, including thirty-three transports ; the naval command
"being under Flag-officer Dupont. The military commander was

* Samuel. F. Dupont was a native of New Jer
sey, where he. was born In 1803. He entered the
navy in 1815, and in 1843 served under Comnio-
dinv Shu)>r|<!k >" California, where with otie hun
dred men he attacked and routed five hundred
Mexicans. He was appointed captain in 1856,
and commanded the Minnesota on the China
toast in 1853-9. In 1361 ho took charge of the

Philadelphia navy-yard, and in the ensnine sum
mer was put In command of tho South Atlantic
blockading squadron. On October 7th, after a
gallant aetion, he enptnred the rebel forts in Port
Royal Harbor, for which service ho was, in Au
gust, 1862, commissioned a rear-adinirnl. He
commanded the iron-cluds in the attack on Fort
Sumter, April T, 1868,aud in June was relieved.

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.

199

Major-General T. W. Sherman,* and the troops comprised three bri
gades, numbering fifteen thousand men, under Brigadier-Generals
Egbert L. Viele, Isaac I. Stevens, and Horatio G. Wright.
These were accompanied by Hamilton's (late Sherman's) battery of
six rifled guns, and a battalion of volunteer engineers. Soon after the
fleet left Hampton Roads, the weather became unsettled, and the wind
increased in violence until on Friday, November 1st, it blew almost a
hurricane from the southeast, scattering the ships so widely, that on
Saturday morning but one of the whole fleet was in sight from the
deck of the flag-ship, the Wabash. On Sunday, the wind having mod
erated, the vessels began to reappear. During the gale the Governor
and Peerless, transports, sank, and. the Isaac Smith threw her arma
ment overboard to save the vessel. Only seven lives, however, were
lost. On the 4th, twenty-five vessels anchored off Port Royal bar, the
channel through which was immediately sounded, and buoyed out.
For the protection of the harbor the rebels had erected at Hilton
Head, on its Southern side, Fort Walker, a strong earthwork, mount
ing twenty-three guns of the heaviest calibre, some of them rifled, and
several of them imported from England during the war. On the north
side of the harbor, and distant about two and a half miles from Fort
Walker, was Fort Beauregard, at Bay Point, mounting twenty guns,
and supported by an outwork half a mile distant. About two miles
above the forts, where Port Royal River joins the Broad, was a fleet
of six or seven rebel gunboats* under Commodore Tatnall. There was
also a strong land force in the forts, under General Drayton. Under
the circumstances it was determined to reduce Fort Walker first, and
on the 7th of November, at nine o'clock, the Wabash signalled to the
fleet to form in order of battle in two columns. The flag-ship led the
main column, and the Bienville the starboard column, having her posi
tion on the Susquehanna's starboard quarter, and maintaining it during
the entire action. The ships were drawn up in the following order: —

Main Column.
Wabash,Susquehanna,Mohican,
Seminole,Pawnee, Unadilla,
Pembina.

Starboard Column.
Bienville,

Curlew,Penguin, Ottawa,
Yandalia.

As the fleet moved up towards Fort Beauregard the rebel batteries
on both sides of the river opened fire on the head of the column, with
heavy guns of long range. At ten minutes past ten the Wabash fired
simultaneously on both Forts Walker and Beauregard, sending a
broadside at each. Each volley fell in front of thejbatteries, and
ploughed deep furrows in the sand. Followed by her consorts, the

* Thomas W. Sherman was born in Rhode Isl
and. 1816; graduated at West Point In 1886 as
sec-inn1 lieutenant Third Artillery; first-lieuten
ant, 1888; captain in May, 1846; served in Mexi
co, and was made major in February, 1S4T, for
gallant conduct at Buena Vista. He was ap
pointed lieutenant-colonel of the Filth Artillery

in May, 1861 ; led a brigade In the first battle of
Bull Run, and in the succeeding October took
command of the troops in the Port Eoyal Expe
dition. In March, 1863, he was superseded and
ordered to the Southwest. He took part in the
Port Hudson campaign, under General Bonks,
and lost a leg In the assault of May 27th.

200 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
Wabash then turned southward, and, sailing in an ellipse, delivered
her fire as she passed slowly down within six hundred yards of Fort
Walker, deliberately, and without losing the range. She also ap
proached the shore as closely as the soundings would admit. These
were given regularly, as upon an ordinary occasion ; signals were
made continually, and the fire fell upon the fort with all the cool pre
cision of target practice. The second column, meanwhile, had also
passed up on the left side of the channel, pouring broadsides into Fort
Beauregard, and then taking a station to cut off Tatnall's fleet from
any participation in the fight, and at the same time to keep up a flank
ing fire on Fort Walker. Three circuits of the channel were taken
by the main column, at each of which a broadside was opened upon
the fort opposite. In this way the whole force of the fleet was brought
to bear upon the enemy with irresistible effect, each vessel delivering
its shot as it came in front of the fort, and each, by constantly shifting
its position, baffling the enemy's aim. The enemy was by no means
inactive, and offered a stubborn resistance, but at the end of the third
circuit the guns of the forts were mostly disabled. The flag-officer
almost simultaneously received tidings to that effect from several
sources, and about 3 p. m. the rebels struck their flag. The signal to
cease firing was at once hoisted, at precisely a quarter to three o'clock,
the bombardment having been nearly five hours in progress.
The flagrship lowered a boat and sent it ashore, carrying a flag of
truce in the bow, to inquire if the enemy had surrendered. Com
mander John Rodgers, a passenger on the Wabash, who had come
down to join his vessel, the Flag, off Charleston, and had been acting
during the fight as aide to Commodore Dupont, was assigned the duty
of taking the flag ashore. He planted the American ensign upon the
deserted ramparts, and another and larger flag was afterwards displayed
upon the flag-staff of a building a few rods to the left, where the rebel
standard had. waved during the combat, and whence it had just been
taken down. The troops were immediately landed, and took posses
sion of the forts. The Federal loss was eight killed and twenty-
three wounded. The Confederate loss was not ascertained. Forty-
eight cannon were taken. The village of Beaufort was soon after
taken possession of by the Federal forces without opposition, the in
habitants mostly retiring at their approach.
After landing and taking possession of the forts, General Sherman
issued the foilowipg proclamation : —
"To the People op South Carolina:
" In obedience to the orders of the President of the United States of America, I
have landed on your shores with a small force of National troops. The dictates of a
duty which under the Constitution I owe to a great sovereign State, and to a proud and
hospitable people among whom I have passed some of the pleasantest days of my life,
prompt me to proclaim that we have como among you with no feelings of personal ani
mosity ; no desire to harm your citizens, destroy your property, or interfere with any
of your lawful laws, rights, or your social and local institutions, beyond what the
causes herein briefly alluded to may render unavoidable.
"Citizens of South Carolina: The civilized world stands appalled at the course you
are pursuing ! — appalled at the crime you are committing against your own mother;
the best, the most enlightened, and heretofore the most prosperous of nations. You

0. P elton .Engraven,

MAJ GEN- AMBROSE E BTJKN~SIDE .

HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 201
are in a state of active rebellion against the Jaws of your country. You have lawless
ly seized upon the forts, arsenals, and other property belonging to our common coun
try, and within your borders, with this property, you are in arms and waging a ruth
less war against your constitutional Government, and thus threatening' the existence
of a Government which you are bound, by the terms of the solemn compact, to live
under and faithfully support. In doing this, you are not only undermining- and pre
paring the way for totally ignoring your own political and social existence, but you are
threatening the civilized world with the odious sentiment that self-government is im
possible with civilized men.
"Fellow-citizens : I implore you to pause and reflect upon the tenor and consequen
ces of your acts. If the awful sacrifices made "by the devastation of our property, the
shedding of fraternal blood in battle, the mourning and wailing of widows and or
phans throughout our land, are insufficient to deter you from further pursuing this un
holy war, then ponder, I beseech you, upon the ultimate, but not less certain result,
which its further progress must necessarily and naturally entail upon your once happy
and prosperous State. Indeed, can you pursue this fratricidal war, andcontinue to im
brue your hands in the loyal blood of your countrymen, your friends, your kinsmen,
for no other object than to unlawfully disrupt the confederacy of a great people, a con
federacy established by your own hands, in order to set up, were it possible, an inde
pendent government, under which you can never live in peace, prosperity, or quiet
ness? "Carolinians: We have come among you as loyal men, fully impressed with our
constitutional obligations to the citizens of your State; those obligations shall be
performed as far as in our power. But be not deceived ; the obligation of suppressing
armed combinations against the constitutional authorities is paramount to all others.
If, in the performance of this duty, other minor but important obligations should be in
any way neglected, it must be attributed to the necessities of the case, because rights
dependent on the laws of the State must be necessarily subordinate to military exigen
cies, created by insurrection and rebellion.
"T. W. Sherman,
"Brigadier General Commanding.
•'Head-Quarters, Port Royal, S. O,
" November 8, 1861."
On the 30th of November Adjutant-General Thomas sent instruc
tions to General Sherman, in Beaufort, to take possession of all the
crops on the island — cotton, corn, rice, &c. — on military account, and
ship the cotton, and such other crops as were not wanted for the
army, to New York, to be sold there for account of the United
States; also, to use negro slaves to gather and secure the crops of cot
ton and corn, and to erect defences at Port Royal and other places on
the adjoining islands. General Sherman proceeded to appoint an
agent to collect the cotton, employing the blacks for the purpose, and
allowing them pay, and the cotton was shipped North on Government
account. In most cases the Confederate commanders, on the. exposed
points of the coast received positive instructions to burn or destroy
all property on the approach of the Union troops.
The capture of the forts was. soon followed by the occupation of the
islands. That of Port Royal, although taken possession of by the
Union forces November 6th, was. not fully occupied until the 8th, when
a reconnoissance in force, under General Stevens, drove the enemy
completely from the island. They crossed Port Royal Ferry, and took
up a position on the mainland. The Union pickets were immediately
extended so as to defend the town of Beaufort and the entire island of
Port Royal. Meantime the United States gunboats Flag, Augusta,
Pocahontas, and Seneca went from Port Royal to Tybee Island, at the

202 HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
mouth of the Savannah River. The fortifications were fonnd to be de
serted, and formal possession was taken of the island. Reconnois-
sances in other directions demonstrated the Ashepo, the Coosaw, and
other rivers to be clear of the enemy. On the capture of the islands
the white population retired inland, after destroying much cotton, and
did not return in numbers. About ten thousand blacks, being nearly
a third of the slaves, came within the Federal lines, and were employed
in the culture of the soil and in the requisite labor of the ships and
forts. A formidable plan to make the blockade more efficient was put in
execution in November. Its purpose was to seal up the channels in
the Southern harbors by sinking vessels loaded with stone. The first
attempt of this kind was on the North Carolina coast, where the nu
merous inlets to Pamlico and Albemarle Sounds gave great facilities
for evading the blockading vessels. A number of small-sized vessels
were purchased in Baltimore and sunk in Ocracoke Inlet. Two other
fleets were then prepared, one for each of the harbors of Savannah and
Charleston. The first consisted of twenty-five vessels, and the latter
of twenty. They were mostly old whalers, no longer seaworthy, and
of from three hundred to five hundred tons burden. They were
bought for about ten dollars per ton, chiefly in the ports of New Lon
don and New Bedford, the forty-five ships costing about two hun
dred thousand dollars. They were stripped of copper and other fit
tings and loaded with picked stones, as deep as possible. The Charles
ton fleet sailed November 20th, with sealed orders, and on the 17th of -
December the first fleet was sunk across the principal entrance to the
harbor. They were placed in three or four rovvs across the channel in
a checkered order. The second fleet was sunk in Maffet's Channel,
Charleston Harbor.
The usual effect of sunken vessels upon the channel of a harbor is
to gradually destroy it, by causing an accumulation of the alluvium
which the rivers bear down, and of the sands which the tides cany
back. This operation was denounced by the English as a crime against
humanity at large, by destroying one of the world's harbors. But Mr.
Seward replied, that the United States Government, upon the return
of peace, field itself bound to restorfe the harbor. The operation, ow
ing to the shifting character of the channels off Charleston, and the
prevalence of westerly winds at certain periods, which carry all ob
structions out t,o sea, does. not seem to have been very effective, and
Vessels continued to run the blockade in and out of Charleston.
Another expedition was projected to occupy Ship Island, on the
coast of Mississippi, shortly after the return of General Butler from
Hatteras Inlet in September. The island, which is sixty miles from
New Orleans, is about seven miles in length, and one-eighth to three-
quarters of a mile wide. It is mostly a bank of clear white, sand,
without trees or shrubs, but good water can be obtained by sinking a
barrel anywhere on its surface. This, with Horn, Petit Bois, and
Dauphine Islands, forms the southern barrier of Mississippi Sound,
which, with a width of ten to twelve miles, extends from Mobile Bay
to Lake Borgrie, in Louisiana, forming v an interior" communication he-

Scale BZlDXec

204: HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION'.
tween Mohile and New Orleans. On the mainland, opposite Ship
Island, are the towns of Biloxi, Mississippi City, and Pascagoula. On
the west end of the island are a fort and a light-house. The fort was
built by the United States in 1859, and was burned bythe Confederates
in June, 1861. The United States steamer Massachusetts found the
island unoccupied at the end of June. On the 8th of July, the same
steamer found, a considerable force there, which had thrown up in
trenchments, and had mounted several guns. An attempt to dislodge
themfailed,: and they retained possession until September 16th, when,
apprehending the approach of a large force, they abandoned the island,
taking most of their guns. In the mean time tliey had rebuilt the fort
and named it Fort Twiggs. The Massachusetts landed a force Sej£
ternber 17th, which continued to hold it. They received re-enforce
ments, and strengthened the place, mounting several Dahlgren nine-
inch shell guns and rifled cannon. On the 19th of October, Commo
dore Hollins, commander of the Confederate steamer Florida, chal
lenged the Massachusetts, and, after a combat of forty-five minutes,
the rebel ship drew off in a sinking condition, with four of her crew
killed. The Massachusetts was hit by a one-hundred-pound shot,
doing much injury to the hull, but she had only one man wounded. On
the 21st of November,- the gunboat New London arrived in the sound,
and in the course of a fortnight captured five Confederate vessels.
General Butler was authorized to enlist troops for this expedition in
New England, and in doing so he came in collision with the Governor
of Massachusetts, who objected to the raising of troops independent of
his authority in the State, and to the appointment of field officers by
General Butler. A sharp controversy sprang up on the subject, and
the expedition was long delayed. Finally the first instalment, a part
of the Middlesex brigade, consisting of the Massachusetts Twenty-
sixth and Connecticut Ninth volunteers, with Captain Manning's bat
tery of artillery, numbering in all one thousand nine hundred and
eight men, arrived off Fortress Monroe, Virginia, on board the steam
transport Constitution, on the 26th of November. In compliance with
previous orders and commauds, General J. W. Phelps* relieved
Colonel Jones, of the Massachusetts Twenty-sixth, in command, and
the ship stood out to sea on the afternoon of the 27th.
They arrived at Ship Island December 3d. Having completed the
landing of his troops, and before his commanding officer, General
Butler, arrived, Phelps issued an address to the people nf the South
west, containing the following passages : —
"We believe that every State that has, been admitted as a slave State into the TJhioa
since the adoption of the Constitution, has been admitted in direct violation of that
Constitution. "The Church, by being endowed with political power, with its convents, its schools,

* John W. Phetps was born In Vermont, in 1S13,
graduated at West Point in 1886, as second lieu
tenant of artillery, and became first lieutenant
in 1838. He commanded his1 company in Mexi
co with distinction at the battles of Cohtreras and
Churubnsco, was made captain in 1850, and, re
signed In 1859, When, the^ war broke out he was
made colonel of the First" Vermont volunteers,

and soon after brigadier-general of volunteers.
He took part in the Ship Island expedition, and in
the expedition against New Orleans, in the spring
of 1862, but having become involved in a disttete
with General Butler, with regard to the disposition
to be made of the negroes who sought the pro
tection; of. the. United states flag, ho resigned^
commission July "81, 1862.

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its immense landed wealth, its associations, secret and open, became the ruling power
of the State, and thus occasioned a war of more strife and bloodshed, probably, than
any, other war which has desolated the earth.
"Slavery is still less susceptible of political character than was the Church. It is
as fit at this moment for the lumber-room of the past as were, in 1793, the landed
wealth, the exclusive privilege, &c, of the Catholic Church in Prance,
"It behooves us to consider, as a self-governing people, bred and reared and prac
tised in the habits of self-government, whether we cannot, whether we ought not,
revolutionize slavery out of existence, without the necessity of a conflict of arms like
that of the French Revolution."
* * ' * * " That it (free labor) is the right, the capital the inheri
tance, the hope of the poor man everywhere ; that it ia especially the right of five
millions of our fellow-countrymen in the Slave States, as well as of the four millions
of Africans there, and all our efforts, therefore, however small or great, whether
directed against the interference of Governments from abroad, or against rebellious
combinations at home, shall be for free labor."
This document was not circulated on the mainland to any considera
ble extent, and was promptly' disavowed by General Butler, then in
Massachusetts. While these expeditions were in progress another was organized,
with as much secrecy as possible in respect to its destination, under
General Burnside.* The preparations commenced early in September,
and about eleven thousand troops concentrated at Annapolis in Octo
ber, for drill and preparation. The great difficulties necessarily at
tendant upon combined expeditions caused such delays, that General
Burnside was not ready for sea until January 12th, when the com
bined land and naval forces sailed from Fortress Monroe in one hun
dred and twenty vessels. The destination was kept secret until the
expedition appeared off Hatteras. It was then announced to be
Roanoke Island, which, lying between Albemarle and Pamlico Sounds,
and separated by Croatan Sound from the mainland, completely com
mands the navigation of the inland seas of North Carolina. Scarcely
had the fleet departed, when it was overtaken by one of those violent
storms common to the coast at that season, and suffered much damage.
The steamer New York, with a quantity of arms and stores, was
lost. The Pocahontas went ashore, and was lost, with seventy-five

* Ambrose E. Burnside was born in Indiana,
May 23d, 1824, ; graduated at West Point in 1847 ;
seryod in the Mexican war with credit, and after
wards on the Mexican frontier, where ho was
quartermaster of the boundary commission. In
1851 he -travelled twelve hundred miles through
the. Indian country in seventeen days. He was
subsequently stationed at Newport, but resigned
his commission in 1858, to engage in the manu
facture ofa breech-loading rifle of his own in
vention. He then, entered the service of tho
Illinois 'Central, Railroad. ' Governor Sprague,
on the outbreak of the war, made him colonel
of a Ehode Island regiment, and he served as
acting brigadier at Bull Run; On the 6th of
August he was made brigadier-general of volun
teers. A few months later, he took charge of the
expedition to Roanoke Island, ami after the occu
pation of that place, captured Newbern, Fort
Macon, and other important points in North
Carolina. After the disaster on the Peninsula in
1862, he was ordered North with the greater part
of his army, and commanded the left wing at

the battle of Antietam. Soon afterwards he was
placed in command of one of the three grand
divisions of the Army of the Potomac: and,
on November 7th, he succeeded General McClel
lan in command of the whole Army of the Po
tomac ; , fought the unsuccessful battle before
Fredericksburg, December 13th, and was relieved
of his command January 26th, 1S68. On March
26th, he was appointed to command the Depart
ment of Ohio, and in the fall conducted the cam
paign in Eastern Tennessee, capturing Cumber
land Gap, Knoxville, and other places. In No
vember, ho successfully held Knoxville against
Longsfreet's besieging army, and on December
14th was relieved by General Poster. In command
of tho Ninth Corps ho participated in the cam
paign of 1864 against Richmond, but having
been censured for the failure of the assault, after
the explosion of the mine in front of Petersburg,
he was relieved towards tho close of the year by
General Parke, and in May, 1865, resigned his
commission. '-. ... nr.

HT.STOBT OF THE GEEAT EEBELLIOK. 207
horses ; and several other vessels were wrecked, with more or less
Joss in stores and munitions. Much difficulty was encountered in pass
ing over the bar at Hatteras Inlet into Pamlico Sound, in consequence
of miscalculations in regard to draft of water, and it was not until
February that this was effected. The enemy held Roanoke Island,
with a force of three thousand men. The place was strongly in
trenched, and was supposed capable of resisting any force that might
be sent into the sound. On the 7th of February, the day after the sur
render of Fort Henry to the gunboats of Flag-officer Foote, an attack
was commenced. The gunboats, under Flag-officer Goldsborougb,
having cleared an entrance into Cro&tan Sound, and driven off the
rebel fleet, consisting of seven gunboats, the Federal troops, under
Generals Foster, Reno, and Parks, effected a lauding at night, beyond
the reach of the rebel guns, and advanced at daybreak on the 8th of
February, through a dense swamp, upon the principal intrenchments,
which extended across the only road leading through the island, and
were protected on either flank by swamps and artificial obstructions
of a formidable character., The main Federal column . skirmished in
front of these, until the rebel wings were simultaneously attacked by
flanking parties, when with a determined rush it carried the works by
storm. The enemy forthwith abandoned the place, and fled towards
the upper end of the island, closely pursued. There were, however,
no means of escape, and the whole force of nearly three thousand men
surrendered at discretion. Among the killed on the side of the Con
federates was Captain O. J. Wise, a son of Ex-Governor Henry A.
"Wise, who was shot while attempting to escape in a boat, H. A-
Wise had been in command of the island, but had .left it a few days
before on account of illness. With this island fell the defences of the
enemy in that region. On the 9th a portion Of the fleet passed into
Albemalre Sound and attacked the Confederate flotilla near Elizabeth
City, capturing one and destroying four vessels. The troops, without
encountering further resistance, took possession of Elizabeth, Edentonr,
and other towns, and. the Union occupation of the Carolina sounds
became well established- Thus almost simultaneously with the pene
tration of Kentucky and Tennessee, in the northwestern part of the
proposed Confederacy, by the gunboats, the defences of North Carolina
fell by the same means. The interior of that State and the rear of
Norfolk were thus opened to the Union force.
Little of interest occurred at Fort Pickens until September 13th,
when Lieutenant Russell, with five launches, containing each thirty
men, pulled across from Santa Rosa Island to the navy-yard, two miles
distant, and, with singular audacity and address, burned the schooner
Judith, fitting out as a privateer or blockad-erunner, under the guns of
the yard. At midnight on the 8th of October, about twelve hundred of
the enemy, under command of General Anderson, landed on Santa Rosa
Island and surprised the camp of the Siyth New York Zouaves, who
were driven out in confusion. A party of regulars arriving from Fort
Pickens, andtheZouaves partially rallying, the rebels were in turn driven
off, their departure being hastened by a heavy fire opened upon them at
short range after they had embarked. The loss was not large on either side.

208 HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
In November, the force on the island was thirteen hundred men,
under Colonel Brown. The enemy's force was rated at eight thousand
men, occupying the navy-yard, with four long Dahlgren thirty-twos;
Fort McRea, with four columbiads and a number of heavy guns ; and
Fort Barrancas, with twenty-five Dahlgren thirty-twos. There were
also fourteen batteries between these points, with one to four colum
biads each. Colonel Brown determined to open upon them, and he
invited Flag-officer McKean to co-operate. On the morning of No
vember 2 2d, Colonel BroWn began his fire. The enemy's batteries
formed a segment of a circle, all nearly equidistant from Pickens.
The steam frigates Niagara and Richmond drew in as near to Fort
McRea as soundings would permit. The fire of Pickens was incessant
until dark. By noon the guns of McRea were silenced, and several
other batteries ceased firing before sundown. The next morning Fort
Pickens opened again, but many of the enemy's guns were silent, and
at noon the village of Warrington and the navy-yard took fire, when
the cannonade was brought to an end. Fort Pickens lost one gun,
and six men, wounded. The report of Colonel Brown dwelt at length
upon the efficiency of rifled guns, and particularly of Parrott guns.
The defences of the city of Galveston (Texas) were abandoned in
the month of November, as not being available against the long range
and heavy calibre of the blockading force. It is the most populous
sea-port of Texas, and had in 1860 a population of eight thousand one
hundred and seventy-seven. It is situated on an island at the mouth
of Galveston Bay, about four hundred and fifty miles west by south of
New Orleans, and two hundred and thirty miles southeast of Austin
City. The island, which separates the bay from the Gulf of Mexico,
is about thirty miles long from east to west, and about a mile and a half
wide. The distance from the island across the bay by the railroad
bridge to the mainland is about two miles. For the defence of the
city, guns were placed during the year at the east end of the island, at
Bolivar Point, and at Pelican Spit Island, commanding the bay. Its
commerce under the blockade ceased entirely. The cause of the South
was ardently espoused by the inhabitants, and numbers entered the
army. No important occurrence of a hostile nature, however, took
place hiere until August 3d, when a few shots were fired from the
blockading schooner Dart at the batteries on Galveston Island. This
was intended as a sort of a, reconnoissance. Again, on the 5th, the
steamer North Carolina opened her fire upon the batteries, and threw
some shells into the city. A large number of persons having collected
on the sand-hills, a little eastward of the batteries, a shell fell among
them, killing one man and wounding three others. This led to a pro
test by the foreign consuls resident, in the city, addressed to Captain
Alden, commanding the blockading squadron, against bombarding
without notice given. He, in reply, disclaimed the intention, but
stated that he had been fired upon by the batteries first. Nothing
further of importance took place until November 20th, when, after
consultation of the citizens, it was thought impossible to defend the
town, all public and private property of a movable kind was sent
to Houston, and a line of signals established which should cause the

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

210 HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.

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

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 211
and before the error was discovered ten men were killed and about
twenty wounded. On the 9th of October General Smith's division
of the Union troops, from the chain bridge, occupied Lewinsville. A
portion of the troops under Brigadier-General Porter also advanced
and occupied Miner's Hill, to the right of Fall's Church, and com
manding that village and Barrel's Hill, which latter was in possession
of rebel pickets. On October 16th Vienna was occupied by the Union
forces, and on the 17th Fairfax Court-House, the enemy retiring upon
Centreville and Manassas.
On the 30th of September, General McClellan issued an order of
the day, containing regulations for the troops, and affixing names to the
thirty-two fortifications that had been erected around Washington.
This was followed by the following regulation, which carries on its
face the necessity for its issue :—
"oeneral order, no. 19.
" Head-Quabters Army of the Potomac,
"Washington, October 1, 1861 ,
¦ " The attention of the general commanding has recently been directed to depreda
tions of an atrocious character that have been committed upon the persons and prop
erty of citizens in Yirginia, by the troops under his command. The property of
inoffensive people has been lawlessly and violently taken from them, their houses
broken open, and in some instances burned to the ground. The general is perfectly
aware of the fact that these outrages are perpetrated by a few bad men, and do
not receive the sanction of the mass of the army. He feels confident, therefore, that
all officers and soldiers who have the interest of the service at heart will cordially
unite their efforts with his in endeavoring to suppress practices which disgrace the
name of a soldier.
" The general commanding direct that in future all persons connected with this
army who are detected in depredating upon the property of citizens shall be arrested
and brought to trial ; and he assures all concerned, that crimes of such enormity will
admit of no remission of the death penalty which the military law attaches to offences
of this nature. When depredations are committed on property in charge of a guard,
the commander, as well as the other members of the guard, will be held responsible
for the same as principals, and punished accordingly.
" By command of Major-General McClellan.
" S. Williams, Assistant Adjutant- General
"Richard B. Irwin, Aide-de-Camp."
Colonel John W. Geary, of the Pennsylvania Twenty-eighth Regi
ment, with detachments from his own, the Thirteenth Massachusetts,
and Third Wisconsin Regiments, in all four hundred men, crossed the
Potomac at Harper's Ferry, October 8th, and captured twenty-one
thousand bushels of wheat. While upon his return and on the Charles
ton road, near Bolivar Heights, midway between the Potomac and
the Shenandoah Rivers, he was attacked, October 13thj by a large Con
federate force with infantry, artillery, and cavalry. Rebel batteries
upon London and Bolivar Heights participated in the action, as did
also a National battery upon the Maryland side. After several hours of
intermittent fighting, the rebels were driven off, with considerable loss.
The National loss was four killed and seven wounded, and two prison
ers. Colonel Geary took from the rebels one thirty-two-pounder.
The Union troops subsequently fell back from the Virginia side of the
Potomac. —

212 HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
An event now took place which cast profound gloom over the
country, not only because of the defeat of the Federal forces and the
death of a gallant officer, but because of the disappointment which
it caused to the hopes that had been excited through the growth and
improvement of the army. Ball's Bluff is the name of a part of the
bank of the Potomac on the Virginia side, east of Leesburg. Oppo
site the Bluff and about one hundred yards distant is Harrison's Island,
a long tract containing about four hundred acres, and about one hun
dred and fifty yards broad. Between this and the Virginia shore the
fiver runs with a rapid current. Between the island and the Mary
land shore the river is about two hundred yards broad, and not so
rapid. A short distance above the upper end of the island is a ferry
across the Potomac, called Conrad's Ferry, and about an equal distance
below the island is Edwards's Ferry. The two hostile armies had for
many months held the opposite banks of the river at this point. It
was here that the Confederates had contemplated an irruption into
Maryland to attack Washington. General Banks held the Maryland
side of the river, from Great Falls to Edwards's Ferry ; from that point
to Conrad's Ferry was stationed the division of General Stone, with
head-quarters at Poolesville ; next was the force of Colonel Lander,
and then that of Colonel Geary. On the Virginia side the principal
Confederate posts were Dranesville and Leesburg. As it was impor
tant to ascertain the strength of the enemy at Dranesville, General
McClellan ordered General McCall to make a reconnoissance in that
direction. This was executed October 19th, and McCall returned to
his former position on the 20th, according to previous orders, reporting
no enemy in Dranesville, nor within four miles of Leesburg. In con
sequence of this information, the following dispatch was sent by
General McClellan to General Stone at Poolesville : —
" To Brigadier-General Stone, Poolesville :
" General McClellan desires me to inform you that General McCall occupied Dranes
ville yesterday, and is still there. Will send out reconnoissances to-day in all directions
from that point. The general desires that you keep a good lookout from Leesburg, to
see if the movement has the effect to drive them away. Perhaps a slight demonstra
tion on your part would have the effect to move them. "A. V. Colburn,
"Assistant Adjutant- General."
On the receipt of these instructions, General Stone sent Gorman's
Brigade to Edwards's Ferry; detachments of the Fifteenth and
Twentieth Massachusetts to Harrison's Island ; and a section of a
Rhode Island battery, and the California and Tammany (New York)
Regiments, under Colonel E. D. Baker, to Conrad's Ferry. A feint
to cross the river was then made by Gorman's Corps in view of the
enemy. Soon after 1 a. m. of the 21st, Colonel Devens, with five companies
of the Fifteenth Massachusetts, accompanied by Colonel Lee, with a
detachment of the Twentieth Massachusetts, crossed from Harrison's
Island to the Virginia side, and took position on the top of Ball's
Bluff, which here rises abruptly some one hundred and fifty feet
from the river. At the same time, in order to attract attention from

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 213
Devens, General Stone directed Gorman to send two companies of the
First Minnesota across the river, and throw out a party of horse on
the Leesburg: road. Meantime, General Stone, having received a re
port from Colonel Devens that no enemy was to be seen, ordered a
battalion of the Massachusetts Fifteenth to cross and protect the
flank of Colonel Devens, and Colonel Baker to be ready with his
brigade to act as a re-enforcement, if necessary. At about 7 a. m. of
the 21st, Colonel Devens, who had pushed reconnoissances towards
Leesburg, encountered bodies of rebel infantry and cavalry, and fell
back in good order to the bluff. As he had only about six hundred
and fifty men under his command, he reported for further orders. He
was directed by Stone to remain where he was, and was promised re-
enforcements. While waiting for these, he was attacked about noon
by the enemy, who fired from the surrounding woods upon the small
Federal force drawn up in an open field of about six acres. Some
portions of the First California, the Massachusetts Twentieth, with
some companies of the Tammany Regiment, and four guns, had. now
crossed the river, and at half-past two p. m. the firing in front be
came very brisk. At four o'clock, Colonel Baker, who had now as
sumed command, formed his line for action — the Fifteenth and Twen
tieth Massachusetts on the right, the California on the left, and the
Tammany Regiment and the artillery in the centre. Signs of a large
force of the enemy now became apparent, although none were visible. .
This force, numbering probably four thousand men, pressing upon the
one thousand nine hundred men under Colonel Baker with increasing
vigor and more effective fire, induced a consultation among the Fed
eral officers, which resulted in the determination to stand. A retro
grade movement would bring the force to the steep brink of the
river, where the rapid descent only led to a small boat and a scow as
a means of transport over a swift channel. The only hope was to
maintain the ground until troops could cross at Edwards's Ferry and
force a way to their aid. Two companies were now pushed for
ward to feel the enemy in the woods on the left, and were met by a
murderous fire, which was followed along the whole line of the ene
my, who, feeling their strength, closed in on both sides of the field
with overwhelming force. The gallant Baker, in the act of cheering
his men, fell dead. The command then devolved upon Colonel Cogs
well, of the Tammany Regiment. He had now no recourse but to at-
tempt to regain the Maryland shore. The men retired in an orderly
manner, closely pressed by the enemy. The small boat had disap
peared, however, and the larger one was swamped at the second time
crossing. There was then no alternative but to swim or surrender.
They chose the former, and, throwing their arms into the river, dis
persed, some up and down the bank, and others on logs, and sought
to cross to Harrison's Island by swimming. In this attempt many
were shot and more were drowned. The pieces of artillery were
tumbled down the bank, but were taken by the enemy, with some
cases of shot. Out of the total Federal force engaged, barely nine
hundred returned to their camps, about half the missing having been
taken prisoners on the river shore. The rebels, who were com*

214 HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
manded by General Evans, reported their loss at one hundred and
fifty-five. While these events were taking place, General Stone was
preparing to cross at Edwards's Ferry, but desisted on news ar
riving of the death of Colonel Baker, and. the retreat of his troops.
Orders were then received from General McClellan to hold the island
and Virginia shore at Edwards's Ferry at all hazards. General Gor
man proceeded to strengthen his position, and re-enforcements came
forward until there were four thousand infanty, with Ricketts's battery,
and a detachment of cavalry, on the Virginia shore, behind five hun
dred feet of intrenchments. Further information caused a change of
purpose, and the whole returned to the Maryland shore. The main
Causes of this disaster were a badly-chosen spot to cross, insufficient
means of transportation, and want of a definite object in venturing
into a position where retreat was nearly impossible, without positive
knowledge of the enemy to be contended with.
The Confederates now extended their batteries down the Potomac,
the success at Ball's Bluff having caused a great increase of activity
among them, as well as among their sympathizers in and about
Washington ; for which reason, on the 23d of October, the President
suspended the writ of habeas corpus in the District of Columbia.
The greatly advanced age and increasing infirmities of General
Scott, and the growing complications of the war, led to his retire
ment on the first of November from the position of commander-in-
chief, when he was placed on the retired list, without reduction of
pay and emoluments. Major-General George B. McClellan assumed
command of the armies of the United States in his place by direction
of the President. On the 2d of November McClellan was presented
with a sword by the City Council of Philadelphia, and in the course
of his reply remarked : —
" It is for the future to determine whether I shall realize the expectations and hopes
that have been centred in me. I trust and feel that the day is not far distant when I
shall return to the place dearest of all others to me, there to spend the balance of my
life among the people from whom I have received this beautiful gift. The war cannot
last long. It may be desperate. I ask in the future, forbearance, patience, and confi
dence. With these we can accomplish all."
At the same time the Confederate army in Virginia was reorgan"
ized. The State was constituted a department, comprising the three
armies of the Potomac, the Valley, and Aquia, under the chief com
mand of General Johnston. General Beauregard commanded the
Army of the Potomac, General Thomas J. Jackson that of the Val
ley, and General Holmes that of Aquia. With these new disposi
tions, the Union army being under command of General McClellan,
and the Confederate army more efficiently organized, the opposing
forces continued to face each other during many months of compara
tive inaction. On the 20th of December, however, quite a sharp action
was fought at Dranesville. General McCall having ordered General
Ord to proceed on the Leesburg pike, in the direction of Dranesville,
to drive in the pickets of the enemy and procure forage,, the Fed
eral forces, numbering about four thousand men, encountered a some-

HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 215
what smaller body of rebels under General J. E. B. Stuart, whom
they drove in confusion through Dranesville. The rebel loss was two
hundred and thirty, that of the Federals sixty-nine. The winter
passed away without the occurrence of any thing else of importance,
in a military point of view, in that department.
It had been the intention, when all the armies and expeditions were
organized, and at their respective positions, that the whole should
make a simultaneous movement upon the enemy. The President,
with this view, issued the following proclamation : —
THE PRESIDENT'S GENERAL WAR ORDER, No. 1.
" Executive Mansion, Washington, January 21, 1862.
" Ordered, That the 22d day of February, 1862, be the day for a general movement
of the land and naval forces of the United States against the insurgent forces.
" That especially,
" The army at and about Portress Monroe,
"The Army of the Potomac,
" The Army of Western Virginia,
" The army near Munfordsville, Ky;,
" The army and flotilla at Cairo,
" And a naval force in the Gulf of Mexico,
be ready for a movement on that day,
"That all other forces, both land and naval, with their respective commanders, obey
existing orders for the time, and be ready to obey additional orders when duly given.
" That the heads of departments, and especially the Secretaries of War and of the
NaVy, with all their subordinates, and the General-in-Chief, with all other commanders
and subordinates of the land and naval forces, will severally be held to their strict
and full responsibilities for the prompt execution of this order. "Abraham Lincoln."
The effects of these orders in Tennessee and Kentucky, as well as
in Missouri, were apparent in the successes which, during the latter
part of February, virtually restored those States to the Union. The
Army of the Potomac was not, however, in the opinion of its com
mander, in a condition to move, not so much by reason of its own
want of efficiency, as in consequence of the state of the roads in Vir
ginia. The mud, it was said, was so deep, that it was impossible to
pass a large army in face of an active and strongly intrenched ene
my, There were days, indeed, in which the frost hardened the
ground, and made it passable for artillery, but the continuance of this
frost could not be depended upon. A sudden thaw might leave the
army in an exposed condition. Such were the arguments which, in
the early days of the war, were employed to excuse the " masterly
inactivity" deemed essential to success. Grant had just demon
strated that troops could march and bivouac and fight in the most in
clement season of the year. But McClellan, with forces far outnum
bering those of his adversary, lingered in his camps, and the winter
wore away without any movement undertaken by the Army of the
Potomac. On January 14th, 1862, Simon Cameron resigned the office of Sec
retary of War, and was succeeded by Edwin M. Stanton, who had
held the office of United States Attorney-General during the last few
months of Mr. Buchanan's Administration, and in that capacity had
exhibited ability and uncompromising loyalty,

216 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.

CHAPTER XVH
Foreign Mission of the Confederates. — Mr. Seward's Letter of Instructions. — Earl
Russell and the Confederates. — France Recognizes de facto Governments. — Foreign
Recognition of the Belligerent Rights of the South. — Mr. Seward's Reply. — Spam.
— Mexico. — Monroe Doctrine. — The Trent Affair.
Whes, early in ^861, it had become apparent that the attempted
formation of a Southern Confederacy was inevitable, it was obvious
that the first efforts of the leaders in the movement would be directed
towards obtaining the aid and countenance of foreign nations, and
that those efforts would be based upon the advantages which the
South might have to offer to those who might first come forward to
their assistance. To counteract these probable attempts, Mr. Black,
Secretary of State under Mr. Buchanan, addressed, February 28th, a
circular to all the ministers of the United States abroad. In this
circular he stated that the election of the preeeding November
resulted in the choice of Mr. Abraham Lincoln, who was the candi
date of the Republican or anti-slavery party ; that every Northern
State cast its whole electoral vote (except three in New Jersey) for
Mr. Lincoln, while in the whole South the popular sentiment against
him was almost absolutely uniyersal. Some of the Southern States
immediately after the election took measures for separating them
selves from the Union, and others soon followed their example. The
result of the movement was the formation of what was styled the
" Confederate States of America." He then proceeded to say that it
was not improbable that persons claiming to represent those States
would seek a recognition of foreign powers, and enjoined the minis
ters to exert themselves to the utmost to prevent the success of the
application. " The reasons," he continues, " set forth in the Presi
dent's message at the opening of the present session of Congress, in
support of his opinion that the States have no constitutional power to
secede from the Union, are yet unanswered, and are believed to be
unanswerable. The grounds upon which they have attempted to
justify the revolutionary act of severing the bonds which connect
them with their sister States, are regarded as wholly insufficient.
This Government has not relinquished its constitutional jurisdiction
within the territory of those States, and does not desire to do'so."
On the 4th of March, the new Administration came into power with
a new President and a new cabinet, none of the members of which
had ever before held such positions. Almost simultaneously with
their advent to power the Confederate commissioners, Messrs. Yancey,
Mann, and Rost, delegated to England, France, Russia, and Belgium,
were appointed, and sailed for their destinations, to ask the recogni
tion of the Confederate States as a member of the family of nations,
and to make with ea,ch of those powers treaties of amity and com-

HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 217
merce. They at once proceeded on their mission by way of Havana.
On the 9th of March, Mr. Seward addressed a circular to all the
foreign ministers, in which he alluded to the instructions of his pred
ecessor, and stated that the President renewed those injunctions, and
relied upon the exercise of the greatest possible diligence and fidelity
on their part to counteract the designs of those who would invoke
foreign intervention to embarrass or overthrow the Republic. They
were instructed to urge upon the Governments to which they were
accredited that " the present disturbances had their origin only in
popular passions excited under novel circumstances of a very transient
character ; and that while not one person of well-balanced mind has
attempted to show that dismemberment of the Union would be per
manently conducive to the safety and welfare of even his own State
or section, much less of all the States and sections of our country,
the people themselves still retain and cherish a profound confidence
in our happy Constitution, together with a veneration and affection
for it such as no other form of government ever received at the hands
of those for whom it was established." Mr. Dallas, the American
minister, having submitted to Lord John Russell the representations
contained in Mr. Seward's general circular, the minister replied, that
the Queen's Government would he highly gratified if the difficulties
could be settled, and that the time was not ripe for a decision in
respect to doing any thing to encourage the hopes of the Confed
erates, whose commissioners were in London. On the 2d of May Mr.
Dallas writes that Lord John Russell had remarked that although he
had not seen the commissioners, he was not unwilling to do so unoffi
cially. The fact that the English minister was willing under any
circumstances to grant an interview to the Confederate commissioners
was very distasteful to the American Government, since intercourse
of any kind with these men was liable to be construed as a recogni
tion; and, moreover, unofficial intercourse was the most injurious,
since it left no means of information to the Government as to the
points discussed. Mr. Adams, who replaced Mr. Dallas in May, was
therefore instructed to desist from any intercourse whatever with the
British Government as long as it should hold communications with
the domestic enemies of this country.
The negotiations with France tended to the same point. Mr. Faulk
ner, the American minister in Paris, in replying to the letter of Mr.
Black, of February 28th, stated, that the French Government fully
sympathized with the North, and regarded the proposed dismember
ment with no pleasure, and was not prepared to look favorably upon
the Confederacy. The French minister, M. Thouvenel, stated that
the French Government would not act hastily in the matter, that the
maintenance of the Union was required by the best interests of
France, but, at the same time, the practice and usage of the present
century was to recognize a de facto Government when a proper case
was made out. The minister, in conversation with Mr. Dayton, who
succeeded Mr. Faulkner, stated, " that historical precedents were in
favor of treating Southern vessels as those of a belligerent, and of
applying the same doctrine to them as had always been upheld by

218 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
the United States." He dwelt upon the fact that during the Ameri
can Revolution Great Britain did not treat the privateers as pirates.
He stated that an effective blockade would be fully recognized. On
the 30th of May Mr. Seward instructed Mr. Dayton to protest against
any communication, official or otherwise, between the French Govern-
merit and the Southern commissioners, and to declare that the United
States would not rest content to have the Confederate States recog
nized as a belligerent power by any foreign state or states ; also, that
measures were preparing which " will terminate the unhappy contest
at an early day, and be followed by benefits to ourselves and to all
nations, greater and better assured than those which have hitherto
attended our national progress."
Meantime, Earl Russell, the British Foreign Secretary, had, on
the 4th of May, held an interview with the Confederate agents.
They urged that the ground of the present difficulty with the North
was not slavery, but the high tariffs the South was compelled to pay
on imported goods as a protection to New England interests, to the
impoverishment of the South ; that the new Confederate Government
had. abolished the slave-trade forever, and had reduced all import
duties, while the North had greatly increased the duties on imported
goods. The Governments of France and England meanwhile came
to an understanding that they would act together in regard to Ameri
can affairs, and the other European States, being apprised of the
agreement, were expected to concur in it. Following these events, on
the 13th of May the Queen's proclamation appeared. This was on the
day of the arrival of Mr. Adams, the new American minister, in Lon
don, and the proclamation was made without a previous inter
view with him. That document, in proclaiming the neutrality of
the British Government, recognized the South as a belligerent
power, and as consequently having the right to issue letters of
marque and to authorize privateers. The other powers took the
same course. On the 15th of June, the British and French ministers
at Washington had an interview with Mr. Seward, and proposed to
read to him the instructions which they had received from their
Governments. Mr. Seward declined to listen to them officially, until
he should first know the nature of their contents. They were left for
his perusal, when it appeared that they contained a decision, at which
the British Government had' arrived, to the effect that the country is
divided into two belligerent parties, of which the United States
Government is one, and that Great Britain assumes the attitude of a
neutral power between them. Mr. Seward, consequently, declined to
receive the papers officially, and in writing to Mr. Adams on the sub
ject, remarked, in effect, that the Government held that although a
state of internal commotion existed, such as had frequently been the
case in other nations, the United States were still solely and exclu
sively sovereign within their own territories ; that the law of nations
and existing treaties have the same force now as before ; that Great
Britain could neither rightfully qualify the sovereignty of the United
States, nor concede nor recognize any rights, or interests, or power of
any party, State, or section, in contravention to the unbroken sover-

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 219
eignty of the Federal Union; that although the Government was
obliged to employ force to execute its laws, that fact did not justify
other powers in intervening or acting as neutrals between the loyal
and disobedient citizens. Earl Russell, on the other hand, observed,
in conversation with Mr. Adams, that the great fact of a war of two
sides existed. A number of States and several millions of people
were in a state of actual war, their cruisers were on the sea, and
their agents abroad.^ The fact was undeniable, and the embarrass
ment unavoidable. The only duty of the British Government in this,
as in all preceding cases, he said, was to remain entirely neutral, and
that was all that was contemplated by the Queen's proclamation.
On the 17th of June, Mr. Seward addressed Mr. Dayton on the
subject of the visit of the French and English ministers, to lay before
him the views of their respective Governments, giving his reasons for
not receiving the document, and trusting that fact need not disturb
the good relations between the two countries. Mr. Seward said:
" It is erroneous, so far as foreign nations are concerned, to suppose
that any war exists in the United States. Certainly there cannot be
two belligerent powers where there is no war. . . . There is, indeed,
an armed sedition seeking to overthrow the Government, and the
Government employs military and naval force to repress it. But
these facts do not constitute a war presenting two belligerent powers,
and modifying the national character, rights, and responsibilities, or
the character, rights, and responsibilities of foreign nations. The
American people will consent to no intervention. Down deep in the
heart of the American people — deeper than the love of trade, or of
freedom — deeper than the attachments to any local or sectional inter
est, or partisan pride, or individual ambition — deeper than any other
sentiment, is that one out of which the Constitution of this Union arose,
namely, independence of all foreign control, alliance, or influence."
Mr. Wright continued to represent the Government at the court
of Prussia, until the arrival of his successor, Mr. Judd. Mr. Seward,
in his letter of instructions to Mr. Judd, called his attention to the
general circular, and stated : —
" This Government not only wisely, but necessarily, hesitates to resort to coercion and
compulsion to secure a return of the disaffected portion of the people to their accus
tomed allegiance. The Union was formed upon the popular consent, and must always
practically stand upon the same basis. The temporary causes of alienation must pass
away. But to this end. it is of the greatest importance that the disaffected States shall
not succeed in obtaining favor or recognition from foreign nations."
Mr. Wright wrote, May 8th, that Baron Von Schleinitz gave the
most positive assurances that the Prussian Government, from the
principle of unrelenting opposition to all revolutionary movements,
would be one of the last to recognize any de facto government of the
disaffected States of the American Union.
Mr. Sanford, who represented the Government at Belgium, wrote,
May 26th, that the foreign minister had assured him that noapplica-
tion from the Southern commissioners would be entertained if made,
but complained bitterly of the new United States tariff as very preju
dicial to Belgian interests.

220 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
The interview of the United States ambassador with the Russian
Government produced a very remarkable letter from Prince Gortcha-
koff to the Minister De Stoeckl, at Washington, which he was
directed to read to Mr. Seward. In it the Emperor's Government
deplored the dangers that threatened the Union, and earnestly advised
its maintenance.
" In any event, the sacrifices which they might impose upon themselves to maintain
it are beyond comparison with those which dissolution would bring after it. United,
they perfect themselves. Isolated, they are paralyzed. The struggle which unhap
pily has just arisen can neither be indefinitely prolonged, nor lead to the total destruc
tion of one of the parties ; sooner or later, it will be necessary to come to some set
tlement, whatever it may be, which may cause the divergent interests now actually in
conflict to coexist." .
On the 14th of August, after the news of the battle of Bull Run
had arrived in Europe, the Southern Commissioners addressed a
lengthy document to Earl Russell, in which, recurring to their inter
view of the 4th of May, they endeavored to give satisfactory evidence
of the justice of their cause, and to show that the people of the South
had violated no principle of allegiance in the act of secession. They
then discussed the neutrality of the British Government, regretting
that prizes were not allowed to be carried into British ports. They
set forth the productive powers of the South, its great wealth, and
the advantages of commerce that they offer. They stated that the
object of the war was "to secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves
and our posterity ; that the party in power had proposed to guar
antee slavery forever, if the South would submit to the will of the
majority — in other words, to the will of the North." They further
stated, that it was the design of the North to resort to servile war
by arming the negroes. Earl Russell replied, August 24th, simply
reiterating the neutral position of Great Britain, stating that Her
Majesty could not undertake to determine by anticipation the issue
of the civil war, " nor can she acknowledge the independence of the
nine States which are now combined against the President and Con
gress of the United States, until the fortune of arms, or the more
peaceful mode of negotiation, shall more clearly determine the re
spective positions of the two belligerents."
The Spanish Government seemed inclined to favor the Southern
cause, but was apparently held in check by the attitude of France and
England. The following proclamation, issued in August, by the Cap
tain-General of Cuba, in some degree indicates her policy : —
"In virtue of the proclamation by Her Majesty the Queen, I have determined, un
der date of August 1th, that all vessels occupied in legitimate commerce, proceeding
from ports in the Confederate States, shall be entered and cleared under the Confed
erate flag, and shall be duly protected by the authority of the island. Foreign consuls
will be notified that no interference on their part will be tolerated."
This disposition on the part of Spain grew, to some extent, out of
her relations with Mexico, which were becoming daily more compli
cated, and which, if the United States should adhere to their estab
lished policy in relation to the intrigues of foreign nations on this
continent, would be likely to involve the two powers.
The Government of Mexico had been, since 1860, in the hands of

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 221
President Juarez, representing the Constitutional party, as opposed to
the Church party, so called, because it included most of the priests,
in whose hands was the greater part of the property of the nation,
and who bitterly opposed all progress and freedom. To this Govern
ment Thomas Corwin was by the new Administration sent as minister,
in 1861. In his letter of instructions to Mr. Corwin, Mr. Seward
enjoined him. to impress upon the Mexican Government that Mexico
could not be benefited by the prostration of the Federal Union.
" On the other hand, a condition of anarchy in Mexico must necessarily operate as
a seduction to those who are conspiring against the integrity of the Union to seek ag
grandizement for themselves by conquests in Mexico and other parts of Spanish
America." . . "You may possibly meet agents of this projected Confederacy busy in
preparing some further revolution in Mexico. Tou will not fail to assure the Government
of Mexico that the President never has, nor can ever have, any sympathy with such
designs, m whatever quarter they may arise, or whatever character they may take on."
Mr. Corwin wrote, May '29th, "that Mexico was unwilling to enter
into engagements that might result in war with the South, unless
protected by aid from the United States." Again, " Mexico regards the
United States as its only true and reliable friend in any war which
may involve her national existence."
Meantime, General Miramon, the leader of the Church party, was at
Madrid, seeking Spanish aid to restore his party to power in Mexico.
These efforts ripened into the convention between France, Great Brit
ain, and Spain, entered into October 31st, 1861, for intervention in
the affairs of Mexico, and to claim redress of wrongs. The fourth
article of the convention provided that a copy of it should be laid
before the United States Government, which should be invited to ac
cede to it. This was done, and Mr. Lincoln objected to the measures
of the convention ; but owing to the existence of civil war the United
States Government was unable to make, with effect, such an energetic
protest as the occasion would otherwise have demanded. The Mon
roe doctrine, which had proclaimed that the United States would not
view any European intervention, seeking to control the destinies of
any American nation, otherwise than as dangerous to its own peace
and safety, was still the sentiment of the . American people. Mr.
Seward, in a letter on the subject, remarked that the President relied
upon the good faith of the allies in respect to their not seeking any
permanent aggrandizement in that country, and argued that the estab
lishment of a monarchy in Mexico could not be permanently success
ful or prevent continued revolutions.
The results of the national diplomacy thus far were, that the foreign
nations, while expressing hopes for a restoration of the Union, had
first acknowledged the belligerent rights of the South; secondly, had
refused to accede to the United States' proposition to consider their
privateers as pirates ; thirdly, had intimated that the recognition of
the South, as a nation, was only a question of time, and of proof of a
certain degree of consistency on the part of the Southern Govern
ment ; fourthly, they perfected against Mexico a coalition, which many
years before had failed through respect to the United States. These
facts became apparent and fixed towards the close of September, when

222 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
negotiations in relation to them were suspended. It was then that,
under date of October 14th, Mr. Seward issued a circular to the Gov
ernors of all the States, stating that the disloyal citizens were making
every effort to involve the country in a foreign war, and that every
precaution was necessary to guard against it, and appealing to the
individual States to perfect their defences with their own resources,
the expenses to be a subject of future consideration with the Federal
Government. This was speedily followed by an occurrence which re
newed in the most earnest and threatening manner the correspondence
with foreign governments.
The appointment of Messrs. Mason and Slidell by the Confederate
States as ambassadors, the first to England, and the second to France^
had been a source of some anxiety to the Federal Government. It
was rumored that they had- sailed in the ship Nashville, which ran
the blockade from Charleston October llth, and vessels were sent in
pursuit. It seems, however, that the rumor was a feint, since the
commissioners, with their families, embarked on board the Theodora,
which left Charleston at nearly the same time as the Nashville, bound
for Cardenas, it being their intention to take the British mail steamer
from Havana. Accordingly, on the morning of the 7th of November,
they went on board the steamer Trent, which runs between Vera
Cruz and St. Thomas vid Havana. On the morning of the 8th, when
the Trent was in the old Bahama Channel, the United States steamer
San Jacinto, Captain Wilkes, approached, and when within a furlong's
length, fired a shot across her bow, at the same time hoisting the
American flag. The Trent continued her route, when the San Ja
cinto, with her men at quarters and guns run out, fired a shell, which,
bursting within one hundred yards of the Trent, brought her to.
Captain Wilkes, on his own responsibility, then sent a boat on board
with two officers and twenty armed men, and demanded the surren
der of Messrs. Mason and-Shdell, with Messrs. Eustis and McFarland,
their secretaries. Captain Moir, of the Trent, and the navy agent,
Commander Williams, R. N., protested against the capture. The
commissioners claimed the protection of the British flag, but the
officer of the San Jacinto said they were the men he sought, and he
would take them at all hazards. Commander Williams denounced
the proceeding as an act of " wanton piracy." Three other boats
then came up from the San Jacinto, with thirty marines and sixty
sailors, who leaped on deck, sword in hand. The commissioners were
then taken into the boats with as much show of force as was neces
sary, their families being left on board, and the Trent proceeded on
her way. When the commissioners were on board the San Jacinto
they drew up a protest against the proceedings of Captain Wilkes.
The San Jacinto arrived at Boston a few days afterwards with the
prisoners, who were transferred to Fort Warren. The public mind
was greatly excited by the event. Congress voted thanks to Captain
Wilkes, the Secretary of the Navy indorsed the proceeding, with the
qualification that Captain Wilkes had not gone far enough, but should
have captured the Trent, and a banquet was given to him in Boston.
The capture caused the most earnest discussion in the United States,

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 223
and a number of the leading authorities, Theophilus Parsons, profes
sor of law in Harvard University, Edward Everett, and many others,
volunteered opinions publicly upon the right of the United States to
make the capture, urging, however, that the Trent should have been
brought into port in order that the case might be adjudicated by the
proper authorities. In England the news was received with the most
intense excitement. Immediate preparations for war were under
taken on a large scale, and a demand for the release of the prisoners
was made through the British minister, Lord Lyons. The event
caused as much excitement in Europe as in England, and the French
minister, M. Thouvenel, immediately addressed a letter to this Gov
ernment, in which he strongly advised the prompt restoration of the
men to British protection, and added : —
"If to our. deep regret the cabinet at Washington approve the conduct of the com-
mander of the San Jacinto, there would be a forgetfulness, extremely annoying, of
principles upon which we have always found the United States in agreement with us."
On the presentation by Lord Lyons of the British demand to the
Government at Washington, it was assented to, for the reason,, as stated
in a communication from Mr. Seward, that Captain Wilkes's proceedings
were irregular, in not capturing the vessel and bringing her into port
for adjudication; and instructions were sent to Boston to deliver the
prisoners to the representatives of the British Government. They
were consequently sent on board an English steamer lying off Cape
Cod, and in her conveyed to St. Thomas, whence they went to Eng
land, by the mail steamer, and arrived at Southampton January 30th.
Thus passed away a danger, which at one time threatened the most
serious consequences, and the effect of which had been heightened in
England by the circular of Mr. Seward, before mentioned, addressed
to the Governors of all the States, urging the importance of perfecting
the defences of the States, in view of the possibility of a foreign war.
This result of the affair produced the greatest disappointment in the
Southern States, since it had been supposed that war would inevitably
grow out, of the capture between the United States and Great Britain ;
the more so, that Congress, and one member of the cabinet, in his
official report, had fully indorsed the capture. When, therefore, the
men were promptly surrendered, and the chance of war ceased, great
despondency overtook the Confederates, which was increased by the
fact that this occurred at a time when the victorious armies of the
North were in motion to drive them out of the Border States.
The year 1862 thus set in most auspiciously for the Federal arms
and prospects.

CHAPTER XVHX
Age of Invention. — Change in Arms. — Springfield Rifle. — Enfield Rifle. — Repeating
Arms. — The Rodman Gun. — Columbiads. — Parrott Gun. — Dahlgrens. — Table of Guns
in Service. — Projectiles. — Batteries.
In this age of invention the science of arms has made great progress.
In fact, the most remarkable inventions have been made since the pro-

224 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
longed wars of Europe in the early part of the century, and the short
Italian campaign of France in 1859 served to illustrate how great a
power the engines of destruction can exert. The improvement has
been alike in small arms and in ordnance. In small arms the rifle has
almost entirely superseded the old smooth-bore musket. This arm was
one of the first forms of manufacture for fire-arms in the sixteenth cen
tury ; but the musket was preferred, on account of its more speedy
loading. The great skill of the American colonists in the use of the
rifle during the Revolution brought the weapon again into notice, and
when the percussion-cap was added, it gained much in public favor.
Recently it has become so much improved, as to supplant not only the
old musket, but to affect artillery also, thus changing the tactics of the
battle-field. Since the " Wars of the Roses" in England, nine-tenths of
all the battles in the world have been decided by artillery and mus
ketry, without crossing a bayonet or drawing a sword. The cavalry,
as an arm, has gradually lost ground, except in a defeat, when it can
follow up a flying enemy. It never could break an infantry square
even when the latter was armed only with pikes, and recent events
have shown it cannot reach infantry in line. Artillery, however,
played a more important part, until the great improvements in rifles
and rifle practice made it easy to silence guns by picking off the gun
ners. In the text-book of the St. Cyr military school it is directed,
that the fire of artillery should cease when the enemy is distant twelve
hundred yards. At Waterloo, the opposing armies were nearly that
distance apart, and, as a consequence, were out of reach of all but solid
shot from field-guns as they were then served. The improved small
arms are now effective at a mile, and troops can shoot each other at
two thousand yards. From this it is manifest that the small arms
which could kill gunners out of reach of cannon-shot had acquired the
superiority, until guns were, in their turn, so improved as to restore
their importance.
The improvements in rifles are mostly in the ball, which is of conical
shape, hollow at the base, and intended to expand so as to fill the
grooves of the piece as it passes out. The Minie rifle, the invention
of Colonel Minie, of the French army, was made on this principle, and
it is said that it can be made effective at a mile distance. The arm
mostly used by the United States infantry is the Springfield rifle.
This piece is forty inches long in the barrel. The bore is 6.58 inch in
diameter, and the ball is a conical cylinder, hollow at the base, and
weighs five hundred grains. The service charge of powder is sixty
grains. The barrel has three grooves, which make one half, turn in the
whole length. These guns, including bayonet, ramrod, &c, are com
posed of eighty-four pieces, of which twenty-six are of steel, and two
of wood. All are made by machinery, each piece separately, and all
so exactly alike that they may be used indiscriminately ; a number of
injured guns may be taken apart, and a perfect rifle constructed from
them. The immense advantage of uniformity is thus attained. This
mode of manipulation is purely American, and similar machines were
made in New England, and sent to England for the manufacture of
the weapon, which is there called the Enfield rifle, because made at the

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 225
Government armory at Enfield. The cost of the Springfield rifle is
thirteen dollars and fifty cents for each gun, and fourteen dollars and
ninety-three cents complete with the appendages. A great number of
inventions of breech-loading and other weapons have been patented,
but the American War Department has finally fixed upon the muzzle-
loading piece with percussion lock.
• The inventions of repeating arms have been many, of which Colt's is
the most famous. The principle is a revolving breech of six chambers,
which are brought, in turn, in a line with the barrel by each successive
movement of the lock. Sharpe's rifle is a breech-loading and self-prim
ing piece, invented in 1852. The barrel is made of cast steel bored
out. As a carbine it is used in the cavalry arm. These revolving
rifles, both Colt's and Sharpe's, of superior construction, have been
fitted with telescopic sights adapted for execution at long distances.
The carbine is a weapon between the rifle and the pistol in weight and
length ; it is usually breech-loading, and is sometimes furnished with a
bayonet in the form of a sword, which may also be used as a side-arm.
There are three of these favorably reported upon by the board. of offi
cers — Burnside's, Sharpe's, and Maynard's. The first was invented by
General Burnside, and was by him manufactured at one time in Provi
dence. The chamber of this piece opens by turning on a hinge, and
the cartridge is introduced in a case of brass, which, on the explosion,
packs the joint and prevents the escape of gas. The objection is the
difficulty in obtaining the cartridges. Sharpe's carbine is like the rifle.
Maynard's has a fixed chamber with the joint closed by a metallic car
tridge case. There are a great number of repeating pistols issued to
the cavalry and light artillery. When the war took place the scarcity
of arms called into action numbers of private armories. The imported
and other breech-loading, self-priming, and other weapons were altered
to conform to the Springfield pattern, which are alone furnished to the
infantry, with cartridges prepared for service at the armories.
The improvements in small arms were soon followed by attempts to
perfect cannon, which, from being effective a long way beyond musket
range, had come to be ineffective at a less distance than a practicable
rifle-shot. The military maxim that " he who would live long must
enlist in the artillery," found itself reversed, and great efforts were
made to restore the efficiency of the guns. The metal used for casting
guns of large calibre is cast-iron, but the strength of iron varies greatly.
The metal was formerly not so well made as it is at present. The dif
ference in tenacity is very great in proportion to the uniformity with
which the metal cools, and to effect this object great efforts have been
made. The first guns made were of wrought bars cased in hoops of
the same metal ; one of these burst in 1460, and killed James II., of
Scotland. In 1845, Commodore Stockton constructed a similar piece,
which exploded, killing Mr. Upshur and Mr. Gilmer, members of the
cabinet under Mr. Tyler, and wounding some others. The next step
in making guns was to cast them hollow. The great difficulty in this
was to cause them to cool uniformly, and it was abandoned in 1729,
for the process of casting solid and boring out the piece. This was
continued down to a recent date, when Captain T. J. Rodman, of the
15

226 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
United States Ordnance Corps, conceived the design of cooling the
piece cast hollow by the introduction of a current of water flowing
through the core, thus securing a uniform texture and maximum
strength throughout. In proof of the efficiency of this mode, a pair of
8-inch guns was made in the best manner, one by the old method bored
out, which burst at the seventy-third discharge, and the other by the
new method, which did not fail with fifteen hundred discharges. A
number of experiments were made with similar results. Ihe gun
known as the Union or Rodman gun is a 15-inch columbiad, and was
cast in the new manner, under the direction of Captain Rodman — hence
its name. This gun is at Fortress Monroe. Its length is 190 inches;
length of bore, 165 inches; thickness of metal at junction of bore with
chamber, 25 inches ; thickness at muzzle, 5 inches ; diameter of shell,
14.9 inches; weight of shell, 320 pounds; charge, 17 pounds; solid
fehot weighs 450 pounds.
Columbiads were invented by Colonel Bomford, United States
army. Their peculiarity is, that they uniformly decrease in size from
the breech of the muzzle, as in the case of the Rodman gun. They
are used for throwing solid shot or shells. They were originally
chambered, but are now made with a uniform bore, ordinarily of eight-
inch and ten-incsh. Larger guns have been made for trial, one of
twelve-inch and one of fifteen-inch. The latter is the Rodman gun.
A small difference in the size of the bore of a gun, or, in other words,
the diameter of the shot, makes a very great difference in the weight
of the shot. The rule is, that the weight increases in proportion to
the cube of the diameter. Thus, a shot eight inches in diameter, sup
posing it to be a perfect sphere, will weigh sixty-nine pounds ; a ten-
inch shot will weigh one hundred and thirty-six pounds ; a twenty-
inch shot would weigh ten hundred and ninety pounds. Hence, a
little increase in diameter causes an immense difference in the size of
the gun.
Pabboxt guts-. This is named after its maker, Mr. Parrott, of West
Point, who is, however, not the inventor. The piece is cast, and then
upon the breech is driven a wrought-iron ring of four-inch thickness.
This is put over hot, and shrinks upon the gun. By this device, the
gun, which is rifled, will weigh less than a columbiad or Dahlgren of
the same calibre, in the proportion of eleven hundred to fifteen hun
dred pounds. This for a field-piece is of great advantage.
The Dahlgeen gun was invented by Captain Dahlgren, of the
navy. Its peculiarity is, that the thickness of the gun diminishes very
rapidly from the breech, by which means a larger calibre weighs much
less than by the old plan.
Whitwoeth gun. A number of batteries of these guns were re
ceived from England when the war broke out. They are loaded at
the breech, but instead of being rifled the bore is hexagonal, with a
twist of one turn to five feet, to give the effect of rifling. They are
made of wrought iron melted and cast in moulds. The projectile is
hexagonal, made to fit the bore. It is of cast iron, but sometimes of
wrought iron. The range of the gun is four thousand yards.
Steel cannon were introduced in the United States in 1861. Their

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 227
chief advantage is their comparative lightness for field service, requir
ing a less power of draft, and being more manageable in heavy roads.
They are forged under heavy steam hammers from puddled steel made
especially for this purpose. The six-pounders are of 2.6 inches bore,
and the twelve-pounders, 3.67 inches bore. The latter weigh twelve
hundred pounds each. They are rifled, one turn in twelve feet.
Moetaes are used for siege and naval service. The heavy siege
mortar weighs seventeen thousand five hundred pounds, is fifty-three
inches long, and thirteen inches depth of ehamber. The shell weighs
two hundred pounds, and with twenty pounds of powder may be
thrown four thousand three hundred and twenty-five yards.
Howitzees are short guns, or mortars chambered and mounted on
gun-carriages. They are used for throwing shells. The difference
between a mortar and a howitzer is, that the trunnions of the former
are at the end, and of the latter in the middle for mounting on a car
riage. The United States " Ordnance Manual" gives the following kinds
and calibres of guns used in the United States armies : —
Calibre. Material. Weight Weight of shot. Weight of shells.
Field guns  6 lbs. bronze 884 6.10
" "  12 " " 1,757 12.25
Siege "  12 " iron 3,590 12.25 8.34
" "  18 " " 4,913 18.30 13.45
"  24 " ' 5,790 24.30 16.80
Sea-coast guns  32 " " 7,200 32.40 22.50
" "  42 " " 8,465 42.50 31.30
Mountain howitzer.. 12 " bronze 220 12.25
Field " ..12 " " 788 12.25
" " ..24 " " 1,318 24.30
" " , ..32 " " 1,920 32.40
Siege " . . 8 inch. iron 2,614 65.00
" " ..24 lbs. " 1,476 24.30
Seacoast " . . 8 inch. " 6,740 66.00 49 75
" " ..10 " " 9,500 127.50 101.67
Columbiads  8 " " 9,240 65.00 49.75
"  10 " " 15,400 127.50 101.67
Mortars, light  8 " " 930 44.12
" "  10 " " 1,852 88.42
" heavy  10 " " 5,775 197.30
The greatest change in weapons is in the projectiles. That for the
Parrott gun is a cast-iron body, around the base of which is fitted
loosely a brass ring, which, by the explosion; is forced into the grooves,
causing the projectile to follow the curves of the piece. The Whit-
worth gun has a hexagonal projectile, which follows the turn of the
bore into which it is fitted. The three-pounder, with eight ounces of
powder, has been known to throw five and a half miles. This range
is obtained by the great twist given to the grooves, equal to one turn
in five feet, or one and a half turns in the length of the gun. The
Hotchkiss projectile is composed of three pieces, of which the conical
head and base are made of cast iron, between which there is lead.
The effect of the explosion is to cause the lead to bulge out, and thus
effectually take the grooves of the gun. The Sawteb projectile is a

228 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
conical shell of cast-iron, with a brass cap screwed into the apex of the
cone. By this the powder, fourteen ounces for a twelve-pound shell,
is introduced. The percussion powder is under the brass cap. This
shell has a coating of lead to take the grooves. The Schenkl projec
tile is a cast-iron bullet, in length about three times the diameter. Its
posterior portion has a covering of papier-machi, which takes the
grooves. The James projectile is a cast-iron cylinder with a conical
head. It may be used either solid or as a shell. The middle of the
cylinder is about three-fourths of an inch in diameter less than the two
ends. In this portion there are openings to a cavity extending to the
rear. The cylinder being enclosed in tin, with a canvas cSvering, hot
lead poured into the cavity fills in under the tin. On the discharge,
the lead, being driven forward, bulges out the tin, and forces the can
vas into the grooves. Owing to the disposition of the tin covering to
peel off, these projectiles are not to be depended upon.
Ordinary shells are hollow shot of cast-iron, filled with bullets and
sulphur, and are fired by a fuse formed- by boring into the filling, and
charging the cavity thus formed with mealed powder of peculiar com
position, which is covered with a leaden or soft metal cap ; when it is
to be discharged a portion of this cap is removed, so as to form a
greater or smaller aperture to the fuse, according to the distance it is
to be thrown before exploding. These fuses are graduated for five,
ten, fifteen, or twenty seconds. The spherical-case shot is a thin shell
of cast-iron, containing powder and musket-balls embedded in melted
sulphur. Its shape is round for mortars and smooth bores, but elon
gated for rifle guns. It is intended to burst fifty to one hundred and
fifty yards in front of, and fifteen to twenty feet above the object fired
at. The time-fuse is a hollow cylinder of paper, wood, or metal, en
closing a composition graduated to the required time. The fuse is
fired by the explosion of the piece.
A field battery consists of six pieces, viz., four twelve-pounders and
two twenty-four-pounders, or two twelve-pounder howitzers j or four
six-pounders and two twenty-four-pounders.

CHAPTER XIX.
The Situation.— Army of the Potomac— General McClellan.— The Retreat of the
Enemy from Manassas.— The Peninsular Campaign. — Yorktown. — McDowell's
Corps Withdrawn. — Siege of Yorktown.
The year 1861 had closed with gloomy prospects for the Federal
arms. On all sides of the vast field of action, our armies had suffered
reverses, and the enemy had triumphed in many a hard-fought field.
If there was a shade of disappointment on the public mind, there was
no sign of despondency, nor any diminution of determination. But
scarcely had the new year opened, when from every point of the com
pass came notes of success, and. the advancing Union troops were vie-

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.

229

torious in every conflict. Although the winter was unusually stormy,
sixty days of vigorous effort sufficed to work an entire change in the
aspect of affairs, and impress the prestige of victory upon the Union

On the 1st of January, General Price was in triumphal possession of
Southwestern Missouri;- by the close of February he was a fugitive in
Western Arkansas, with his army greatly reduced by capture and de
moralization, and Missouri was free from armed Confederates.
On the 1st of January the enemy held a large portion of Kentucky,
and confronted the Union forces on a line drawn from Columbus, on
the western border of the State, through Bowling Green to the Vir
ginia line on the east. Zollicoffer and Crittenden commanded Cum
berland Gap, the gateway into Virginia and Tennessee ; Johnston and
Buckner at Bowling Green covered Nashville and threatened Louis
ville. General Polk, at Columbus, watched St. Louis and Cairo, and
commanded the Mississippi. These threatening clouds were soon dis
persed when the Union troops resumed action. Within sixty days
Kentucky was clear of Confederates. The immense line of hostile
troops had been swept back into Alabama and Mississippi. Every
strong place had been taken, the rebel armies dispersed, Nashville
occupied, and Union authority was once more supreme in Tennessee
and Kentucky.
On the 1st of January, Burnside's Expedition still lingered in
Northern harbors, while the enemy, warned by spies of its destinar
tion, were preparing to receive it. Within sixty days it had crowned
its triumph at Roanoke Island, and loyal North Carolinians were be
lieved to have rallied once more around the stars and stripes.
All these successes had aroused the public enthusiasm, and strength
ened confidence in a speedy peace, as a consequence of the advance
of the Grand Army of" the Potomac, which had during many months
been in the hands of General McClellan, gathering force and consist
ency to deliver the final blow at rebellion. That immense army had
been the chief result of Northern efforts and resources, and it was re
garded in the public mind almost as the Old Guard had been in the
imperial armies of France. Its advance was looked for as the crown
ing movement.
When the Army of the Potomac had, in July, 1861, been compelled
to fall back upon Washington in a state of disorganization, the Ad
ministration, dreading an assault upon the capital, summoned General
McClellan to rally and re-form the broken columns. The undertaking
was one demanding the abilities of an experienced commander. The
young chief was comparatively an untried man, but his reputation,
although resting only on the campaign of Western Virginia, had the
prestige of success, which promised to retrieve the disasters of the
Potomac. General McClellan * had been prominent among the gradu-

* George B. McClellan Is the son of an eminent
physician of Philadelphia, and was born in that
city on the 3d of December, 1626. He entered the
West Point Academy inVHI, graduated second in
his class in 1846, and was Immediately called Into
active service as second-lieutenant of a company of

sappers and miners, Captain Swift just organized
by a special act of Congress ; of this company the
first - lieutenant was Gustavus W. Smith, late
Street Commissioner of New York, and now a
major-general in the Confederate army. The
sappers and miners, seventy-one strong, sailed

230

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.

ates of a distinguished class at the Military Academy, had earned
promotion under Scott in Mexico, and had enjoyed a commission of
trust from the Government in relation to Cuba. He was fond of his
profession, and had the advantage of youth on his side. In civil life
he had earned reputation as an engineer of good administrative abili
ties ; and at the breaking out of the war held the the position of
General Superintendent of the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad, having
previously served on the Blinois Central Railroad with fair reputation.
Such was the man who, by the force of circumstances, had been called
to the head of the army at a time of great national peril, and at whose
disposal the Government placed the whole resources of the nation.
The extent of these resources may be estimated from the official
reports of the departments. The Secretary of War had reported the
army at two hundred and thirty thousand men under arms ; in his report
of December, the figures were raised to seven hundred and thirty thou
sand men in the pay of the Government. In other words, five hun
dred thousand men had, in six months, freely and eagerly rallied
around the national standard. In July, 1861, the national debt was
reported to Congress by the Secretary, at ninety millions of dollars.
In December, the amount had swollen to two hundred and fifty mil
lions of dollars, showing that one hundred and sixty millions of dollars
had been freely poured into the national treasury' to concentrate, arm,
equip, and feed the half million of men who were crowding into the
ranks of the army under McClellan. The people and the public press
willingly gave him credit for all that they hoped he would accom
plish. Every element of success was at his command. There were
gathered around him crowds of eager volunteers, of the best physical

from West Point on the 24th of September, to
take part in the Mexican war, with orders to re
port to General Taylor. At the battle of Con-
treras, Lieutenant McClellan managed the how
itzers of Magruder's battery with great ability.
On the 20th of August he distinguished himself
At the battle of Churubusco, for which he was pro
moted to a first-lieutenancy. At Molino del Key
and Chepultepec, his gallantry secured him the
iiank of captain by brevet. The following year,
1848, he assumed command of the sappers and
miners, a position which he held until 1S51. It
¦fras during this poriod that Captain McClellan
translated his text-book for the army, and intro
duced the bayonet exercise in the United States.
In the fall of 1 851 he was appointed to superintend
the building of Fort Delaware. In the spring of
1852 he joined Captain Marcyin an expedition to
explore Ked ltiver ; and was afterwards ordered to
Texas as a general engineer on the staff of General
Persifer F. Smith, and surveyed the rivers and har
bors of that State. Next year he aided in survey
ing the northern route for a Pacific railroad, and for
his work was highly complimented by Jeff. Davis,
then Secretary of War. Shortly after, McClellan
was sent on secret service to the West Indies,
connected with the Cuban expedition, and on his
return received a commission in the IT. 8. cavalry.
The war in the Crimea being at that time an ab
sorbing subject of interest, the U. 8, Government
sent a commission of three officers there to watch
its progress and perfect themselves in the art;
of these officers McClellan was one, and the ability
of his report when he returned added much to

his reputation. In 1857 he resigned his commis
sion, and became Vice-President and Engineer of
the Illinois Central Railroad. Three years later
we find him General- Superintendent of the Ohio
and Mississippi ltailroad, and he was thns engaged
when civil war came upon us. Ohio immediately
made him major-general of her State forces, ana
shortly after, Pennsylvania offered him a similar
position. He organized tho militia of Ohio quickly
and thoroughly. On the 14th of May, the Federal
Government tendered him the position of major-
general in the D. S. Army, and assigned him to
the Department of Ohio. Then followed his cam
paign in Western Virginia. After the disaster at
Bull Run, he was called to Washington, to com
mand tho Army of the Potomac. On the 81st of
October, General Scott resigned, and General Mc
Clellan was appointed to succeed him as general-
in-chlef of the armies of the United States. He
organized the army with great ability, and when
the advance took place March 8th, he was re
stricted to tho command of the Army of the Po
tomac He subsequently conducted the campaign
of the Peninsula, ond in tho middle of August
conduoted the Army of the Potomac back to Wash
ington, and for several days held command of the
fortifications of Washington. At the close of
Pope's Virginia campaign, he resumed his old
command, and fought the battle of Antietam. On
November 7th, 1862, he was relieved by Burnside.
He was the Democratic candidate for President
in 1864, and resigned his commission in tho fall
of that year.

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 231
development; unbounded supplies; the largest possible transporta
tion, railway conveyance, telegraphic communication, and uncon
trolled direction. Seven months had been spent in the organization
and combination of these elements of success. As the recruits succes
sively arrived, they were organized and employed upon the extensive
works that continued to rise around the national capital, thus becom
ing inured to the hardships of the camp, while they were learning the
duties of a soldier ; and gradually, as the army increased in strength,
it improved in military knowledge and efficiency. The great merit of
General McClellan as an organizer was conspicuous to all who had wit
nessed the condition of the army in July, and compared it with the
vast array that had since been instilled with the principles of soldierly
life and discipline.
The winter finally drew to a close, and the roads had become once
more practicable for artillery and wagons. The right and left wings
of the great National advance had successfully driven the enemy be
fore them, and the moment had arrived to crush the chief rebel army,
which for seven months had with impunity assumed to besiege the
Federal capital. The people were fully convinced that a new battle
of Bull Run would result in such signal discomfiture of the enemy as
would not only obliterate the former defeat, but open the way to
Richmond. The political situation at home required a victory to sus
tain the Government, and the aspect of our foreign relations de
manded some military progress to sustain the position of the American
diplomatists. In a military view, it was of importance that the
enemy should be crushed at Manassas, because the difficulties of fol
lowing an unbroken army beyond that point were formidable. The
country had been devastated, the railways torn up, and the army
could be supplied only by slow-moving wagons, bringing daily sup
plies from Washington.
The position of the enemy had not been materially changed since
the day of the battle of Bull Run. His strength varied from forty
thousand to seventy thousand men, the main body of whom held
the positions of Manassas and Centreville, which were connected by
a temporary railroad laid on the surface of the ground, without
trading. The works at Manassas were skilfully laid out, but had
een constructed in a superficial manner, being simply dirt, trenches,
and sand-forts, and were more formidable in appearance than in real
ity. The embrasures were intended for field-guns, but were destitute
of floors. Five of them commanded the road to Centreville, extending
on a line one and a half miles, and connected by rifle-pits deep enough
to allow artillery to move behind them. There were substantial huts
constructed for winter-quarters, sufficient to accommodate forty thou
sand men. The position of Centreville was naturally much stronger
than that of Manassas, and the works were more numerous and better
built. They consisted of eight or nine forts of a capacity of from four
to twelve guns each, extending in a line and surrounded by rifle-pits.
There were never any guns regularly mounted, and when the place
was evacuated, wooden guns, or " Quakers," as they were called, were
found in the embrasures. Much scientific skill was displayed in the

232 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
design of all these works, and to a superficial eye they appeared to
form a complete system of defence, commanding the approaches for
many miles roundl An ordinary reconnoissance would have shown
that they were intended to deceive rather than to be defended ; and
it must be confessed they fully answered the purpose of their con
structors. In February, Generals Johnston, Smith, and Stuart held
Centreville, having parties thrown forward to Fairfax and Leesburg.
All these places were connected by telegraph with Manassas, which
drew its supplies by two lines of railroads, one leading south to Gor
donsville, and the other leading to the rich valleyof the Shenandoah,
held by General Jackson, whose main force at Winchester, with his
advance at Martinsburg, held Banks in check, and covered the rail
road to Manassas. On the other hand, General T. H. Holmes com
manded the Lower Potomac batteries, and General Walker, with a
considerable force, held Fredericksburg. The whole force was esti
mated by General McClellan, at the beginning of March, at eighty
thousand men, including some Virginia regiments, whose term of
service was about to expire, but who had re-enlisted.
The President's war order of January 27th, for a general movement
of all the armies, was followed on the 31st by the following, having
special reference to the Army of the Potomac : —
PRESIDENT'S SPECIAL WAE ORDER, No. 1.
" Executive Mansion, Washington, January 31, 1862.
" Ordered, That all the disposable force of the Army of the Potomac, after providing
safely for the defence of Washington, be formed into an expedition for the immediate
object of seizing and occupying a point upon the railroad southwest of what is known
as Manassas Junction — all details to be in the discretion of the Commander-in-Chief,
and the expedition to move before or on the 22d day of January next.
" Abraham Lincoln."
To this order General McClellan promptly objected, embodying his
reasons in an elaborate communication to the War Department, under
date of February 3d. He admitted that, by attacking the enemy's
right flank by the line of the Occoquan, it would be possible to "pre
vent the junction of the enemy's right with his centre," to " remove
the obstructions to the navigation of the Potomac, reduce the length
of the wagon transportation," "and strike more directly his main
railroad communication." But he objected to the plan generally, as
involving " the error of dividing our army by a very difficult obsta
cle (the Occoquan), and by a distance too great to enable the two
parts to support each other, should either be attacked by the masses
of the enemy, while the other is held in check." And even should
the execution of the plan prove successful, he thought the results
"would be confined to the possession of the field of battle, the evacu
ation of the line of the Upper Potomac by the enemy, and the moral
effect of the victory— important results, it is true ; but not decisive
of the war, nor securing the destruction of the enemy's main army,
for he could fall back upon other positions, and fight us again and
again, should the condition of his troops permit." On the other hand,
he urged that the Lower Chesapeake Bay would afford the most avail-

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 233
able base of Operations, and that Urbaha, on the Lower Rappahan
nock, was the point of landing which seemed to promise the most
brilliant results. It was accessible by vessels of heavy draught, was
but three marches from Richmond, and was neither occupied nor ob
served by the enemy. A rapid movement from Urbana would prob
ably cut off Magruder at Yorktown, and enable the Federal army to
enter Richmond, before it could be re-enforced. Should Urbana not
prove practicable as a base, he proposed Fortress Monroe. An ad
vance from either point he considered preferable to the flank move
ment ordered by the President, and " certain by all the chances of
war." This remonstrance had the effect of inducing the President to re
linquish his plan, and accept that of General McClellan. An addi
tional inducement was probably afforded by the decision of a council
of war held shortly afterwards, in which eight generals expressed
themselves in favor of the advance on Richmond by way of Urbana,
and four were opposed to it.
In the latter part of February, a movement was commenced on the
Upper Potomac, having for its object the recovery of that part of the
track of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad in Virginia then in pos
session of the rebels. On the 24th, Harper's Ferry was occu
pied by a detachment from General Banks's force; and early in
March, Charlestpwn, Martinsburg, Leesburg, and other important
points were in the possession of the Federal troops. These move
ments had, it will be seen, an important influence upon subsequent
operations. The reconstruction of the railroad was at once com
menced, and the work was rapidly and successfully pushed to its
completion. The obstructions to the navigation of the Potomac caused by the rebel
batteries erected at Cockpit Point, Mathias Point, and other places on
the right bank of the river, had for months proved a source of mortifica
tion to the Government, as also of positive inconvenience and danger
to the National Capital. Transports conveying stores for McClellan's
vast army could not ascend to Washington without great danger ; even
the passage of vessels of war was attended with risk. The city was,
in fact, compelled to rely principally upon the single track of the
railroad to Baltimore for communication with the outside world; and
in removing his army to Urbana, McClellan had, as a matter of course,
determined to convey them first by rail to Annapolis, and thence
transport them by water to their new base. To the President's
urgent request that he would drive the enemy from these batteries,
General McClellan had interposed various objections, the chief one
being that such an operation would require the movement of the en
tire army, which would derange the plan of campaign he had already
conceived. He was satisfied that the enemy would resist with hia
whole strength, and that the proposed movement to the Lower Ches
apeake would compel him to abandon all his positions along the Poto
mac and in front of Washington. But in the opinion of the President,
backed by that of competent military authorities, there was no reason
why an army, closely approximating in numbers to two hundred thqu-

234 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
sand men, should be longer hampered by such seemingly trifling ob
stacles as the Potomac batteries, and on March 8th the following
order was issued : —
PRESIDENT'S GENERAL "WAR ORDER, No. 3.
" Executive Mansion, March 8, 1862.
" Ordered, That no change of base of operations of the Army of the Potomac shall be
made without leaving in and about Washington such a force as, m the opinion of the
General-in-Chief and the commanders of all the army corps, shall leave the said city
entirely secure.
"That no more than two army corps (about fifty thousand troops) of said Armyof the
Potomac shall be moved en route for a new base of operations, until the navigation of
the Potomac, from Washington to the Chesapeake Bay, shall be freed from the
enemy's batteries, and from other obstructions, or until the President shall hereafter
give express permission.
"That any movement aforesaid en route for a new base of operations, which may be
ordered by the General-in-Chief, and which may be intended to move upon the Chesa
peake Bay, shall begin to move upon the Bay as early as the 18th March inst., and the
General-in-Chief shall be responsible that it so moves as early as that day.
" Ordered, That the army and navy co-operate in an immediate effort to capture the
enemy's batteries upon the Potomac between Washington and the Chesapeake Bay.
" L. Thomas, Adjutant- General. Abraham Lincoln."
Of the same date with this order was another, directing the Army
of the Potomac to be organized into four corps, the first to be com
manded by General McDowell, the second by General E. V. Sumner,
the third by General Heintzelman, and the fourth by General Keyes.
A fifth corps, under General Banks, was directed to be formed from
his own and. General Shields's Divisions. General James I. Wadsworth
was at the same time appointed commander of the forces left in the
defences of Washington, and Military Governor of the District of
Columbia. On March 9th, while these orders and preparations for driving the
rebels from the Potomac and moving the army to the Lower Chesa
peake were occupying the attention of the authorities at Washing
ton, there suddenly came a rumor that the enemy had done of their
own accord what McClellan had doubted his ability to make them
do. In the evening, positive information reached head-quarters, that
the enemy had retired in succession from Fairfax Court-House, Cen
treville, and Manassas, destroying their camps and the bridges in
their rear as they departed. The news was felt to be that of a disas
ter. Washington was immediately in commotion. The telegraph
from the head-quarters of General McClellan conveyed prompt orders
to each division for immediate advance. Generals left at once to
assume their commands, and before dawn a long line of wagons, offi
cers, orderlies, cavalry, and infantry, began, amid a driving storm, to
file across the Potomac to overtake the divisions already in motion.
McDowell's advance-guard, under General Philip Kearny,* surprised

* Philip Kearny was born in New York City,
June 2, 1615. On the 8th of March, 1837. he re
ceived a commission as second-lieutenant in
his uncle's (Colonel S. W. Kearny's) regiment,
the First U. S. Dragoons. Being sont to Eu
rope lo study French cavalry tactics,- ho vis

ited Africa, and became attachod to the Chas
seurs (VAfriqun. Ho gained distinction during
the campaign of 1888-40, and was decorated with
the cross of the Legion of Honor. During his
absence ho was promoted to first-lieutenant
| July, 1889, and on his return was appointed

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.

235

a body of Confederate cavalry at Sawpits Station, on the Orange and
Alexandria Railroad, and on Monday, the 10th, at noon, entered Cen
treville, which had been deserted by the enemy on the previous night.
On the same day, General McClellan and staff left Washington, and
established his head-quarters at Fairfax Court-House. Simultaneously,
Colonel Averill, with the Third Pennsylvania Cavalry, entered Manas
sas, Stuart's rebel cavalry retiring towards Strasburg, by way of the
Manassas Railroad, to join Jackson. On the same day, Banks occu
pied Winchester, and General Hooker, commanding on the Lower
Potomac, sent troops to occupy Shippinsport, Evansport, and Cock
pit Point.
The aspect of affairs had thus rapidly changed. The advance of
General Banks, threatening the Confederate communications with the
valley, had caused the position of Manassas to be no longer tenable.
All the batteries on the Potomac were abandoned, and*the enemy fell
back to Gordonsville. This point has as much strategic importance
as Manassas, since it commands the passage which connects the great
and fertile valley of the Shenandoah by railroad with Richmond. The
loss of that point would involve the cutting off a large portion of the
supplies for Eastern Virginia. It is also the point of intersection of
the most important railroad connections south and southwest. The
region round Gordonsville is thickly wooded and broken, and perhaps
better calculated for defence than that around Manassas. To this
point the enemy fell back, having his advance on the line of the Rapi
dan, twelve miles in front. The North Anna and South Anna Rivers
unite and form the Pamunkey in the neighborhood of Hanover Court-
House, in a country much broken, and admirably calculated for de
fence. In this neighborhood also the Central Virginia Railroad, which
runs from Gordonsville to Hanover Junction, forms a junction with
the Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad, in a position of great
strength. It was on this line from Gordonsville to Hanover Junction,
covered by the Rapidan and the tributaries of the Mattapony and
Pamunkey, that the Confederates had their new position, and on the
10th of March General Lee was nominated to command in Virginia,
and reorganize anew system of defence.
The Union force which penetrated to Centreville and Manassas
consisted only of a small advance-guard. The greater part of the
army went no further than Fairfax Court-House, where pursuit was
stopped. The object of General McClellan in marching his troops so
far while his mind was still busily occupied with the project for trans
porting them to the Lower Chesapeake, was, as he has stated in his

aide to General Macomb, November 1840, and
to General Scott from December, 1841, to April,
1844. In December, 1846, ho was promoted to
captain, and commanded the FirBt Dragoons in
the Valley of Mexico. His bravery during the
whole campaign gained him special praise from
General Scott 3e was, in August, 1848, brevetted
major, with rank from August 20, 1847, for gallan
try, &c, at Contreras and Churubnsco, where he
lost his left arm in a charge near San Antonio
gate. He resigned, October 9, 1851, after having
served somo time in California, and went to
Europe to resume his military studies. During

the Italian campaign of 1859, he served as volun
teer aide to General Morris, a French officer, was
again presented with the cross of the Legion of
Honor, and when the rebellion broke out in this
country, he immediately returned home and ten
dered his services. He was appointed the com
mander of a New Jersey brigade, subsequently
commissioned a brigadier-general of volunteers,
with rank from May 17, 1861, and during the
operations on the Peninsula, and in the campaign
under Pope, headed a division. He was made a
major-general on the 4th of July, 1863, and was
killed in the battle of Chantllly, September 1, 186a.

236 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION,
official report, to afford them an opportunity " to gain some experi
ence on the march and bivouac preparatory to the campaign." On
the llth he sent orders for the transports which had been assembling
at Annapolis to come to Annapolis, to embark the army from there for
Fortress Monroe, which had now definitively been fixed upon as abase
of operations against Richmond.
Ever since the inception of the plan of going to the Lower Chesa
peake the President had striven to impress upon General McClellan
the importance of leaving Washington well protected. The city, as a
commercial centre or as a strategic point, possessed littleimportance ;
but it was the capital of the nation, it contained the public offices and
archives of the Government, and was the residence of the chief
officials from the President downwards. During all the winter and
far into the succeeding summer Congress was in session there. Hence
to allow such a city to fall, through negligence, into the hands of the
enemy, would have produced a moral effect far beyond the intrinsic
importance of the place. It would in all probability have insured to
the Southern Confederacy that recognition abroad for which they were
so eagerly striving, and might have induced the North to relax her
efforts to carry the war to a successful completion. It is not, there
fore, to be wondered that Mr. Lincoln, feeling the responsibility re
posed in him as the guardian of this important trust, was determined
that the safety of the city should rest on no uncertain basis. He de
manded an adequate force of men, not merely to garrison the forts
surrounding Washington, Dut t0 cover the approaches to it on the
Virginia side ; and he jivas the more inclined to insist upon this, as
General McClellan seemed disposed to convey the bulk of the army to
a distant base, leaving the road from Richmond to the Potomac com
paratively open to an invading force. It might be true, as General
McClellan urged, that while Richmond was threatened from the line of
the James or the York Rivers, the rebels would never demonstrate in
force against Washington ; but, in the opinion of the President, such a
contingency was possible, and he was not disposed to risk the capture
of the city by a sudden movement of the whole rebel army towards
it, even if thereby the Confederate capital should fall into our hands.
In other words, he declined to exchange capitals.
But though the President had insisted that the national capital
should be properly defended during the absence of the Army of the
Potomac, he did not himself decide the numbers or quality of the
troops who should perform that duty. His general war order of
March 8th called for " such a force as, in the opinion of the General-in-
Chief and the commanders of all the army corps," would leave the city
entirely secure. On the 13 th, as soon as practicable after the pro
mulgation of the order, a council of war, consisting of four of the five
corps commanders (General Banks being absent), was convened by
General McClellan at Fairfax Court-House, at which the plan of
movement from Fortress Monroe by way of the York or James Rivers
was formally approved, on certain specific conditions, which were :
First, that the enemy's vessel, the Merrimac, can be neutralized;
second, that the means of transportation sufficient for an immediate

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 237
transfer of the force to its new base can be ready at Washington and
Alexandria to move down the Potomac ; third, that a naval auxiliary
force can be had to silence, or aid in silencing, the enemy's batteries on
York River ; and fourth, that the force to be left to cover Washing
ton shall be such as to give an entire feeling of security for its safety
from menace. To the document embodying these conditions was ap
pended the following " note," or memorandum, with reference to the
number of troops required to make Washington secure : " That with
the forts on the right bank of the Potomac fully garrisoned, and those
on the left bank occupied, a covering force in front of the Virginia
line of twenty-five thousand men would suffice (Keyes, Heintzelman, and
McDowell). A total of forty thousand men for the defence of the city
would suffice (Sumner)."
The Merrimac, which the first of the above conditions required to
be neutralized, was a powerful iron-clad rebel ram, which, a few days
previous to the meeting, of corps commanders, had made a dashing and
successful raid upon the Federal war vessels in Hampton Roads.
Though she was ultimately driven off by, the timely arrival of the
Ericsson iron-clad Monitor, she was still sufficiently formidable to
occasion anxiety to the Federal authorities. Her career will be found
elsewhere described.
On the same day that the plan was decided upon, it was communi
cated to the Secretary of War, who urged its immediate execution.
The President also approved of it, and gave the following directions
for its execution : —
" First. — Leave such force at Manassas Junction as shall make it entirely certain that
the enemy shall not repossess himself of that position and line of communications.
" Second. — Leave Washington secure.
" Third. — Move the remainder of the force down the Potomac, choosing a new base at
Fortress Monroe, or anywhere between here and there ; or, at all events, move such
remainder of the army at once, m pursuit of the enemy, by some route."
On the 1st of March official reports showed that the troops in and
around Washington, including those in Maryland and Delaware, com
prised an aggregate of two hundred and twenty-one thousand nine
hundred and eighty-seven men, of whom one hundred and ninety-three
thousand one hundred and forty-two were present for duty. Of this
force, General McClellan designed to take with him to Fortress Monroe
the corps of McDowell, Heintzelman, Sumner, and Keyes, forming
the Army of the Potomac proper, and representing about one hundred
and forty thousand men. This would leave a little more than fifty
thousand for the defence of Washington and the occupation of the
lower Shenandoah Valley and other points in Virginia, and the cities
and strategic positions in Maryland. Banks's Corps, estimated at
thirty-five thousand strong, and then stationed along the Virginia side
of the Upper Potomac, it was proposed to employ, in part, in holding
the position at Manassas, in accordance with the President's directions.
The remainder of the corps was to maintain its present position, and,
if circumstances should favor the movement, to advance up the Shen
andoah Valley and occupy Lynchburg and other important places.
The following order, limiting McClellan's command to the Army of

238 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
the Potomac, besides creating two new departments, was issued before
his return from Fairfax Court-House to Washington:—
PRESIDENT'S WAR ORDER, No. 3.
" Executive Mansion, Washington, March 11, 1S62.
« Major-General McClellan having personally taken the field at the head of the Army
of the Potomac, until otherwise ordered he is relieved from the command of the other
military departments, he retaining command of the Department of the Potomac.
" Ordered, further, that the two departments now under the respective commands of
Generals Halleck and Hunter, together with so much of that under General Buell as
lies west of a north and south line indefinitely drawn through Knoxville, Tennessee, be
consolidated and designated the Department of the Mississippi, and that until other
wise ordered, Major-General Halleck have command of said department.
" Ordered, also, that the country west of the Department of the Potomac, and east
of the Department of the Mississippi, be a department to be called the Mountain Depart
ment, and .that the same bo commanded by Major-General Fremont ; and that all the
commanders of departments, after the receipt of this order by them, respectively report
severally and directly to the Secretary of War, and that prompt, full, and Trequent re
ports will be expected of all and each of them.
"(Signed) Abraham Lincoln."
In view of the momentous campaign upon which the army was
about to embark, its commander issued, on March 15th, the follow
ing address as an order of the day : —
"Soldiers op the Army of the Potomac: —
" For a long time I have kept you inactive, but not without a purpose. You were to
be disciplined, armed, and instructed. The formidable artillery you now have had to be
created. Other armies were to move and accomplish certain results. I have held you
back that you might give the death-blow to the rebellion that has distracted our once
happy country.
"The patience you have shown, and your confidence in your general, are worth a
dozen victories. These preliminary results are now accomplished. I feel that the pa
tient labors of many months have produced their fruit. The Army of the Potomac is
now a real army, magnificent in material, admirable in discipline and instruction, and
excellently equipped and armed. Your commanders are all that I could wish. The
moment for action has arrived, and I know that I can trust in you to save our country.
As I ride through your ranks I see in your faces the sure prestige of victory. I feel
that you will do whatever I ask of you. The period of inaction has passed. I will
bring you now face to face with the rebels, and only pray that God may defend the
right. " In whatever direction you may move, however strange my actions may appear to
you, ever bear in mind that my fate is linked with yours, and that all I do is to bring
you where I know you wish to be — on the decisive battle-field. It is my business to
place you there. I am to watch over you as a parent over his children, and you know
that your general loves you from the depths' of his heart. It shall be my care— it has
ever been — to gain success with the least possible loss. But I know, that if it is
necessary^ yon will willingly follow me to our grave3 for our righteous cause.
"God smiles upon us 1 Victory attends us 1 Yet I would not have you th'nk that
our aim is to be obtained without a manly struggle. I will not disguise it from you that
you have brave foes to encounter — foemen well worthy of the steel that you will use
So well I shall demand of you great, heroic exertions, rapid and long marches, des
perate combats— privations, perhaps. We will share all these together, and when this
sad war is over we will return to our homes, and feel that we can ask no higher honor
than the proud consciousness that we belonged to the Army of the Potomac.
"Geo. B. MoClellan,
"Major- General (^omm^anding:'
The army, with the exception of one of Sumner's divisions, left

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 239
temporarily at Manassas, was now moved back to the Potomac and
concentrated in the neighborhood of Alexandria, awaiting transporta
tion, which did not arrive so rapidly as was anticipated. Herntzel-
man's Corps got off first, followed by those of Keyes and Sumner, and
on April 1st, McClellan left with his head-quarters. McDowell's Corps,
to which was assigned the advance of the expedition, owing to a dif
ficulty in embarking its divisions at once, remained in its encampment
after the departure of the rest of the army. Just previous to leav
ing, the General sent the following communication to the adjutant-
general : —
general it'clellasf's oedees to adjtjtakt-gejteeai, thomas.
" Head-Quarters, Armt of the Potomac,
Steamer Commodore, April 1, 1862.
" To Brigadier-General L. Thomas, Adjutant-General TJ. S. A. :
" General : — I have to request that you will lay the following communication before
the Honorable Secretary of War. The approximate numbers and positions of the
troops left near and in rear of the Potomac are about as follows ¦
" General Dix has, after guarding the railroads under his charge, sufficient troops to
give him five thousand men for the defence of Baltimore, and nineteen hundred and
eighty-eight available for the Eastern Shore, Annapolis, &c. Fort Delaware is very
well garrisoned by about four hundred men. The garrisons of the forts around Wash
ington amount to ten thousand men, other disposable troops now with General Wads-
worth being about eleven thousand four hundred men. The troops employed in guard
ing the various railroads in Maryland amount to some three thousand three hundred
and fifty-nine men. These it is designed to relieve, being Old regiments, by dismount
ed cavalry, and to send them forward to Manassas. General Abercrombie occupies
Warrenton with a force which, including General Geary's at White Plains, and the cav
alry to be at their disposal, will amount to some seven thousand seven hundred and
eighty men, with twelve pieces of artillery.
" I have the honor to request that all the troops organized for service in Pennsyl
vania and New York, and in any of the Eastern States, may be ordered to Washing
ton. This force I should be glad to have sent at once to Manassas — four thousand men
from General Wadsworth to be ordered to Manassas. These troops, with the railroad
guards above alluded to, will make up a force under the command of General Aber
crombie to something like eighteen thousand six hundred and thirty-nine men. It is
my design to push General Blenker from Warrenton upon Strasburg. He should re
main at Strasburg long enough to allow matters to assume a definite form in that re
gion before proceeding to his ultimate destination. The troops in the Valley of the
Shenandoah will thus — including Blenker's Division, ten thousand and twenty-eight
Strong, with twenty-four pieces of artillery, Banks's Fifth Corps, which embraces the
command of General Shields, nineteen thousand six hundred and eighty-seven strong,
with forty-one guns, some three thousand six hundred and fifty-three disposable cav
alry, and the railroad guard, about two thousand one hundred men — amount to about
thirty-five thousand four hundred and sixty-seven men.
" It is designed to relieve General Hooker by one regiment — say eight hundred and
fifty men — being, with five hundred cavalry, thirteen hundred and fifty men on the
Lower Potomac. To recapitulate : At Warrenton there are to be seven thousands even
hundred and eighty ; at Manassas, say ten thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine ; in
the Shenandoah Valley, thirty-five thousand four hundred and sixty-seven ; on the
Lower Potomac, thirteen hundred and fifty — in all, fifty-five thousand four hundred and
fifty-six. There would then be left for the garrisons in front of Washington and under
General Wadsworth, some eighteen thousand men, exclusive of the batteries under in
structions. The troops organizing or ready for service in New York, I learn, will
probably number more than four thousand. These should be assembled at Washington,
subject to disposition where their services may be most needed. I am, very respect
fully, your obedient servant, Geo. B. McClellan,
"Major-General Commanding:'

240 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
Upon learning the dispositions of troops proposed by General Mc
Clellan, General Wadsworth, who, on March 15th, had assumed com
mand of the defences of Washington, sent the following communica
tion to the War Department : —
"Head-Quarters Military District or Washington,
Washington, D. C, April 2, 1862.
Sir: — I have the honor to submit the following condensed statements of the forces
left under my command for the defence of Washington : —
Infantry  15,335
Artillery. . ;  •  -  4|294
Cavalry, six companies only mounted  '.  848
Total...  :  20,4fT
Deduct sick and in arrest and confinement  1,455
Total present for duty  19,022
" I have no mounted light artillery under my command.
" Several companies of the reserve artillery of the Army of the Potomac are still
here, but not under my command or fit for service.
" From this force I am ordered by General McClellan to detail two regiments (good
ones) to join Richardson's Division (Sumner's Corps) as it passes through Alexandria;
one regiment to replace the Thirty-seventh New York Volunteers in Heintzelman's old
division ; one regiment to relieve a regiment of Hooker's Division at Budd's Ferry — to
tal, four regiments.
" I am further ordered this morning by telegraph to send four thousand men to re
lieve General Sumner at Manassas and Warrenton, that he, may embark forthwith.
"In regard to the character and efficiency of the troops under my command, I have
to state that nearly all the force is new, and imperfectly disciplined ; that several of
the regiments are in a very disorganized condition from various causes which it is not
necessary to state here ; several regiments having been relieved from my brigades which
have gone into the field, in consequence of their unfitness for service — the best regi
ments remaining having been selected to take their place.
" Two heavy artillery regiments and one infantry regiment, which had been drilled
for some months in artillery service, have been withdrawn from the forts on the south
side of the Potomac, and I have only been able to fill their places with very new infan
try regiments, entirely unacquainted with the duties of that arm, and of little or no
value in their present position.
" I am not informed as to the position which Major-General Banks is directed to
take; but at this time he is, as I understand, on the other side of the Bull Run
Mountains, leaving my command to cover the front, from the Manassas Gap (about 20
miles beyond Manassas) to Aquia Creek.
" I deem it my duty to state that, looking at the numerical strength and character
of the force under my command, it is in my judgment entirely inadequate to, and unfit
for, the important duty to which it is assigned. I regard it very improbable that the
enemy will assail us at this point, but this belief is based upon the hope that they may
be promptly engaged elsewhere, and may not loam the number and the character of the
force left here. I have the honor to be your obedient servant,
"James S. Wadsworth,
"Brig.- Gen. and Military Governor.
"Hon. Secretary of War."
This was referred by the President to the Adjutant-General of the
Army and Major-General E. A. Hitchcock, with instructions to report
whether the orders of the President, requiring the safety of the cap
ital to be guaranteed, had been complied with. These officers, though
declining to express an opinion whether the corps of General Banks,
operating in the Shenandoah Valley, should be regarded as a part of

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 241
the force available for the protection of the immediate front of Wash
ington, decided " that the requirements of the President, that the city
shall be left ' entirely secure,' not only in the opinion of the General-
in-Chief, but that of the ' commanders of the army corps ' also, had
not fully been complied with." This report was made on April 2d,
and on the succeeding day orders were sent to General McDowell,
whose corps had not yet embarked, to remain in front of Washington
until further orders.
Meanwhile, on the 2d, McClellan arrived at Fortress Monroe,
where were now concentrated the corps of Heintzelman and Keyes,
and part of that of Sumner. Owing to insufficient transportation,
the troops arrived slowly, but a sufficient number having arrived on
the 4th to enable General McClellan to commence his movement, on
that day an advance towards Richmond was ordered. A week pre
vious General Heintzelman had made a reconnoissance towards Tork
town, which, he was informed, was defended by less than ten thou
sand men. But McClellan, upon hearing of the movement, ordered
the troops to remain in the vicinity of Fortress Monroe.
At daylight of the 4th, the army struck its tents and took up the
march for Richmond, Heintzelman having the advance, and Keyes
keeping along the James River road. At noon the advance, being
about twelve miles from Yorktown, surprised a Confederate camp,
called " Camp Misery," occupied by cavalry, where the Union troops
encamped for the night. Resuming the march at dawn of the 5th,
they reached the enemy's works at Torktown at ten o'clock, from
which the guns immediately opened fire. As the troops arrived they
took ground, General Porter in the centre, General Sedgwick the
extreme right, Generals Hamilton and Smith the extreme left. The
batteries of Griffin, Third and Fourth Rhode Island, and Fifth Mas
sachusetts were got into position to reply to the enemy, and the
cannonading continued until dark, with little loss on either side.
On the following day much time was employed in reconnoitring
the position of the enemy, and it was found to be one of considerable
strength. Torktown has been famous in American history as the
scene of the crowning exploit of Washington in the war of the
Revolution. It was there that the British commander, Lord Corn-
wallis, with seven thousand troops, surrendered to Washington, and
it was now once more about to sustain a siege unfortunate to the
besieged party. The peninsula of Torktown projects into Chesa
peake Bay, and is washed on either side by the two great rivers of
Virginia, the Tork on the nothern side and the James on the south.
It runs in a northwesterly direction, is of irregular shape, and is
indented with numerous bays. The Tork River is formed of the
Pamunkey and Mattapony Rivers, which unite at West Point, about
fifty miles above Torktown. It flows in a broad, deep stream, until,
opposite Torktown, it narrows suddenly, bringing Gloucester on the
northern shore within one-fourth of a mile of Torktown, directly
opposite on the southern shore. The river then spreads out into
Chesapeake Bay. Gloucester being strongly fortified, any vessels
that should attempt to pass would have to encounter the powerful
16

242 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
batteries of rifled guns on both shores, at little more than one-fourth
df a mile distant. The batteries at Torktown and Gloucester Point
were erected on the very lines held by the opposing armies in the >
Revolution. At this time, as appears from the report of the rebel
commander, General Magruder, the combined garrisons of Torktown
and Gloucester did not exceed eleven thousand men, although, before
the close of the siege, it was very largely re-enforced.
It had formed part of the plan of the campaign for General Mc
Dowell, with his thirty-five thousand men, to follow McClellan
: down the Potomac, and, landing on Severn, north of Gloucester, to
storm that place. He was then to ascend the river, cross the Pamun
key near West Point, and coming in between the enemy and Rich
mond, shut them up in the Peninsula. At this point in the operations
the President, acting on the report of Generals Thomas and Hitchcock,
above referred to, withdrew the corps of McDowell from his com
mand, and also detached from it the command of General Wool,
which had been promised to McClellan. The latter, though fully
aware of the decision of the council of corps commanders, and of
the duty devolving upon him of leaving a sufficient force to garrison
and cover Washington, professed to be much surprised at this action
of the President ; and the urgency with which he now telegraphed for
re-enforcements, drew from Mr. Lincoln the following letter : —
"Washington, April 9, 1862.
" To Major-General McClellan :
" My Dear Sir : — Your dispatches complaining that you are not properly sustained,
while they do not offend me, pain me very much. Blenker's Division was withdrawn
before you left here, and you know the pressure under which I did it, and, as I thought,
acquiesced in it, certainly not without reluctance. After you left, I ascertained that less
than twenty thousand unorganized men, without a field-battery, were all you designed to
be left for the defence of Washington and Manassas, Junction; and part of this even was
to go to General Hooker's old position. General Banks's Corps, onee designed for
Manassas Junction, was divided and tied up on the line of the Winchester and Stras
burg, and could n6t leave it without again exposing the Upper Potomac and the Balti
more and Ohio Railroad. This presented, or would present, when McDowell and
Sumner should be gone, a great temptation for the enemy to turn back from the Rappa
hannock and sack Washington. My explicit directions, that Washington should, by
the judgment of all the commanders of corps, be left secure, had been entirely
neglected. It was precisely this that drove me to detain McDowell. I do not forget
that I was satisfied with his arrangements to leave Banks at Manassas Junction. But
when that arrangement was broken up, and nothing was substituted for it, of course I
was not satisfied. . I was constrained to substitute something for it myse'f. And
now allow me to a&\ you, do you really think I could permit the line from Richmond
vid Manasass Junction to this city to bq entirely open, except what resistance could
be presented by less than twenty thousand unorganized troops ? This is a question
which the country will not allow me to evade. There is a curious mystery about
the number of troops now with you.
" I telegraphed you on the 6th, saying that you had over one hundred thousand
men with you. I had just obtained from the Secretary of War a statement, taken,
as he said, from your own returns, making one hundred and eight thousand then with
you and en route to you. You now say you will have but eighty-five thousand when
all those en route to you shall have reached you. How can this discrepancy of thirty-
five thousand be accounted for ? As to General Wool's command, I understand that
it is doing precisely what a like number of your own would have to do if that com
mand was away. I suppose the whole force which has gone forward to you is with
you by this time, 'and if so, I think'it is the precise time for you to strike a blow. By

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 243
delay the enemy will readily gain on you; that is, he will gain faster by fortifications
and re enforcements than you can by re-enforcements alone. And once more, let me
tell you, it is indispensable to you that you strike a blow. I am powerless to help.
" This you will do me the justice to remember : I always insisted that going down
the bay in search of a field, instead of fighting at or near Manassas, was only shifting
and not surmounting a difficulty ; that we would find the same enemy and the same
or equal intrenchments at either place. The country will not fail to note — is noting
now — that the present hesitation to move upon an intrenched enemy is but the story
of Manassas repeated.
"I beg to assure you that I have never written or spoken to you in greater kindness
of feeling than now, nor with a fuller purpose to sustain you so far as in my most
anxious judgment I consistently can. But you must act.
" Yours, very truly, Abraham Lincoln."
Franklin's Division of eleven thousand men, belonging to Mc
Dowell's Corps, was, however, sent him, but was nearly fourteen days
in reaching him.
The distance between the Tork and James Rivers at Torktown is
about six miles, and the country is of a soft, marshy character,
impassable for artillery in rainy weather, and in the hot season very
unhealthy from the malaria of the swamps. The land is very fertile,
and the people most wealthy. The city of Torktown itself is com
posed of about thirty old-fashioned wood and brick houses, and the
remains of the ancient fortifications are visible around it. After the
battle of Big Bethel the Confederates set themselves to strengthen
this position. The passage of the Tork River was regarded as very
difficult, and such advantage was taken of the nature of the ground
as to make the advance by land up the Peninsula a hazardous opera
tion. General J. B. Magruder had been in command nearly a year,
and some two thousand blacks had been employed at Torktown and
Gloucester, with a force of about seven thousand men. An immense
connected fortification, with numerous salient angles, mounted with
heavy guns, with a lofty parapet difficult to scale, and,a deep, dry
ditch commanded the river, where was also a formidable water-
battery. Running towards the right of the lines there was a long
breastwork, not pierced for guns, but having in front a ditch of the
same depth as that before the fort. This breastwork connected a
redoubt of considerable magnitude, and another breastwork of the
same description connected another redoubt beyond, still further to
the left. On this redoubt there had been mounted a number of
columbiads and Dahlgren naval guns, with one siege howitzer. In
front of these works there is an immense area of open ground, which
was completely commanded by the rebel guns. Trees which were of
large growth had been cut down by the Confederates to give free
range to their artillery. Deep gorges and ravines were inside and
about these fortifications, furnishing good cover for the besieged
against artillery fire, and rendering the position difficult to assault.
To the left of the Torktown road — the enemy's right — as the town is
approached, other fortifications had been constructed.
The position was deemed impregnable by its commander, and after
reconnoitring, General McClellan set down before it to besiege it in
form. There were crossing the Peninsula three main lines of defensive

244 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
works. The first of these commenced at a point on the Tork River,
and extended south until it met the head of Warwick River, which,
running about four miles south, empties into the James. In the rear
of this was another line of detached works, and still further in the
rear a third line, extending in front of Williamsburg. In front of
the first line of defence there were numerous detached works, from
which the 'enemy were successively driven. The army _ gradually
approached this line. Several skirmishes occurred, but nothing serious
until the 16th of April, when it was ascertained that the enemy had
thrown up a new battery on the Warwick, about one mile above
Lee's Mills. This was the left of the Union lines held by General
Keyes. General Brooks's brigade with Mott's battery moved forward
to within twelve hundred yards of the new work. The ground on
the Union side front of the work was open, but with woods on either
flank. The batteries of Ayers, Wheeler, Mott, and Kennedy advanced
to this open space in front of the enemy, and began a terrific fire at
eight hundred yards distant. The Sixth Vermont, Colonel Lord, the
Fourth, Colonel Stoughton, and the Third, Colonel Hyde, approached
both flanks of the enemy through the woods to reconnoitre. They were
received with a telling fire of musketry, which drove them back. Four
companies of the Third Vermont then made a rush at the stream, and
attempted to ford, the water being waist deep ; but the fire of the
enemy overpowered them. The Sixth Vermont left the woods on the
right, in support of the Third,, dashed across the stream, and actually
entered the work; but, not being properly supported, they were sub
jected to a murderous fire from the rifle-pits, which drove them back
with heavy loss. This action produced much sensation in consequence
of the dauntless bravery displayed by the men, and the apparently
useless nature of the sacrifice of life, and in the opinion of competent
officers might, if properly conducted, have secured the Federal troops
a lodgment on the right bank of the Warwick River. It has been men
tioned how weak the rebel garrison was at the arrival of the Federal
army. It may now be added that evidence of that fact was presented
to the commander-in-chief, but had no effect upon his determination
to conduct regular siege operations.
The idea of forcing the enemy's lines seems after this to have been
abandoned, and the siege progressed very steadily with the immense
resources at the command of General McClellan. The transports on
the Chesapeake Bay brought supplies freely to either flank of his
army on the Tork or James River, and to Ship's Point, which, after
it was abandoned by the enemy, became an important depot. Lines
of approach were commenced against the place on a large scale, and
batteries established to command important points. The enemy
showed activity in his attempts to impede and destroy these works,
and frequent encounters along the line tested the courage and address
of the men. The front of our lines was occupied by sharpshooters,
who were very efficient in picking off the enemy's gunners, in some
cases silencing the guns that most annoyed the trenchers. As suitable
positions were reached, siege-guns were placed in battery. On the
25th of April, General Grover sent a portion of the First Massachu-

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 245
setts to carry a lunette, which the Confederates had constructed on
the east side of the Warwick, near its head. This work, having a
strong parapet and ditch six feet deep, was manned by two compa
nies of infantry, who deserted the place before the vigorous charge of
the Massachusetts men. These operations were continued as the
works progressed, aided by the occasional shelling of Torktown and
Gloucester by the gunboats. The enemy, in the mean time, con
tinually strengthened his works, constructing batteries to answer those
erected by the Union troops, and on both sides the most formidable
preparations were made for the final struggle which was now
approaching. By the close of April, there had been constructed four
teen powerful batteries and three redoubts within breaching distance
of the enemy's works. These contained ninety-six heavy guns in
position ready to thunder against the opposing walls. Of the num
ber there were two 200-pounders, three 100-pounders, ten 13-inch
mortars, forty-three 10-inch mortars, and twenty-five Parrott guns of
different calibre. These were well supplied, and nearly ready for the
attack on May 1st.
On the other hand, the enemy had so strengthened his position as to
deem it impregnable against any assaults from without, and re-enforce
ments were within reach from Richmond, to supply his three lines of
defence. He had so fortified Torktown and Gloucester, opposite,
with the heaviest description of guns, commanding the narrow pas
sage up the Tork River, that it was deemed impossible for any vessels
to pass. The naval officers decided the position too strong. If the
Tork River could be forced, the position of Torktown could not be
held ; on the other hand, as -long as the passage between Torktown
and Gloucester could be commanded, the works of Torktown were
good against any assaults of the besiegers. The Confederates there
fore continued the defence with a confidence that had been strength
ened by the results of the naval combat of March 8th, when the
iron-clad Merrimac made havoc with the wooden ships in Hampton
Roads, an event which not only created a great sensation in the
North, but startled all Europe.

CHAPTER XX
Iron-plated Ships. — Merrimac. — Federal Fleet. — Hampton Roads. — Destruction of the
Cumberland and Congress. — Monitor. — Iron-clad Duel. — Repulse of the Merrimac.
The mode of constructing wood vessels by plating them with iron
had long engaged the attention of the maritime nations of Europe,
and great expense had been incurred in constructing such vessels m
France and England. The Confederate States were the first to em
ploy one in actual war. When Norfolk was abandoned in April,
1861, it will be remembered ^hat among the steamers left behind was
the Merrimac, which was scuttled and sunk. The Confederates, how
ever, raised her, cut her down to the water's edge, and plated her

246

HISTORY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.

with interlapped railroad iron, placed sloping in such a manner that
all shot must strike her at angles. She was provided with an iron
beak for the purpose of crushing the sides of an enemy's vessel when
run into. Her armament consisted of four eleven-inch guns on each
side, and two one hundred-pounders at bow and stern. Nine months
were spent in equipping her, and on the 8th of March, with a picked
crew, under the command of Captain Buchanan,* formerly of the
United States service, she left Norfolk, and made her appearance in
Hampton Roads. The National fleet then in the Roads embraced the
Congress, fifty guns ; the Cumberland, twenty-two guns ; the Minne
sota, forty guns ; the Roanoke, forty guns ; the St. Lawrence, fifty
guns ; the gunboats Zouave, Dragon, and Whitehall, and some
smaller vessels. These v-ere all wooden vessels, very efficient of their
class, and ably commanded. Of the larger vessels, only the Minne
sota and Roanoke were propelled by steam. The Cumberland and
the Congress lay off Newport News, covering the entrance of the
Nansemond and James Rivers, and blockading in the latter the Con
federate steamers the Jamestown and the Torktown, or Patrick
Henry, as she was called. These two vessels had been packet-
steamers, running to New Tork, and were seized and converted into
war-steamers at the outbreak of the war. The Minnesota, the St.
Lawrence, and the Roanoke were at anchor near the Rip Raps, just
without the range of the large rifled guns on Sewell's Point.
Rumors in relation to the Merrimac and her state of forwardness
had long been rife, when on the 8th, at 1 p. m., she was descried from
the deck of the Minnesota, rounding Sewell's Point. Signal was im
mediately made from the Roanoke, Captain Marston, for the vessels
to engage. The Minnesota slipped her cables, and made sail for the
stranger. In passing Sewell's Point, her mast was injured by a rifle
shot, and the vessel grounded within one and a half miles of Newport
News. The Merrimac, meantime, passed the Congress, and made
directly for the Cumberland, which had promptly cleared for action,
and which had opened fire upon her as she neared. The steamer did
not reply till she struck the Cumberland under the starboard fore-
channels, staving in her side, and pouring in her shot at the same
moment. The guns of the Cumberland played upon her with great
vigor and rapidityj but with no apparent effect. In ten minutes the
water had risen to the main hatchway, in spite of the pumps, drown
ing out the powder-magazines. The ship then canted to port, and all
hands sprang to save the wounded. The rapidly sinking ship how-

* Franklin Buchanan, the first commander of
the Merrimac, was a native of Maryland, but waa
appointed to the United States Navy from
Pennsylvania. He entered the service on the
23th of January, 1815, and steadily advanced
through the various gradations of promotion,
until, at the commencement of 1861, bis name
¦was "No. 47 on tho list of captains. While In the
Onion service! he received his captain's commis
sion on the 14th September, 1855. His total Bea-
Bervice had beiJ n about sixteen years and ahalf, and
his total service under the United StateB Gov
ernment' over forty-six years. When' he resigned,
he was Commandant of tho Navy- Yard at Wash

ington — a post of honor, and one which he had
held for a length of time. Upon finding that
Maryland did not secede from the Union, he asked
to be restored to his commission, and, his request
being refused, he entered the rebel naval Bervice.
He commanded the Merrimac in the action of
March 8th, in which he waB severely wounded ;
and, upon the evacuation of Norfolk, blew up tho
vessel. Subsequently, he was made admiral, and
commanded the rebel fleet in the action in Mobile
Bay, August S, 1864, where he was captured in his
flag-ship, the ram Tennessee, so severely wounded
that his leg had to be amputated.

HISTORY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 24Y
ever, cut short their efforts, carrying down a number of helpless
heroes, and her guns delivered their last fire as the water closed over
them, her flag still flying in defiance of her foe. The loss in men was
about one hundred. Ail the papers having gone down with the frig
ate, it was difficult to ascertain the actual loss. The utmost gallantry
was displayed by Lieutenant Morris and his officers, who earned im
perishable renown. The whole affair lasted fifteen minutes. The
Merrimac then attacked the Congress^ Captain W. Smith, throwing
shot and shell into her with terrific effect. The Congress returned
the fire with the utmost energy and alacrity, but the missiles glanced
from the iron plates like hailstones, while the heavy shot of the
steamer completely riddled the Congress. On seeing the fate of the
Cumberland, the Congress, with the assistance of the Zouave, was
run ashore. The Patrick Henry and the Jamestown then came down
the river and took part in the fight, firing into the Congress with
great precision. The Congress could only bring to bear her two
stern guns, which were soon disabled, amid frightful slaughter.
There being no prospect of any relief, her colors were hauled down at
half-past three o'clock. Lieutenant Parker was then sent on board
by Captain Buchanan, to take possession, remove the wounded, and
fire the ship.
While these events were taking place, the shore batteries at New
port News were not idle. General Mansfield, in command, had been
notified of the approach of the Merrimac, and made preparations to
receive her. When she ran into the Cumberland, she was within a
mile of the shore batteries, and by General Mansfield's order, she was
opened upon with four columbiads, one James forty-two-pounder,
three eight-inch siege-howitzers, and two light rifled cannon. The
shot from all these fell upon her as harmlessly as hailstones. She paid
no attention to them, but kept up her work of destruction. When
the Congress had struck her flag, the steamers Beaufort and Raleigh
ran alongside to take off the wounded — the flag of truce flying on
the Congress. General Mansfield, observing this, ordered Captain
Howard, with two rifled guns, and Captain Brown, with two compa
nies of the Twentieth Indiana, to open upon the steamer from, the
beach, six hundred yards distant. The steamers then drew out of
range, and the Merrimac again opened fire upon the Congress with
hot shot, until she burned to the water's edge. The conflagration
lasted through the night, throwing its lurid glare upon the surrounding
bay and strand. Pier fifty-four shotted guns discharged in turn as
the flames reached them, until the final explosion of the magazine
closed the grand spectacle. A shot from one of the guns sunk a
steamer at the wharf. Lieutenant J. D. Smith, of the Congress, was
killed, and a great many others. The gunboat Zouave, while tending
the Congress, was riddled with shot, without, however, losing any men.
The Merrimac, which had been placed under the command of First
Lieutenant Catesby Ap R. Jones, in consequence of Captain Bu
chanan having been wounded, accompanied by the Jamestown and
Patrick Henry, now bore down upon the Minnesota, which was
aground in a locality which prevented the Merrimac from coining

248 HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
within a mile of her. She took, however, a position on the starboard
bow, and the other two steamers on the port bow. The latter were
driven off with ease, but the broadsides of the Minnesota made no
perceptible impression on the Merrimac. In the mean time the St.
Lawrence, Captain Purviance, got nnder way to aid the Minnesota,
but grounded ; she, however, opened upon the Merrimac, and received
a shot in return, doing much damage. It was now seven o'clock, and
the Confederate steamer withdrew towards Elizabeth River,- with the
intention of renewing the conflict in the morning. This delay, per
haps made necessary by the state of the tide, was fatal to her further
service, since in the night arrived a new enemy which was to prove
her match.
The Monitor was constructed by Captain Ericsson, and differed
materially from any vessel before constructed. Her length was one
hundred and seventy-four feet on deck, and her breadth forty-one
feet. Her hull floated eighteen inches above the water, and was
covered with six inches of wrought-iron plates. Her deck was
plated with two inches of wrought iron. A wrought-iron turret,
twenty-one and a half feet outside diameter, nine feet high, and nine
inches thick, was placed near the centre of buoyancy. In this
turret were mounted two eleven-inch' Dahlgren guns. The turret re->
volved, and was turned around with great facility by steam, its move
ments being controlled by the commanding officer inside. As she
went into action, there was nothing above her deck but the turret
and a shot-proof pilot-house, and when she was anchored outside a
fort or battery, the pilot-house was lowered below the deck. In that
position, if she was boarded by the enemy, they could not get below
nor into the turret, and her decks could be swept by her own guns
loaded with canister.
This vessel made her trial trip in New Tork Bay, March. 3, with
success ; her speed was six and a quarter knots, the engines ma
king sixty-five revolutions. She sailed for Fortress Monroe under
command of Lieutenant John L. Worden, a ndreported for duty at two
a. m. March 9, amidst the most anxious preparations for the expected
renewed attack of the Merrimac in the morning. Her appearance on
the scene was greeted by the awful explosion of the magazines of the
Congress, whose flames had lighted the entrance of the Monitor into
Chesapeake Bay. Her singular and diminutive appearance, which was
described by the enemy as that of a " cheese-box upon a plank," was
not of a character to create much confidence in the minds of those
who had witnessed the terrible efficiency of her gigantic rival on the
previous day, but she was at least a friend in the hour of need.
At six o'clock on the morning of the 9th, the Merrimac was again
seen coming round Craney Island, accompanied by the Torktown and
Jamestown, and immediately she ran down for the Minnesota, still
aground, but prepared to receive the enemy. An eleven-inch shot en
tered the Minnesota under her counter, doing great damage. Captain
Van Brunt signalled the Monitor to attack the enemy, and that vessel
immediately closed in upon the Merrimac, delivering her fire at close
quarters with great rapidity, and receiving in exchange whole broad*

HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 249
sides from the enemy with apparent indifference. She plied her shot
with great assiduity, seeking to drive them through the port-holes of
her gigantic enemy. This extraordinary encounter lasted some hours,
presenting the strange spectacle of two vessels, thirty or forty yards
apart, armed with the most destructive weapons of modern warfare,
pounding away at each other, without being able to inflict material
injury. The shots, any one of which would have been fatal to the
best wooden ship afloat, rolled off from each combatant like dew-
drops from a leaf. From that hour the naval history of the world
dates a new era. The relative military strength of nations was
changed. Navies, blockades, defences, tnd even commerce, as an
element of naval strength, were henceforth to assume new characters
and to change their relative importance. As the thunder of those
guns rolled across the Atlantic, foreign powers at once perceived that
the day of wooden vessels had passed away, and that iron-plated ships
were to replace the enormous three-deckers that had previously been
their bulwarks of defence on the sea. .
The question of vulnerability being sufficiently tested, the Merri
mac no longer fired upon the Monitor, but turned her attention to the
Minnesota, which delivered without the slightest effect, though every
shot hit, a broadside which would have sufficed to blow out of water
the most formidable timber-built ship in the world. The Merrimac
in return fired one shell from her rifled bow gun, which knocked four
rooms into one, exploded some charges of powder, and set the ship
on, fire. The second went through the boiler of the gunboat Dragon,
which was attempting to tow the ship off. The boiler exploded,
blowing up the vessel, and killing and wounding six men. All the
guns of the Minnesota were actively employed, together with those
of the Monitor, and the gunner reported that sixty shot had struck
and rolled harmlessly from the sides of the enemy, which now got
aground through the ebb of tide. In this position she withstood the
utmost efforts of the combined fire. Soon she got off and stood
down the bay, followed by the Monitor. She suddenly turned, how
ever, and ran full speed into her diminutive antagonist, inflicting no
perceptible damage, and receiving from her a shot which penetrated
the roof. The fierce conflict between the two was then reneweid until
the Monitor hauled off for the purpose of hoisting more shot into her
turret. This was practically the termination of the fight, as the
Merrimac retired soon after towards Craney Island, apparently in a
disabled condition. Thus closed one of the most remarkable naval
actions in the history of the world, when the amount of damage done
is taken into consideration. Two frigates carrying seventy-two guns
were destroyed ; two others carrying ninety guns, and several gun
boats were disabled, and a number of men were killed and wounded
at the shore batteries. The loss in killed, wounded, and missing, was
two hundred and sixty men. This havoc displayed the capabilities
of an iron-clad steamer of ten guns ; and the vessel of such capa
bilities was withstood for two hours by a much smaller one of two guns.
Five times did the Merrimac attempt to ram the Monitor, but the low
deck of the latter caused the iron prow of her assailant to run over

250 HISTOEY OP THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
it, and did not, therefore, meet solid resistance. The tower of the
Monitor was struck nine times. The vessel received in all twenty-
two shot, one of which damaged the pilot-house, breaking a bar nine'
by twelve inches of the best wrought iron, and wounding Captain
Worden. Three men were knocked down by the concussion of the
shot against the sides of the t arret. The uproar on board the Moni
tor was terrific ; when the guns recoiled, the noise of the massive
pendulums, swinging by and closing the ports, reverberated through
out the vessel ; the striking of shot against the sides and the turret,
the awful noise of her own guns, the whizzing of shot over the decks,
and the explosion of the enormous rifle-shells when they struck, made
a terrible din. %,
The timely appearance of this steamer, in defence of the fleet, gave
great cause of rejoicing. The consequences which might have fol
lowed from the success of the Merrimac strongly impressed all mili
tary men. General McClellan telegraphed to have the defences of
the cities of Long Island Sound and other places immediately looked
to, and General Wool telegraphed that the timely appearance of the
Monitor had saved Fortress Monroe. Daily expectations were enter
tained of her reappearance, but she had sustained damage in the col
lision with the Monitor and from the bursting of one of her gunB,
which required repair, and it was not until the llth April that she
again left port. On that day, at 1 a. m., she passed out of the Eliza
beth River, accompanied by the Torktown and Jamestown, and four
other gunboats. When half way between Sewell's Point and New
port News, the fleet stopped, with the exception of the Torktown
and Jamestown and a tug : these continued their course, and taking
possession of two brigs and a schooner, towed them off without the
slightest resistance being offered. The other vessels in the harbor
made all sail to escape. The fleet remained stationary until four
o'clock, when the Merrimac fired three shot, which were replied to by
the Naugatuck and Octorara. Soon afterwards the fleet returned up
the Elizabeth River. This exploit created much feeling in the North,
since it was evident that if the enemy could come out and capture
Union vessels under the guns of Fortress Monroe, without any resist
ance from ,our fleet, the great resources of the Army of the Pen
insula were at his mercy. It began to be evident, however, that the
Merrimac drew too much water to be very efficient in the waters
around Fortress Monroe, where the other iron-clads began to assemble
in strength, and by the close of April there were so many formi
dable vessels there concentrated with the object of engaging and run
ning her down, that she became very wary in her movements.

HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 251

CHAPTER XXI.
Evacuation of Yorktown. — Retreat of the Enemy. — Pursuit. — Battle of Williamsburg.
— West Point. — Advance of McClellan. — Port Darling. — Repulse of the Gunboats.
An event now occurred which changed the current of interest^ and
which was fraught with the gravest consequences. The city of New
Orleans was mainly defended by the formidable batteries of Fort
Jackson, on the south side of the Mississippi River, and Fort St.
Philip on the opposite side, by rafts laden with pitch and turpentine,
and intended to be fired, and by chains across the river. It was
deemed quite impossible for gunboats to pass ; but on the 25th April,
news was received that the Union gunboats had, on the previous day,
forced their way up the river, and it became at once apparent to the
rebels that the- York River, although defended by the Torktown and
Gloucester batteries, was no longer safe. The Monitor, the new iron
clad Galena, the Naugatuck, and other impervious vessels, could force
the passage, and, as a consequence, Torktown, how well soever it
might be able to hold out against the land force, was no longer
tenable. It was in fact turned. The Confederate generals, Davis,
Lee, and Johnston, decided upon the evacuation, although General
Magruder opposed it. The movement commenced May 1st, and con
tinued through Friday and Saturday, under cover of a heavy cannon
ade, and the fact of the evacuation was disclosed only by some de
serters who came into camp on Sunday morning, May 4th, when the
following dispatches were sent to Washington : —
" Head-Qtjartebs, Army of the Potomac,
" May 4 — 9 A. M.
" To Hon. B. M. Stanton, Secretary of War :
" We have the ramparts.
" We havn guns, ammunition, camp equipage, Ac.
" We hold the entire line of his works, which the engineers report as being very strong.
"I Jiare -thrown all my cavalry and horse artillery in pursuit, supported by in
fantry. " I move Franklin's Division, and as much more as I can transport by water, up to
West Point to-day.
" No time shall be lost.
" The gunboats have gone up York River.
" I omitted to state that Gloucester is also in our possession.
"I shall push the enemy to the wall. "¦George B. McClellan, Major- General:'
This dispatch was followed by two more of the same day : —
Head-Quarters, Armt of the Potomac,
"May 4 — 11.30 A. M.
"To Hon. Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War :
"An inspection just made shows that the rebels abandoned in their works at Tork
town, two three-inch rifled cannon, two four-and-a-half-inch rifled cannon, sixteen thirty-

252 HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
two-pounders, six forty -two-pounders, nineteen eight-inch columbiads, four nine-ineli
Dahlgrens, one ten-inch columbiad, one ten-inch mortar, and one eight-inch siege
howitzer, with carriages and implements complete, each piece supplied with seventy-
six rounds of ammunition. On the ramparts there are also four magazines, which have
not yet been examined. This does not include the guus left at Gloucester Point, and
their other works to our left. George B. McClellan, Major- General:'
Head-Quarters, Army of ti-ie Potomac, ,
" May 4 — 1 p. m.
" To Hon. E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War :
" Our cavalry and horse artillery came up with the enemy's rear-guard in their in
trenchments about two miles this side of Williamsburg.
" A brisk fight ensued. Just as my aide left, Smith's Division of infantry arrived
on, the ground, and I presume carried the works, though I have not yet heard.
" The enemy's rear is strong ; but I have force enough up there to answer all
purposes. *
" Wo have thus far taken seventy-one heavy guns, large amounts of tents, am
munition, &c.,
" All along the lines their works prove to have been most formidable, and I am
now fully satisfied of the correctness of the course I have pursued.
" The success is brilliant, and you may rest assured that its effects will be of the
greatest importance.
"There shall be no delay in following up the rebels.
" The rebels have been guilty of the most murderous and barbarous conduct, in
placing torpedoes within the abandoned works, near wells and springs, and near flag-
staffs, magazines, telegraph offices, in carpet-bags, barrels of flour, &c.
"We have not lost many men in this manner — some four or five killed, and per
haps a dozen wounded. I shall make the prisoners remove them at their own peril.
"George B. McClellan, Major- General:'
The Federal army had just been thirty days before Torktown, which
time the enemy had gained for the perfection of the defences of Rich
mond. It had also prolonged operations into the hot season, which
to unacclimated persons is often fatal amidst the swamps of the
Peninsula. The pursuit of the enemy was at once commenced. Generals
Heintz'.-lman, Hooker, and Kearny, with their commands, preceded
by artillery and cavalry, started in pursuit on the road to Williams
burg, hoping to' overtake them before reaching that point. The
swampy roads were, however, almost impassable, and the enemy's
rear-guard availed itself of every favorable opportunity for a stand ;
at the same time the gunboat flotilla passed up the Tork River to
overtake the enemy at West Point, at the junction of the Rapidan
and Pamunkey Rivera The division of General Franklin was already
embarked, , with a view to land in the enemy's rear. General
McClellan remained at Torktown to send forward these troops, who,
it was hoped, might be able to perform the duty originally intended
for McDowell. They had not been disembarked since their arrival.
The iron-clad steamer Galena, with the Aroostook and Port Royal,
passed up the James River, pressing the enemy on his left flank.
General Heintzelman was charged with the pursuit on the Torktown
road. Casey and Couch, of Keyes's Corps, went forward by the road
from Warwick Court-House. ......
General Stonenian's cavalry brigade came up with the enemy's
rear-guard two miles and a half from Williamsburg, at the junction

HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 253
of two roads, one leading to Hampton and the other to Torktown,
by which the Union troops advanced. The rebels were strongly
posted behind earthworks, and a cavalry skirmish occurred, with un
important results. The enemy's main work was Fort Magruder, at
the junction of the road, on either side of which were redoubts,
thirteen in number, extending across the Peninsula and connected by
rifle-pits. By dark on the 4th, Hooker arrived in front of the works,
after incredible toil in getting his guns through the twelve miles of
mud which extended between Torktown and the battle-field. It was
only by the most strenuous exertions that the artillery was got for
ward ; the supply trains did not get through, and the men, with no
other food than that contained in their haversacks, and worn out with
toil, lay on their arms all night amidst a drenching rain, which turned
the soft quicksands of the Peninsula into a slough.
The enemy's works; occupied an elevated plain, sloping east and
south. Approaching from the south either by the Torktown or Hamp
ton road, they were concealed by a heavy forest, but a belt of a mile
in breadth in front of the works had been cleared, in order that an
enemy's approach might be seen in season. Fort Magruder had sub
stantial parapets and deep ditches, and commanded the Torktown and
Hampton roads, while the neighboring redoubts commanded the
ravines which were not swept by its guns. Early on the 5th, General
Hooker made his dispositions for an attack, and at half-past seven
a. m. General Grover was directed to take his brigade into action.
He immediately sent the First Massachusetts into some felled timber
to the left of the road, with orders to skirmish up the cleared land and
then turn their attention to the gunners of the fort. The Second New
Hampshire had the same duty on the right ; the Eleventh Massachu
setts and the Twenty-sixth Pennsylvania were sent further to the right
until they should gain the Torktown road. Webber's battery was
then sent to the front of the felled timber, where, exposed to the fire
of Fort Magruder and two adjoining redoubts, it received such a
storm of shot that the men were driven back. Volunteers were then
called for, and a number sprang forward to work the guns. Marshall's
battery then took position on the right of Webber, supported by the
Fifth New Jersey. The remainder, of Patterson's Brigade protected
the left of the road. Meantime the Eleventh Massachusetts and the
Twenty-sixth Pennsylvania had reached the Torktown road, and were
advancing on it to clear it of obstructions. The battle was now
general, but the enemy was constantly strengthening his right and
pressing harder upon Grover, who, re-enforced by part of Taylor's
Excelsior Brigade, was enabled to hold his own until one o'clock,
when the remainder of Taylor's Brigade was ordered up, and the
Eleventh Massachusetts was recalled from the right to further
strengthen the left, where Taylor's men were falling short of ammuni
tion. The enemy was now re-enforced by Longstreet, and at the same
time made a vigorous attack upon the Federal batteries in front, by
which five guns were captured. At about four o'clock, General
Kearny with his division reached the field, replacing the exhausted
lines of Hooker, which were withdrawn from the contest. The loss

254 HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
in Hookers Division was one thousand two hundred and forty killed
and wounded. While the left was thus engaged, General Hancock's
Brigade was deployed on the extreme right, under the supervision of
General Keyes, and took possession of two of the enemy's outer
works. He then formed in line of battle in an open field, and opened
upon Fort Paige. The enemy, perceiving that he was unsupported,
attempted to get in his rear; as they advanced they were met by a
brilliant bayonet charge, which drove them back effectually. During
the night of Monday heavy Federal re-enforcements were moved to
the front, but as the rain continued, and the roads were made worse
by the movement upon them, it was impossible to get , up the supply
trains, and the troops suffered for want of food. In the morning the
Confederate army was seen drawn up in front of Williamsburg, but
beyond the forts, which it was soon discovered had been abandoned.
The enemy were already in motion, to the rear, and before their de
serted works were occupied they were already beyond the city,
marching to the , northwest. There were no guns captured in the
forts. The enemy reported his killed and wounded at two hundred
and twenty, and that he captured six hundred and twenty-three
prisoners and eleven field-pieces. These results gave General McClel
lan, who arrived on the field at five o'clock on Monday, great satisfac
tion, as appears from his dispatch as follows : —
"Head-Quarters, Army of the Potomac, )
" Williamsburg, Virginia, Tuesday, May 6. j
" Hon. E, M. Stanton, Secretary of War :
" I have the pleasure to announce the occupation of this place as the result of the
hard-fought action of yesterday.
" The effect of Hancock's brilliant engagement yesterday afternoon was to turn the
left of their line of works. He was strongly re-enforced, and the enemy abandoned the
entire position during the night, leaving all his sick and wounded in our hands. His
loss yesterday was very severe.
" We have some three hundred uninjured prisoners, and more than a thousand wounded.
Their loss in killed is heavy. The victory is complete. I have sent cavalry in pur
suit. "The conduct of our men has been excellent, with scarcely an exception.
" The enemy's works are very extensive and exceedingly strong, both in respect to
position and the works themselves.
"Our loss was heavy in Hooker's Division, but very little on other parts of the field.
" Hancock's success was gained with a loss of not over twenty killed and wounded.
" The weather is good to-day, but there is great difficulty in getting up food on account
of the roads. i Very few wagons have yet come up.
" Am I authorized to follow tho example of other generals, and direct the names of
battles to be placed on colors of regiments?
" We have other battles to fight before reaching Richmond. "G. B. McClellan,
"Major-General Commanding."
The enemy retreated beyond the Chickahominy, to which stream
the cavalry pursued them, finding no fortifications, but capturing
some prisoners and guns.
There is but little doubt that the battle of Williamsburg was, on
the Federal side, one of the most poorly managed actions of the war.
The place was strong, and well fortified, and if the enemy fought

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 255
there at all, he would, it was to be supposed, do so in great force. Hence
he should have been attacked by the main body of the Union army^
Instead of this, however, the battle was commenced and fought by
different corps, without concert of action, and without any general
order. The cavalry of Stoneman overtook the enemy's rear-guard,
under circumstances which forced the enemy to send back his infan
try, already far in advance, to rescue them. Hooker attacked, and
was severely handled. Kearny came to his rescue, outranked him,
and continued the battle, which was sustained by the operations of
Hancock. General McClellan did not arrive on the field until the
hardest fighting of the day was ended: In the night, the enemy re
sumed his retreat. The Union loss was several thousand men, and
the enemy had gained time for his trains to move on.
The division of General Franklin arrived at West Point on the
afternoon of the 6th, and was immediately landed on the south side
of the Pamunkey River, half a mile below West Point. The enemy
disappeared on the approach of the Federal gunboats, and on the
same evening, part of' General Sedgwick's troops, under General
Dana, arrived. On the morning of the 7th, these troops landed,, and
immediately advanced to drive the enemy, who were assembling in a
piece of woods above. The latter, however, pressed so .heavily on
the left, that the Federals were forced back with some loss, until
they came within range of the gunboats, the vigorous fire of which
threw the enemy into confusion, and they retired. General Franklin
then completed Ms landing, and further arrivals of troops from Tork
town and Fortress Monroe strengthened the position, which became
an important base for the movement upon Richmond.
The enemy retired slowly and in good order towards Richmond,
skirmishing as they went, while the main body of the Federal army,
under McClellan, followed slowly over the heavy roads. On the 9th
of May, his head-quarters were twelve miles from Williamsburg, and
Stoneman defeated the enemy's cavalry at New Kent Court-House ;
on the 10th, the enemy, under Longstreet, evacuated Cumberland, on
the Pamunkey, which was occupied by the Federal cavalry. On the
following day, May llth, the cavalry advance reached White House,
a station of the Richmond and Tork Railroad, on the Pamunkey,
twenty miles from Richmond. A junction was now effected with
Franklin's Corps, and, on the 14th, nearly the whole of the invading
army was concentrated at Cumberland, on the Pamunkey, near
White House. The troops were now permitted to rest, put their
arms in order, recover from their fatiguing march, and recruit from
their short rations. The advance was again ordered for the 19th,.
when the indefatigable Stoneman occupied Cold Harbor, ten miles
northwest of Richmond, by turnpike and by New Bridge, over the
Chickahominy, eight miles from Richmond. There was now no
enemy north of the Chickahominy. In the march from Torktown,
innumerable hardships, as they seemed to a raw army, had been over
come, and great labors had been performed; roads had heen con
structed, bridges built, and the enemy driven before them. The men
were now recruited, and eager again to advance.

256 HISTORY OE^THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
Soon after the evacuation of Torktown, the rebels retired from
Norfolk, and blew up the Merrimac, thus leaving the river open to
the Union war-vessels. The gunboats Aroostook, Galena, and Port
Royal, with the Naugatuck and the Monitor, immediately moved up,
getting aground occasionally, but meeting no opposition until within
eight miles from Richmond, at Ward's Bluff, crowned by Fort Dar
ling. At that point were constructed two batteries of piles, sunken
Steamboats, and sail-vessels, secured by chains, and the banks of the
river were lined with rifle-pits. The Galena ran up to the , barrier,
swung across the stream, and opened upon the fort. ' The Monitor
ran above her, but her guns Could not be elevated to reach the fortj
which was two hundred feet high. The Naugatuck's one-hundred^
pounder gun burst, and she was consequently disabled. The wooden
Vessels kept out of range around a bend in the river. The Galena,
after four hours' firing, expended her ammunition, and hauled off with
thirteen killed and eleven wounded. The sides of the Galena, which
sloped with the view of causing shot striking her to glance off, were
found to present only a fairer mark for shot from elevated points, and
were too thinly armored to resist heavy metal. This was one of the
first practical lessons in gunboat armor.

CHAPTER XXIL
Taking of Norfolk. — Chickahominy. — Position of Enemy. — Hanover Court-House.—
Battle of Pair Oaks. — Advance of the Reserves. — Retreat of the Enemy.
ThB evacuation of Torktown was immediately followed by another
event which had important results. Norfolk, Virginia, had been held
by the Confederates since the surrender to them of Gosport Navy-
Tard with its vast military stores. It was the only naval dep&t then
possessed by them, and also the only harbor of refuge for the Merri
mac. It had long been threatened on the south by the corps of Gen
eral Burnside, who held Elizabeth City and Weldon, North Carolina,
and it was but inadequately defended by General Huger with a small
force. It was therefore determined to land troops, under cover of the
gunboats, and capture the place. The point selected for landing the
troops was inspected by President Lincoln, who, on the 8th of May,
went across from Fortress Monroe to a spot (Willoughby's Point) about
one mile below the Rip Raps. On his return, a dozen transports were
loaded with troops, and at daylight of the 10th landed at the appointed
place. The main body of the troops, under Generals Mansfield and
Webber, pushed directly for Norfolk, while General Wool and staff re
mained to superintend the disembarkation of the remainder of the
force, all of whom were landed and in motion before noon. The har
bor defences at Sewell's Point and Craney Island had been shelled on
the previous day by the fleet under Flag-officer Goldsborough, and
the Confederate commander abandoned Norfolk on the landing of

HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 257
the troops. As the latter approached, they were met by the mayor
and other oflicials, who surrendered to General Wool, on his promise
to respect private property. He issued the following proclamation : —
" Head-Quarters, Department of Virginia, )
" Norfolk, May 10, 1862. j
" The city of Norfolk having been surrendered to the Government of the United
States, military possession of the same is taken in behalf of the National Government,
by Major-General John E. WooL
"Brigadier-General Viele is appointed Military Governor for the time being. He will
see that all citizens are carefully protected in all their rights and privileges, taking the
utmost care to preserve order, and to see that no soldiers are permitted to enter the
city except by his order, or by the written permission of the commanding officer of his
brigade or regiment, and he will punish summarily any American soldier who shall
trespass upon the rights of any of the inhabitants.
" (Signed) John E. Wool, Major-General"
By the evacuation of Norfolk, the important works on Craney
Island and the Elizabeth River, which had barred the ascent of the
James, also fell into the hands of the Federal troops.
This event was followed by the destruction of the Merrimac, on
the morning of the llth, by order of Commodore Tatnall. He stated
that the pilots had assured him that if she was lightened she could be
taken up James River. He accordingly threw her armament over
board, but without effecting the desired results. Being now disarmed,
and having no place of refuge, she was set on fire, and shortly ex
ploded. A court of inquiry subsequently stated that her destruction
was unnecessary ; that she could have been taken up James River to
Hog Island, where, the channel being narrow, she could effectively
have prevented the ascent of the enemy's vessels. Martial law was
proclaimed at Norfolk, and the following proclamation issued : —
" Norfolk, Va., May 10, 1862.
" The occupancy of the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth is for the protection of the
public property and the maintenance of the public laws of the United States. Private
associations and domestic quiet will not be disturbed, but violations of order and disre
spect to the Government will be followed by the immediate arrest of the offenders.
"Those who have left their homes under the anticipation of any acts of vandalism,
may be assured that the Government allows no man the honor of serving in its armie3
who forgets the duties of a citizen in discharging those of a soldier, and that no indi
vidual rights will be interfered with.
" The sale of liquor is prohibited. The offices of the Military Governor and of the
Provost-Marshal are at the Custom-House.
"(Signed) Egbert L. Viele,
" Brigadier- General U. S. A., and Military Governor.'' •
Immediate steps were taken to strengthen the Union position. A
force was pushed forward to Suffolk, twenty-two miles from Norfolk,
which forms the junction of the Seaboard and Roanoke, and Norfolk
and Petersburg Railroads. By the occupation of this point a junc
tion might be effected, by means of the former road, with General
Burnside, who was supposed to be at Weldon, North Carolina. An
internal route of communication was also established vid the Dismal
Swamp Canal between Burnside and McClellan. The occupation of
17

258 HISTORY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
Norfolk apparently furnished a new basis for advance south of James
River, while it relieved Burnside, in North Carolina, of an enemy on
his flank, and enabled him, in case of a projected march upon Rich
mond, to give assistance to McClellan.
The advance of the army from Torktown had been directed upon
West Point for the purpose of forming a junction with Franklin's
Corps, as well as to take advantage of the nature of the ground,
which was less swampy on the Tork than on the James River. The
Chickahominy River has its origin in Henrico and Hanover counties,
and passing five miles to the north of Richmond, takes a south
easterly course through extended swamps, and empties into the
James River thirty-five miles below Richmond. The river thus
forms a curve, covering Richmond to the north and southeast.
Numerous bridges cross the stream, which is liable to sudden over
flows. The Federal army marched to the north of this stream, and
a junction being made with Franklin, the base of operations was
fixed at White House, which is connected with Richmond by rail
road. On the 20th of May the advance under Stoneman was at
Gaines's Mills, eight and a half miles north of Richmond, and one
and a half north of New Bridge. The pickets of the enemy occupied
the opposite bank of the river, but there were apparently few troops
in the neighborhood. The army held different points of the Chicka
hominy, at greater or less distances from the enemy's capital. Head
quarters were at Cold Harbor, on the turnpike, ten miles north of
Richmond. The army was now thoroughly rested, and once more impatient of
inaction. The commissary arrangements were .completed, and trains
of artillery were brought to the front. Two provisional corps under
Generals Fitz John Porter and Franklin had been recently created by
taking divisions from the corps already organized, making five corps
in all, besides the cavalry division of Stoneman. In order to communi
cate with the gunboats on James River, it was necessary to send by land
through the enemy's pickets, who swarmed in the country between
the Chickahominy and the James. Lieutenant F. C. Davis was
detailed with ten men to make the attempt, and the perilous expedi
tion was successfully performed. Rumors were now current that
Beauregard was in Richmond with troops, arrived on their way from
Corinth. The corps of McDowell, which had been detained by the
President, was at Fredericksburg, with pickets thrown forward in
the direction of Richmond. The re-enforcements that McClellan had
received were considered by that general not sufficient to make good
the waste by cannon and disease, and by the garrisons left at Tork
town, Williamsburg, and other points. To unite with McDowell
would, however, insure success. For this purpose, on the 22d May,
the Sixth Pennsylvania Cavalry was detached from the reserves, to
reconnoitre the Pamunkey towards Hanover Court-House. In con
sequence of their report, Porter, with his division, marched rapidly
upon that point where the railroads coming from Fredericksburg and
from Gordonsville cross the river en route to Richmond. The enemy
held the place, under General Branch, the same who had been (March

260 HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
14th) driven out of Newbern, N. C, by General Burnside; but
Porter easily defeated him, capturing a gun, five hundred prisoners,
and the control of the bridges. He was now within fifteen miles of
McDowell's pickets, and a single day's march would have united the
two armies ; Dut just at that juncture orders came from the Secretary
of War to burn the bridges thus captured, and for McDowell to
proceed by forced marches to the Shenandoah Yalley to succor Banks,
who was hard pressed "by a rebel column under General T. J. Jack
son. The latter, by the celerity of his movements, had amazed all
the commanders and disquieted the Government. There being no
longer any hope of a junction with McDowell, it became necessary to
hold both banks of the Chickahominy, which, from the shifting
nature of its bed, was difficult to bridge. In a short time several
good bridges were in process of construction to facilitate the passage,
and enable each wing to support the other in case of emergency.
The different corps of the army continued to press the enemy upon
the Chickahominy, and on the 23d Naglee, of Casey's Division of
Keyes's Corps, crossed at Bottom's Bridge, and, after a sharp struggle,
made good his position three miles in advance on the Williamsburg
road. On the 25th, Stoneman advanced from New Bridge up the
river, and occupied Ellison's Mills, driving out the enemy under
Howell Cobb. The Eighth Illinois was then sent three miles farther
to destroy the bridge of the Richmond and Fredericksburg Railroad.
The village of Mechanicsville, five miles from Richmond, was then
occupied by the extreme right of the army. .
There are three roads which cross the Chickahominy at different
points converging upon Richmond. The most southerly of these is
the Williamsburg road, which crosses at Bottom's Bridge, and passes
through Seven Pines, seven miles from Richmond. Running parallel
to this, and three-fourths of a mile to the north, is the Richmond and
Tork River Railroad, which, crossing at the railroad bridge, passes
through Fair Oaks, six miles from Richmond. Still farther to the
north, a road crosses New Bridge, and approaches Richmond at an
angle with the railroad; this is known as the Nine-mile road. A
cross-road runs nearly parallel with the Chickahominy River from
a house known as Old Tavern, near New Bridge, on the Nine-mile
road, crossing the railroad at right angles with it at Fair Oaks, to
Seven Pines, on the Williamsburg road. The railroad runs from
White House, the base of the army supplies, to Richmond direct ;
and Fair Oaks was obviously a strategic point to be defended at all
hazards, since the railroad afforded the most ample means of bring
ing forward supplies under all contingencies. Why the enemy left
the railroad whole when he retired was a problem ; but as he had
done so, every advantage was to be taken of it.
On the 25th of May, the Fourth Corps, Keyes, and the Third
Corps, Heintzelman, both under the latter, were ordered to advance
to Seven Pines. An intrenched camp, consisting of a lunette and
supporting abatis, was found one-fourth mile in advance of this station,
and Casey's Division of Infantry, with twenty pieces of artillery,
were placed in it, supported by Couch's Division. Further down the

HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 261
railroad were the two divisions of Heintzelman's Corps. The position
of the army was now that of the letter V, with its point at Bottom's
Bridge. The right wing, on the north of the Chickahominy, con
sisted of the corps of Sumner, Franklin, and Porter, and was extend
ed from Bottom's Bridge to Mechanicsville. The left, on the Rich
mond side of the river, was composed of the four divisions of Keyes
and Heintzelman, disposed one behind the other, from Fair Oaks to
Bottom's Bridge. The uncertain and shifting stream which ran
between these two wings was being bridged, in order that both
might communicate for mutual support. This was the state of affairs,
May 31st, when General Casey's Corps was stationed as fol
lows: On the right, Naglee's Brigade, extending across the railroad
and approaching a point on the river, where General Sumner had
erected the Grape-Vine Bridge; in the centre, Worrell's second
Brigade (formerly General Keim's), extending from Naglee's left
across the Williamsburg road; and. on the left, Palmer's Brigade.
General Couch's Corps was mainly on the Williamsburg road, in
the rear of Casey. The corps of Casey was by no means full, its
strength being estimated at about six thousand men. About noon,
the enemy, under General Hill, with the brigades of Rhodes, Gar
land, Rains, and Anderson, made a rapid advance, and attacked the
intrenched camp with great fury, taking it completely by surprise,
and in the words of General Richardson, " brushed away the division
of Casey like chaff." The division of Couch had hardly formed in
order of battle ere the enemy were upon him with fierce yells,
delivering at short range a deadly fire, which was received with
steady courage and with a stubborn resistance, that caused the
advancing column to swerve to the right. Abercrombie's Brigade
supported Naglee, that of Devens sustained Worrell, and General
Peck supported Palmer on the left. The enemy, in accumulating
numbers and mad with fancied success, was pushing between Heintzel
man and the river, and his success in this movement would be fatal
to the army. Our men stood to their task with a constancy the
oldest veterans could not excel, and which neither the evidently
superior numbers of the enemy, their determination to win, nor the
deadly fire of their sharpshooters, could shake. Nevertheless, the
swelling throng of the enemy's columns seemed still to outflank our
exhausted line, and at six o'clock disaster was imminent. Sedg
wick, of Sumner's Corps, now appeared coming from the bridge which
he had built, and went into action to the support of Couch, whose
left the enemy had just turned, thereby, with a strong eolumn, pene
trating between him and Heintzelman, two miles, im the rear on the
railroad. It appears that General Birney, of Kearny's Division, had
been ordered by General Heintzelman to advance on the railroad in
the direction of Couch one mile, and he did soy but immediately
received orders from Kearny to return to bis original post. This
movement and counter-movement left the opening for the enemy.'
For this General Birney was relieved of his command, but he was
reinstated at the request of General Kearny. Meantime, Sedgwick's
men coining up, excited with the march, with the din of battle and

262 HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
the pride of anticipated victory flaming in their eyes, went eagerly
to work, and at once smote the head of the enemy's advancing
column with a storm of canister-shot from the few pieces that had
been laboriously dragged through the miry roads. The enemy
staggered heavily back under this withering shower. The situation
was fatal to them. The division, closing up " shoulder to shoulder,"
in line of battle, moved up with resistless vigor, and the shaken line
of the Confederates was driven back effectually. Their forward
impetus was lost at the first fire, and the long line of avenging
bayonets presented by the Union front imparted a retrograde move
ment to his steps that was not recovered. The rebel repulse was
greatly aided by the confusion occasioned by the wounding of their
commanding general, J. E. Johnston, of which, had the Federals
been aware of it, great advantage might have been taken. He was
succeeded by General Gustavus W. Smith. Richardson's Corps then
arriving on the left of Sedgwick, connected with Birney's Brigade of
Heintzelman's Corps, the breach was thus closed and the position
made secure for the night. The opportune arrival of Sedgwick alone
saved the army from total disaster, since the gallant troops who had
so long borne the brunt of overwhelming numbers, were in danger of
being overpowered. They could not much longer have held out. A
delay of half an hour would have insured total defeat. The enemy
captured almost every thing belonging to Casey's Division, camp
equipage, and a number of guns. There had been a severe storm of
rain, on which the enemy had counted to cause the river to rise so as
to prevent the crossing of Federalre-enforcements. The rise did not
take place as soon as was calculated upon, and that saved the army.
On Sunday morning, June 1st, at dawn, the Confederates occupied
the camps of Casey's and Couch's Divisions, having their left on the
railroad near Fair Oaks. To our right, on the other side of the rail
road, the divisions of Generals Richardson and Sedgwick were formed,
in a semicircle, with their left resting on General Hooker's right, at
the railroad, and their right flanking the enemy. These divisions
were composed of parts of the brigades of General Burns, General
French, General T. F. Meagher, with four batteries of artillery.
General Hooker's Division was camped in the wood on the Williams
burg road, occupying the centre, and a little in advance of the right
and left wings. On the left the remaining portions of Couch's and
Casey's Divisions rested, with reserves of fresh troops extending to
our extreme left, near the middle road, under General Keyes.
At seven o'clock, ^General Heintzelman ordered Hooker to drive the
enemy from a wood on the extreme left. The attack was commenced
by Hooker leading theJFifth&nd Sixth New Jersey, near the railroad,
supported on the right iby the brigade of Birney, now under the com
mand of Colonel Robert Ward. General Sickles's Brigade followed,
and a portion of it having, by .order of Hooker, gone to the left of
the Williamsburg road, the artillery found the ground too boggy to
fet through. The brigade of ;Sickles, finding the enemy showing a
rm front before them, after some ineffectual firing formed a line, and
with fixed bayonets performed a charge that won the admiration of

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 263
both friend and foe, and with a determination and vigor that at once
settled the matter in that quarter. The Seventy-first and Seventy-
third New Tork showed that the bayonet was the true mode of
winning ground with little loss. The example was followed on the
right, and the ground trembled beneath the tread of a long line of
men, before whose deadly bayonets the enemy's line scattered in con
fusion. The biting fire which the enemy poured upon them as they
advanced did not for an instant check or retard the irresistible
attack. They cleared the woods at once, and the enemy retired,
leaving the Union troops masters of the field. About an hour after
the firing had ceased, General McClellan arrived on the field.
On Monday General Hooker was ordered to make a reconnoissance
in force to the front, and he did so to within four miles of Richmond
without resistance, when he was recalled by General McClellan. For
this McClellan has been severely censured. All accounts go to show
that when the enemy retired towards Richmond after their defeat of
June 1st, they were in a complete state of demoralization, throwing
away muskets, accoutrements, and whatever might impede their prog
ress ; and according to the testimony of many oflicers engaged in
the battle, as given before the Congressional Committee on the Con
duct of the War, the army could have pushed on to Richmond with
little resistance. This was one of the many occasions during the war
when the golden opportunity was needlessly thrown away.
During this battle the balloon was overlooking the strife, and was
in telegraphic communication with General McClellan at his quarters.
The losses on both sides were as follows : —

Killed

. Wounded.

Missing.

Total.

Confederate,

681

4,303

814

5,798

Union,

890

3,627

1,222

5,739

The losses in the Third and Fourth Corps, reported by General
Heintzelman, were three thousand eight hundred out of eleven thou
sand engaged. The enemy also, according to General Johnston's
report, claimed to have captured ten pieces of artillery, six thousand
muskets, besides colors, tents, and camp equipage.
The following are the dispatches forwarded by General McClellan
from the field : — " Field op Battle, June 1, 12 o'clock. '
" We have had a desperate battle, in which the corps of Generals Sumner, Heintzel
man, and Keyes have been engaged against greatly superior numbers.
" Yesterday, at one, the enemy, taking advantage of a terrible storm, which had
flooded the valley of the Chickahominy, attacked our troops on the right flank.
" General Casey's Division, which was in the first line, gave way unaccountably and
disunitedly. This caused a temporary confusion, during which the guns and baggage
were lost ; but Generals Heintzelman and Keyes most gallantly brought up their
troops, which checked the enemy.
" At the same time, however, I succeeded, by great exertion, in bringing across
Generals Sedgwick and Richardson's Divisions, who drove back the enemy at the point
of the bayonet, covering the ground with his dead.
" This morning the enemy attempted to renew the conflict, but was everywhere
repulsed. " We have taken many prisoners, among whom is General Pettigrew and Colonel
Loring.

264 HISTOEY OE THE GREAT EEBELLION.
" Our loss is heavy, but that of the enemy must be enormous.
" With the exception of General Casey's Division, the men behaved splendidly.
" Several fine bayonet charges have been made. The Second Excelsior Regiment
made two to-day."
The following address was read to the army on the evening of the
3d, at dress parade, and was received with an outburst of vociferous
cheering from every regiment : — " Head-Quarters Army or the Potomac, )
" Camp near New Bridge, "Va., June 2. )
" Soldiers op the Army op the Potomac: — I have fulfilled at least a part of my
promise to you. You are now face to face with the rebels, who are held at bay in
front of the capital. The final and decisive battle is at hand. Unless you belie
your past history, the result cannot be for a moment doubtful. If the troops who
labored so faithfully, and fought so gallantly at Torktown, and who so bravely won
the hard fights at Williamsburg, West Point, Hanover Court-House, and Pair Oaks
now prove worthy of their antecedents, the victory is surely ours. >
"The events of every day prove your superiority. Wherever yon have met the
enemy you have beaten him. Wherever you have used the bayonet, he has given way
in panic and disorder.
"I ask of you now one last crowning effort. The enemy has staked his all on the
issue of the coming battle. Let us meet him and crush him here, in the very centre
of the rebellion.
" Soldiers, I will be with you in this battle, and share its dangers with yon. Our
confidence in each other is now founded upon the past. Let us strike the blow which
is to restore peace and union to this distracted land. Upon your valor, discipline, and
mutual confidence the result depends. " (Signed) George B. McClellan,
"Major-General Commanding"
This first dispatch of General McClellan gave great offence in two
particulars: one was in not giving General Sumner proper credit,
and the other in the censure cast upon Casey's Corps. As a conse
quence of this, the following dispatches were sent forward : —
"New Bridge, June 5, 10.30 a. m.
"To Honorable E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War:
"My telegraphic dispatch of June 1st, in regard to the battle of Pair Oaks, was in
correctly published in the newspapers. I send with this a correct copy, which I request
may be published at once. I am the more anxious about this, since my dispatch, as
published, would seem to ignore the services of General Sumner, which were too val
uable and brilliant to be overlooked, both in the difficult passage of the stream and the
subsequent combat. The mistake seems to have occurred in the transmittal of the
dispatch by the telegraph. "(Signed) G. B. McClellan,
"Major-General Commanding:'
"THE CORRECTED DISPATCH.
" Field op Battle, 12 o'clock, June 1.
"Honorable E- M, Stanton, Secretary of War:
" We have had a desperate battle, in which the Corps of Sumner, Heintzelman, and
Keyes hav<e been engaged against greatly superior numbers. Testerday, at one
o'clock, the enemy, taking advantage of a terrible storm, which had flooded the valley
of the Chickahominy, attacked our troops on the right bank of the river. Casey's
Division, which was the first line, gave way unaccountably and discreditably. This
caused a temporary confusion, during which some guns and baggage were lost, but
Heintzelman and Keamy most gallantly brought up their troops, which checked the
enemy. At the same time, however, General Sumner succeeded, by great exertions,

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.

265

in bringing across Sedgwick's and Richardson's Divisions, which drove back the enemy
at the point of the bayonet, covering the ground with his dead. This morning the
enemy attempted to renew the conflict, but was everywhere repulsed.
" We have tak«n many prisoners, among whom are General Pettigrew and Colonel
Loring. Our loss is heavy, but the loss of the enemy must be enormous. With the
exception of Casey's Division, our men behaved splendidly. Several fine bayonet
charges have been made. The Second Excelsior made two to-day.
"(Signed) G. B. McClellan, General Commanding:'
"Head-Quarters Army op the Potomac, June 5.
"Honorable Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War:
" My dispatch of the first inst., stating that General Casey's Division, which Was in
the first line, gave way unaccountably and discreditably, was based upon official state
ments made to me before I arrived upon the field of battle, and while I was there, by
several commanders. Froa statements made to me subsequently by Generals Casey
and Naglee, I am induced to believe that portions of the division behaved well, and
made a most gallant stand against superior numbers ; but at present the accounts are
too conflicting to enable me to discriminate with certainty. When the facts are clearly
ascertained, the exceptional good conduct will be properly acknowledged.
"(Signed) " George B. McClellan,
" Major- General Commanding."
The dispatch correcting the omission in relation to General Sumner
being altered in relation to the conduct of Casey's Corps, to read
"discreditably" instead of " disunitedly " makes the censure more
severe : nevertheless, on the same date, portions of the division are in
the other dispatch relieved from censure. The result was, that Gen
eral F. J. Peck superseded Casey, who was given some employment
at White House in the rear.

CHAPTER XXHL
General Jackson's Movement. — Battle at Winchester, — Advanee of Bamks. — Shields
ordered to join McDowell. — Retreat of Banks. — Front Royal. — Banks driven aeross
the Potomac. — Mountain Department. — Fremont supersedes Rosecrans. — Battle at
McDowell. — Fremont's Corps ordered to support Banks.— The Object of Jackson's
Eaid. — Fremont's Movement. — Retreat of the Enemy. — Harrisonburg. — Cross Keys,
— Escape of Jackson. — McDowell concentrates at Fredericksburg,-— formation of the
Army of Virginia under Pope. /
Whei^ General Jackson,* in the beginning of March, fell back
before the advance of Banks, thus uncovering the communication by

* Thomas Jonathan Jackson was born in Clarks
burg, Virginia, January 21st, 1S24, and graduated
at West Point in 1846. He was successively
brevetted captain and major, for gallant conduct
in the Mexican war ; and in 1852 resigned his com
mission and became professor of mathematics in
the Military Institute of Virginia. At the out
break of the rebellion he was appointed brigadier-
general in the Confederate army, fought at Bull
Kun, where he earned the sobriquet of " Stone
wall" Jackson, and during tho winter of 1861-62,
commanded at Winchester. In March, 1862, he
was defeated near that place by Shields, and in
May conducted his celebrated campaign of the
Shenandoah Valley, driving Banks across the Po

tomac, and subsequently escaping from the- com
bined forces of Banks, Fremont, and McDowell.
In June he joined the rebel army at Bichmond,
and participated in the seven days' fighting. In
the succeeding August, he fought the battleor
Cedar Mountain, andtook a prominent part In tno
second Bull Eun campaign, after which he led the
rebel invasion of Maryland, captured Harper s
Ferry, September 15th, and two days later fought
at Antietam. He commanded tho rebel right
wing at the battle of Fredericksburg, December
18th, was soon after appointed a lieutenant-gen
eral, and at the battle of Chancellorsvllle, May 2d,
1863, was mortally wounded, while leading a suc
cessful flank movement. He died May 10th.

266

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.

Manassas Gap between the Confederate army and the resources of
the Valley, the whole force Of the enemy, in front of Manassas, fell
back to the Rappahannock, abandoning Fredericksburg, and that in
the Valley retreated towards Staunton. The retreat of Jackson was,
however, slow. He abandoned Winchester on the 12th of March,
and it was occupied by General Banks with his advance, on the same
day that General McClellan assumed the command of the. Army of
the Potomac. On occupying Winchester, General Banks issued an
order forbidding all depredations and marauding. This order had
become necessary, since the people of the fertile but unfortunate
Valley were exposed to the alternate operations of both armies. The
mission of Jackson in the Valley was at that time to cover the
retreat of that part of the rebel army, which, coming from Centreville
by way of Strasburg, was destined to operate near Staunton, and to
protect the road from the Valley to Gordonsville, to which point the
main body of the Confederates had retreated. That object having
been effected by the 15th of March, the subsequent movements of
Jackson were at his own discretion. On the 17th, a force under
General Shields, left Winchester in pursuit of the enemy, who retired
towards Strasburg. His rear-guard was overtaken near Middletown,
and with four guns it disputed the ground foot by foot. The main
force of Jackson was at Mount Jackson. On the 20th, Shields's recon
noitring force returned to Winchester. The division of General Wil
liams, forming one-half of Banks's command, at the same time moved
off towards Battletown, through which a good turnpike runs from
Winchester to Centreville. This movement led Jackson to suppose that
nearly the whole army of Banks was about to re-enforce McClellan.
To prevent this, he determined to attack Winchester. Accordingly,
four regiments of infantry made a forced march from Mount Jackson
to Strasburg, and advanced thence, on Saturday, the 22d, to the
battle-ground within three miles of Winchester. This rapid march
of thirty-five miles in two days was without supply trains, and the
advance appeared in front of the Union pickets in the afternoon of
Saturday. About four miles in advance of Winchester, on the turnpike to
Strasburg, through Middletown, is the village of Kernstown. A mud-
road branches from the turnpike about midway between Winchester,
and runs to the right over Cedar Creek. The Fourteenth Indiana
was on Saturday picketed on the turnpike half a mile beyond Kerns
town, and at half-past two discovered the enemy's cavalry under
Ashby, reconnoitring the woods on both sides of the turnpike, and
steadily advancing. The Union troops then fell back, pursued by the
cavalry, occasionally facing about to fire upon the pursuing enemy.
General Shields* ordered up four companies of infantry to support the

* James Shields was born In County Tyrone,
Ireland, in 1810. Ho emigrated to the United
States in 1826, settled in Illinois, and became
Judge of tho Supreme Court of that State. He
was brigadier-general of volunteers in the Mexi
can war. was promoted to be major-general, and
was wounded at Cerro Gordo and Chapultepec.
Subsequently he was V. S. Senator from Illinois

and Minnesota. At the outbreak of the rebellion
he was appointed brigadier-general of volunteers,
succeeded General Lander in command of his
brigade, in March, 1S62, and soon after defeated
Jackson nt Winchester. His troops were subse-
3 uently worsted in an encounter with Jackson,
uno. 9th. In the succeeding year he resigned his
commission.

HISTORY OE THE GREAT REBELLION-. 267
Fourteenth Indiana, and hold the enemy in check until he could bring
forward his division. A battery of artillery was also ordered forward
to assist in checking the now advancing enemy. While directing
this battery, Shields was wounded in the arm by the splinter of a
shell. He, however, remained on the field until dark, when the troops
began- to arrive. The enemy were now in advance of Kernstown, and
about three miles from Winchester. They, however, did not press
the attack, but bivouacked for the night. This respite was not un
welcome to Shields, who was waiting for the return of Williams's
troops to re-enforce him, although these did not arrive until after the
action. The Union forces engaged in the battle embraced, with the
exception of five hundred, men, only the division of Shields (formerly
that of Lander), composed of the brigades of Kimball on the right,
Tyler in the centre, and Sullivan on the left. Inasmuch as Shields,
in consequence of his wound, did not appear on the field, General
Kimball assumed command. The enemy's centre was a little to the
left of the turnpike, at the village, and his left extended one and three-
quarter miles west of the road, his right wing about one mile to the
east of it. The mud-road branching from the turnpike passed through
his left centre. Beyond this there was a grove of trees, and still
farther a ridge of hills crowned by a stone wall about breast high.
At eight o'clock, a. m., on the 23d, the enemy opened with four guns,
which were replied to by six. The batteries were then re-enforced on
both sides. The enemy's guns were so well served that it became
necessary to storm them, and the infantry columns of the first and
second brigades were massed for an attack upon the enemy's left.
General Tyler moved his column on the mud-road until he came in
front of the stone wall, from which at two hundred yards distance he
received a -deadly fire ; but his unwavering troops pressed on without
reply until within fifteen yards, when they delivered their fire with
such effect that the enemy fell back across the field, unmasking as
they did so two six-pound guns, the canister from which tore open
our ranks with great havoc, without stopping the advance of the
men, who speedily captured one gun with its caisson. Two other
brass guns were now unmasked with such effect that our troops
were forced back, upsetting the captured gun as they left it. The
Fifth Ohio and Eighty-fourth Pennsylvania now formed, and ad
vanced with the bayonet. In the desperate encounter the Ohio regi
ment lost its standard-bearer five times in a few minutes. The Four
teenth and One Hundred and Tenth Indiana now advanced at the
quick in support, and the enemy fell back again, leaving the captured
gun. It was now seven o'clock p. m., and the firing began to lessen.
The cavalry in pursuit of the enemy captured about two hundred
prisoners. The men slept upon the battle-field, and awoke to pursue
the enemy on the morning of the 24th, who, however, retired on
being attacked. At nine o'clock General Banks arrived on the field
from Harper's Ferry, and assumed command. The Union loss in this
battle was one hundred and thirty-two killed, five hundred and forty
wounded, forty-six missing — total, seven hundred and eighteen. The
loss cf the enemy was estimated at nine hundred, of whom two

268. HISTORY OF Tina GREAT REBELLION.
hundred and thirty-six were prisoners ; two guns and four caissons
were captured. The enemy had been re-enforeed at ten o'clock,
Sunday morning, by General Garnett, and claimed that his whole
force was then six thousand, of whom three thousand were engaged.
General Shields reported his own command at eight thousand.
The enemy retired beyond Strasburg, which place General Banks
held on the 25th March. The enemy continued in the neighborhood,
occasionally harassing the outpost, until, on the 1st April, General
Banks resumed his forward movement to Woodstock, which was de
fended by Ashby's cavalry and the shells of the enemy. On the same
day the advance passed through the town, and on the 2d it drove the
enemy's rear-guard over Stony Creek, near Edenburg. The enemy
destroyed bridges as he retired, and Banks rebuilt them with great
labor, as he followed. On the llth, his advance under General Shields,
who was so far recovered of his wound as to appear on the field in a
carriage, was in occupation of Edenburg, head-quarters remaining at
Woodstock. The enemy continued at Mount Jackson.
The enemy's cavalry continued busy under Ashby, and frequent
attacks were made on the lines of communication. On the 17th,
Mount Jackson was occupied by the Union forces, Shields and Wil
liams making a combined attack upon it, and pushing their pickets five
miles beyond. New Market was occupied at the same time. The
advance of Banks's column pressed, on the 1 8th April, close upon the
heels of Jackson's retiring troops, which continued their retreat in the
direction of Staunton. On the 20th, General Banks telegraphed as
follows : — " New Makket, April 20, & a. h.
•' To Hon. E. M. Stanton, Secretary of 'War:
" The flight of Jackson from the valley by the way of the mountains, from Harrison
burg towards Stannardsville and Orange Court-House, on Gordonsville, is confirmed
this morning by our scouts and prisoners.
"N. P. Banks,
" Major- General Commanding."
The advance pushed on under General Williams, who held Harrison
burg on the 24th, and his scouts captured some prisoners nine miles
beyond. Banks, whose head-quarters were at New Market, visited
Harrisonburg on the 29tb, and while there received news of the cap
ture of New Orleans, an event which, by its influence upon the fate of
Torktown, would, it was supposed, have a great effect upon his own
position. The forces under Banks were now about sixteen thousand
men. At this time Jackson, who had been falling l)ack before Banks,
formed a junction with General E. Johnson, who had fallen back from
the Mountain Department before the advance of Milroy, who, on) the
23d of April, had followed him to within seven miles of Staunton.
The enemy supposed that the Union forces under, Fremont and Banks,
meeting at Staunton, would attempt to drive the Confederates before
them until they could form a junction with McDowell east of the
mountains, and then throw, their combined forces upon Richmond.
On the other hand, the Union generals anticipated that on the fall of

HISTOEY OP THE GEEAT REBELLION. 269
Yorktown, large forces would be released from its defence, and that
with these re-enforcements, Jackson would sweep the valley and threat
en Washington. This proved to be partially the case. Yorktown fell on
the 5th of May, and on the 7th, Jackson advanced with a strong force
against Milroy, driving him back to the mountains. He then rapidly
returned to the ShenandoahValley, where his force, by concentration
with Johnston and Ewell, now amounted to twenty thousand men. In
this state of affairs, General Banks fell back, his retreat being hastened
by an order received for General Shields's Corps of ten thousand men
to join McDowell, whose corps had been weakened by the withdrawal
of Franklin's Division to re-enforce McClellan. Accordingly, Shields
left New Market, May 12th, and reached Fredericksburg on the 21st.
At the same time, Colonel Geary, who, on leaving Leesburg in March,
had been charged with guarding the Manassas Railroad between the
Junction and I ront Royal, a length of fifty miles, and which had been
destroyed by the enemy retiring before McClellan's advance in March,
was also detached from Banks, and ordered to report to General Mc
Dowell With these deductions, Banks's force was reduced to about
six thousand men, and he withdrew before the advancing enemy to
Strasburg, which General Williams was ordered to hold as the key of
the Valley. The Manassas road, which was essential to the safety
of Banks's Corps, and its communication with Washington, had been
repaired, and was reopened May 16th, between Manassas and Front
Royal. On that day, Colonel J. R. Kenly, with one brigade of Wil
liams's Division, was sent from Strasburg, by General Banks, to take
command at Front Royal, with instructions to retain the troops under
Major Tyndell, belonging to Geary's command. The troops numbered
about fourteen hundred men for the protection of the town, which is
indefensible without a very large force. The army of Banks had now
retrograded fifty miles from its advanced position, and the enemy
were cautiously advancing up the Valley.
The force of Colonel Kenly, at Front Royal, consisted of his own
regiment, the First Maryland, seven hundred and seventy-five men,
with detachments from other organizations. There were also a few
companies scattered between Front Royal and Strasburg. On the
23d of May, the enemy in large force suddenly appeared at one o'clock
p. m., and captured Kenly's pickets before alarm was given. Colonel
Kenly immediately drew up his force ; the infantry in line a half mile
in rear of the town ; the artillery on a crest commanding the approach
to the bridges, supported by five companies. Three companies were
in the fort. These soon fell back before the advance of Ashby's
cavalry, supported by five regiments of infantry. After a severe
struggle of two hours, the men were ordered to retire across the river.
This was done, and the smaller of two bridges destroyed. The enemy
were upon them, however, before the destruction of the other was
effected. An attempt was now made to prevent their crossing, but
the cavalry and two infantry regiments forded the stream. The com
mand now retreated, but was overtaken within three miles by the
enemy's cavalry, when a fearful fight ensued, resulting in the destruc
tion of the command, and the wounding and capture of Colonel Kenly.

270 HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
When this disastrous news reached Strasburg, it was deemed
greatly exaggerated, but a regiment was sent to re-enforce Kenly.
Fugitives from the field soon came in, however, confirming the worst
tidings. Orders were immediately given to halt the re-enforcements,
and detachments of troops under experienced oflicers were sent in
every direction to explore the roads leading from Front Royal to
Strasburg, Middletown, and Winchester. It was soon found that the
enemy's pickets were in possession of every road, and his main body
moving in the rear of his pickets, in the direction of Strasburg. The
advance posts on the Woodstock road, however, found no sign of the
enemy, from which it seemed evident that his whole force was moving
to cut off the division from Winchester. Banks's troops were put in
motion at three o'clock a. m. of the 24th, the trains in front with
Colonel Donnelly, Colonel Gordon in the centre, and Colonel Hatch
with the rear. The column had advanced but three miles, when
the enemy, in possession of Middletown, attacked the train and
drove it back in confusion. The troops immediately took the front,
and after a most severe skirmish resumed the march. In this affair,
Colonel Abert, with the Zouaves d'Afrique, were cut off from the
main body. The column pushed on, encountering several combats
and sustaining losses, until it reached. Winchester, where an attack
was made during the night on the Union left. The numbers of the
enemy continued to augment, and after a sharp conflict of five hours
the march was resumed to Martinsburg. At Martinsburg the column
halted three hours, and arrived at the Potomac at sundown, forty-
eight hours after the reception of the first news of the attack upon
Front Royal. This was a distance of fifty-three miles, of which
thirty-five were made in one day. The loss was thirty-eight killed,
one hundred and fifty-five wounded, seven hundred and eleven miss
ing ; total, nine hundred and five. On the 26th, General Banks tele
graphed : — " Williamspoet, May 26.
"Hon. Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War:
" We believe that our whole force, trains and all, will cross in safety. The men are
in fine spirits, and crossing in good order. The labor of last night was fearful. The
enemy followed us last night on our march, but has not made his appearance this
morning. The news of our movements south has unquestionably caused them to look
out for their safety. Your dispatch was read to the troops this morning amid the
heartiest cheers. N. P. Banks, Major- General Commanding."
The enemy did not follow with much vigor beyond Winchester,
although a cavalry force harassed the retreat nearly to Martinsburg.
When General McClellan was transferred from the command of
Western Virginia to the chief command on the Potomac, July, 1861,
General Rosecrans was appointed to succeed him in Virginia, and he
continued in that command until the 29th of March, when he was
superseded by General Fremont. The latter, it will be borne in mind,
was deprived of his command in Missouri, November 8th, and remained
till the latter part of March in retirement, although great exertions
were used to procure for him a new appointment. It was finally
determined to annex Eastern Tennessee and Kentucky to the Depart-

HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION".

271

ment of Western Virginia, and erect it into " the Mountain Depart
ment," of which General Fremont* was assigned the command, and
on the 29th of March he arrived at Wheeling. On the same day,
General Rosecrans took leave of the troops in a general order. The
northern portion of the new department was called the Railroad
District, and the command conferred upon Brigadier-General Kelly.
In the beginning of April, General Fremont's head-quarters were at
Wheeling ; and General Schenck's Division was at Moorfield, west of
Hunting Mountain, on the road to Winchester. He was employed in
building bridges that had been destroyed, and in restoring communi
cation with the Valley that had been interrupted by the enemy.
General Milroy was at Franklin, forty miles farther south, whence
several roads cross the mountains to the Shenandoah Valley, one run
ning to Staunton, another forty miles to Harrisonburg, a third fifty
miles to New Market. The enemy, three thousand five hundred
strong, constructed fortifications, with rifled cannon, on the crest of
the mountain commanding these routes, and also threatened him at
Monterey on the south, and. menaced his communication with Schenck
at Moorfield. On the 13 th of April, they drove in his pickets at
Monterey, and after a sharp skirmish retired. On the 17th, Schenck
sent through an expedition from Moorfiefd, which restored the com
munication. The enemy under Johnson then fell back from the
mountains, followed by Milroy, who on the 23d came up with his
rear-guard ten miles east of the mountain, and at the limit of the
department, inflicting loss upon him. He sent scouts within seven
miles of Staunton, to which place the enemy had retired. General
Cox, who had been operating in Giles County to reach the Tennessee
and Virginia Railroad, advanced on Parisburg, April 30th, and after
three sharp engagements drove the enemy out of Greenbrier, Mercer,
and Giles Counties.
Little change took place in the position of affairs in this quarter un
til, soon after the fall of Yorktown, May 5th, a sudden augmentation of
the enemy's forces was apparent, and they resumed the offensive. On
the 7th May, Johnson advanced against Milroy, who fell back on the
road to Franklin until he reached McDowell, which is situated at the
foot of the mountain. The whole force of Milroy consisted of six

* John Charles Fremont was born in Savannah,
Georgia, on the 21st of January, 1818. His father
was a Frenchman, who had settled in Norfolk, Vir
ginia, as a teacher of the French language. His
mother was a native of Virginia. When fifteen years
of age be entered Charleston College, and made
good progress, until expelled for some irregularity.
lie then procured a situation as private teacher of
mathematics. In 1833, he was appointed instruc
tor In the same branch, on board the U. S. sloop-
of-war Natchez, and sailed in that vessel on a
cruise for two years. In 1S88, he was appointed
lieutenant of topographical engineers. Afterwards
he was connected with several expeditions. His
Rocky Mountain explorations and adventures in
the then unknown region lying between them and
the Pacific Ocean are fresh in the minds of the
public. He was made Governor of California, in
1846, and in the following year, holding then tho
rank of lieutenant-colonel of mounted riflemen,

he was tried on charges preferred by General
Kearny, commanding in California, and dismissed
the service. The sentence was remitted by Presi
dent Polk, but Colonel Fremont declined the
executive clemency, and resigned his commission.
He was elected Senator of the United States, from
California, in 1850. In 1856, ho was nominated
for President, but was defeated by Mr. Buchanan.
When the rebellion broke out Mr. Fremont was
in Europe, and hastened home to tender his
services. He received the appointment of
major-general of the Western Department, in
which capacity ho served until recalled on the 2d
of November. Subsequently appointed to the
command of the Mountain Department, he was
relieved at his own request upon being placed
under General Pope. He resigned his commission
of general in 1864, and in the same year was nomi
nated candidate for President, but eventually re
tired from the canvass.

272 HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
regiments. Of these, one regiment was sixteen miles in advance to
wards Staunton, two were ten miles in advance, and the remaining
three were at McDowell. The pickets of the advance regiment were
driven in at noon of the 8th, by the approaching force of Johnson.
It fell back upon the other two, and all retired upon McDowell, closely
followed by the enemy, who came up by six in the evening, and imme
diately attacked. Milroy disposed his forces in front of the mountain
in an effective manner, with his guns on elevated ground in the rear.
The onset of the enemy was firmly met, and the battle was general
until seven o'clock when Schenck's column appeared on the ground,
after a march of thirty-four miles through Franklin, which it had left
at ten and a half o'clock a. m. These exhausted men were, by some
mistake, exposed to a severe attack at great disadvantage. The battle
raged with renewed vigor, the enemy pressing on with fresh troops,
until nine p. m., when, it appearing that the rebels were in superior
force, orders were given to retire. The retreat was directed upon Frank
lin, the enemy following closely and skirmishing vigorously for two or
three days. Meantime, Fremont was advancing with his whole force
upon Franklin, which place he reached on the 13th, having been joined
by the division of Blenker. Upon learning this, the enemy retired as
rapidly as he had advanced.
On the 24th May, General Fremont received a dispatch from the
War Department, directing him, with his entire command, to march
to the support of General Banks, and by twelve o'clock in that day
the whole army of over twenty thousand men were on the move.
No one outside the general's confidential advisers, of course, knew the
object of the move.
The march for the first twenty miles was slow and hard. The roads
were rutted as deep as they could be, and the heavy artillery was
dragged along with great difficulty — many of the pieces requiring six,
eight, and even ten horses. On the night of the 31st, the advance un
der Milroy reached a position four miles from Strasburg, and on the
same day, General Shields, as the advance of McDowell, coming from
Fredericksburg on the same errand, reached Front Royal. Thus
Milroy, driven back from Staunton on the 7th of May, when the
troops of Jackson swept down the Valley, swooped upon Kenly at
Front Royal, and drove Banks over the Potomac, had in the space of
eighteen days marched more than one hundred miles, again appeared
in Jackson's front, as the advance of Fremont, forming a junction, but
too late, with Shields and McDowell to drive back the invader.
The sudden irruption of Jackson caused great alarm in Washington.
The numbers of his troops were greatly exaggerated, and it was sup
posed that he intended to attack the capital, and carry the war into the
Free States. The real object of his movement may in some degree be
indicated in the following : —
"Head-Quabtebs Department of Northern Vibginia, >
May 2T, 1862, 9 o'clock 15 minutes. J
" To General T. J. Jackson :
"General: — I have just received your letter of yesterday, by Lieutenant BoswelL
A copy of a dispatch telegraphed by that officer from Staunton reached me this morn-

HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 273
ing. After reading, I wrote to you by a special messenger, suggesting a movement
threatening Washington and Baltimore, unless the enemy still has in your vicinity
force enough to make it rash to attempt it. He has no force beyond the Potomac to
make it dangenbus; only what he has on this side need be considered.
"You cannot, -in your present position, employ such an army as yours upon any
enterprise not bearing directly upon the state of things here, either by preventing the
re-enforcements to McClellan's army, or by drawing, troops from it by divisions. These
objects might be accomplished by the demonstrations proposed above, or by a move
ment upon McDowell, although I fear, by the time this reaches you, it will be too late
for either. The most important service you can render the country is the preventing
the further strengthening of McClellan's army. If you find it too late for that, strike
the most important body of the enemy you can reach. You compel me to publish or
ders announcing your success so often, that you must expect repetition of expressions.
" Yours very truly J. E. Johnston."
At nearly the same date as this dispatch, General McClellan con
tinued calling for re-enforcements, representing that the force of the
enemy in his front Was superior to his own, and that the force under
General McDowell would do more! for the protection of Washington,
if sent to his army, than in any other position in which it could be
placed. In a letter written on the 21st of May, he asks that General
McDowell's Corps be sent him by water rather than by land, as the
more expeditious mode, and that he and his forces be explicitly placed.
under his orders, " in the ordinary way." He closes his letter by say
ing:— "I believe there is a great struggle before this army, but I am neither dismayed nor
discouraged. I wish to strengthen its force as much as I can ; but, in any event, I
sball fight it -with all the skill, and caution, and determination that I possess. And I
trust that the result may either obtain for me the permanent confidence of my Govern
ment, or that it may close my career."
In reply to the request of General McClellan that General Mo
Dowell should join his forces by water, the President states, on the
21st of May: — '
" McDowell can reach you by land sooner than he could get aboard of boats,, if the
boats were ready at Preder icksburg;, unless his march shall be resisted,- in which case
the force resisting him will not be confronting you at Richmond. By land he will
reach you in five days after starting; whereas, by water, he would not reach you in
two weeks, judging by past experience. Franklin's, single division did not reach you
in ten days after I ordered it."
Preparations were accordingly made for General McDowell to leave
Fredericksburg, on the 25th of May, to join General McClellan. Just
at that time, however, Jackson commenced his expedition down the
Shenandoah Valley, and General McDowell, together with General
Fremont, froin Western Virginia, was sent to the assistance of General
Banks, and to intercept Jackson in his retreat. Upon being informed
of this, General McClellan replied that the movement of Jackson was
probably' intended to prevent re-enforcements being sent to him. The
President replied, giving him information as to the condition of affairs
in the Valley, and closed by saying : —
" If McDowell's force was now beyond our reach we should be utterly helpless. Ap
prehensions of something like this, and no unwillingness to sustain you, has always
been my reason for withholding McDowell's force from you. Please understand this,
and do the best you can with the forces you now have."
18

274 HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
The Government immediately ordered the concentration of Mc
Dowell and Fremont in aid of Banks, and at the same time tele
graphed to Pennsylvania, New York, and New England, for fifty
thousand additional troops for the defence of the capital. The order
was promptly complied with. It reached New York on Sunday, and
on Monday morning the Seventh militia regiment was already^ on its
way to Washington, and was immediately followed by other regiments.
Fremont moved northward along the road which debouches in the' val
ley by Brent's Gap, north of Strasburg;' Seven days were occupied
in this laborious march of one hundred miles, over the worst possible
roads, and the time so consumed enabled Jackson to make good his
retreat. McDowell's Corps coming from Fredericksburg reached
Front Royal on the same day, and prepared to advance up the Luray
Valley. Jackson, aware of these movements on his flanks, and finding that
Banks had got his troops across the Potomac, immediately began to
retire. The emergency required all his skill and activity. In a few
hours, the forces of McDowell and Fremont, advancing on both
flanks, would form a junction and close the door behind him. On the
29th, he sent back his trains and prisoners. On the morning of the
3Qth, his advance left camp and reached Middletown at night. On
Saturday morning he was in Strasburg, his train having previously
passed through. On the same day, Ewell, with the rear-guard which
had been threatening Harper's Ferry to the last moment, marched
thirty-four miles and encamped at Middletown. The corps of Fre
mont, having made a long forced march over bad roads without means
of transportation, were not in a condition to press the -enemy who was
thus slipping off. On Sunday, June 1st, Jackson turned fiercely upon
Fremont's advance under Milroy, which, after six or eight hours' can
nonade, fell back, exhausted of ammunition. During this combat,
Jackson's main column was filing to the rear. On Monday morning,
June 2d, Milroy having been re-enforced by Blenker and part of Bay
ard's Brigade, of McDowell's Corps, pushed on to Strasburg, but found
it evacuated. Jackson was already near Woodstock. The Union ad
vance overtook the rear-guard under Ewell at about on mile and a
half from Strasburg. The enemy occupied a strong position, well de
fended by artillery, and a cannonade of some hours produced no
marked results. In the afternoon; Ewell retreated through Wood
stock, closely pursued by Fremont's advance, which reached Mount
Jackson on the afternoon of the 5th, driving out the enemy's pickets.
The pursuit of our cavalry was delayed by the removal of a few planks
from a little bridge just outsideithe town, which gave the enemy's
pickets time to cross the river, about a mile distant, and fire the bridge
behind them.
The rear-guard of the enemy, about three thousand men, drew lip
on a hill a mile or so from the river, resting there with provoking cool
ness. They put a section of artillery into position, and threw two or
three shells at us, which fell short. We returned, the fire with howit
zers and Parrott guns, but without reaching them or disturbing their
equanimity.

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 275
A pontoon bridge, replacing the bridge burnt by the enemy, was
completed, and part of General Fremont's force crossed June 4th, and
at two o'clock on the 7th reached Harrisonburg, on the heels of the
retiring enemy. A cavalry force was sent forward to reconnoitre. It
was met by a sharp encounter of infantry, resulting in a repulse of the
First New Jersey Cavalry and the capture of Colonel Wyndham.
General Bayard was sent forward to support the cavalry, and his at
tack was successful, driving out the enemy, and capturing his camp
and stores. The Pennsylvania " Buektail " Regiment suffered severely
in this encounter, being driven back with a loss of fifty-five, among
them its Lieutenant-Colonel Kane, who was wounded and captured.
General Fremont made the following report of the affair : —
" Head-Quarters, Army in the Pieid, Harrisonburg, )

fy 1862 — 9 p. m.
¦' Hon. E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War:
"The attack upon the enemy's rear, of yesterday, precipitated his retreat. Their
loss in killed and wounded was very severe. ' •
" Their retreat is by an almost impassable road, along which many wagons were
left in the woods, and wagon-loads of blankets, clothing, and other equipments are
piled up in all directions.
"During the evening, many of the rebels were killed by shells from a battery of
General Stahl's Brigade.
" General Ashby, who covered the retreat with his whole cavalry force, and three
regiments of infantry, and who exhibited admirable skill and audacity, was among the
killed. ,
"" General Milroy made a reconnoissance to-day, about seven miles on the Port Be-
public road, and discovered a portion of the enemy's forces encamped in the timber.
(Signed) "J. C. Fremont, Major- General."
The reported death of Ashby fortunately proved no delusion. On
the 8th, the pursuit was renewed, and seven miles beyond Harrison
burg the enemy was discovered posted in a wood, at a place called
Cross Keys, five miles from the river at Port Republic, where there
was a bridge, over which lay the line of the enemy's retreat, and which
it was the business of Shields's Corps, coming up the Luray Valley, to
destroy. When the position of the enemy was descried, the Union
troops were formed on a line of two miles, General Schenck on the
right, General Milroy in the centre, Blenker on the left, with the bri
gades of Stahl and Bayard in reserve. In this order they advanced
down into the valley and up the slopes, where the enemy were posted.
The left became first engaged, and, after being rather severely handled,
retired to a stronger position. The right encountered the most stren
uous efforts to turn its flank, but resisted with heroic resolution against
all the assaults of the enemy. With the approach of night, the com
bat ceased. The troops encamped on the field, the Union troops biv
ouacking where they first formed line. The enemy, who had previous
ly sent his trains forward, decamped during the night, and by ten
' o'clock the next morning, which was foggy, he had crushed Shields's ad
vance, passed the bridge, and burned it. The Union loss in the aflair
was one hundred and twenty-five killed, five hundred wounded and
missing. General Fremont's report was as follows : —

276 HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.

" Head-Quarters, Mountain Department, }
"Port Republic June 9 — 12 m. )
('To Hon. Edw,in M. Stanton, Secretary of War
" There w,as no collision with the enemy after dark last. nigh);. This morning we re
newed the march against him, entering the woods in battle order, his cavalry appear
ing on our flank's. General Blenker had the left, General Milroy the right, and
General Schenck the centre, with a Teserve of General Stahl's Brigade and General
Bayard's. The enemy was found to be in 'full retreat on Port Republic, and our ad
vance found his rear-guard barely across the river, and the bridge in flames. Our ad
vance came in so suddenly that some of his officers, remaining on this.side, escaped
With the loss of their horses.
" A cannonading during the forenoon! apprised us of an engagement, and I am in
formed here that Jackson attacked General Shields this morning, and, after a severe
engagement, drove him down the river, and is now in pursuit. I have sent an officer
with a detachment of cavalry, to open, communication with General Shields.
" This morning, detachments were occupied in searching the grounds covered by
yesterday's action at Cross Keys, for our remaining dead and wounded. I am not yet
fully infprmed, but think that one hundred and twenty-five wiE cover our lost in killed,
and five hundred that in wounded. The enemy's loss we cannot clearly ascertain. He
was engaged during the night carrying off his dead and wounded in wagons. This
morning, on our march, upwards of two hundred of his dead were counted in one field,
the greater part badly mutilated by cannon-shot. Many of his dead were also scattered
through the woods, and many had been already buried, A number of prisoners had
been taken during the pursuit.
" I regret to have lost many good officers. General Stahl's Brigade was in the hot
test part of the field, which was the left wing. Prom the beginning of the fight, the
brigade lost in officers five killed and seventeen wounded ; and one of his regiments
alone — the Eighth New York — has buried sixty-five. The Garibaldi Guard, next after,
suffered most severely, and following this regiment, the Forty-fifth New York,' the
Bucktail Rifles, of General Bayard's and General Milroy's brigades. One of the Buck'
tail companies has lost all of its officers, commissioned and non-commissioned.
" The loss in General Schenck's Brigade was less, although he inflicted severe loss
on the enemy, principally by artillery fire.
" Of my staff, I lost a good officer killed, Captain Nicholas Dnnnka.
" Many horses were killed in our batteries, which the enemy repeatedly attempted to
take, but were repulsed by canister fire generally.
"I feel myself permitted to say that all our troops, by their1 endurance of this severe
march, and their splendid- conduct in the battle, are entitled to the Presidents com
mendations, and the .officers throughout behaved with great gallantry and efficiency,
which requires that 1 should make particular mention of them, and which, I trust,
will receive the particular notice of the President as soon as possible. I will send in
a full report, but in this respect I am unable to make any more particular distinction
than that pointed out in, the description of the battle. Respectfully,
" J. C. Psbhont, Major-General Commanding."
" Head-Quarters, Mountain Department, )
" Harrisonburg, Ya., June 10. V
" Hon, E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War :
"In my dispatch of yesterday, I omitted to state that Colonel Cluseret's Brigade,
consisting 'of the Sixtieth Ohio and Eighth Virginia, afterwards supported by the Garv
baldi Guard, formed our advance, and commenced the battle of Cross Keys by sharp
skirmishing, at nine o'clock in the morning. During the day they obtained possession
of the enemy's ground, which was disputed foot by foot, and' only withdrew at even
ing, when ordered to retire to a suitable position for the night.
" The sTriliand gallantry displayed by Cluseret, on this and frequent former occasions
during the pursuit in which 'we have been engaged, deserve high praise. '
" Respectfully,
(Signed) ,•,'•.-.¦•¦¦-, "J. G. 'EsEUom, Major- General"

HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 277
While Fremont was thus pressing Jackson in the valley west of the
Massanutten Mountains, Shields's Division, forming the advance of Mc
Dowell, had been pushing through the Luray Valley, but, as we have
seen, too late to shut the upper door of the valley at Port Republic,
as Fremont had been too late to shut that at Strasburg. On the 31st,
a part of the division reached Front Royal under Bayard, and joined
Fremont's forces. On June 1st, the division of Ord, composed of
Ricketts's and Hartpfferd's Brigades, arriyed, and found there a detach
ment of Shields's Division, the main portion of which had already
marched up the valley^
While Shields's advance joined Fremont, his main body kept along
the south fork of the Shenandoah River, the. leading brigade being
under command of Colonel Carroll. At six o'clock on Sunday morn
ing, June Sth, the advance reached Port Republic. Colonel Carroll
at once rode into the town, and, after a sharp skirmish, captured an
aide of General Jackson. He determined to hold the bridge instead of
burning it. At this time the battle was in progress at Cross Keys.
At night, General Tyler, with the Third Brigade and, twelve guns,
arrived and took command. In the morning it was proposed, under
cover of the fog, which was very heavy, to burn the bridge, but it was
deemed impossible. When the fog cleared away, at six o'clock, it
appeared that the enemy had, in the night, planted twenty guns, over
looking the place. From these he opened with great energy. A line of
battle was formed ; Carroll on the right, Tyler on the left. The enemy,.
now1 coming from Cross Keys, which they had left in the night, with
an overwhelming charge drove back Tyler's force. After sustaining a
severe struggle' against overwhelming numbers until ten o'clock, Tyler
ordered a retreat, Carroll covering the rear. The enemy pressed:
heavily on the broken columns, which fell into disorder, and retired
rapidly, closely pushed by Jackson, who had burned the bridge to pre
vent being followed by Fremont. While these events were taking
place* the brigade of Kimball was twenty-five miles distant, at Colum
bia Bridge, and that of Ferry still farther in the rear, and, therefore,
not within supporting distance. After a retreat of ten miles, the
weary column met Shields advancing to its relief, and five miles farther
the rest of his command was met, when the whole retired upon Luray,
and Fremont retired upon Mount Jackson.
On the 26th"of May, Colonel Miles, who occupied Harper's Ferry,
sent forward a battalion to re-enforce Banks at Winchester, but Banks
had then reached Williamsport, and the troops returned to Harper's
Ferry, the command of which was assumed the same day by General
Saxton, whose force was raised to about seven thousand strong through
the arrival of re-enforcements. With these General Saxton occupied
Bolivar and Maryland Heights, and sent a small force to reconnoitre
Loudon Heights, where a force of the'enemy was reported. The com
mand of Ewell, forming the advance of Jackson, was kept; very active,
and demonstrated as if to cross into Maryland, while preparations
were made for a retreat, which began on Saturday, May 81st, and was
pushed thirty-four miles to Middletown the same night, as has been
previously related. Towards noon on the same day, a reconnoitring

278 HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
party, sent forward by Saxton, discovered, that the bird had flown, but
General Saxton did not deem it prudent to follow. On Monday, June
2d, General Sigel assumed command at Harper's Ferry, and proceeded
to organize his force, for which many regiments had been recruited.
Considerable delay occurred in the forwarding of these regiments, and
Sigel remained inactive, while General Banks was exerting himself to
recuperate his shattered column. Fremont, when he fell back to
Mount Jackson, formed his line across the valley from the Massanutten
Mountain, with his right on North Mountain, south of Mill Creek.
The lines of the enemy were five miles distant. Complaints were
made against the conduct of Fremont's troops, particularly thqse of
Blenker's Division, whose destructive propensities distinguished neither
friend nor foe. General Fremont, therefore, on the 13th of June,
issued an address, denouncing "the excesses and wanton outrages
upon property. There seems," he said, " to be an organized band of
stragglers and plunderers who precede and follow the army, having
outrage and plunder for their especial occupation." He ordered that
all parties detected in these outrages should be shot.
The enemy were now once more receiving re-enforcements, and
Mount Jackson, exposed on either flank, being no longer tenable,
Fremont fell back to Strasburg, where extensive fortifications were
erected. vThe force in the valley was now, June 20th, well concen
trated. Fremont at Strasburg, Banks at Middletown, and Sigel a few
miles east of it, on the hill towards Front Royal. Shields was again
on his way to Fredericksburg with McDowell's Corps, the valley
dangers being now, it was supposed, passed. The first brigade of
Williams's Division, formerly commanded by Donnelly, was now under
General Crawford, who had been assistant-surgeon at Fort Sumter
under Anderson. The brigade was disposed on the road from Win
chester to Front Royal, replacing Kenly' s, which had been destroyed
in the Confederate advance in May. There had been, when the Union
troops followed Jackson up the valley, a large accumulation of stores
at Front Royal; the threatening appearance of the enemy now in
duced the- withdrawal of those stores, which were sent to Winchester.
In this position of affairs, a new change was made in the command of
the department. On June 23d it was ordered that the forces under
Major-Generals Fremont, Banks, and McDowell should be consolidated
into one army, called the Army of Virginia, and Major-General' Pope
was especially assigned, by the President, to the chief command'. The
forces under General Fremont constituted the First Army Corps, to
be commanded by General Fremont. The forces under General Banks
constituted the Second Army Corps, to be commanded by him. The
forces under General McDowell constituted the Third Army Corps, to
be oommanded by him.
The order was received in camp June 26th, and Fremont, under
whom Pope had served in Missouri, unwilling to be commanded by a
junior officer, asked to be relieved of his command, and this request
was promptly granted iu the following order : —
, , . ¦ ';War Department, June 27, 1862.
" Major-General John C. Fremont having requested to be relieved from the com-

HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 279
mand of the First Army Corps of the Army of Virginia, because, as he says, the posi
tion assigned him" by the appointment of Major-General Pope as Commander-in-Chief
of the Army of Virginia is subordinate and inferior to those heretofore held by him,
and to remain in the subordinate command now assigned would, as he says, largely
reduce his rank and consideration in the service.
" It is ordered that Major-General John C. Fremont be relieved from command.
"Second, that Brigadier-General Rufus King be, and he is hereby assigned to the
command of the First Army Corps of the Army of Virginia, in place of General Fre
mont, relieved; " By order of the President.
"Edwin M. Stasios,. Secretary of War."
¦ i
On the receipt of this dispatch, General Fremont turned over his
command to Brigadier-General Schenck, and left for New York.
General King declined the command of the First Corps, preferring, to
remain with his division, and General Sigel was assigned to the com
mand. This brief campaign of Jackson in the Shenandoah Valley at once
made his name famous in America and Europe, and, by preventing the
junction of McDowell with McClellan, had ,a most important influence
upon the operations before Richmond. In all probability it saved that
city for the time being, and paved the way for disaster to the Union
arms. Jackson himself, after giving his troops a few days' much-
needed rest, moved towards Richmond, where we shall presently see
him, at a critical moment, overwhelming the Union right wing by a
flank attack

CHAPTKR XXIV.
Continued Operations against Richmond.— Combat of June 25th. — McClellan's Dis
patch. — MechaniBsville. — Gaines's Mills. — Change of Base to the James River. —
White Oak Swamp. — Malvern Hill. — McClellan Addresses the Troops. — Jefferson
Davis's Address. — Close of Campaign. — Causes of Failure.
It will be remembered that the concentrated attack upon General
Casey's Corps at Fair Oaks took place May 31st, being the same day
on which Jackson, having driven Banks across the Potomac, com
menced his retreat up the Valley of thelShenandoah before the com
bined forces of Fremont and McDowell, who had been sent to the
succor of Banks. In fact, McDowell's advance had reached Front
Royal' on the same day that Casey was attacked at Fair Oaks. It
appears, then, that while McClellan was feeling his way towards Mc
Dowell at Fredericksburg, by extending his right to the north pf Rich
mond, and had reached within a few miles of the latter's left, Jackson,
by his rapid advance up the valley, created an alarm at Washington,
which resulted in hurrying McDowell, from the aid of McClellan, into
the valley, which he reached on the same day that a vigorous attack
upon McClellan's left compelled him to weaken his right. The two
armies that were upon the point of junction were thus violently drawn
asunder in opposite directions. The retreat of Jackson disengaged
McDowell, who returned to Fredericksburg, when McCalFs Division
was, June 6thj detached from him and sent to McClellan. The com?

280 HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
mand of Fortress Monroe having been restored to him, he drew thence
some six thousand men. Jackson, having escaped from the valley
might be expected to re-enforce Lee at Richmond.
General McClellan wrote to the Secretary of War, June 2d :—
" The enemy attacked in force and with great spirit yesterday morning, but are
everywhere most signally repulsed with great loss. Our troops charged frequently on
both days, and uniformly broke the enemy. The result is, that our left is within four
miles of Richmond. I only wait for the river to fall to cross with the rest of the force
and make a general attack. Should I find them holding firm in a very strong position,
I may wait for what troops I can bring up from Fortress Monroe. But the morale of
my troops is now such that I can venture much. I do not fear for odds against me.
The victory is complete, and all credit is due to the gallantry of our officers and men."
On the 8th of June, General McClellan telegraphed : " I shall be
in pferfect readiness to move forward and take Richmond the moment
that McCall reaches here, and the ground will admit the passage of
artillery." On the 10th or llth of June, McCall's troops commenced
arriving at the White House. There arrived also two regular United
States batteries from Fredericksburg, and a regular cavalry regiment
from Fortress Monroe. The enemy, after the battle of Fair Oaks,
busied himself in multiplying fortifications around Richmond, and in
extending them towards the Union lines. A double row of earth
works gradually rose in front of the Union lines on the west of the
Chickahominy. The army of McClellan was also busy with the spade, arid continued
gradually to close the circle. Every advance movement of the pickets
was obstinately resisted by the enemy. By the 13th June there were
nine bridges across the Chickahominy, and the pickets of the whole
line made daily approaches, carrying forward the trenches and ex
tending the lines of communication with dep&ts at White House.
The first parallel or zigzag extended three miles over hill and through
wood. The left was in an impassable swamp, and the right between
the enemy and the river. Its general course was about four and a
half miles from Richmond. A cannonade was kept up at different
points as the batteries on opposite sides became annoying. West
Point, at the head of York River, was the base where supplies arrived
from the North and from fortress Monroe. From this point vid
White House, the trains ran daily to the supply depots at the front,
from whence hundreds of wagons came and went continuallyto dis
tribute food to the brigades and regiments. The accommodation for
this immense work was limited at West Point, and the utmost reg
ularity was required to prevent delay, which would occasion great
suffering to the troops.
The enemy, meantime, were not idle. It being determined to re
connoitre the rear of the Federal position, General Stuart, with a con
siderable force of cavalry and two guns of the flying artillery, started
from Richmond in the direction of Mechanicsville on June 12th, and
reached Ashland at night. At daybreak of the 13th the march was
resumed, and by noon of the 15th the party completed the circuit of
the Federal position, having passed through Hanover Court-House,
Tunstall's Station, New Kent, across the Chickahominy by the Charles

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 281
City Court-House road and back into the lines, skirmishingly vigor
ously by the way. They claimed to have destroyed two hundred laden
wagons, and a large amount of army stores, &c, losing but one man.
The Union loss was estimated at several hundred thousand dollars.
The information gained by the raid was necessary to a projected attack
upon the Union lines, and the whole occurrence caused great sensation
at the North.
The enemy were now organizing and concentrating their troops in
great force. The conscripts under the act of April 15 were coming
freely into camp, and every effort was made to give them consistence
and to inspirit them for the work before them. To this end General
Longstreet issued the following proclamation : —
"Head-Quartebs Right Wing, ),
"Army before Richmond, June 11, 1862. J
"Soldiers: — You have marched out to fight the battles of your country, and by
those battles must you be rescued from the shame of slavery. Your foes have de
clared their purpose of bringing you to beggary ; and avarice, their national character
istic, incites them to redoubled efforts for the conquest of the South, in order that
they may seize your sunny fields and happy homes. Already has the hatred of one
of their great leaders attempted to make the negro your equal by declaring his free
dom. They care not for the blood of babes nor carnage of innocent women which
servile insurrection thus stirred up may bring upon their heads. Worse than this, the
North has sent forth another infamous chief, encouraging the lust of his hirelings to
the dishonor and violation of those Southern women who have so untiringly labored
to clothe our soldiers in the field and nurse our sick and wounded. If ever men were
called upon to defend the beloved daughters of their country, that now is our duty.
Let such thoughts nerve you up to the most dreadful shock of battle, for were it
certain death, death would be better than the fate that defeat would entail upon us
all. But remember though the fiery noise of the battle is indeed most terrifying, and
seems to threaten universal ruin, it is not so destructive as it seems, and few soldiers
after all are slain. This the commanding general desires particularly to impress upon
the fresh and inexperienced troops who now constitute a part of this command. Let
officers and men, even under the most formidable fire, preserve a quiet demeanor and
self-possessed temper. Keep cool, obey orders, and aim low. Remember while you
are doing this, and driving the encsny before you, your comrades may be relied on to
support you on either side, and are in turn relying upon you. Stand well to your
duty, and when these clouds break away, as they surely will, the bright sunlight of
peace falling upon our free, virtuous, and happy land, will be a sufficient reward for
the sacrifices which we are now called upon to make. "James Longstreet,
"Major-General Commanding."
Preparations continued to be made in Washington to send down
by land from Fredericksburg the remainder of General McDowell's
Corps, he being directed to co-operate fully with General McClellan,
but retaining an independent command. This does not appear to have
been in accordance with General McClellan's wishes; for, on the 16th
of June, he telegraphs to the Secretary of War : —
" It ought to be distinctly understood that McDowell and his troops are completely
under my control. I received a telegram from him requesting that McCall's Division
might be placed so as to join him immediately upon his arrival. That request does
not breathe tho proper spirit; whatever troops come to me must be disposed of so
as to do the most good. I do not feel that in Buch circumstances as those in which
I am now placed, General McDowell should wish the general interest to be sacrificed
Cor the purpose of increasing his command. If I cannot fully control his troops, I

282 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
want none of them, but would prefer to fight the battle with what I have, and let
others be responsible for the results."
On the 18th of June, General McClellan telegraphed to the Secretary
of War that he had received information from deserters to the effect
that troops have left Richmond to re-enforce Jackson ; that the move
ment commenced on the 8th ; and that if re-enforcements had gone to
Jackson, they were probably not less than ten thousand men. He
could not, he said, vouch for the truth of the statement, but it was
pretty certainly believed in Richmond and among the rebel troops.
To this the President replied on the same day, that the information
was corroborated by a dispatch from General King at Fredericksburg,
and remarked : " If this is true, it is as good as a re-enforcement to
you of an equal force."
On the same day General McClellan telegraphs to the President; —
"A general engagement. may take place at»any hour. An advance by us involves
a battle more or less decisive. The enemy exhibit at every point a readiness to meet
us. They certainly have great numbers' and extensive works. If ten or fifteen
thousand men have left Richmoud to re-enforce Jackson, it illustrates their strength
and confidence. After to-morrow we shall fight the rebel army as soon as Providence
will permit. We shall await only a favorable condition of the earth and sky, and
the completion of some necessary preliminaries."
The trenches continued to creep gradually towards Richmond ; and
on the 18th a grand review of' the forces was made by General
McClellan, beginning on the left of the army and ending at the right
wing at dark. On the 20th June the left of the army was still at
Fair Oaks, six miles from Richmond. By the returns of General
McClellan to the adjutant-general's office, it appears that on the same
day the Federal army numbered one hundred and fifty-six thousand
eight hundred and thirty-eight men, of whom one hundred and fifteen
thousand one hundred and two were present for duty, twelve thousand
two hundred and twenty-five on special duty, sick, or in arrest, and
twenty-nine thousand five hundred and eleven absent. The nearest
point of the centre was at New Bridge, seven miles by direct road to
the city, and the extreme right at Mechanicsville bridge, four and one
half miles distant. On that day the corps of Franklin crossed the
river, thus placing four of the five army corps on the right or Rich
mond side of the muddy stream. The situation now became critical,
and on both sides there was a growing expectation of the impending
battle. The weather was inclement, and the roads not altogether
favorable for active movements.
The right wing, consisting of McCall's, MorelPs, and Sykes's Divi
sions, comprising Porter's Corps, less than twenty-five thousand strong,
was well posted on the left bank of the Chickahominy, from Beaver
Dam Creek to a point below New Bridge. Several military bridges
formed the avenues of communication between the two portions of
the army separated by the river. The centre, consisting of Slocum's,
Smith's, Sedgwick's, and Richardson's Divisions, comprising Franklin's
and Sumner's Corps, was extended from Golding's farm, about a mile
below New Bridge, on the banks of the river, to a point south of

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 283
the railroad. The left wing, consisting of Hooker's, Kearny's, Peck's
(late Casey's), and Couch's Divisions of Heintzelman's and Keyes's
Corps, stretched from Richardson's left to a point considerably south
of the Williamsburg stage-road, on the borders of White Oak Swamp.
The whole line was protected by strong breastworks and redoubts.
The necessary extent of the line left but few troops for supports.
Peck's depleted division guarded Bottom Bridge and the railway
bridge. .,
The two lines of battle now pressed each other so close on the right
bank of the river, that neither could make a movement without provo
king an attack. On the 25th, however, the pickets on the Williamsburg
road were advanced to what was known as the Fair Oaks farm, Sickles's
Brigade being in the front. The brigade of Sickles, however, being
promptly re-enforced, held the ground gained against the utmost efforts
of the enemy, and the conflict subsided after a severe struggle of two
hours. General McClellan sent the following dispatches in relation to
the affair : — " Redoubt No. 3, June 25^-3.15 p. m.
"Hon. E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War;
" The enemy are making desperate resistance to the advance of our picket lines.
Kearny, and one-half of Hooker's forces, are where I want them. I have this moment
re-enforced Hooker's right with a, brigade and a couple of guns, and hope, in a few
minutes, to finish the work intended for to-day. Our men are behaving splendidly.
The enemy are fighting well also. This is not a battle ; merely an affair of Heintzel
man's Corps, supported by Keyes, and thus far all goes well and we holdievery foot 'we
have gained. If we succeed in what we have undertaken, it will be a very important
advantage gained. Loss not large thus . far. The fighting up to this time has been
done by General Hooker'3 Division, which has behaved as usual, that is, most hand
somely. On our right, Porter has silenced the enemy's batteries in his front.
"G. B. McClellan."
" Redoubt No. 3, June 25 — 5 P. M.
"Hon. E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War: ,
"The affair is now over, and we have gained our point fully, and with but little lass,
notwithstanding the strong opposition. . Our men have done all that oould be desired.
The affair was partially decided by two guns that Captain De Russy brought gallantly
into action under very difficult circumstances. The enemy was driven from his camps
in front of this, and all is now quiet.
(Signed) "G. B. McClellan,
"Major-General Commanding."
s
To this succeeded the following dispatch of the same date, couched
in a somewhat less jubilant vein : — " Redoubt No. 3, June 25—6.15 p. m.
"I have just returned from the field, and find your dispatch in regard to Jackson-
Several contrabands, just in, give information confirming the supposition that Jackson's
advance is at or near Hanover Court-House, and that Beauregard arrived, with strong
re-enforcements, in Richmond yesterday!1 ' I incline to think that Jackson will attack my
right and rear. The rebel force is stated at two hundred thousand, including Jackson
and Beauregard. I shall have to contend against vastly superior odds, if these reports
be true ; but this army will do all in the power of man to hold their position and repulse
an attack. I regret my great inferiority of numbers, but feel that I am in no way re
sponsible for it, as I have not failed to represent, repeatedly, the necessity of re-enforce
ments; that this was the decisive point; and that all the available means of the Gov>
eminent should be concentrated here. I will do all that a general can do with the

284 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
splendid army I have the honor to command; and if it is destroyed by overwhelming
numbers; can at least die withit, and share its fate. But if The result of the action,
which will occur to-morrow, or within a short time, is a disaster, the responsibility can
not be thrown on my shoulders; it must rest where it belongs.
"Since I commenced this, I have received additional intelligence, confirming the sup
position in regard to Jackson's movements, and Beauregard's. I shall probably be
attacked to-morrow, and now go to the other side of the Chickahominy to arrange for
the defence on that side. I feel that there is no use in my again asking for re-enforce
ments. Geo. B. McClellan, Major-General,
" Hon. E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War."
The answer of the President is as follows : —
"Washington, June 26, 1862.
11 Your three dispatches of yesterday, in relation to the affair, ending with the state
ment that you completely succeeded in making your point, are very gratifying.
" The later one of 6£ p. m., suggesting the probability of your being overwhelmed by
two hundred thousand men, and talking of whom the. responsibility will belong to, pains
me very much. I give yon all I can, and act on the presumption that you will do the
best you can with what 3'ou have ; while you continue, ungenerously, I think, to as
sume that I could give you more if I would. I have omitted, I shall omit, no opportu
nity to send you re-enforcements whenever I possibly can. A. Lincoln.
" Major-General McClellan."
This struggle at Fair Oaks farm, on the Williamsburg road, for a
point nearer the enemy on Wednesday, the 25th, was proclaimed as a
a great success. The general, with a sort of exultation, exclaimed,
" The troops are where I want them !" and at the same time he tele
graphed the President that he would be attacked the following day by
two hundred thousand of the enemy.
The pickets of the enemy now gave token of some projected move
ment, thereby increasing the general excitement in relation to an in>
pending battle, and Hooker was ordered to resume his position of the
2.3d. On Thursday, June 26th, at two p. m., the rebel corps of General
A. P. Hill crossed the river, followed by the divisions of Magruder, D.
H. Hill, and Longstreet, who immediately attacked the works held by
McCall on the extreme Federal right.' The affair opened with artillery,
but the enemy soon shortened the range and closed in with great
vigor. The brigades of Meade, Reynolds, and Seymour, of McCalPs
Division, received the shock of the attack with the fortitude and non
chalance of old soldiers. In vain the accumulated masses of artillery
showered death upon these gallant regiments; they replied to the
volleying thunders with a fire equal in fury and destructiveness. This
artillery duel was carried to an extent that had hardly been reached at
any previous period of the war. It then apparently slackened, and
there was a movement among the assailants which indicated an inten
tion to make a general assault, while the Union lines were filled with
rumors that Jackson was on their right flank. In a few minutes the
rebels rushed forward with desperate bravery, but were met with a
fire so cool and well directed, that they recoiled before it. Again and
again they assailed the line with determined courage, but only to.meet
a ruthless slaughter. McCall was now re-enforced by Griffin's and
Martindale's brigades, and with the approaching night the attacks
ceased. Meantime Longstreet, with the brigades of Featherton and

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 285
Pryor in advance, had crossed at Mechanicsville, and marched parallel
with the river for some distance, when they halted for the night.
This movement of the enemy was made in accordance with the de
cision of a council of war, held on the 25th, at which it was deter
mined that Jackson, who had just arrived in the neighborhood of Rich
mond with his command, should move upon the right flank of the
Federal army, while the main body of the rebels made a general and
simultaneous assault upon McClellan's lines. Consequently, while the
action of the 26th was going on, Jackson was marching rapidly through
Ashland and Hanover Court-House to Cold Harbor, where lie could
both flank Porter's troops and threaten the Federal communications
with White House. The raid of Stuart to his rear had already demon
strated to McClellan how readily the latter design could be accom
plished. In view of the large rebel force which he supposed to be in
the vicinity of Richmond, of the rumors regarding the movements of
Jackson, and of the heavy demonstration on the 26th against the Fed
eral right, he now commenced to carry into execution a project which
he had for several days contemplated, and which was nothing less than
to transfer his base of operations, by a flank movement through White
Oak Swamp, to the James River. Three months of campaigning in
the Peninsula had culminated in this movement, which was practically
a confession of failure. •
Accordingly, during the night of the 26th, tents, forage, commissary
stores, &c, were removed across the Chickahominy, and whatever
could not be removed was burned. At daybreak of the 27th the accu
mulated masses of the enemy again moved to the attack in great force,
The brigades of Featherton,, Pryor, and Wilcox advanced on the Union
left, while that of Gregg, carried Ellyson's Mills, menacing the right
flank. The order was therefore given to fall back upon Gaines's Hill.
McCall opened an active cannonade, under cover of which the troops
fell back on two lines to the position assigned. Here a line of battle
was formed some two miles in length, the extreme left on the Chicka
hominy and the right towards Cold Harbor. The front was lined
with, woods, and a ditch through the woods formed the infantry line of
defence. The force was composed of McCall's, Morrell's, and Sykes's
Divisions, with Cook's cavalry brigade, in all about twenty thousand
men, with fourteen batteries, eighty-four pieces. Of these, McCall held
the left, Sykes the centre, and Morrell the right. The ^nemy followed
in three columns, nntjl they reached Hogan's farm, one mile through
the woods to Gaines's Mills. The first attack was made by Pryor, on
Martindale's Brigade, on the left centre, at twelve m. The Fifth New
York were skirmishing in front, and, falling back slowly, were support
ed, and the battle became general at one o'clock. , The line of the
enemy, formed by Wilcox on the right,; Featherton in the centre, and
Pryor on the left, opened fire with great determination along the
whole line, and the battle raged' fiercely for some hours without mate
rial results, until suddenly the guus of Jackson were heard on the ex
treme right, advancing through the 'woods. This column made a
fierce onslaught on our right, threatening the rear, and compelling a
change of front. At the same time the whole line of the enemy ad-

286 HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
vanced,- and as they did so, the play of sixty admirably-served gund
did terrible execution in their ranks. Fresh rebel troops came up, but
met the most determined resistance from Sykes's regulars and Warren's
Brigade, which included the Duryea Zouaves and the Tenth New
Tork. The Zouaves suffered severely in consequence of the conspicuous-
ness of their uniforms. A part of Jackson's corps now formed a junc
tion with Hill's Division, led by the North Carolina regiments. This
formidable combination marched steadily forward, closing up and de
livering their fire with terrible effect. They were met with equal
firmness, and a wild cheer rose as the first volley told upon their
ski-inking line. The pressure was very great, however. The brigade
of Griffin, composed of the Ninth Massachusetts, Fourth Michigan,
Fourteenth New York, Sixty-Second Pennsylvania, stood the brunt of
the attack. In overwhelming numbers, the enemy threw themselves
upon the devoted little band, inflicting terrible slaughter, but it stood
up to the work with a constancy that nothing could shake ; repeatedly
forcing back the rebels, who, re-enforced from Longstreet's corps, rallied
in greater force, and again obtained the advantage. The centre was
gradually weakened in the struggle, while Jackson contined to out
flank us. The loss of the base at West Point was now imminent. This
disaster seemed to McClellan to afford only an additional reason for
cutting loose from York River, and seeking a new base on the James,
under cover of the gunboats. Porter was therefore ordered to hold
on to the last extremity, and the utmost exertions were used to send
off baggage, tents, and munitions towards the left, and to destroy
what could not be moved.
At three o'clock the pressure became so great that re-enforcements
were indispensable. General Taylor's First New Jersey Brigade
crossed at Woodbury Bridge, and at four o'clock formed on the Union
16ft. General Slocum's Division then crossed the Grape Vine Bridge
and proceeded to the right of the line, while the brigades of French
and Meagher followed and took position on the left. The Union force
Was now upward of thirty thousand men, but was still outnumbered
two or three to one, by the advancing foe. At about five o'clock, the
enemy massed for a final attack upon the left of the line, held by But
terfield and Martindale. Brigade after brigade was hurled upon them
with ceaseless force and determination, but was met with the resistance
of men Who Were there to do or die. Suddenly the enemy broke
through Martindale's left, and rapidly attempted to encircle and cap
ture Butterfield's Brigade. The line was now fast giving way, and
the crowds of men making towards the river momentarily increased.
There was no recourse but to cut their way through to the river, and
McGall's troops, exhausted by two days' fight, thus fell back, the cen
tre and right following the movement. The withdrawal of the. infan
try supports uncovered several batteries, which became a prey to the
enemy. T(ie enemy, elated, pressed the retiring columns so hard that
near the river a hew line was , formed to cover the crossing, by the
brigades of Meagher and Fretich. The effect was to stop the crowd
of stragglers. The enemy followed in solid column, and when within
one hundred yards of the Union line received a biting fire of canister

HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 287
from the guns of Griffin and Martin. This, with the approach of night,
caused the pursuit to slacken, and the army effected the passage in
good order, blowing up the four bridges by which they had crossed. The
losses in this great battle were severe on both sides, the enemy prob
ably suffering the most in killed and wounded. The Federals were
obliged, however;, to abandon their wounded and the sick in the hospi
tals, besides losing a number of prisoners, cannon, and small arms.
Meantime, the cavalry division of General Stoneman, on the 26th, pro
ceeded to the right to reconnoitre the movements of Jackson, who was
threatening the Federal communications. He took post at Old Church
and Hanover Comers, and at noon of the 27th, during the battle, re
ceived orders to fall back upon White House. He arrived there on
the 28th, and destroyed all the Government stores that had not already
been placed on the transports for Fortress Monroe. He then burned
the White House, and embarked a part of his force on transports for
Harrison's Landing, James River, via Fortress Monroe. The remain
der went down the Peninsula, to the latter place. The enemy occu
pied Gaines's Hill in force, and threatened to cutoff the retreat by
Bottom's Bridge. They also sent a force in the direction of White
House, which it reached at seven p. M., but found all public property
destroyed. At night a council of war was held at the head-quarters of McClellan.
The evacuation of the north side of the river, the general urged,
aocompanied by great loss, involved the abandonment of the base on
York River, and the utmost energy of movement to reach the James
River. The enemy had turned our right, evidently outnumbering us
in great disproportion, was too strong in the front for us to break
through, and was in position to crush us, in front and rear— and per
haps intended to strike on our left flank. Apparently his army was
numerous enough for such a combination. These representations had,
weight, and renewed orders were issued on Friday night for the
wagons to start on their way to the James River. Siege pieces, pon
toons, ambulances, batteries, prolonged1 the winding procession over
the hills to White Oak Swamp. The retrograde movement thus really
begun Friday evening, but did not swell into full proportions till night
fall, of the next day. Saturday morning, the 28th, it was generally
known that the army was to evacuate its line of intrenchments. To
do this with the necessary celerity in the face of the enemy, nothing
but the most essential baggage could be carried. In order to preserve
the morale of the army as far as possible^ and insure supplies of am
munition and subsistence, it was determined to carry through all the
wagons loaded, and the ambulance train— making a mighty caravan-
vastly increased by artillery trains. There was but one narrow road to
pursue. It struck almost due south from.the. Williamsburg road through
White Oak Swamp to the Charles City road, into which it debouches
about eight miles from Turkey Bend, in James River. The course then
lay up the latter road towards Richmond, where it met the Quaker road.
which terminated in the New Market road, leading from Richmond!
The James was but a short distance south, and Malvern Hill— a lofty
bluff, overlooking the river, and commanding the surrounding country—.

288 HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
was the immediate goal of the army. Although the single road was a
narrow funnel for such a mighty torrent of trains and men, fortunately it
was smooth and dry, and had the advantage of passing through White
Oak Swamp, which might in some degree be relied upon to protect the
flanks. There was great danger that the enemy might cut us off by mov
ing columns down the Charles City, Central, or New Market roads, or all
three, but these chances were necessarily accepted. General McClellan
acted upon the supposition that the enemy would not guess his determi
nation until he was able to defeat their movements. At all events, he
considered that it was the only hopeful course, because the enemy was.
watching for him on the left bank of the Chickahominy. The division.
of General Smith occupied, on the extreme right, a line of breastworks
and redoubts, which partly commanded New Bridge and Old Town,
now held by the enemy. At seven o'clock p. m. of the 27th, a Georgia
brigade, under Toombs, attacked the position, but were repulsed after
an hour's hard struggle. At eight o'clock the next morning, Colonel
Lamar, of the Seventh Georgia, led a new attack upon the redoubt at
Golding's farm, but with no better success. General Smith obstinately
maintained his ground, while arrangements were being made to start
the trains with all that could be carried to James River. The amount
of stores that could be saved was not large, and immense quantities
were destroyed by fire, particularly at Fair Oaks, and many car-loads
of ammunition were sunk in the river. Some wounded soldiers had
been hurried off by cars to White House, until the morning of the 28th,
when the enemy were reported at Dispatch Station. The railroad
bridge was then destroyed, and the wounded notified to make for
James River as best they could. Those who could walk limped away,
and those who could not (about 2,500) were left to the enemy, a flag
being displayed over the hospital, which was established at Savage's,
a station on the railroad, about midway between Fair Oaks and the
river. Thus passed away Saturday, the 28th, the enemy, whose chief
force was massed on the left bank of the Chickahominy, being ap
parently uncertain what course McClellan would next pursue.
General Franklin was ordered to hold his position on the Chicka
hominy until the trains had passed. He did so, and at daylight on
Sunday, the 29th, fell back, following the train. At 3 a. m. on Sunday,
Heintzelman, having relieved the outposts, obeyed the order to aban
don the redoubts, and fell back from Savage's to White Oak Swamp.
Eeyes's Corps had, on the previous day, moved off across the White
Oak Swamp, to cover the right flank and form the advance of the,
army in the retreat. Sumner left the front at daylight of the 29th,
had a sharp engagement at Peach Orchard with a body of the enemy
advancing from Richmond along the Williamsburg road, in which the
latter was signally repulsed, and in the afternoon joined Franklin at
Savage's. Here, at 4 p. m„ the two corps were overtaken by the main
rebel force, which, having fathomed the intention of McClellan, had re
built the bridges destroyed by Porter, crossed the Chickahominy, and
followed rapidly on the traces of the retreating army. A severe
battle, lasting until nightfall, ensued, in which the rebels were again
checked^ and the Federal troops remained in possession of the field.

HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 280
The position of affairs admitted of no long pause at this point, how
ever, and scarcely had the enemy been beaten off than Sumner and
Franklin took up the march for White Oak Swamp, leaving behind a
number of prisoners, all their dead and wounded, and the inmates of
the hospitals.
The trains, meanwhile, were pushing on to the James, along a road
leading by a long circuit to Turkey Bend, and which was unobstructed
by the enemy. They were convoyed by portions of Keyes's and Por
ter's Corps, and reached the James River early Monday morning, the
30th, soon after which General McClellan arrived and took possession
of Malvern Hill, previously described as a strong position, capable of
a vigorous defence.
Meantime, Heintzelman had been closely pressed by Longstreet and
Hill down the road to Charles City, while Jackson, on the right bank
of the Chickahominy, was repairing Bottom Bridge to come in on our
right. On the morning of Monday, the 30th, all the troops and all the
trains were safely across White Oak Bridge on the way to the James
River. Franklin, with his own corps and one of Sumner's divisions,
remained to guard the bridge, in front of which the enemy, under
Jackson, had commenced to arrive, while Heintzelman's Corps, Sum
ner's remaining division, and McCall's Division were distributed in front
of the roads leading from Richmond. A heavy cannonade was main
tained during the day between Jackson and Franklin, but the enemy
gained no ground in that quarter, and after nightfall the Federal troops
retired securely toward the river. With Heintzelman's and Sumner's
troops, however, the case was very different. The country in that re
gion is a swampy forest, dottea with clearings, having an area of fifty
to one hundreds acres each. The Union artillery was posted in the
woods, on the skirts of these clearings, and as the enemy approached
near the openings thus commanded, their losses were heavy. They,
however, pressed on with great vigor until within musket range, when
the Union line delivered a staggering fire which brought them to a
sudden halt. The conflict ^became now in the last degree terrible.
The enemy was exposed point blank to the devouring fire of the double
massed Union troops, and a cross fire from batteries admirably served.
The air was filled with the shrieking missiles of deathr-^the bursting
shells and deep volleys of distant guns ; every moment had its peculiar
sound of terror, and every spot its ghastly horror. The enemy stood
firmly to the work, although the weight of the Union artillery was
evidently too much for(him. Some fresh troops, now arriving, poured
in such a volley as apparently decided the affair for the night, and
General Hill withdrew from the conflict. It was now half-past ten.
The enemy had been arrested, and the fight — one of the most stub
bornly contested that had occurred — ended to the manifest advantage
of the Federals. But in a few moments the tired troops were again
called to arms. At 11 o'clock, Magruder's Corps, of some eight bri
gades, coming direct from Richmond, the advance under II. A. Wise,
suddenly appeared at Charles City cross roads, on the Union left, flank
ing it, and capturing fifteen guns. This attack, had it occurred three
hours earlier, according to Magruder's instructions, might have proved
19

290 HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
serious. The corps of Porter and Keyes, that had reached James
River early in the morning, were ordered back to Malvern Hill to re
sist the enemy, who was approaching amid a terrific cannonade under
cover of the woods, and in great force. But the enemy were now
within range of the gunboats, which moved as near as practicable, and
opened with their heavy guns. The shells fell thick along the edge of
the wood, where the enemy was lodged. The firing became more
vigorous, and raged with great fury along the whole front. Heintzel
man's Corps was then formed in line, and the gunboats being signalled
to cease fire, it executed a charge which compelled the enemy to give
ground, and won the James River for the army as a base. This en
gagement is known as the Battle of Glendale, or Nelson's Farm.
The tent of General McClellan was pitched upon the banks of the
river, near Turkey Bend, and he here wrote dispatches for the Govern
ment, which he sent off by his aides, the Duke de Chartres and the
Count de Paris, who here took leave of the service, and, with the
Prince de Joinville, embarked on board the " Stepping Stones."
On Tuesday, July 1, the last of this series of battles was fought
upon Malvern Hill. The ground is there for the most part open and
undulating, and along its sloping sides the Union troops, during the
night of the 30th, took up a strong position to receive the anticipated
attack oi the enemy on the following day. The corps of Keyes occu
pied the extreme right, and next in order came Franklin, Sumner,
Heintzelman, Couch's Division, detached from Keyes, with Porter on
the extreme left. It was not until 3 o'clock that the skirmishers of
the enemy engaged and drove in those of Couch's Division, and a hot
engagement took place, without material results. Later in the after
noon some field-pieces were brought forward, but they were silenced
by the batteries of Hooker and Kearny. This cannonade was fol
lowed by a most determined attempt to force the positions of Porter
and Couch, and turn the right. The efforts of the enemy became more
desperate as night approached, and the battle was fairly maintained
until dark, when they drew back with fearful loss, and in so utterly
demoralized a condition that any thing like a show of pursuit would
probably have driven them in qonfusion into Richmond. In the night,
orders were issued for the troops to retire seven miles to Harrison's
Landing, the position at Malvern being considered untenable.
The night was very dark ; and so much confusion took place among
the retreating troops, that numbers of the wounded were abandoned.
The position of the army was now, July 2, seventeen miles southeast of
Richmond by land, and fifty miles by water. It was five miles below
City Point, occupied a space five miles on the river and three miles
broad, entirely protected by the gunboats, and was well suited for
defence. Thus from tho evening of June 25th, when General McClel
lan telegraphed that the affair was over and the troops " where I want /
them," the army had retreated to the James in six days of almost
continual fighting, and had met serious losses of men, munitions, and
stores. The base of the army, with all its advantages, on York River,
had been lost, and the cover of the gunboats on James River gained
by the most incredible devotion, endurance, and valor of the troops :

HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 291
these qualities were recognized by the general in his address to the
troops : — GENERAL m'cLELLAn's ADDRESS TO HIS SOLDIERS.
" Head-Quarters, Army op the Potomac, )
" Camp near Harrison's Landing, July 4, 1862. j
" Soldiers of the Army op the Potomac 1 — Your achievements of the last ten
days have illustrated the valor and endurance of the American soldier. Attacked by
superior forces, and without hope of re-enforcements, you have succeeded in changing
your base of operations by a flank movement, always regarded as the most hazardous
of military expedients. You have saved all your material, all your trains, and all your
guns, except a few lost in battle, taking, in return, guns and colors from tho enemy.
Upon your march you have been assailed day after day with desperate fury, by men
of the same race and nation, skilfully massed and led. Under every disadvantage of
number, and necessarily of position also, you have in every conflict beaten back your
foes with enormous slaughter. Tour conduct ranks you among the celebrated armies
of history. No one will now question that each of you may always with pride say,
' I belong to the Army of the Potomac.' You have reached the new base, complete
in organization and unimpaired in spirit. The enemy may at any time attack you.
We are prepared to meet them. I have, personally established your lines. Let them
come, and we will convert their repulse into a final defeat. Your Government is
strengthening you with the resources of a great people. On this, our nation's birth
day, we declare to our foes, who are rebels against the best interests of mankind, that
this army shall enter the capital of the so-called confederacy ; that Our National Con
stitution shall prevail ; and that the Union, which can alone insure internal peace, and
external security to each State, ' Must and shall be preserved,' cost what it may in
time, treasure, and blood. George B. McClellan."
The aggregate of Federal losses from the 26th of June to the 1st
of July, inclusive, was stated by General McClellan as follows : —
Killed. Wounded. Missing. Aggregate.
McCall's Division  253 1,200 1,581 3,074
Sumner's Corps  137 1,476 848 2,111
Heintzelman's Corps  189 1,051 833 2,073
Keyes's "  60 507 201 777
Porter's "  620 2,460 1,191 4,278
Franklin's "  245 1,313 1,179 2,737
Engineers  — 2 21 23
Cavalry  19 60 97 176
1,582 7,709 5,958 15,249
The losses of the enemy in these engagements were very large, but
were not publicly announced. Jefferson Davis, on the 8th July, made
the following address to the troops ; —
"To the Army in Eastern Yirginia:
"Soldiers: — I congratulate you on the series of brilliant victories which, under
the favor of Divine Providence, you have lately won; and, as the President of the
Confederate States, do heartily tender to you the thanks of the country, whose just
cause you have so skilfully and heroically served. Ten days ago an invading army,
vastly superior to you in numbers and in the material of war, closely beleaguered your
capital and vauntingly proclaimed its speedy conquest; you marched to attack the
enemy in his entrenchments; with well-directed movements and death-defying valor
you charged upon him in his strong positions, drove him from field to field over a dis
tance of more than thirty-five miles, and, despite his re-enforcements, compelled him to
seek shelter under the cover of his gunboats, where he now lies cowering before the
army so lately derided and threatened with entire subjugation.

292 HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
"The fortitude with which you have borne toil and privation, the gallantry with
which you have entered into each successive battle, must have been witnessed to
be fully appreciated; but a grateful people will not fail to recognize you and to bear
you in loved remembrance. , Well may it be said of you, that you have ' dono enough
for glory ; ' but duty to a suffering country and to the eause of constitutional liberty,
claims from you yet further effort. Let it be your pride to relax in nothing which
can promote your future efficiency ; your one great object being to drive the invader
from your soil, and, carrying your standards beyond the outer boundaries of the Con
federacy, to wring from an unscrupulous foe the recognition of your birthright, com
munity, independence. (Signed) "Jefferson Davis."
The campaign of the Peninsula was thus virtually closed. The
troops indeed remained at Harrison's Landing sdme weeks longer,
but without hope of renewing the attack upon Richmond. We may
recall the leading events of the spring advance in Virginia. This
had been in four columns, under Fremont, Banks, McDowell, and
McClellan. The two first mentioned had made considerable progress,
and at the date of the fall of Yorktown, threatened to unite at
Staunton at the head of the valley. From that moment McClellan
gradually advanced up the Peninsula and extended his right to the
north of Richmond to give the hand to McDowell, whose left was
approaching from Fredericksburg. "While McClellan was advancing
up the Peninsula, Jackson came down the valley of the Shenandoah,
driving Fremont's Coi'ps back to the mountains, and Banks's over the
Potomac, and creating so much alarm at Washington that McDowell
was ordered to the valley. He arrived there on the same day that the
left of McClellan under Casey was attacked at Fair Oaks. McClellan,
as we have seen, failed to avail himself of the advantages which that
battle secured to him. The important battle that he had announced
May 25th, was deferred a month, when it was forced upon him by
the enemy, who had then assembled a force, according to General
McClellan, of two hundred thousand men. On the 13th June, instead
of forming a junction with McDowell before Richmond, the division
of McCall and other troops joined him by water, and were assigned
to the extreme right, where, on the 27th, they were overwhelmed by
Jackson, coming from the valley to aid in the main attack upon the
Union line, which,_the entrenchments being turned, was forced back
upon the James River; completely on the defensive. Meantime the
corps of Fremont,. Banks, and McDowell were combined under Pope,
Who menaced Richmond in front, while McClellan was preparing to
evacuate the Peninsula. In all these movements, the bravery, en
durance, and devotion of the Union troops were unsurpassed by any
veteran troops of any age or nation.
It would be premature, perhaps, at the present time to go into any
elaborate inquiry of the causes which led to the lame and impotent
conclusion of a campaign commenced with such high hopes of suc
cess. General McClellan has attributed his failure to the withholding
of re-enforcements by the President, to the diversion of McDowell's
Corps at a time when its co-operation would have insured the capture
of Richmond, and to the unprecedented rainy weather and bad roads
which the army encountered from the moment it landed on the Pea?

HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 293
insula. The reasons for withholding McDowell's Corps have been
fully stated in a previous chapter ; but two of its divisions, Franklin's
and McCall's, numbering twenty-two thousand men, were subsequently
sent to McClellan, in addition to which he received about eleven
thousand men from Baltimore and Fortress Monroe, and, towards the
latter part of June, some five thousand men of Shields's Division,
making, with the army which he carried with him, a total of nearly
one hundred and sixty thousand men in three months. The weaken
ing of McDowell to re-enforce McClellan made it necessary to
strengthen the former by one of Banks's Divisions, and we have seen
how the last-named general thereby became so weak in May as to
be incapable of resisting the advance of Jackson down the Valley of
the Shenandoah. It was doubtless true, as McClellan telegraphed to
the President, that this movement of Jackson was intended to prevent
re-enforcements being sent to the Peninsula; but the wide-spread
consternation and panic which it created, formed, to say the least, a
plausible reason for dispatching McDowell to the aid of Banks. " If
McDowell's force," telegraphs the President to McClellan, on the 25th
of May, " was now beyond our reach, we should be entirely helpless.
Apprehensions of something like this, and no unwillingness to sustain
you, has always been my reason for withholding McDowell's forces
from you." That the diversion of McDowell, when his pickets had
almost met those of Porter, extended beyond Hanover Court-House,
was unfortunate, there can be no doubt ; but under the circumstances
it was unavoidable, and, as has been justly remarked, "whether it
was wise or unwise, it was one of those things resulting from the
taking of a line of operations which did not then cover Washington."
But admitting that McClellan might have had more troops, that
the diversion of McDowell's Corps was unnecessary, and that the roads
were bad, there are still several points in reference to the conduct of
the campaign on which criticisms adverse to McClellan have been
pronounced. Some of these have already been alluded to, such as
the unnecessarily long siege of Yorktown, defended at the outset by
a weak garrison, the tardy march up the Peninsula, and the failure to
follow up the success of the second day of Fair Oaks. In the opinion
of many military men, McClellan, after hearing of the destruction of
the Merrimac, should have immediately marched his army for the
James instead of the Pamunkey River. He would thus have secured
a good water-base within less than twenty miles of Richmond, and
would have avoided the deadly and almost impassable swamps of the
Chickahominy, by whose pestilential exhalations many thousands of
his army were prostrated. Again, with regard to the battle of
Gaines's Mill, General McClellan has stated in his official report, that
after Porter had retreated across the Chickahominy and destroyed
the bridges, the whole Federal army, being concentrated on the right
bank of the stream, while the main rebel body was on the left bank,
might have marched rapidly upon Richmond. But while he gives
reasons for not pursuing this course, he omits to explain why he
allowed less than two corps to withstand twice or thrice their number
on the left bank of the river, when he could, without serious risk, have

294 HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
sent the greater part of his army to their assistance. On this point,
General Barnard, Chief of Engineers in the Army of the Potomac,
speaks as follows in his official report of the Peninsular campaign :—
"At last the moment came when action was imperative. The enemy assumed the
initiative. We had warning of when and where he was to strike. Had Porter been
withdrawn the night of the 26th of June, our army would have been concentrated on
the right bank of the Chickahominy Eiver, while two corps, at least, of the enemy's
fwrce were on the left bank. Whatever course we then took, whether to strike at
Eiehmond and the portion of the enemy on the right bank, or move at once for the
James, we would have had a concentrated army and a fair chance of a brilliant result,
in the first ; and in the second, if we accomplished nothing, we would have been in
the same case on the morning of the 27th as we were on that of the 28th, minus a
lost battle and a compulsory retreat. Or had the fortified lines, thrown up expressly
for that object, been held by twenty thousand men, as they could have been, we would
have fought on the other side with eighty thousand men instead of twenty-seven
thousand. Or, finally, had the lines been abandoned, with our hold on the right bank
of the Chickahominy, we might have fought and crushed the enemy on the left bank,
reopened our communication, and then returned and taken Bichmond.
" As it was, the enemy fought with his whole force— except enough left before our
lines to keep up an appearance — and we fought with twenty-seven thousand men,
losing a battle and nine thousand men. By this defeat we were driven from our
position, our advance for conquest turned into a retreat for safety, by a force probably
not greatly superior to our own."
In his report of this campaign, General Robert E. Lee, who assumed
command of the rebel army in Richmond after the battle of Fair
Oaks, states that, perceiving it was McClellan's plan to attack the
city by regular approaches, he determined to construct defensive lines
so as to enable a part of his forces to protect the city, while the re
mainder would be at liberty to operate against General McClellan's
communications between the York and James Rivers. After Jackson,
with the assistance of Ewell, in the Shenandoah Valley, had succeeded
in " diverting the army of McDowell at Fredericksburg from uniting
with that of McClellan," he summoned him to his immediate com
mand. His works of defence were now completed ; Stuart had made
a raid around the Federal lines, acquiring thereby much valuable in
formation ; Jackson, after a forced and secret march, had arrived, and
all things were in readiness to turn upon the besiegers. Huger and
Magruder remained behind the defences, while the four commands of
A. P. Hill, D. H. Hill, Longstreet, and Jackson swept down the north
bank of the James and engaged our forces at Mechanicsville. In the
subsequent battles of Gaines's Mill, Glendale, or. Nelson's Farm, as it
is sometimes called, and Malvern Hill, he constantly speaks of attack*
ing superior numbers, which affords a curious contrast to McClellan's
estimate that the rebel army numbered two hundred thousand men.
Both generals are probably equally far from the truth, and there now
seems little doubt that the rebel force, as General Barnard has ob
served, was "not greatly superior to our own." Otherwise it is dif
ficult to understand why it retired so precipitately from the bloody-
field of Malvern and took refuge again behind the defences of Richmond.
During the progress of the Peninsular campaign the condition of
the Confederacy had undergone a great change for the better. At
the time the Army of the Potomac landed on the Peninsula, the rebel

HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.

295

armies were demoralized by the defeats of Port Royal, Mill Spring,
Fort Henry, Fort Donelson, Roanoke Island, and other battles ; and
reduced by sickness, loss in battle, expirations of periods of service,
&c. ; while the conscription law was not yet even passed. It seemed
as if it needed but one vigorous effort to end the war. The day of
the, initiation of the campaign of this magnificent Army of the
Potomac was apparently the day of the resuscitation of the Con
federate cause, which seemed to grow pari passu with the slow prog
ress of its operations. The loss of a month before Yorktown was
an enormous gain to the enemy. The bad roads, the nature of the
obstacles offered by the Chickahominy to an advance, and, it may be
added, the constitutional slowness and caution of the Federal com
mander, all prolonged the time so as to give the enemy two additional
months. Thus, from the 1st of April, when McClellan landed at
Fortress Monroe,' to the 1st of July, when his shattered columns
reached James River, three months had. elapsed, during which time
the Confederates may be said to have raised an army by conscription,
concentrated all their strength, and hurled it at the grand Army of
the Potomac with fatal effect, because it was not concentrated, nor
with all the digging were the important points fortified. There were
no defences at White House, nor were there any defensible tetes-de-
pont or strong positions prepared to cover the dibouchSs from the
bridges to the left bank of the Chickahominy. All this was taken
full advantage of by an enemy who did not leave any means unused
to insure success, and who struck with his whole concentrated force. ,

CHAPTER XXV.
Department of Missouri. — General Halleck. — Negotiations with Price. — Yan Dora,
Curtis, and Sigel. — Pea Eidge.
^ In resuming the thread of events at the West, we may recall the
situation of affairs at the close of 1861, as we described them in a
previous chapter. Missouri, then under Halleck* had been cleared

•Henry Wager Halleck is a native of New
Tork. He entered the Military Academy at
West Point in 1885, being then nineteen years of
age, and on graduating stood third in his class.
He was brevetted second lieutenant of engineers,
made assistant professor of engineering at West
Point in 1889, and in 1S45 was appointed first
lieutenant. In 1847, Lieutenant Halleck was bre
vetted captain for gallant conduct in Mexico and
California. From 1847 to 1849 he acted as secre
tary _of state of the province of California, under
' Generals Mason and Biley. In 1847-48 he was
also chief of the staff to Commodore Shubrlck on
the Pacific coast; and in 1849 was a member of
the convention and of the committee to form and
draft the Constitution of the State of California.
He was appointed captain of engineers in July,
1853. but in August of the next year resigned.
At the breaking out of the rebellion Air. Halleck,

who, as a lawyer, was enjoying a lucrative prac
tice at San Francisco, threw up his business and
oifercd his services to the Government. On the
19th of August, 1861, he was commissioned major-
general in the regular' army. On the 18th ot
November he appeared at St. Louis, Mo., to as-
Bume command of the Department of the West,
then temporarily held by General Hunter. In
April his command was extended to Kentucky
and Tennessee. On the 15th of April he took
command at Pittsburg Landing, conducted the
investment of Corinth to a successful issue, and
on the llth July was appointed General-in-Chief
at Washington, which position he held nntil
March, 1864, when, on the appointment of Gener
al Grant to the chief command, he became chief.
of etafT to the army at Washington. In April ana
May, 1865, he held temporary command in. Eieh
mond.

296 HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
of Confederates, and Kentucky and Tennessee had, under Buell,
been restored to Union control. It was well known that the enemy
enjoyed the most perfect means of information, by which the Union
plans were continually thwarted. In some measure to remedy this,
General Halleck issued the following order : —
"GENERAL ORDER, NO. 3. »
"Head-Quarters, Department or Missouri, )
St. Louis, November 29, 1861. J
"1. It has been represented that important information respecting the numbers and
condition of our forces is conveyed to the enemy by means of fugitive slaves who are
admitted within our lines. In order to remedy this evil, it is directed that no such
persons be hereafter permitted to enter the lines of any camp, or of any forces on the
march, and that any within such lines be immediately excluded therefrom.
' " 2. The General Commanding wishes to impress upon all officers in command of
posts and troops in the field the importance of preventing unauthorized persons of
every description from entering and leaving our lines, and of observing the greatest
precaution in the employment of agents and clerks in confidential positions.
"By order of Major-General Halleck.
i "William McMichael,
"Assistant Adjutant- General."
The order, although, according to General Halleck, one of purely
military necessity, was made a matter subsequently of congressional
discussion. Early in January. General Pope, in command of Central
Missouri, was at Tifton, while Price was at Osceola, with Generals
Rains and Stern in the neighborhood of Lexington. Early in the
year General Price opened a negotiation with General Halleck in
relation to a number of guerrillas and " bush-whackers-" who had been
captured while in the act of burning railroad bridges, and in reply
to threats of retaliation, the latter replied : —
"No order of yours (Price's) can save from punishment spies, marauders, robbers,
incendiaries, guerrilla bands, Aa, who violate the laws of war. But if any of Price's
men are captured in the garb of soldiers, they shall be treated as prisoners of war."
Missouri continued in a very disturbed condition, and martial law
having been declared in St. Louis, General Halleck issued order No.
24, ordering the property of secessionists to be assessed for the
benefit of the fugitives from the southwestern section of the State,
where the Confederates held control. The property of those who
failed to pay their assessments was seized under execution. Soon
afterward he ordered that the president and officers of the Mercantile
Association and of the Chamber of Commerce, who had shown une
quivocal sympathy with the secessionists, should take the oath of alle-
giance* on pain of being deposed and punished for contempt. The
press in Missouri was subjected to the martial law. The publisher of
the Boone County Democrat having been found guilty of criminal
publications, under the style of " Letters from the Army," was sen
tenced to be banished from the State, and his business property confis
cated and sold. General Halleck approved the finding and sentence,
and directed the printing-office to remain in charge of the quarter
master until further orders ; that the prisoner be placed outside the
State of Missouri, and that if he returned during the war, without per-

HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.

297

mission, that he be arrested and placed in close confinement in the
Alton military prison. These proceedings being returned to the War
Department, they were approved by the Seoretary, and an order issued
that the form of procedure should be adopted in like cases by the
commanders of all the military departments.
Military movements began early in the year to show renewed activ
ity. On the 29th January, the Confederate General Van Dorn* issued
a general order, assuming command of the department comprising
Arkansas, Missouri, and Louisiana, and about the same time the
National forces under General Curtis marched from their cantonments
in Northern and Central Missouri in the direction of Springfield. Price
gradually fell back from that neighborhood toward Arkansas. Early
in January, General Sigel was in command at Rolla, awaiting re-enforce
ments, which it was alleged had been raised for him. Of the six regi
ments thus raised, two were sent to the Potomac, one was given to
General Pope, one to General Hunter, and of the remaining two, four
companies only were with Siggl, and those were not equipped. For
these and other reasons Sigel tendered his resignation. The difficul
ties were settled, however, by the appointment of General Curtis f to
command. The divisions of Sigel and Asboth followed Price by a
road through Mount Vernon, while General Jefferson C. Davis and
General Carr took the road through Cassville, over the old battle
ground of Wilson's Creek. The columns came up with the enemy at
Crane Creek on the 14th of February, but too late to attack. The
enemy retired during the night, and on the morning of the 15th, at

* General Earl Van Dorn was a native of Mis,
sissippf, and graduated at West Point in 1842. in
the same class were Gustavus W. Smith and
Manslleld Lovell. On tho 1st of July, 1842, ho
was appointed brevet second lieutenant in the
Seventh United States Infantry, and was made a
full second lieutenant on the 30th of November,
1844 On the 8d of March, 1847, he was promoted
to ft first lieutenancy, and on the ISth of April
was brevetted captain for his conduct at Cerro
Gordo. In the following August he received a
further brevet of major, for his conduct at llon-
treras and Churnbusco ; and on the 18th of Sep
tember he was wounded while entering the city
of Mexico. He was aide to General P. F. Smith
during the years 1848 and 1849. He was secre
tary and treasurer of tho Military Asylum of
Pascagoula, Miss., from January, 1852, to June,
1855, and was made fall captain of the Second
United States Cavalry in March, 1853. In July,
1856, he wa6 distinguished in the command of the
expedition against the Camanshes in Northern
Texas. Again, on the 1st of October, 1858, in the
command of the expedition against the Caman-
ches, near Witchita village, Texas, he gained a
decided victory, but was himself four times
wounded— twice dangerously. On the 18th of
May, 1559, ho was again, in action with a body of
Camanches, completely victorious. He joined
the rebel cause, was appointed a brigadier-genera],
and in January. 1862. assumed command of the
trans-Mississippi district. He fought at Pes
Kidge, Corinth, and in several lesser engagements,
and was shot on May 8, 1868, by Dr. Peters, of
Nashville, for improper intimacy with the wife of
the latter.
t General Samnel E. Curtis was born in New
Tork in 1807, and graduated at West Point. In

1831, as brevet second lieutenant of the Seventh
Infantry. He resigned on the 80th of June, 1832.
He practised as a civil engineer in Ohio from that
time until 1887. From April, 1837, to May, 1889,
he was civil engineer of the Muskingum River
improvement. He next practised law in Ohio,
undertook: the colonelcy of the third regiment of
Ohio volunteers in the Mexican war, and fought
in the United States service during the campaign
in Mexico. After the discharge of his regiment*
he served in the staff of Brigadier-General Wool,
as acting assistant adjutant general, and afterward
acted as the civil and military governor of Saltillo,
in Mexico, in 1847. On his return home he was
appointed chief engineer of the Des Moines River
improvement, in the State of Iowa. This pos
ition he filled from December 4. 1847, to Jan-
nary 1, 1850. He was afterward returned to
Congress to represent a district of the State of
Iowa. While serving in Congress he commanded
the second regiment of Iowa Volunteers. He was
appointed a brigadier-general of volunteers May
17, 1861, and resigned his seat in Congress. For
some time he had charge of the city and district
of St. Louis. When General Halleck assumed
command of the department, General Curtis was
ordered to Bolla, as a depot of concentration of
the troops now under his command. In January,
1862, as acting major-general, he assumed com
mand of a corps cTarmee. and went in pursuit
of General Price and his rebel troops. He defeat
ed the rebels at Pea Ridge, March 6-8, 1862. sub
sequently occupied Helena, Ark., and was, March
21, appointed major-general. In the latter part of
1862 he was assigned to the command of the De
partment of Missouri; was removed May, 1863,
and, in 1864 appointed to the Department of Kan,
sas.

298

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLIOK.

daylight, the pursuit was resumed and continued through the 16th
and 17th, the enemy taking advantage of favorable positions to retard
the advance. On the 17th he was re-enforced by two Louisiana regi
ments, under command of Colonel Herbert. This officer had been a
member of Congress from California, and, while acting in that capacity,
killed a waiter at Willard's Hotel in Washington. General Ben
McCulloch also joined Price, who took up a position at Sugar Creek,
whence he was driven after a brief conflict, and retired into North
western Arkansas, taking post in the Boston Mountains.
On March 1st, General Curtis issued an address to the people of Ar
kansas, exhorting them to remain at their homes; and telling them
that the only object of the war was peace; and that in its prosecution
the rights of all individuals would be respected. (
The enemy at Boston Mountain, about fifty miles from Sugar Creek,
were now re-enforced by Van Dorn's troops, by a body of Choctaw,
Cherokee, and Chickasaw Indians, under Pike, and the division of Mc
intosh. The force of the enemy was then composed of nine thousand
Missouri State troops, under Price, six Arkansas regiments, under Ben
McCulloch,* five Texan regiments, under Earl Van Dorn, and, it was
estimated, some three thousand Indians, under Pike and Mcintosh ; in
all, between twenty and twenty-five thousand men, with seventy guns.
Van Dorn assumed the chief command of them. When General Curtis
received information of the re-erfforcements of the enemy, he fell back
to Sugar Creek, a short distance south of Pea Ridge, in expectation of
being attacked. On the 5th of March, Sigel, then at Bentonville, ten
miles in advance, received orders to join the army at Pea Ridge. He
executed the movement on the 6th. His rear-guard, embracing the
Thirty-Sixth Illinois and the Second Missouri, were attacked by four
Confederate regiments, but succeeded in cutting their way through,
with a loss of twenty-eight killed and wounded, and a number of pris
oners. Halting a section of his guns, with his infantry to sustain them,
he would pour the grape and shell into the advancing rebel ranks, un
til, quailing before the murderous fire, they would break in confusion.
Before they they could re-form, Sigel would limber up and fall back
behind another portion of his battery, planted at another turn in the
road. Here the same scene would be enacted, and so on continuously
for ten miles. What made this march a most difficult achievement
was the condition of the roads, which were in many places very narrow
and badly cut up. This brought General Sigel's Division to the west
end of Pea Ridge, where he formed a junction with Generals Davis's
and Carr's Divisions. On the morning of the 5th, General Van Dorn

* General Ben McCulloch, better known hereto
fore as the -major of the Texan Rangers, was born
in Rutherford county, Tennessee, in 1814. Hojoin-
ed the Texan army under Gen. 8am Houston, and
served gallantly at the battle of San Jacinto, where
Santa Anna was taken prisoner, and his army of
fifteen thousand men killed .or taken prisoners.
McCulloch afterwards settled in Gonzales county,
Texas, and was employed on the frontier sur
veying and locating lands. He frequently led the
wild border scouts against the Indians and Mexi
cans. When tho war broke out with Mexico, he

rallied a band of Texan warriors on the banks of
the Guadaloupe, and set out for the seat of war
on the Rio Grande. His company was accepted
by General Taylor, and served with credit at
Monterey and Buena Vista. He afterward joined
GeneMl Seott's army, and continued with it to
the conquest of Hie city of Mexico. For his ser
vices he was appointed United StateB Marshal of
Texas by President Pierce. He early joined ths
secession movement, commanded at the battle of
Wilson's Creek, and was killed at Pea Kidgo, March
7, 1862.

HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 299
ordered his troops to take four days' cooked rations, and moved for
ward to the attack. As our camp near Sugar Creek was a strong nat
ural position and difficult of access on either flank, General Van Dorn
decided to make his attack in our rear, thus cutting off our base of
supply and re-enforcement. The Union position was on the main road
from Springfield to Fayetteville, and General Van Dorn, in marching
northward, left that road near the latter town and turned to the west
ward, passing through Bentonville, and entering the main road again
near the State boundary, about eight miles north of Sugar Creek. A
small force was left to make a feint upon our front, and a considerable
body of Indians, under General Albert Pike, took position about two
miles on our right to divert attention from the main attack in the rear.
The Union force was in four divisions, the first under Colonel Oster-
haus, the second under General Asboth, the third Colonel Jefferson C.
Davis, the fourth Colonel Carr. The first two divisions were com
manded by General Sigel. When the enemy drove in Sigel on the 6th,
General Curtis became assured that their intention was to attack his
right and rear, and early on the 7th he changed front, so that his right,
wbich was at Sugar Hollow Creek, became his left, under Sigel, while
Carr, at the head of Big Sugar Creek, held the new right. The line
was across Pea Ridge. The division of Carr was ordered to advance
up the road to within about four miles of the State line, and the bri
gade of Colonel Dodge filed off from the main road to a point east of
the Elkhom hotel, and opened his fire upon the enemy, who, posted on
a declivity in front, sheltered by a wood, promptly responded. Tie
brigade of Vandeveer passed a half mile beyond the hotel and took
position on the left of the road. At the same time a battery opened
upon the enemy with great effect, but the reply of the latter was very
sharp, exploding two of the Union caissons. It was now nine o'clock,
and the whole line being engaged, the enemy advanced with great fury,
capturing one of the guns. The infantry supports (the Iowa Ninth),
however, came up and delivered such a fire as compelled the enemy to
promptly seek the shelter of the woods. The enemy seemed to be in
creasing in force, and the position was not well calculated to resist
superior numbers. Hence Carr retired, fighting. The enemy made
repeated charges, capturing another gun and caisson, but after each
charge the ground showed the effects of the steady fire of the retiring
troops. The enemy were armed with double-barreled shot-guns, loaded
with ball and buckshot, an effective weapon when the fire is reserved
for short range. Carr was compelled still to retire, until about 4 p. m.
Colonel Asboth supported him with two regiments and a battery, with
which force he held his ground for the night.
On the left, McCulloch commenced moving his forces to the south and
east, evidently intending to form a junction with Van Dorn and Price,
and by so doing to surround our entire army on three sides, and at the
same time cut off totally its opportunity of retreat. General Sigel, de
tecting this movement, sent forward three pieces of flying artillery,
with a supporting force of cavalry, to take a commanding position, and
delay their movements until the infantry could be brought up into
proper position for an attack.

300

HISTOEY "OF THE GEEAT EEBELLIOK'.

These pieces had hardly obtained their position and opened fire,
when an overwhelming force of the enemy's cavalry came down upon
them, driving our cavalry, and capturing the artillery. This onslaught,
which was made in handsome style, enabled their infantry to reach un
molested the cover of a dense wood. Here McCulloch was encountered
by Osterhaus, and a very severe struggle took place until Davis was
ordered up to support the Union line. The Third Iowa was ordered
forward to clear the timber, but the enemy were in great strength, and
the cavalry were broken in disorder, followed closely by the enemy,
who captured three guns. It was now that the Indiana regiments, un
der Osterhaus, came up at the run, and, delivering a murderous fire,
followed by a bayonet charge, sent the Indians and Texans to the right
about and recovered the three pieces. Sigel then re-enforced the com
mand. The action recommenced with redoubled vigor. The enemy
brought their heavy guns into position, ¦and after an artillery duel the
enemy retired in confusion, leaving their opponents masters of this
part of the field. Thus the day closed with Union success on the left
and defeat on the right.
At dark the firing had ceased at all points, and the wearied men lay
upon their arms in quiet expectation of the morning conflict. Colonel
Carr's Division was now in the centre, having been re-enforced by Davis*
On the right, while Sigel still held the left. The enemy, during the
night, had planted some of his batleries on an eminence about two hun
dred feet high, sloping away to the north, but precipitous on the side
in our front. Batteries and large bodies of infantry were posted at
the right base of this hill and at the edge of some timber to its left.
Infantry and cavalry, with a few guns, were posted on bis extreme left
beyond the road. It was apparent that if we could dislodge the rebels
from this hill the victory would be with us. At sunrise the right and
centre opened upon the enemy with their batteries, while the left, un
der Sigel, advanced against the hill occupied hy the enemy. Having
learned the exact position of the enemy's batteries, he commenced to form
his line of battle by changing his front so as to face the right flank of
the enemy's position. He first ordered the Twenty-fifth Illinois to
take a position along a fence, in open view of the enemy's batteries,
which at once opened fire upon it. Immediately a battery of six of
our guns (several of them twelve-pounders, rifled) was thrown into
line one hundred paces in the rear of our advanced infantry, on a rise
of ground. The Twelfth Missouri then wheeled into line, with the
Twenty-fifth Illinois on their left, and another battery of guns was sim
ilarly disposed a short distance behind them. Then another regiment
and another battery wheeled into position, until thirty pieces of artille
ry, each about fifteen or twenty paces from the other, were in a con-

* Jefferson C. Davis, in command of a division
tinder General Curtis, was appointed, 1b 1848, a
second lieutenant of the First United States Ar
tillery. He was not instructed at West Point On
the 29th of February, 1852, be was promoted to a
first lieutenancy, and on the 14th of May, 1861,
was appointed captain in the same regiment,
being allowed leave of absence to take the com
mand of the Twenty-second Regiment of Indiana

Volunteers. He was commissioned brigadier-gen
eral of volunteers in December, 1861, saw much
service in Missouri, Arkansas, and Tennessee, and
in September, 1862, killed General Nelson in an
altercation and under great provocation. He sub
sequently served under Eosecrans, and partici
pated with great credit in Sherman's campaigns
of 1SC4-65, commanding, finally, the Fourteenth
Army Corps.

HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 301
tinuous line, with infantry lying down in front. Each peace opened
fire as it came in position. The fire of the entire line was directed so
as to silence battery after battery of the enemy.
Such a terrible fire.no human courage could stand. The crowded
ranks of the enemy were decimated, their horses shot at their guns,
large trees literally dernolished ; but the rebels stood bravely to their
post. For over two hours did the iron hail fall, until one by one the
rebel pieces ceased to play. Onward crept our infantry ; onward came
Sigel and his terrible guns. Shorter and shorter became the range.
No charge of theirs could face that iron hail, or dare to venture on
that compact line of bayonets. They turned and fled. The centre and
right were ordered forward, the right turning the left of the enemy,
and cross-firing on his centre. This final position of the enemy was in
the arc of a circle. A charge of infantry, extending throughout the
whole line, completely routed them, and they retreated through the
deep, impassable defiles of Cross Timber, making again for Boston
Mountain, closely pressed by the cavalry. The Union loss at the
battle of Pea Ridge was, killed, two hundred and twelve ; wounded,
nine hundred and seventy-two; missing, one hundred and seventy-six.
The loss of the enemy was reported at two thousand ; among the pris
oners taken were General Herbert, Colonel Stone, adjutant-general*
and Colonel Price. Among the killed were Ben McCulloch, General
Mcintosh, and General Stark. General Price was wounded. On the
9th of March, General Van Dorn sent to request permission to bury
the dead of the 7th and 8th. The permission was granted by General
Curtis, who, however, complained that the Union dead had been, in
some cases, scalped and mangled. This led to a correspondence, in
which General Van Dorn, whilst expressing the greatest anxiety to
repress the savage horrors of war, stated that numbers of Confederate
prisoners, who had surrendered, were reported to have been murdered
in cold blood by the Germans. General Curtis replied that he had no
knowledge of any atrocities committed by German soldiers under his
command. The victory at Pea Ridge cleared the northern part of Arkansas of
regular Confederate forces ; those under Van Dorn and Price • being
called to the support of Beauregard at Memphis. Although there
were now no enemy's troops in Northern Arkansas, it was not deemed
prudent to advance upon Little Rock, for the reason that a communi
cation of three hundred miles by wagons was very difficult to keep up,
and General Curtis withdrew his troops from the State, and established
his quarters, April 12 th, at Forsyth, on the White River, forty-five
miles south of Springfield. While here in camp, General Curtis issued
the following special order, dated
" Head-Qtjaetebs, Army op the Southwest, March 26.
"Charles Morton, Hamilton Kennedy, and Alexander Lewis, colored men, formerly
slaves employed in tho rebel service, and taken aa contraband of war, are hereby con
fiscated; and, not being needed for the public service, are permitted to pass the pickets
of this command without let or hindrance, and are forever emancipated from the ser
vice of their masters, who allowed them to aid in the efforts to break up the Govern
ment and laws of our country."

302 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLKXNV
On the 19th, the advance under General Osterhaus, with about two
hundred and fifty men, met a superior force of rebels near Searcy, on
the Little Red River, and after a sharp skirmish, put them to flight.
They, however, succeeded in destroying the bridges along the route to
the city.
The news of the battle of Pea Ridge was telegraphed to Washing
ton by General Halleck, on the 10th of March, and on the 12th he
published the following order :
Head-Qcabters, Depabtment op the Mississippi, )
St. Louis, March 12, 1862. ]
"In compliance with orders of the President of the United States, the undersigned
assumes the command of the Department of the Mississippi, which includes the present
Departments of Kansas and Missouri, and the Department of the Ohio, and the country
west of a north and south line drawn through Knoxville, Tennessee, and east of the
western boundaries of the States of Missouri and East Arkansas. The head-quarters of
the Department of the Mississippi will remain, until further orders, at St. Louis. Com
manding officers not in the Department of Missouri, will report to these head-quarters
the strength and position of their several commands.* H W. Halleck,
"Major-General Commanding."
The effect of this order was to bring the active operations in Ken
tucky and Tennessee under the control of General Halleck. He issued
another order continuing Buell in his command, with the exception of
dep6t of prisoners, which were to report to Halleck. General Denver
was assigned to the District of Kansas, and General-Curtis to Arkansas.

CHAPTER XXVI.
Island No. Ten. — Beauregard at Corinth. — Battle of Pittsburg Landing. — Huntsville. —
Fort Wright »
When the enemy, on the 3d March, evacuated Columbus, they fell
back upon Island No. Ten, in the Mississippi River, a place of remark- '
able strength as far as the river is concerned, but which, as it proved,
was easily turned by a combined attack of the army and navy. The
general course of the river is south, but at Island No. Ten it makes a
sharp bend to the northwest for about twelve miles, and then turning
southeast, forms a tongue of land, opposite the northern point of which,
on the Missouri side, is New Madrid, which was held by a strong Con
federate force. On the 3d of March, General Pope arrived before New
Madrid, the same day on which Columbus was evacuated — a fact of
which he was, however, ignorant. He took possession of Point Pleas
ant, eight miles below New Madrid, with five thousand troops, in
order to cut off communication from below, and erected heavy batte
ries, which prevented the passage of the rebel gunboats. The enemy
erected batteries of their heaviest guns directly opposite New Madrid,
and, in conjunction with their gunboats, attempted to shell Pope from
his position, but without effect. New Madrid was defended by re
doubts at the upper and lower end, connected by lines of entrench-

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 303
ments, and six gunboats were anchored along the shore between the
redoubts. The land is there so low tjiat the guns of the boats com
mand the country for some distance. *
General Pope, instead of making a direct attack, took up a position
below the town, cutting off supplies and pushing forward, works to
command the place. On the 13th, fire was opened from these works,
by which several of the enemy's gunboats were disabled. During the
night, a furious storm took place, under cover of which the' enemy
evacuated the place, leaving behind thirty-three guns and several thou
sand stand of arms. The Union loss was fifty-one killed.
The bombardment of Island No. Ten was begun on March 16fh, by
the gunboats, under Flag-officer Foote. His fleet consisted of the
Benton, flag-ship, the Cincinnati, Carondelet, Mound City, Louisville,
Pittsburg, St. Louis_, and the Conestoga, all being iron-clad except the
last named, and a number of mortar-boats in tow of steamers. At 8
a. m., all the gunboats dropped down stern foremost, to a point within
one mile of the head of Island No. Ten, where, formed in line across
the river, all headed up stream, the flag-ship several hundred yards in
advance, they opened fire. The mortar-boats were got into position on
the Missouri shore, half a mile above Missouri Point, whence they
commenced throwing across or over the point on Island No. Ten. The
fire of the gunboats continued with great vigor for several days, and
was replied to by the enemy.
The siege, however, went on slowly, and the fire of the fleet seemed
to make so little impression on the rebel works, that Flag-officer Foote,
in a dispatch of the 8th of March, said : —
"Island No. Ten is harder to conquer than Columbus, as the island shores are lined
with forts, each fort commanding the one above it. I am gradually approaching the
island, but still do not hope for much until the occurrence of certain events, which
promise success."
Of the " events " here alluded to, the most important was the cut
ting of a canal through the inundated forest on the base of the penin
sula, opposite Island No. Ten, to New Madrid, with a view of thereby
sending down to General Pope a sufficient number of steamboats and
barges to enable him to cross the river and attack the enemy in the
rear. General Pope, from New Madrid and from Point Pleasant, on the
Missouri shore below New Madrid, sustained almost a constant can
nonade. The enemy had four batteries, of six guns each, on the shore,
looking up the river as it approaches Island No. Ten. The island
itself was heavily fortified, and lying, abreast of it in the river was a
floating battery, earring twelve thirty-two-pound guns. There were
also in the river six gunboats lying between the island and New Mad
rid. The force of the enemy was estimated at seven or eight thousand
men. Although New Madrid had fallen, it was impossible, for want
of transportation, for General Pope to cross the river and co-operate
with the fleet in an attack on the island. In this situation, General
Schuyler Hamilton proposed to cut a canal twelve miles across this
tongue, by which gunboats and transports could pass to New Madrid,

304 HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
and General Pope directed Colonel Bissell, of the engineers, to execute
the plan. The route was, for. two miles, through thick timber, and
ten through narrow, crooked* bayous, full of brush and small trees ; but
by almost incredible labor and skill, within nineteen days, an avenue
fifty feet was cut across the peninsula, the trees, in many instances,
being sawed off four and a half feet under water.
The enemy, aware of the movement on the land, had erected
strongbatteries to command the mouth of the canal, and one of their
gunboats, the Grampus, was lying in wait to stop the exit of our
boats, or annihiliate them if they attempted to come out. Now, some
daring act must be accomplished to. relieve our boats. The rebels
had made an excellent move, and we were in check. A conference
of officers was held, at which it was decided that one of the gunboats
must run past the batteries on the island. The Carondelet undertook
it, and passed down on the night of the 4th, amidst a furious storm,
towing a boat-load of hay on the side next to the enemy.
While these events were happening, the enemy had been concentra
ting their forces at Corinth, to await the attack of the Union troops.
Van Dorn and Price, in Arkansas, were drawing towards Memphis,
and the troops that evacuated New Madrid had sought the same des
tination. The soldiers of Island No. Ten seemed to be intended to
prevent Pope from re-enforcing BuelL On the 5th of April, a new
commander was sent to that point, who, on assuming command, issued
the following order : —
" Soldiers : We are strangers, commander and commanded, each to the other. Let
me tell you who I am. I am a general made by Beauregard, a general selected by
Beauregard and Bragg for this command, when they knew it was in peril. They have
known me for twenty years together. We have stood on the fields of Mexico. Give
them your confidence now; give it to me when I have earned it. Soldiers, the Missis
sippi Valley is entrusted to your courage, to your discipline, to your patience. Exhibit
the vigilance and coolness of last night, and hold it.
"W. D. McCown, Brigadier- General Commanding."
The transports for General Pope passed the canal on the night of
the 6th of April, and on the same night the gunboat Pittsburg ran
past the island, and attacked the enemy's batteries at the point des
tined for crossing. Meantime the division of General Paine embarked
in the boats that had come through the bayou, and was followed by
the other corps. By twelve o'clock, at night, the whole army was
over the river, and had made good its landing, immediately attacking
the enemy, who abandoned his batteries and retired upon the impas
sable swamps in his rear, where he was compelled to surrender. The
capture was reported by General Pope as follows : —
" Three generals, seven colonels, seven regiments, several battalions of infantry, five
companies of artillery, over one hundred heavy siege-guns, twenty-four pieces of field
artillery, an immense quantity of ammunition and supplies, several thousand stand of
small arms, a great number of tents, horses, wagons, &c, have fallen into our hands.
" Before abandoning Island No. Ten, the enemy sunk the gunboat Grampus and six
of his transports. These last I am raising, and expect to have ready for service in a
few days. The famous floating battery was scuttled and turned adrift with all her
guns aboard; she was captured and run aground in shoal water by our forces at New
Madrid." . •> .

0 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 305'
While these events took place on the Tennessee shore, Island No.
Ten surrendered to Commodore Foote, who ordered General Buford
to take possession. He reported as captured —
" Seventeen officers and three hundred and sixty-eight privates, besides one hundred
of their sick, and one hundred men employed on board of the transports, are in our
hands, unconditionally prisoners of war. I have caused hasty examination to be made
of the forts, batteries, and munitions of war captured. There are eleven earthworks,
with seventy heavy cannon, varying in calibre from thirty -two to one hundred pounders,
rifled. The magazines are well supplied with powder, and there are large quantities
of shot and shell, and other munitions of war, and also great quantities of provisions.
Four steamers afloat have fallen into our hands, and two others, with the rebel gun
boat Grampus, are sunk, but will be easily raised."
When the retiring columns of Confederate troops from Fort Donel
son and Mill Spring had been combined at Corinth, great efforts were
made by the Confederates to defend the Mississippi at that point.
Generals Floyd and Pillow were suspended from their commands, and
on the fifth of March, General Beauregard took command in the fol
lowing, general order : — general order — no. 1.
"Head-Quarters Abmt op the Mississippi, )
"Jackson, Tenn., March 5, 1862. )
" Soldiers : — I assume this day the command of the Army of the Mississippi, for the
defence of our homesteads and liberties, and to resist the subjugation, spoliation, and
dishonor of our people. Our mothers and wives, our sisters and children, expect us
to do our duty, even to the sacrifice of our lives. Our losses since the commencement
of the present war, in killed, wounded, and prisoners, are now about the same as those
of the enemy. He must be made to atone for those reverses we have lately experienced.
Those reverses, far from disheartening, must nerve us to new deeds of valor and patriot
ism, and should inspire us with an unconquerable determination to drive back our
invaders. Should any one in this army be unequal to the task before us, let him trans
fer his arms and equipments at once to braver, firmer hands, and return to his home.
Our cause is as just and sacred as ever animated men to take up arms, and if we are
true to it and to ourselves, with the continued protection of the Almighty we must and
shall triumph. " G. T. Beauregard, General Commanding."
On the same day, General Bragg issued a proclamation, establish
ing martial law at Memphis, and requiring the Louisiana and Missis
sippi troops to rendezvous at Grand Junction, and the Alabama and
Tennessee troops at Corinth. Requisitions were made on these States
for troops, and General Beauregard sent a member of his staff to raise
troops in Louisiana, besides requiring all plantation and other bells to
be melted into guns. The Governor of Mississippi having issued a
proclamation for the enrollment of new troops, Generals Bragg and
Beauregard intrenched their forces at Jackson, Tennesee, and then
gradually formed an army during the inaction of the Union troops after
the fall of Donelson. There were no fortifications at Memphis, but the
defences of the city were at Fort Pillow and Fort Randolph, on the
Mississippi River, sixty miles above. At this point there is a bold and
nearly precipitous bluff, about eighty feet above the level of the river,
commanding a stretch of three miles, while the land approaches are
protected by a rugged conformation of the ground, and by Hatchee
River, a small affluent of the Mississippi.
20

306 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
While the enemy were reorganizing and re-enforcing, Andrew
Johnson had been appointed Governor of Tennessee, and arrived there
amidst the excitement which was caused by the Emancipation Mes
sage of President Lincoln, sent to Congress, recommending the adop
tion of a joint resolution that " The United States ought to co-operate
with any State which may adopt a gradual abolishment of slavery,
giving to such State pecuniary aid."
Early in March, a movement up the Tennessee River was projected,
and the advance, under the command of Major-General C. F. Smith,
proceeded in the direction of Savannah, which place was taken pos
session of March llth. It is situated on the east bank of the river,
ten miles above Pittsburg Landing, on the west bank, and thirty
miles from Corinth. The troops arrived in considerable numbers at
Savannah, but for strategic reasons they were transferred to Pittsburg
Landing by direction of General Smith. This disposition was ap
proved by General Grant, on his arrival in the latter part of March.
Meanwhile, General Buell, with the Army of the Ohio, was directed to
march from Nashville and co-operate with Grant. The efforts of the
enemy had collected a strong force at Corinth under Beauregard, to
which were added the two divisions of General Polk that had evacu
ated Columbus, and the corps of General Bragg, from Pensacola. The
design of the Union general was to operate from the Tennessee River,
as a base, and cut off the communication of the enemy in West Ten
nessee with the Eastern and Southern States. This being suspected
by the rebels, it was determined to attack Grant at Pittsburg Landing
before he could be re-enforced by Buell from Nashville. Accordingly,
General A. S. Johnston, who had recently assumed the chief command
at Corinth, on April 3d issued an address to his array, and an order,
dividing it into three corps cTarm&e: the first under General Polk,
embracing all his troops except those detached to Fort Pillow ; the
second under Bragg ; and the third under Hardee ; while General
Crittenden was" assigned to a reserve, consisting of two brigades — the
whole under General Johnston, with General Beauregard second in
command. _ The force thus organized was concentrated at Corinth, as
the strategic point of the campaign, and numbered probably fifty thou
sand men, in addition to which re-enforcements were daily expected
under Van Dorn and Price.
On the 5th of April the force under Grant, in the neighborhood of
Pittsburg Landing, or Shiloh, as it is sometimes called, comprised five
divisions under Major-General McClernand, Brigadier-General W. H.
L. Wallace (commanding in the absence of General C. F. Smith, who
was sick), Major-General Lewis Wallace, Brigadier-General Hurlbut,
and Brigadier-General W. T. Sherman, the whole constituting what
was known as the Army of West Tennessee. Of these, General Lewis
Wallace's Division was at Crump's Landing, six miles below Pitts
burg Landing, while the remainder of the army lay immediately
around the latter place. Buell's forces were twenty miles distant from
the river, which they were approaching from the direction of Nash
ville as rapidly as the heavy roads would permit. The troops on the
west bank of the Tennessee occupied the following positions: On

HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 307
the extreme right was Sherman's Division, resting on Owl Creek, about
three miles from Pittsburg Landing ; next came McClernand's Divi
sion; and next to him, on the left, was Brigadier-General Pren
tiss, having charge of a subdivision of McClernand's command,
resting on Lick Creek, at a distance of nearly three miles from the
river. W. H. L. Wallace's Division acted as a support to Sherman
and McClernand, and Hurlbut's as a support to the left wing under Pren
tiss. The troops thus formed a sort of semicircle between Owl and Lick
Creeks, which run at right angles with the Tennessee River, and are
about three miles apart. They were probably too widely scattered to
be enabled to support each other readily in case of a sudden attack by
superior numbers; but the field had been selected and the positions
assigned by one of the ablest generals in the service, whose judgment
has since been amply confirmed by the first military authorities of the
country, and General Grant was additionally protected by several
gunboats anchored off the landing, and was also in hourly expectation
of the arrival of General Buell.
On the morning of April 3d, Johnston gave orders for the rebel
troops to inarch from Corinth en route for Pittsburg Landing. In
consequence of bad roads and inclement weather, the advance was un
expectedly slow, and it was not until the evening of the 5th that the
attacking force Was concentrated in the vicinity of the Federal position.
The rebel army was formed in three lines. The first, under General
Hardee, extended from Owl Creek on the left to Lick Creek on the
right. The second, under Bragg, followed the first, at an interval of
eight hundred yards, and the corps of Polk formed the third line, in
columns of brigades, with batteries in rear of each brigade. The re
serves were under Breckinridge. At six o'clock on the morning of
the 6th, the advancing line suddenly drove in the pickets of Prentiss's
Corps. Into the half-aroused camps thronged the rebel regiments,
firing sharp volleys as they came, and springmg forward with the bay
onet. Some of the Union soldiers were shot down as they were run-'
ning, without weapons, hatless, coatless, towards the river. The
searching bullets found others in their tents, where they still slum
bered, while the unseen foe rushed on. Others fell as they were dis
entangling themselves from the flaps that formed the doors to their
tents ; others, again, as they were buckling on their accoutrements ;
and not a few, it was said, as they were vainly trying to impress on
the exultant enemy their readiness to surrender.
Officers were wounded in their beds, and left for dead, who, through
two days, lay gasping in their agony, and were subsequently found in
their tents, still able to tell the tale. Thus were overwhelmed Pren
tiss's subdivision and Hildebrand's Brigade of Sherman's Division,
which retired, leaving their camps and guns. The remainder of Sher
man's Division, roused by the alarm, had sprung to their arms barely in
time to receive the onslaught of the enemy, who came sweeping against
their front. They managed partially to check the advance and to
retire upon a ridge in their rear, where they thwarted every effort of
the enemy to flank the army on the right, holding, as General Grant
said, " the key-point of the Landing."

308' HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
The shout of the men, the roar of guns, and rattle of muskets, were
rousing rapidly the whole army, and McClernand soon formed his right
to sustain Sherman. Prentiss's Corps was partially rallied in an
open space, surrounded by scrub oaks, which was filled with the
enemy, who, thus covered, slaughtered them at his leisure. Two
whole regiments, with General Prentiss, were captured, and marched to
the rear with others, and the sub-division was practically disorganized.
The first available brigade of W. H. L. Wallace's Division now advanced
to support Stuart, of Sherman's Division, but lost its way and was re
pulsed. Soon after McClernand got into action he was compelled to
draw in his brigades that had supported Sherman, to protect his left
against the onset of the rebels, who, seeing how he had weakened
himself there, and inspired by their recent success over Prentiss, hurled
themselves against him with tremendous force. A couple of new
regiments, the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Iowa, were brought up, but to
utterly raw troops the heavy fire was too severe a trial, and they gave
way in confusion. To meet the attack, the whole division then made
a change of front, and faced along the Corinth road. Here the batteries
were placed in position, and till ten o'clock the rebels were foiled in
every attempt to gain the road.
This disposition, however, left a gap between McClernand and
Sherman, which the rebels promptly availed themselves of for the
purpose of turning the former's right. Dresser's Battery of rifled
guns opened on them as they passed, and with fearful slaughter. The
numbers of the enemy told terribly in the strife. The constant arrival
of fresh regiments at last overpo wered McClernand's shrinking division..
The line and general officers had suffered severely. The batteries
were broken up and several of the guns lost, but the soldiers fought
bravely to the last, under a fearful disadvantage. Gradually they
began falling back, more slowly than had Prentiss's regiments, and
making more determined, because better organized, resistance ; occa
sionally rallying and repulsing the enemy in turn for a hundred yards,
then being beaten back again, and renewing the retreat to some new
position for fresh defence. The Union front to the left and centre was
thus cleared of its original divisions, and at twelve o'clock the chief
burden of the fight fell upon the divisions of Hurlbut, Wallace, and
Sherman, which now stood between the army and destruction. The
troops of the broken brigades and divisions had fallen to the rear, some
stragglers going as far as the river bank. These were brought back,
and in some cases regiments were patched up and hurried to the front.
According to general understanding, in the event of an attack at Pitts
burg Landing, Major-General Lew. Wallace was to come in on our
right and flank the rebels by marching across from Crump's Landing
below. But, through misdirection as to the way, he took a long and
circuitous route, and never reached the battle-field until the fighting
was over for the day.
Meanwhile the divisions of Hurlbut and W. H. L. Wallace, extending
somewhat to the left, nobly sustained an unequal struggle against the
overpowering rebel masses. Three times did the enemy bear heavily
with their full strength upon Hurlbut, and three times were they

HISTOEY OF- THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 309
repulsed with terrible slaughter. But the force of the enemy was too
great, and it was handled with admirable skill. Repulse was nothing
to them. A rush on our lines failed ; they took their disordered troops
to the rear, and sent up fresh troops, who, ignorant of the fearful
reception awaiting them, pushed forward without hesitation. The
jaded division was finally compelled to yield, and, after six hours' j
magnificent fighting, fell back to a point within half a mile of the
Landing. The retirement of Hurlbut left W. H. L. Wallace's Division '
still fighting with determined front. It had for some hours maintained
almost a continuous roll of musketry, and kept its ground against four ,
separate charges of the enemy, but the supports being now gone,1
retreat was imperative. At this moment Wallace fell and was borne
from the field, and the division fell back
. It was now four o'clock in the afternoon, and both sides were some- j
what exhausted by ten hours of almost continuous fighting. Natu
rally enough, therefore, a lull took place in the firing, which was well
improved by Grant. Sherman had meanwhile formed a new and
strong fine on the right, which was prolonged to the left by re-forme4
brigades and regiments from the remaining divisions of the army,
while, with excellent judgment, Colonel Webster, Grant's Chief of
Artillery, placed the remaining batteries in a semicircle on the left, so
as to pour a concentrated fire upon the enemy, who, it was supposed,
were massing for a last desperate onset in this direction. The gun
boats Tyler and Lexington also moved up to the mouth of Lick
Creek, to bring their guns within range of the enemy, scarcely more
than half a mile distant. In addition to this protection, the hard-
pressed army were cheered by the intelligence that Nelson's Division,
constituting the advance of Buell, had reached the eastern bank of the
Tennessee, and would soon cross to their assistance. Suddenly, at
about five o'clock, the enemy burst upon the Union left, only to be
swept down by steady volleys of musketry and the withering fire of
the batteries. To add to their consternation, the huge guns of the
Tyler and Lexington ploughed into their flanks. Again and again did
the rebels attempt to break through the circle of fire within which the
Union army stood at bay. The position seemed impregnable. Dis
appointed and disheartened, they at length retired at nightfall, and the
battle was over for the day. So far was the Union army from being
beaten, that General Grant had some time before this issued orders to
his division commanders to prepare to assume the offensive at an early
hour in the morning.
The rebels had suffered severely during the day, and experienced an
irreparable loss in the death of General Johnston, who was killed at
halfpast two o'clock. His troops, exhausted by the previous march
and twelve hours' combat, could not collect and send to the rear the
spoils captured, but slept on their arms. General Beauregard, now in
command, established his head-quarters at Shiloh Church, hoping that
some delay would prevent the arrival of General BuelL who he knew
was on the march. Throughout the night the gunboats bombarded
the rebel position, not only preventing an advance, but actually com
pelling the enemy to retire a short distance.

310 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
A drenching rain set in during the night, in the midst of which the
troops of General Buell arrived. He had reached Savannah on the
evening of the 5th, General Nelson leading the advance. On the
morning of the 6th, the firing in the direction of Pittsburg was heard,
and Buell sent orders for the division in the rear to leave the trains
and hurry forward. Nelson was ordered at half-past one o'clock to
leave his guns to be carried in steamboats, the roads being imprac
ticable for artillery, and to march the men opposite Pittsburg Landing,
where General Buell himself arrived late on the 6th.
! During the night of the 6th the division of Nelson crossed the
river, and took position on the Union left. It was followed by the
divisions of Generals T. L. Crittenden and McCook, which were
posted on the left centre and centre, while the troops which had par
ticipated in the battle of the 6th occupied the right centre and right.
The extreme right was held by General Lewis Wallace's Division,
which also arrived on the night of the 6th. The last-named general
opened the action at an early hour on the 7th, by shelling some rebel
batteries in his immediate front, and under cover of his fire the whole
right wing advanced some distance. The fighting was by no means
so severe as on the preceding day, but the enemy, nevertheless, made
some desperate efforts on either wing to maintain the ground they
had gained. At one time Wallace was so hard pressed that he was
obliged to send to Sherman for aid. Finally, however, the rebels on
this part of the line were pushed back beyond the position they had
held on the night of the 5th, and retreated from the hard-fought field.
On the left the contest was more severe. Nelson's Division was
first engaged, and advanced so rapidly as to expose its right flank,
which forced him to retire until re-enforced by Boyle's Brigade, of
Crittenden's Division, when he again moved forward, and drove back
the enemy, capturing some of their guns, and occupying the rising
ground in the front. On the right of Nelson came up Crittenden.
Between eight and nine o'clock, while keeping Smith's Brigade on
his left up even with Nelson's flank, and joining Boyle's Brigade to
McCook on the right, in the grand advance, Crittenden came upon
the enemy with a battery in position, and well supported. Smith
dashed his brigade forward, and for a short time there was close work
with musketry, until the rebels fled, leaving us three pieces — a twelve-
pound howitzer and two brass six-pounders. For half an hour the
storm raged around these captured guns. Then came the returning
rebel wave that had hurled Nelson back. Crittenden, too, caught its
full force. The rebels swept up to the battery, and down after our
retreating column. But the two brigades, like those of Nelson to
their left, took a fresh position, faced the foe, and held their ground.
MendenhaU's and Bartlett's Batteries now began shelling the rebel
infantry, which paused, and finally fell back. A gallant charge se
cured the contested battery, while the rebels retreated towards the
left. Smith and Boyle holding the infantry well in hand, Mendenhall
again got their range, and poured in shell on the new position.
The epemy's line now commenced a retrograde movement, which
both Nelson and Crittenden vigorously pushed. The brigade of

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 311
Wood arrived soon after, and joined in the pursuit, and the left was
safe. Meantime, McCook, in the centre, after a fierce fight with the op
posing foe, had driven him to the woods. As Buell's fresh troops
successively arrived upon the left and centre, the enemy, whose re
serves were exhausted, commenced, about two o'clock, a general
retreat. At a distance of eight hundred yards he made a stand and
opened with his artillery, but, being pushed by Crittenden, retired
with the loss of a battery. The rear-guard of the enemy, under
Breckinridge, held, on the night of the 7th, during a severe rain, the
ground occupied by him on the night of the 5th. ' On the 8th, Gen
eral Sherman started in pursuit, and succeeded in routing a body of
rebel cavalry, whose camp he captured, with a quantity of ammu
nition. The line of retreat was found to be strewn with small-arms,
clothing, and accoutrements. The constant rains had made the roads
nearly impassable, and the pursuit, in consequence, soon terminated.
The official report of General Beauregard placed his loss at one thou
sand seven hundred and twenty-eight ¦ killed, eight thousand and
twelve wounded, and nine hundred and fifty-nine missing ; total, ten
thousand six hundred and ninety-nine. His forces did not retain
any of the material captured on Sunday, except that the men who
were badly armed exchanged their weapons for the superior rifles
found on the battle-field. The Union loss of cannon on the 6th was
about balanced by their captures on the 7th. The Union loss in the
two days' fighting was reported as follows : —
GENERAL GRANT'S ABMT,
Divisions. Killed. Wounded. Missing. TotaL
1. General McClernand  251 1,351 236 1,848
2. General W. H. L. Wallace  228 1,033 1,163 2,424
3. General Lew. Wallace  43 257 5 305
4. General Hurlbut  313 1,449 223 1,985
5. General Sherman  318 1,215 4A1 2 034
6. General Prentiss  196 662 1,802 • 2*160
1,349 5,927 3,870 11,356
GENERAL BUELl's ARMY.
Divisions. Killed. Wounded. Missing. Total.
2. General McCook  95 793 8 896
4. General Nelson  90 591 58 739
3. General Crittenden  , 80 410 27 517
265 1,794 93 2,152
Grand Totals  1,614 7,721 3,963 13,508
On the 9th, General Beauregard sent a flag to General Grant for
permission to bury the dead on the camp-ground captured on Sunday.
General Grant replied that he had already caused the dead of both
parties to be buried. The number so buried was about three thou
sand, out of three thousand three hundred and forty-two reported
killed on both sides.

312

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.

T Much hostile criticism has been expended on General Grant by ill-:
informed or unfriendly persons, for his management of the battle of
April 6th. Without going into any inquiry of the facts of the case,
it may be sufficient here to say, that General W. T. Sherman, who bore
bo distinguished a part in the contest, voluntarily published, two years
after the battle, a statement vindicating General Grant from all
charges of negligence, incompetency, and other imnroper conduct.
From this it appears that the latter, far from admitting that he had
been defeated, had actually made preparations to renew the attack on,
the 7th, before intelligence reached him of the arrival of Buell's ad
vance. On the other hand, Generals Grant and Halleck speak in the
strongest terms of the services rendered by General Sherman on the
6th, the former stating that it was to his individual efforts he was
indebted for the success of that battle.
While these events were taking place on the Tennessee River, Gen
eral Mitchel * had occupied Shelbyville, Tennessee, and moved upon
the line of the Memphis and Charleston Railroad with great rapidity
and success. Colonel Turchin's brigade of infantry, with Kennett's
cavalry, marched twenty-five miles over a broken road in fourteen
hours, and entered Huntsville on the night of the llth, capturing
many locomotives, and two siege-guns. Huntsville is an important
point on the line of the Memphis and Charleston Railroad, and one of
the most beautiful cities of Alabama. Among the papers captured by
Mitchel at this place was the following from Beauregard: —
" Corinth, April 9.
" General Samuel Cooper, Richmond, Virginia:
"All present probabilities are that whenever the enemy moves on this position, he
will do so with an overwhelming force of not less than eighty-five thousand men. We
can now muster only about thirty-five thousand effective men ; Tan Dorn may possibly
join us in a few days with fifteen thousand more. Can we not be re-enforced from
Pemberton's army? If defeated here, we lose the Mississippi Valley, and probably
our cause ; whereas we could even afford to lose for a while Charleston and Savannah,
for the purpose of defeating Buell's army, which would not only insure us the Valley
. of the Mississippi, but our independence. P. G. Beauregard."
Two expeditions were dispatched soon afterwards from Huntsville,
one of which, under Colonel Sill, of the Thirty-second Ohio, went east
to Stevenson, Alabama, the junction of the Chattanooga with the Mem
phis and Charleston Railroad, where he captured two thousand of the
enemy without firing a shot. Colonel Sill also captured five locomo
tives and a large amount of rolling stock. The other expedition, under
Colonel Turchin, went west, and arrived at Decatur in time to save

* Ormsby McKnight Mitchel was a native of
Kentucky, and graduated at West Point in 1829.
On the 80th day of August, 1829, he was appointed
assistant professor of mathematics at the Military
Academy, which position he retained until tho
28th of August, 1881. He resigned his military
rank on the 80th day of September, 1832, and
practised law in Cincinnati, from 1882 to 1834.
He next became a professor of mathematics, phi
losophy, and astronomy, at the Cincinnati College,
In Ohio, which position he held from 1884 to 1S44.
He became the founder and director of tho obser
vatory in Cincinnatl'ln 1846, and edited and pub
lished a noted astronomical journal entitled the

Sidereal Messenger. From 1847 to 1S48 he was
adjutant-general of the State of Ohio, and in 1848
was appointed the chief engineer of the Ohio and
Mississippi Railroad. He was for some years con
nected with the Dudley Observatory at Albany as
director, which position he held when, on the 9th
of August, 1861, ho was commissioned a brigadier-
general of volunteers. He was then ordered to
report to tho commander of the now Department
of the Ohio, which embraced his native State.
His exploits at Huntsville procured for him,
April 15th, tho commission of major-general ; and
subsequently,he succeeded General nunter In com
mand at Port Koyal, where he died of yollow fever.

:: " V '

maj cm .ht;ni;y wakes.' ifAU .kck .

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 313
the railroad bridge, which was in flames. Decatur is a post village
of Morgan County, Alabama, situated on the left bank of the Tennessee
River, thirty miles west by southwest of Huntsville. It is on the
route of the Memphis and Charleston Railroad, distant about forty-four
miles from Tuscumbia.
On the 24th of April, General Mitchel's advance, under Turchin,
reached Tuscumbia, opposite Corinth. Meantime, the gunboats on
the Tennessee River effected a passage over the muscle shoals, an ex
tensive series of rapids, which are passable only at very high stages
of water.

CHAPTER XXVII.
Halleck at Pittsburg Landing. — Fall of Corinth. — Pursuit. — Memphis Occupied. — Gen
eral Grant. — End of Campaign. — Halleck at Washington.
Genebal Halleck was appointed to the command of the Depart
ment of the Mississippi on the 16th of March, but it was not until the
15th of April, after the reduction of Island No. Ten had liberated Gen
eral Pope's command, and the severe battle at Pittsburg Landing had
caused a further concentration of the Confederates at Corinth, and
General Mitchel had obtained control of the railroad, that he assumed
command in the field. His operations were confined to the reduction
of the enemy's position at Corinth, whither Beauregard had fallen
back from the battle-field of Shiloh. He had, by river, full communi
cation with Cairo, whither his wounded were sent by steamer, and
whence he drew in profusion every needed supply, yet it was not un
til the close of May that he ascertained there was no longer any enemy
at Corinth — Beauregard having effected his retreat. Corinth is a very
important strategical point, situated in a hilly, semi-mountainous coun
try — a branch of the Appalachian range, which diverges from the
Alleghany Mountains, and forms the mountains and gold-bearing
regions of Georgia and Alabama^ Here, also, is the junction of the
Memphis and Charleston and Mobile and Ohio Railroads, which form
the means of communication between the Atlantic and Gulf seaboards.
Doubtless the troops were on both sides much disorganized, and time
was required to restore the morale of the army. Fresh horses were
required, as well as caissons, gun-carriages, and small-arms, but all
these were within reach at Cairo and St. Louis. The enemy, with
greater wants, had less means of supplying them. General Halleck
proceeded with the utmost caution, arid seemed determined to have
his army re-enforced and well equipped before making a forward
movement. The troops of Buell and Grant were concentrated, Pope
was summoned with his command from the Mississippi, and Mitchel
was directed to threaten the right flank and rear of the enemy at Iuka,
a few miles southeast of Corinth. On the reduction of Island No. Ten,
the flotilla was transferred to Flag-officer Davis— Commodore Foote
being disabled by a severe wound — and was ordered to follow the
enemy to Fort Wright, fifty miles above Memphis, to which place he had
fallen back The fleet was accompanied by Pope's troops in transports.

314 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION
On April 13 th the fleet arrived off Fort Wright. In this neighbor
hood the river flows east from Island No. Thirty-Two to Island No.
Thirty-Three, when it takes a westerly direction, flowing round a bluff,
and again takes an easterly course. It thus forms two points — that of
Fort Wright, on the Tennessee shore, and another nearly opposite in
Arkansas. The latter point, flat and marshy, is protected from the
overflow of the river by a levee which extends down the whole river
to New Orleans ; on that point the army of Pope was landed on the
night of the 15th, the day on which Halleck took command at Pitts
burg. The enemy sent over small parties in skiffs and cut the levee in
four places. The water poured through the cuts in torrents, deepen
ing and widening them constantly, until the inundation not only of the
point became a certainty, but on the bottom-lands of the whole eastern
portion of Arkansas. Their object was doubtless to prevent antici
pated operations by our army, and it compelled the re-embarkation of
the troops upon the transports. On the 18th, General Pope received
orders to repair to Pittsburg Landing, where he arrived on the 24th,
and landed at Hamburg, forming the left of Halleck's army, on the same
day that Mitchel occupied Tuscumbia. The enemy's force at the same
time was augmented by the armies of Van Dorn and Price at Mem
phis, and the latter general was transferred to the command at Fort
Wright. The enemy's outposts still hovered around Pittsburg Landing. They
had strong advance forces at Purdy, Pea Ridge, and Monterey, respec
tively, six, eight, and ten miles from the landing. On the 27th of
April, the several divisions of Halleck's army began to move forward
slowly, and General Hurlbut occupied Shiloh Church, which had been
held by Beauregard on the 6th, the enemy retiring with small loss.
General Grant also moved his head-quarters nearer the front. The im
passable state of the roads, it was alleged, prevented a more rapid move
ment in advance. Beginning on the extreme right, the advanced divi
sions of the army were placed as follows : Sherman's, McCook's, Mc-
Arthur's (late C. F. Smith's), Crittenden's, and Nelson's, the centre
resting on Hamburg, a landing on the river, some four or five miles
above Pittsburg landing. The reserve divisions of the army, commen
cing at the right, were Wallace's, McClernand's, Hurlbut's, and Mc-
Kean's. General Grant commanded the right and right centre of the
army, General Buell the left and left centre, and General Pope the ex
treme left, in all about one hundred thousand effective troops. The
troops continued to press forward at various points, as circumstances
would permit, and on the 3d May, General Paine's Division of Pope's
Corps reconnoitred in force as far as Farmington, which is fifteen miles
from Pittsburg Landing and five miles from Corinth. Here he en
countered a force of four thousand and five hundred of the enemy, with
four guns; after a sharp encounter, the enemy were driven back with loss,
and the Union troops held the position, throwing out pickets towards
Corinth. At the same time an artillery reconnoissance was made to
Glendale, southeast of Corinth, on the Memphis and Charleston Rail
road, where the bridges were destroyed. On the 9th, a strong force of
the enemy under General Bragg attacked the Union troops, occupying

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 315
Farmington, but after a sharp engagement, with considerable loss on
either side, was driven off. The lines of Halleck's army were now
twelve miles in extent, forming the segment of a circle, of which the
right, threatening the Memphis road, was about a mile nearer Corinth
than the left. The former wing had recently been transferred to Gen
eral Thomas, while Grant became second in command under Halleck.
On the 25th the army moved up to within three-fourths of a mile
of the enemy's works and intrenched. It was now forty-five days
since General Halleck had taken the command at Pittsburg Landing,
and, moving forward by regular approaches, he had, with occasional
skirmishes, gained about sixteen miles of ground, but the amount of
labor done was very great. The long line of the advancing army, iu
order to keep an unbroken front, was compelled to make roads.
Hardly a division made a movement that did not cut a new road through
the woods, with bridges for the ravines, and long lines of corduroy for
the swamps. Even brigades required short roads to the left or right
of their division road to enable them to occupy their places in the line ;
and thus the whole country was covered with a network of roads. In
this immense labor the time was occupied. On the morning of the 28th,
General Halleck sent Colonel Elliott, with a. large cavalry force, to
seize Booneville on the Memphis and Charleston Railroad, with a view
of cutting Beauregard's communications with the south ; and three re
connoitring parties, one each from Thomas on the right, Buell in the
centre, and Pope on the left, advanced to feel the enemy's position and
ascertain his strength. . They were met with great determination, but
succeeded in holding the ground gained.
While these events were in progress, the flotilla, that had reached
Fort Wright April 13th, opened its fire upon the forts on the 15th,
with fourteen mortar-boats. The siege was continued until the 8th
May, when the Confederate flotilla of eight gunboats, of which several
were rams, advanced up the river and engaged Davis's vessels ; after an
hour's conflict, they retired, with the loss of three boats. The opera
tions against the fort were then prolonged until June 4th, when it was
discovered that the place was abandoned, all the guns carried off, and
stores and supplies destroyed. Perceiving that Memphis would soon
be uncovered to the Union forces on the river, Beauregard decided, as
a consequence, that Corinth was no longer tenable. When, therefore,
General Halleck was finally ready for the assault of Corinth, he dis
covered it to be evacuated. The movement was complete ; every thing
had been carried off or destroyed. The case was similar to the fall of
Torktown. The combat of the 28th was described in General Halleck's
dispatch as follows : — "Head-Quaeteks Department of the Mississippi, )
" Camp on the Corinth Road, May 28, 1862. )
" Hon. E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War :
" Three strong reconnoitring columns advanced this morning on the right, centre, ana
left, to feel the enemy and unmask his batteries. The enemy hptly contested his ground
at each point, but was driven back with considerable loss.
"The column on the left encountered the strongest opposition. Our loss is twenty-
flve killed and wounded. The enemy left thirty dead on the field. Our losses at other

316 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
points are not yet ascertained. Some five or six officers and a number of privates
were captured.
" The fighting will probably be renewed to-morrow at daybreak. The whole country
is so thickly wooded that we are compelled to feel our way.
"H. W. Halleck, Major-General."
" Near Corinth, May 30, 1862.
"Hon. E. M. Stanton:
" General Pope's heavy batteries opened upon the enemy's detachments yesterday
about ten A. M., and soon drove the rebels from their advanced batteries.
" Major-General W. T. Sherman established another heavy battery yesterday after
noon within one thousand yards of their works, and skirmishing parties advanced at
daybreak this morning. Three of our divisions are already in the enemy's advanced
works, about three-quarters of a mile from Corinth, which is in flames. The enemy
has fallen back of the Mobile and Ohio Railroad. "H. W. Halleck, Major-General."
"Neab Corinth, May 30, 1862.
"Hon. E. M. Stanton:
" Our advance-guard are at Corinth.
" Conflicting accounts as to the enemy's movements. He is believed to be in strong
force on our left flank, some four or five miles south of Corinth, near the Mobile and
Ohio Railroad. " H. W. Halleck, Major-General."
These dispatches are dated on the 30th, and it is remarkable that,
although General Halleck had in person been forty-three days within
sixteen miles of Corinth, and had, on the 28th, sent forward three
reconnoitring parties, he knew nothing whatever of the movements of
the enemy. In his dispatch of the 31st, he says : —
"The evacuation of Corinth commenced on Wednesday (the 28th), and was com
pleted on Thursday night (the 29th), but in great haste, as an immense amount of
property was destroyed and abandoned.
"No troops have gone from here to Richmond unless within the last two days."
Thus, while Pope and Sherman were " establishing their batteries,"
the evacuation had already taken place. At five o'clock on the morn
ing of the 30th, some explosions were heard in Corinth, which excited
attention in Pope's Corps ; and his pickets, finding no skirmishers in
front, rode up to the enemy's intrenchments and found them deserted.
On report of this fact, the whole corps was ordered forward, and occu
pied the city at eleven a. m. At the same time, General Granger, of
the cavalry, left Farmington, in direct pursuit of the enemy. On the
evening of the 30th, he overtook their rear-guard at Tuscumbia Creek,
eight miles south of Corinth. It was driven out on the 31st, and on
the 1st of June the pursuit was recommenced. Granger overtook the
enemy at Booneville. Meantime, Colonel Elliott, who had left camp
on the 28th, had entered Booneville, and captured a number of strag
glers, deserters, and invalids, and two thousand five hundred small-
arms ; also some cars which had not passed the Hatohee River before
the bridge was burned. He was too late, however, to cut the enemy's
communications, as the greater part of Beauregard's army had already
passed Booneville in their retreat south.
Both Granger and Elliott then continued the pursuit some miles

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 317
farther without any material results. The enemy took position at
Twenty-Mile Creek, twenty-five miles from Corinth, and remained
there until June 8th. General Pope remained near Booneville, draw
ing his rations from Tennessee River ; and the division of McClernand
occupied the country between the Tennessee River and the Mississippi
Central Railroad, and north" of the Memphis and Charleston Railroad.
General Halleck occupied Bolivar, and a force under Marsh seized
Jackson, Tennessee.
When the enemy evacuated Fort Wright, and also Fort Randolph,
which is a short distance above, they carried away or destroyed every
thing of value. The troops under Colonel Fitch landed and took pos
session without any opposition. The gunboat fleet, consisting of the
Benton, Louisville, Carondelet, Cairo, and St. Louis, under Flag-officer
Davis, and the ram fleet, under Colonel Ellet, got away at noon of
June 3d, for Memphis, and reached Island No. Forty-four, near Mem
phis, at night, having on the way captured the steam-transport Sover
eign. The Confederate fleet — consisting of the following vessels : the
General Van Dorn (flag-ship), General Bragg, General Lovell, Jeff
Thompson, Beauregard, Little Rebel, and Sumter — were discovered
lying near Memphis. During the night the rebel fleet moved down
the river, and at daylight were seen coming up in line of battle. Our
gunboats had, in the mean time, weighed anchor, and, followed by
several rams, moved towards the enemy's fleet. The action was com
menced by the Little Rebel, and terminated, in an hour and a half,
in the capture or destruction of five vessels. The Van Dorn escaped.
The Union ram Queen of the West was disabled. After the return of
our gunboats from the pursuit, Commodore Davis sent the following
note to the mayor of the city of Memphis : —
"United States Flag-steamer Benton, )
" Off Memphis, June 6. )
" I have respectfully to request that you will Surrender the city of Memphis to the
authority of the United States, which I have the honor to represent.
"I am, Mr. Mayor, with high respect, your obedient servant, "C. N. Davis, Flag- Officer." ^
In reply, the mayor says : —
" Tour note received, and in reply I have only to say, as the civil authorities have
no means of defence, by the force of cricumstances the city is in your hands.
"John Park, Mayor.''
At eleven o'clock A. it., Colonel Fitch, with the Indiana Brigade,
arrived and took military possession. He immediately notified the
judges of the courts to dismiss all causes based on the Southern Con
federacy. Judge Swayne refused to hold a court under military dic
tation. The stores were all closed and the city was quiet, but a quan
tity of cotton that had been fired was still burning.
Memphis remained under command of Colonel Fitch until June 1 7th,
on which day General Lew. Wallace, who, on the evacuation of Cor
inth, had been dispatched towards Memphis, entered the city, and
took command by virtue of his superior rank. Meanwhile, Colonel

318 , HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
Fitch had left Memphis on the 13th, to accompany an expedition com
posed of the gunboats St. Louis, Lexington, Conestoga, and Mound
City, accompanied by transports carrying the Forty-third and Forty-
sixth Indiana Regiments, for the purpose of removing the obstructions
in White Rivei. When near White River, a Confederate steamer was
captured. On the 17th, the expedition reached St. Charles, eighty-five miles
above the mouth bf the river, where the enemy had erected a battery.
An engagement ensued, lasting an hour and a half. While the gun
boats engaged the battery, the troops, under Colonel Fitch, landed a
short distance below, and proceeded to storm the place. He carried
it at the point of the bayonet, and with small loss. The enemy lost
one hundred and twenty-five killed and wounded. During the can
nonading a ball entered the boiler of the Mound City, causing a fearful
explosion and loss of life. The crew consisted of one hundred and
seventy-five men, of whom nearly one hundred and twenty-five were
killed or wounded. Colonel Fitch took possession of St. Charles, Ar
kansas, which he continued to hold.
On the 26th June, General U. S. Grant was appointed to the com
mand of Western Tennessee, head-quarters at Memphis. The season
of active operations was now passed, and three new divisions of the
army which had operated against Corinth were created. The Army
of West Tennessee, under General Grant, was assigned to a line run
ning along to the Memphis and Charleston Railroad from Corinth to
Memphis, and along the line of the Mobile and Ohio Railroad in the
direction of Kentucky, where General Quimby was now in command
of a division of Kansas troops. General Sherman's Division was be
tween Grand Junction and Memphis ; and that of General Lew. Wal
lace was on the line of the Mississippi Central, between Grand Junc
tion and Jackson. The Army of the Ohio, under Buell, occupied the
Memphis and Charleston Railroad, from the Alabama line towards
Chattanooga. General Pope, after remaining for some weeks in the
neighborhood of Corinth, was summoned eastward, and on June 26th
appointed to command the Army of Virginia, comprising the corps of
Fremont, Banks, and McDowell
The enemy, meanwhile, showed no immediate disposition to move. On
the 15th June, General Beauregard turned over his command, which was
reported eighty thousand strong, at Okalona, to General Bragg. He
reached Montgomery on the 17th, and repaired in person to Richmond.
General Kirby Smith was reported twenty thousand strong at Chat
tanooga. General Price with fifteen thousand at Fulton, while Van
Dorn held Granada, Mississippi, with a small cavalry force. The ene
my had carried out his policy of destroying the cotton by fire. On the
Mississippi, from Memphis to Vicksburg, a belt of country fifteen miles
on each side had been stripped of its cotton. The banks of the White
and Arkansas Rivers were also devastated by the torch, and many
thousand bales were burned. After the continued excitement of the
ninety days that preceded the fall of Corinth and Memphis, a season
of quiet, in a military sense, fell upon the Western Department. During
the active season, the Army of the Mississippi certainly achieved great

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 319
things, and in nothing so well served the country as in furnishing victory
after victory at a time when delay and disaster at the East would have
plunged the people in gloom, and in permanently restoring Missouri,
Kentucky, and Tennessee to the Union. The National arms, pushed
into the Gulf States, had secured possession of all the great rivers and
routes of internal communication through the heart of the Confederate
territory, and the enemy's strength was so shaken as to prevent any
immediate renewal of the war in that quarter.
At the same time, reverses overtook the operations at the East ;
and, after the disastrous result of the Peninsular campaign, President
Lincoln, in view of the great military reputation enjoyed by Halleck,
determined to summon him to Washington, and give him the chief
direction of the war. Accordingly, the following order was issued : —
"Executive Mansion, July 11, 1862.
" Ordered, That Major-General Henry W. Halleck be assigned to the command of the
whole land forces of the United States as general-in-chief, and that he repair to this
capital as soon as he can with safety to the position and operations within the depart
ment now under his special charge. "Abraham Lincoln."
In accordance with this order, General Halleck, on the 16th July,
took leave of the Western armies, and proceeded immediately to
Washington.

CHAPTER XXVIII.
Operations of the Army of Virginia under General Pope. — New Policy of Conducting
the War. — Cedar Mountain. — Line of the Rappahannock. — Flanking Movement of
Stonewall Jackson. — Second Battle of Bull Run. — Chantilly. — Death of Kearny. —
Evacuation of the Peninsula.
Upott assuming command of the Army of Virginia, General Pope
found that the three corp3 of which it was composed numbered less
than forty thousand infantry and artillery, and about five thousand
cavalry, the latter being for the most part badly armed and mounted,
and in poor condition for service. General Fremont, commanding the
First Corps, upon learning that he was to be under the orders of Pope,
was relieved at his own request, and succeeded by Sigel. At the
close of June, Sigel's and Banks's Corps were in the Valley of the
Shenandoah, between Winchester and Middletown, and McDowell's
occupied Fredericksburg and Manassas Junction, one division being at
each place. The momentous engagements which ended in the retreat
of McClellan to the James River were then in progress, and so largely
had the rebels drawn upon their outlying forces to strengthen the
army in Richmond, that no considerable body of the enemy was
within a week's march of any one of the above corps. The object of
placing them under the command of a single general was to increase
their efficiency, and to prevent the embarrassments which were likely
to arise from three separate armies, under as many commanders, at-

320 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
tempting to act in concert. The experience of the recent brief but
exciting Shenandoah campaign, had satisfied the President that in any.
similar future emergency it was indispensable that one head should
control the military movements. As he had no disposition to do that
himself, he called to his aid General Pope, then generally considered
one of the most successful and capable of the Western generals.
Pope's first care was to dispose his troops in such a manner as to
cover Washington, to secure the safety of the Lower Shenandoah
Valley, and, in accordance with the wishes of the Government, "to
operate upon the enemy's lines of communication in the direction of
Gordonsville and Charlottesville, so as to draw off, if possible, a con
siderable force of the enemy from Richmond, and thus relieve the
operations against that city of the Army of the Potomac." These
several objects he thought could bs best effected by concentrating the
greater part of his forces between Sperryville and Warrenton, east ofthe
.Blue Ridge, and about thirty-five miles north of Gordonsville. From
this position they could watch an army marching down the Valley, or
approaching Washington by the line of the Rappahannock, and would
be prepared to strike with full strength at either ; and they could also
demonstrate against Gordonsville. The corps of Sigel and Banks
were accordingly ordered thither from the valley, together with Rick
etts's Division of McDowell's Corps from Manassas Junction ; while
King's Division of the same corps was suffered to remain at Freder
icksburg to protect the crossing of the Rappahannock at that point,
and the railroad running thence to Aquia Creek.
Before these dispositions were completed, occurred the seven days'
fighting before Richmond, the result of which was to interpose the
rebel army directly between those of Pope and McClellan, and enable
Lee, having interior lines, to strike at either of them in greatly supe
rior numbers. The grave complications which this state of affairs
seemed likely to produce, including possibly the capture ofthe Federal
Capital, madeit imperative, in the opinion of the President, that the
Armies of Virginia and the Potomac, though continuing distinct
organizations, under their present commanders, should be controlled
by an officer of higher authority than either of them. Otherwise,
there was no certainty of insuring harmonious co-operation between
the two armies, and without such co-operation the Union cause wouldi
be greatly imperilled. For this reason, General Halleck was called to
Washington, and placed in general command. Pending his arrival,
and the military policy which should then be determined upon, Gen
eral Pope occupied himself with reorganizing his forces, the cavalry
of which was generally in poor condition, and with supplying them
with the material necessary for active operations in the field. After
two weeks spent in this manner, and in thoroughly acquainting him
self with the country in which he was to operate, he issued the follow
ing address to his troops : —
, „ , "Washington, Monday, July 14. J
"To the Officers and Soldiers of t/ie Army of Virginia :
"By special assignment ofthe President ofthe United States, I have assumed com
mand of this army,

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 321
' "I have spent two weeks in learning your whereabouts, your condition, and your
wants ; in preparing you for active operations, and in placing you in positions from
which you can act promptly and to the purpose.
" I have come to you from the West, where we have always seen the backs of our
enemies — from an army whose business it has been to seek the adversary, and to beat
him when found — whose policy has been attack, and not defence.
" In but one instance has the enemy been able to place our Western armies in a
defensive attitude.
"I presume that I have been called here to pursue the same system, and to lead
you against the enemy.
" It is my purpose to do so, and that speedily.
" I am sure you long for an opportunity to win the distinction you are capable of
achieving — that opportunity I shall endeavor to give you.
" Meantime I desire you to dismiss from your minds certain phrases which I am
sorry to find much in vogue amongst you.
"I hear constantly of taking strong positions and holding them — of lines of retreat —
and of bases of supplies. Let us discard such ideas.
"The strongest position a soldier should desire to occupy is one from which he can
most easily advance against the enemy.
"Let us study the probable lines of retreat of our opponents, and leave our own to
take care of themselves.
" Let us look before us, and not behind.
" Success and glory are in the advance.
"Disaster and shame lurk in the rear.
"Let us. act on this understanding, and it is safe to predict that your banners shall
be inscribed with many a glorious deed, and that your names will be dear to your
countrymen forever. (Signed) "John Pope,
"Major-General Commanding."
Althotrgh the style of this address was not altogether in good taste,
and the tone of it somewhat over-confident, it was accepted by the
loyal people throughout the country as an indication that the newly
appointed commander was prepared to push the war vigorously. In
this opinion they were strengthened by the promulgation of several
additional orders, showing that General Pope designed to act in a
somewhat different spirit from his predecessors in the East. Hitherto
the war had been conducted there on the principle that, by refraining
from the exercise of the harsher measures to which generals in the field
are entitled to resort, the rebels could be won over to their allegiance.
Great tenderness was accordingly manifested for every species of rebel
property, as also for the personal rights and privileges of the inhabit
ants, however bitter might be their hostility, of the territory through
which the Union armies passed. No perceptible benefit, it is true, had
as yet resulted from this lenity, but the policy was persevered in as if
there could be no doubt of its propriety. General Pope, however,
with the approval of the War Department, soon came to the conclusion
that if the war was to be conducted at all, it should be carried on with
every means adapted to hasten its termination and restore the suprem
acy of the General Government. The rebels laughed at the "rose-
water " policy, as it was called, which sought to smooth their pathway
back into the Union, and more resolutely than ever announced their
intention to secure the independence of the Confederacy. Hence it
became evident to reflective men that the hardships of war must be
brought directly to the door ofthe enemy, if the latter were to be brought
21

322 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
to their senses ; and this conclusion was arrived at in no spirit of wanton
malice or revenge, but with the single object of crushing the rebellion,
and thereby restoring the Union of the States. The first of the orders
alluded to had reference to the question of subsistence, and conse
quently had an important bearing on the celerity of the army's move
ments. It was as follows : —
general orders — no. 5
" Head-Quarters Army of Virginia, )
" Washington, July 18, 1862. \
"Hereafter, as far as practicable, the troops of 'this command will subsist upon the
country in which their operations are carried on. In all cases, supplies for this purpose
will be taken by the officers to whose department they properly belong, under the
orders of the commanding officer of the troops for whose use they are intended.
Vouchers will be given to the owners, stating on their face that they will be payable
at the conclusion ofthe war, upon sufficient testimony being furnished that such own
ers have been loyal citizens of the United States since the date of the vouchers.
Whenever it is known that supplies can be furnished in any district of the country
where the troops are to operate, the use of trains for carrying subsistence will be dis
pensed with as far as possible.
" By command of Major-General Pope. " George D. Ruggles,
" Col, A. A.-G., and Chief of i

By another order, issued on July 20th, " the people of the Valley
ofthe Shenandoah and throughout the region of the operations of the
army, living along the lines of railroad and telegraph, and along the
routes of travel in the rear of the United States forces, are notified that
they will be held responsible for any injury done to the track, line, or
road, or for1 any attacks upon trains or straggling soldiers by bands of
guerrillas in their neighborhood." In such cases the citizens were to
repair the damages. Any house from which a soldier should be fired
upon was ordered to be razed to the ground, and the inhabitants sent
prisoners to head-quarters. Persons detected in such outrages were
to be shot without awaiting civil process. These measures, severe as
they may seem, were rendered necessary by the acts of the Valley
population. Farmers by day, with protections in their pockets, show
ing that they had taken the oath of allegiance to the Federal Govern
ment, these men at night sallied forth as guerrillas, irregular horse
men, or spies, and plundered, burned, or murdered, as the opportunity
offered. It was the purpose of General Pope to intimidate this class
into good behavior, and had his orders been rigidly enforced, or had
similar orders been enforced wherever guerrillas or marauders oper
ated, there would have been fewer outrages of the kind aimed at to
complain of. Another order was to the following effect : —
general orders — NO. 11.
"Head-Quarters Army of Virginia, )
" Washington, July 23, 1863. )
Commanders of Army Corps, Divisions, Brigades, and detached commands, will pro
ceed immediately to arrest all disloyal male citizens within their lines, or within their
Teach, in rear of their respective stations.
" Such as are willing to take the oath of allegiance to the United States, and will

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 323
furnish sufficient security for its observance, shall be permitted to remain at their
homes, and pursue, in good faith, their accustomed avocations.
" Those who refuse shall be conducted South, beyond the extreme pickets of this
army, and be notified that if found again anywhere within our lines, or at any point in
rear, they will be considered spies, and subjected to the extreme rigor of military law.
If any person, having taken the oath of allegiance, as above specified, be found to
have violated it, he shall be shot, and his property seized and applied to the public use.
" All communication with any persons whatever, living within the lines of the enemy,
is positively prohibited, except through the military authorities, and in the manner
specified by military law ; and any person concerned in writing or in carrying letters
or messages in any other way, will be considered and treated as a spy within the lines
of the United States Army.
" By command of Major-General Pope. " George D. Ruggles,
" Col A. A.-G., and Chief of Staff."
In consequence of a misinterpretation ofthe first ofthe above orders,
or of wilful abuses of its provisions, General Pope subsequently issued
the following supplementary order : —
" Head-Quarters Army of Virginia, )
"Near Cedar Mountain, August 14, 1862. J
"general order — no. 19.
" The Major-General Commanding discovers with %reat dissatisfaction that General
Order No. 5, requiring that the troops of this command be subsisted on the country in
which their operations are conducted, has either been entirely misinterpreted or
grossly abused, by many of the officers and soldiers of this command. It is to be' dis
tinctly understood that neither officer nor soldier has any right whatever, under the
provisions of that order, to enter the house, molest the person, or disturb the property
of any citizen whatsoever.
_ " Whenever it is necessary or convenient for the subsistence of the troops, provi
sions, forage, and such other articles as may be required, will be taken possession of
and used, but every seizure must be made solely by the order of the commanding offi
cer of the troops there present, and by the officer of tho department through which the
issues are made. Any officer or soldier who shall be found to have entered the house
or molested the property of any citizen will be severely punished. Such acts of pillage
and outrage are disgraceful to the army, and have neither been contemplated nor au
thorized by any officer whatsoever. The perpetrators of them, whether officers or sol
diers, will be visited with a punishment which they will have reason to remember ;
and any officer or soldier absent from the limits of his camp, found in any house
whatever, without a written pass from his division or brigade commander, will be con
sidered a pillager, and treated accordingly.
"Army corps commanders will immediately establish mounted patrols under charge
of commissioned officers, which shall scour the whole country for five miles around
their camps at least once a day. and at different hours, to bring into their respective
commands all persons absent without proper authority, or who are engaged in any
interruption of citizens living in the country; and commanding officers of regiments or
smaller separate commands will bo held responsible that neither officers nor men shall
be absent from camp without proper authority.
"By command of Major-General Pope. "R. 0. Sefridge, A. A.-G."
On the following day, August 15th, General Halleck issued from
Washington a general order, stating that the oath of allegiance shall
be administered to no person against his will, and "no compulsory
parole of honor be received." The order also called attention to the
articles of war, which punished with death pillage or plundering,
" either in our own or enemy's territories." Any private who leaves the
ranks to enter a private house will be punished with death, and his
officers held responsible. General Casey, at Washington, in command
of provisional brigades, also issued an order denouncing for punishment

324 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
whoever shall commit any waste or spoil upon property, or any acts
of violence towards unarmed women or children.
Meanwhile, previous to the arrival of General Halleck, cavalry expe
ditions were sent out by General King from Fredericksburg to break
up at various points the Virginia Central Railroad between Gordons
ville and Hanover Junction. These were generally successful, and un
doubtedly retarded the forward movement ofthe enemy in August to
wards the Rapidan. On July 14th, Culpepper Court-House was occu
pied, but an expedition undertaken by General Hatch to gain posses
sion of Gordonsville failed, and in consequence that officer, by com
mand of General Pope, was superseded in command of the cavalry by
General Buford.
In the latter part of July, General Halleck arrived in Washington,
and on the 26th visited the head-quarters of the Army of the Potomac,
at Harrison's Landing. After much deliberation, the General-in-
Chief decided that the army could be extricated from its false position
in no other way than by withdrawing it from the Peninsula, and
posting it once more in front of Washington, either to unite or
co-operate with the Army of Virginia. Such union, indeed, was con
sidered essential to the safety of the capital, and to the further suc
cessful prosecution of the operations against Richmond. It was
therefore arranged that McClellan should retire down the Peninsula
to Fortress Monroe, and that, for the purpose of covering this move
ment, Pope should demonstrate boldly towards and beyond the Rapi
dan, as if about to commence an aggressive campaign against Rich
mond. From Fortress Monroe the Army of the Potomac was to
proceed with all possible expedition by water, either to Aquia Creek
or to Alexandria, and thence march to form the junction with Pope1.
Should the enemy move with rapidity and in large force upon the
latter, he was directed to delay their advance by every means in his
power, so as to gain time for the arrival of the troops from the James.
On the 29th of July, Pope left Washington and repaired to the
head-quarters of General Banks, in the neighborhood of Sperryville,
where, as has been previously stated, the great body of his troops were
encamped. After some days spent in preparation, the army was, on
August 7th and 8th, pushed forward on the road to Culpepper Court-
House — the cavalry, under Generals Buford and Bayard, being dis
tributed along the front towards the Rapidan, to cover the advance.
This was the commencement of the movement which was to enable
McClellan to retire unmolested from his position at Harrison's Land
ing ; and according to the orders of General Halleck, he ought now
to have been on the march. Pope's available force, after deducting
the division of King at Fredericksburg-^and troops left at Winches
ter, Front Royal, and other place*— amounted to twenty-eight thou
sand infantry and artillery^ and' about five thousand cavalry.
As early as the middle of July, the movements of Pope's forces had
induced Lee to send Stonewall Jackson, with his own corps and
Ewell's Division, to watch the line of the Rapidan, and when Pope
moved to Culpepper Court-House the enemy were at Gordonsville in
full strength. On August 7th, Jackson, learning that Pope's advance

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 325
was at the fonner place, marched rapidly thither with his whole
force, with the expectation of cutting off the Federals before the
arrival of their main body. On the 8th, Pope was notified by Gen
eral Bayard that the enemy had crossed the Rapidan, and were
pushing for Culpepper Court-House. Accordingly, to support Bay
ard, Crawford's Brigade of Banks's Corps was hurried forward, and
Banks himself ordered to move up to Cedar Mountain, a wooded
eminence of a sugar-loaf shape, about midway between Culpepper
Court-House and the Rapidan, and join Crawford. On the morning
of the 9th, Banks drew up his corps, consisting of less than eight
thousand men, about a mile to the north of Cedar Mountain, along
the slopes of which the enemy were stationed under cover of the
woods. Three miles to the rear of Banks, on the road to Culpepper
Court-House, was Ricketts's Division of McDowell's Corps, ready to
support Banks, or to check an advance of the enemy from Madison
Court-House, where they were reported by Buford to be concentrated
in heavy force. Pope himself was at Culpepper, where, according to
his orders, Sigel should have been on the 8th, although he did not
arrive until the next evening.
At daylight on the 9th, it was discovered that the enemy had
advanced as far as Cedar Mountain, holding its wooded sides and
cleared slopes. Only a small portion of their strength, however, was
visible. They also held a range of elevations and ravines westward
of the mountain. An elevated spot, a mile distant from the moun
tain, and a mile long east and west, was selected by General Banks
as the best place to receive their attack. At three o'clock in the
afternoon, a battery on our front, at a mile and a half range, opened
on us, and the rebel infantry drove in our pickets in the woods on
our right wing. Afterwards, battery after battery was unmasked on
the mountain slopes and on every hill, making a crescent of batteries
of nearly three miles, commanding our position for two hours. Our
batteries were_ exposed to cross-fires and fiank-fireS at every point.
The rebels evidently outnumbered us in guns and weight of metal.
We replied shot for shot till five o'clock, when the rebels opened an
enfilade battery on our right. General Banks here gave orders to
cease firing and charge this battery. The duty was assigned to
Crawford's Brigade, of Williams's Division, and the Forty-sixth
Pennsylvania Regiment led the charge. Behind the battery was. a
thicket of shrub oak, and before the men could reach the rebel guns
they were mowed down by a terrific fire from the thicket. The rest
of the brigade was quickly brought up, and subsequently Williams's
and Augur's commands, but the rebels were found at every point.
_ Finding that he was confronting an enemy numerically much supe
rior, who had also the advantage of position, and that his own losses had
been heavy, General Banks gradually fell back, between six and seven
P. m., to meet the supports under Pope, which were close at hand. The
latter general at once ordered Ricketts to the front, where the Federal
artillery played with such effect upon the rebel infantry, who had ven
tured forth from their woody cover to follow up Banks, as to drive them
back, in confusion and with considerable loss, to their original position

326 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
on the mountain. Artillery firing continued on both sides until mid
night, and the ground on Which the battle had been fought was com
manded by the guns of both armies, but occupied by neither of them.
No fighting took place on the 10th, which was spent by both armies
in burying their dead, and during the night of the llth Jackson re
tired across the Rapidan in the direction of Orange Court-House. The
Union loss in this drawn battle was about eighteen hundred in killed,
wounded, and missing; in addition to which, about one thousand men
straggled back beyond Culpepper Court-House, and never entirely re
turned to their commands. General Banks was injured by being
thrown from his horse in consequence of a collision with a runaway
horse. Generals Augur, Geary, and Carroll were severely wounded,
and General Prince was taken prisoner. The enemy's loss was about
equal, and included Generals Winder and Trimble killed.
A strong cavalry force, under Buford and Bayard, was immediately
pushed forward by Pope towards the Rapidan, and captured many
stragglers. On the 13th, Pope's forces advanced towards Orange, and
Buford, returning from the pursuit, reported the enemy four miles
back of the Rapidan, his main force at Gordonsville, holding the Cen
tral Railroad from Louisville to Charlotteville. The Union forces were
advanced to the Rapidan, on a line sufficiently broad to observe and
check any offensive move of the enemy, and yet with the division so
posted as to be capable of immediate concentration. Head-ouarters
were at Cedar Mountain.
It now became evident to Pope that the enemy in his front were un
necessarily strong for purposes of reconnoitring merely, and suspect
ing that Jackson's force constituted the advance-guard of Lee's entire
army, which would soon be upon him, he made haste to call in all
available troops. On August llth, King joined him from Fredericks
burg, followed on the 14th by General Reno, with eight thousand men
of the forces which had arrived at that place under Burnside. The
latter general had been ordered from North Carolina to support Mc-
Clellan^ but his troops halted at Fortress Monroe until it was decided
what should be done with the Army of the Potomac, after which they
at once embarked for Aquia Creek. The movement of the Army of
the Potomac was unaccountably slow, considering that the order for
its withdrawal from the Peninsula was given by Halleck on August 3d,
and it was not until the 14th of the month that the advance, compris
ing tho corps of Fitz-John Porter, started from Harrison's Landing
for Yorktown. The whole movement was detected by Lee, even be
fore the departure of Porter, as appeared from an autograph letter
from him to General Stuart, dated Gordonsville, August 15, which
was captured by a cavarly expedition sent out towards Louisa Court-
House on the 16th. This document made -manifest to Pope the inten
tion of the rebel general to overwhelm the Army of Virginia before it
could be re-enforced by any portion ofthe Army of the Potomac, and
warned the former to concentrate and fall back upon some less advanced
line. On the 18th, Lee effected a junction with Jackson, and on the
succeeding day the united rebel army moved towards the Rapidan,
Jackson keeping well to the left, with a view of flanking Pope. This

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 327
the latter had already anticipated by withdrawing behind the Rappap
hannock, where, on the afternoon of the 19th, the whole Union army
was concentrated, the left being a tKelly's Ford, and the right three
miles above Rappahannock Station.
During the 20th, 21st, and 22d, heavy' skirmishing ensued along the
banks of the Rappahannock, and the enemy made many fruitless
attempts to cross. Finding this impracticable, they began to move up
the right bank of the river, as if for the purpose of turning the Union
right. " My orders," says General Pope . in his official report, " re
quired me to keep myself closely in communication with Fredericks
burg, to which point the Army of the Potomac was being brought
from the Peninsula, with the purpose of re-enforcing me from that
place by the line of the Rappahannock. My force was too small to
enable me to extend my right further, without so weakening my line
as to render it easy for the enemy to break through it at any point.
I telegraphed again and again to Washington, representing this
movement of the enemy towards my right, and the impossibility^ of
my being able to extend my lines so as to resist it without abandoning
my connections with Fredericksburg. I was assured on the 21st, that
if I would hold the line of the river two days longer, I should be so
strongly re-enforced as not only to be secure, but to be able to resume
offensive operations ; but on the 25th of August, the only forces that
had joined me, or were in the neighborhood, were two thousand five
hundred men of the Pennsylvania Reserves, under Brigadier-General
Reynolds, who had arrived at Kelly's Ford, and the division of General
Kearny, four thousand five hundred strong, which had reached War
renton Junction."
On the 22d, the flanking movement of the enemy became so appar
ent that Pope massed his forces near Rappahannock Station, where
the Orange and Alexandria Railroad crosses the river, with the object
of suddenly passing to the opposite shore, and falling upon the rear
and flank of the rebel army. So large was the force of the enemy
confronting him, that unless this movement should prove successful,
he decided that he must fall back from the line of the Rappahannock;
notwithstanding Halleck's instructions to him to " stand firm " on that
line, to " dispute every inch of ground, and fight like the devil." But
during the night of the 22d a heavy rain set in, carrying away all the
bridges of the Rappahannock, and rendering the river unfordable for
a day or two. Advantage was taken of this circumstance to drive
across the river at Sulphur Springs, on the extreme Union right, a
body of the enemy who had effected a passage there on the 22d.
During the 23d and 24th, the enemy continued to push up along the
right bank of the stream, their centre being at or near Sulphur
Springs ; and on the latter day a large body of them were seen to
move off to the west of the Bull Run Mountains, in a northerly dic
tion. These troops, as it subsequently appeared, composed the rebel
left wing under Jackson, whose mission was to pass through Thorough
fare Gap, occupy Manassas Junction, in the Federal rear, and cut
Pope's communications with Washington, the main rebel force under
Lee meanwhile occupying the attention of Pope at the front, and

328 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION
being prepared to follow rapidly to the support of Jackson at the
proper time.
By the night of the 25th it became apparent to Pope that he could
no longer keep open his communications with Fredericksburg, and
also oppose the crossing of the Rappahannock, without leaving open
to the enemy the route through Thoroughfare Gap, and all other roads
north ofthe Orange and Alexandria Railroad. He, therefore, moved
his whole force to the neighborhood of Warrenton and Warrenton
Junction, and requested that Franklin, who ought by this time to
have arrived at Alexandria, might be sent at once to Gainesville, near
Thoroughfare Gap, to watch the flanking column of Jackson, and that
a division should be stationed at Manassas. These dispositions he
supposed would effectually guard his rear ; and not doubting that they
would be carried into effect, he felt little uneasiness respecting the
movement towards Thoroughfare Gap. His immediate command was
at this time strengthened by the arrival of Fitz-John Porter's Corps
and the remainder of Heintzelman's Corps.
Meanwhile Jackson pressed rapidly forward during the 24th and
25th, and on the 26th passed safely through Thoroughfare Gap. The
expected Federal re-enforcements had not reached Gainesville or
Manassas, and the march of the rebel column was unopposed. On
the same day his cavalry, under Colonel Fitz-Hugh Lee, surprised the
small Union force at Manassas, capturing a battery and a considerable
quantity of stores, and taking possession of the defensive works
erected there. On the succeeding day a brigade of New Jersey troops,
under General Taylor, coming up by rail from Alexandria to Manassas,
to re-enforce the garrison, and unsuspicious of the presence of the
enemy there in force, were driven back in confusion upon Centreville.
On the evening of the 26th the advance of Jackson's force cut the
Orange and Alexandria Railroad at Kettle Run, about six miles west
of Manassas, thus interrupting Pope's communication with Washing
ton, and establishing a hostile force directly in his rear.
Upon ascertaining the success of Jackson's movement, Pope made
immediate arrangements to throw his whole force towards Gainesville
and Manassas, and crush the flanking column before the arrival of the
main rebel army, which was pushing on to Thoroughfare Gap by the
same route which Jackson had taken, with a view of uniting with
him somewhere east of the Bull Run Mountains. Having a shorter
line than Lee to traverse, he ought by all the chances of war to have
overwhelmed that part of the rebel army which had passed through
the Gap ; and, if the repeated announcements from Washington, that
large re-enforcements from the rapidly arriving army of McClellan
were on their march to the front, could be depended upon, the pros
pect of the destruction of Jackson's Cor^s seemed reduced to an
absolute certainty. The army which had held the line of the Rap
pahannock was for the most part worn out by nearly nine days of
constant skirmishing and marching in the face of a vigilant enemy,
who outnumbered it three or four to one, and had also become greatly
reduced by sickness and the casualties of war. The corps of Heintzel
man and Porter, which had just arrived, were comparatively fresh

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 329
troops, but they had come forward without wagons or artillery, and
even without horses for the general officers and their staffs, and with
but forty rounds of ammunition to the man. The cavalry on paper
numbered about four thousand, but according to General Pope there
were not present for duty five hundred effective horses. The infantry
and artillery were estimated as follows: —
Sigel's Corps  '  9,000
Banks's Corps  5,000
McDowell's Corps, including Reynolds's Division  15,500
Reno's Corps  T,000
Heintzelman's and Porter's Corps  18,000
Total  54,500
On the morning of August 27th, the Union army marched north
ward in three columns. McDowell, with his own and Sigel's Corps
and Reynolds's Division, moved upon Gainesville to intercept any rfr1
enforcements coming to Jackson through Thoroughfare Gap. Reno,
with his own corps and Kearny's Division of Heintzelman's Corps,
moved forward to Greenwioh to support McDowell, while Pope him
self, with Hooker's Division of Heintzelman's Corps, marched along
the railroad to Manassas Junction, leaving directions to Porter to
remain with his corps at Warrenton Junction until relieved by Banks,
after which he was to push forward to Gainesville. The trains moved
in the rear of Hooker. These several movements were successfully
accomplished on the evening of the same day, the only fighting being
between Hooker's Division and Jackson's advance under Ewell at
Kettle Run, near Bristow Station, where the enemy were driven back
upon the railroad with some loss. So rapid had been the advance of
Pope's army that Jackson now became seriously alarmed for his com
munications, which were for the time being completely severed. He
therefore at an early hour on the 28th evacuated Manassas Junction
and retired across Bull Run to Centreville. Orders had been sent by
Pope to McDowell and Reno to march directly eastward along the
Manassas Gap Railroad soon after midnight on the 28th, having their
left thrown out well to the east. This would have forced Jackson
to march southward along the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, over
whelm Pope at Bristow, and make for the Rappahannock to guard
against the anticipated attack. Should the rebel general undertake
this movement, Pope had ordered up Porter's Corps from WarrentoU
Junction. The combinations, however, failed. Sigel, who had the
advance of McDowell's column, never moved from Gainesville until
eight o'clock on the morning of the 28th, nor did Porter reach
Bristow until near noon of that day. In consequence, Jackson was
enabled to escape unopposed in the direction of Centreville, his troops
moving away comparatively at their leisure during all the morning of
the 28th.
Upon perceiving the miscarriage of his plans, Pope about noon
ordered Reno, Kearny, and Hooker to follow Jackson, and
McDowell's command, then on the way to Manassas, to march for
Centreville. Porter was at the same time directed to come for-

330 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
ward to Manassas Junction. The two first orders were promptly
obeyed, and the enemy, driven out of Centreville by Kearny, and
retreating along the Warrenton turnpike towards Gainesville and
Thoroughfare Gap, came about six p. si. upon the division of
King, forming McDowell's advance, marching eastward to inter
cept them. A sharp combat ensued, which terminated at nightfall,
without material advantage to either side, and both armies bivou
acked in the immediate neighborhood of the battle-field. Pope
now felt sure that there was no escape for Jackson, and his forces were
ordered to be so disposed on the night of the 28th, that twenty-five
thousand men, under McDowell, Sigel, and Reynolds, should attack him
early on the next day from the south and west, while an equal number,
comprising the corps of Heintzelman, Porter, and Reno, were to
fall upon him from the east. As Lee, with the main rebel army,
was rapidly pushing on to Thoroughfare Gap to support Jackson,
celerity of movement and implicit obedience to instructions were abso
lutely necessary to insure the success of the Union arms. Unfortu
nately, however, during the night, King's Division fell back towards
Manassas Junction, where Porter's Corps had recently arrived, and thus
left the road to Gainesville and Thoroughfare Gap open to Jackson.
This rendered necessary new dispositions of the troops.
Accordingly, about daylight on the 29th, Heintzelman and Reno
were ordered to push forward from Centreville towards Gainesville,
establish communication with Sigel, who was near Groveton, and
attack Jackson with energy, while McDowell and Porter moved upon
him from the west and south. Sigel attacked the enemy at daylight,
and Heintzelman's two divisions coming up soon after, Jackson fell
back several miles, and about noon took up a new position, having his
left in the neighborhood of Ludley Spring, and his right a little south
of the Warrenton turnpike. Upon arriving on the field at noon, Pope,
seeing that Jackson was hard pushed by that portion of the Union
army which had come into action, sent urgent orders to McDowell and
Porter to advance rapidly on the left, and turn the rebel right flank
According to the calculation of General Pope, they ought to reach
their new positions towards the close of the afternoon, and pending
their arrival, the tired troops of Sigel, Heintzelman, and Reno were
allowed a few hours' rest. Soon after two p. m. news arrived that
McDowell would be on the field in a couple of hours, and at half-past
four peremptory orders were sent to Porter to push forward on the
enemy's right and turn his rear. Supposing that these orders would
be fulfilled, Pope soon after five p. m. directed Heintzelman and Reno to
recommence the attack. It was made with great energy, Grover's
Brigade of Hooker's Division distinguishing itself by a determined
bayonet charge, which broke through two of Jackson's lines. The
latter again fell bark, leaving the battle-field and his dead and wounded
in the hands of the Federal troops, and at sunset McDowell's troops
came into action along the Warrenton turnpike. By this time, how
ever, the troops of Lee had begun to arrive on the field, their progress
through Thoroughfare Gap having been ineffectually opposed by
Ricketts's Division of McDowell's Corps, left there for the purpose of

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 331
delaying their march. The rebel advance under Longstreet offered
such a determined resistance to the Union left wing, that the night fell
on a drawn battle on that portion of the field, the National arms hav
ing been decidedly triumphant on the right. During all this time the
corps of Fitz-John Porter, which Pope had repeatedly ordered to
assail the rebel right, had remained inactive at Manassas Junction,
within sight and sound of the battle. During the whole afternoon
Porter had seen the troops of Longstreet hurrying forward to the as
sistance of Jackson's hard-pressed army, and yet made no effort to
check their movement. His excuse, that he encountered the enemy in
flank in the direction of- Gainesville and was compelled to fall back
towards Manassas, was declared by Pope to be groundless. " I believed
then, as I am very sure now," says the latter general in his official
report, " that it was easily practicable for him to have turned the right
flank of Jacksou, and to have fallen upon his rear ; that if he had done
so, we should have gained a decided, victory over the army under
Jackson before he could have been joined by any of the forces of
Longstreet, and that the army of General Lee would have been so
crippled and checked by the .destruction of this large force, as to have
been no longer in condition to prosecute further operations of an
aggressive character."
Notwithstanding the failure of Porter to overwhelm Jackson's right
wing, and the successful junction of Longstreet with the latter general,
the advantage of the day's battle, fought on the old Bull Run fields,
was so clearly with the National forces, that after the cessation of
firing Pope sent the following dispatch to Washington : —
"Head-Quarters, Field of Eattee, . )
" Groveton, near Gainesville, August 30, 1862. )
" To Major-General Halleck, General-in-Chief, Washington, D. C. :
"We fought a terrific battle here yesterday with the combined forces of the
enemy, which lasted with continuous fury from daylight until after dark, by which
time the enemy was driven from the field, which we now occupy.
" Our troops are too much exhausted to push matters, but shall do so in the course
of the morning, as soon as Fitz-John Porter's Corps come up from Manassas.
" The enemy is still in our front, but badly used up.
" We have lost not less than eight thousand men, killed and wounded, and from
the appearance of the field the enemy have lost at least two to our one. He stood
strictly on the defensive, and every assault was made by ourselves.
" Our troops have behaved splendidly.
" The battle was fought on the identical battle-field of Bull Run, which greatly
increased the enthusiasm of our men.
" Tho news just reaches me from the front that the enemy is retreating towards
the mountains. I go forward at once to see.
"We have made great captures, but I am not able yet to form an idea of their
extent. " John Pope, Major- General Commanding"
The Union losses in the battle of the 29th were not less than six
to eight thousand, and those of the enemy probably considerably ex
ceeded those numbers. In fact, so greatly were the latter shattered
by the severe fighting, that during the night of the 29th, and up to
ten o'clock on the morning of the 30th, every indication seemed to
point to their retreat from the front. Their left wing receded in the

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 333
night along the Warrenton turnpike in the direction of Gainesville, to
meet the remainder ofthe supports under Lee, which continued during
the morning to pour through Thoroughfare Gap in great numbers.
Every hour added immensely to the strength of the rebels, while
Pope s army had been not only greatly reduced by the incessant
labors of the previous ten days, but had received no further re-en
forcements from the Army of the Potomac since the arrival of Por
ter's Corps, notwithstanding repeated assurances that Franklin's and
Sumner's Corps should be hurried forward without delay. On the
morning of the 30th, Pope estimated his available force on the field
at only forty thousand men, to whom were opposed an army of more
than double that strength. In addition to their paucity of numbers,
these troops were actually suffering for subsistence, and artillery and
cavalry horses had been continuously in harness or saddled for ten
days, and for two days had been without forage. As hour after hour
passed on, and no succor arrived to the exhausted Army of Virginia,
Pope repeatedly telegraphed for rations, forage, and ammunition.
The following dispatch, received at daylight of the 30th, showed him
how little prospect there was that his request would be complied
with : — " August 29, 1862—8 p. M.
" To Commanding Officer at Centreville :
" I have been instructed by General McClellan to inform you that he will have all
the available wagons at Alexandria loaded with rations for your troops, and all of the
cars, also, as soon as you will send in a cavalry escort to Alexandria as a guard to the
train. " Respectfully, W. B. Franklin,
"Major- General Commanding Sixth Corps."
" Such a letter," says General Pope, " when we were fighting the
enemy, and Alexandria was swarming with troops, needs no comment.
Bad as was the condition of our cavalry, I was in no situation to
spare troops from the front, nor could they have gone to Alexandria
and returned within the time by which we must have had provisions,
or have fallen back in the direction of Washington. Nor do I yet
see what service cavalry could have rendered in guarding railroad
trains." Though discouraged by this message, and convinced that he could
look for no kind of assistance from McClellan, Pope set resolutely to
work to make the best fight he could with the means at his disposal.
It was his object to cripple Lee, if possible, before the whole rebel
army could arrive on the field ; and he therefore advanced to the
attack on the 30th, as rapidly as he could bring his forces into action.
Between twelve and two o'clock, both wings of the Union army were
pushed forward ; but it becoming evident that Lee was massing his
troops as fast as they arrived on the field for an assault on the Fed
eral left, Pope hastened to strengthen that part of his line. At about
four p. m. the battle became general, and immense masses of troops
were precipitated against the Union left, held by McDowell, Porter,
and Sigel, who, in spite of fatigue and overwhelming numbers, of
fered a stubborn resistance. At the same time, the enemy were in
such force in front of Heintzelman and Reno, on the centre and right,

334 HISTOEY OF THE GREAT EEBELLION.
that no re-enforcements could be sent to the left until late in the after
noon,, when Reno's Corps was thrown into action in that direction.
By this time, the left, succumbing to the press of numbers, had fallen
back more than half a mile, though still retaining its formation, and
darkness fell upon the Union army, worsted in a most unequal en
counter, but not routed or even broken. The right had not lost one
inch of ground during the day. Before the close of the battle, Pope
received intelligence that Franklin's Corps, which, against the ex
press orders of General Halleck, had been detained several days at
Alexandria on various frivolous pretexts, was in the neighborhood of
Centreville, followed at an interval of four miles by the corps of
Sumner ; but as his troops who had engaged in the battle of the
30th, were too exhausted to immediately renew the action, he de
cided to waive the advantage which this fresh accession of strength
would give him, and fall back across Bull Run to the heights of Cen
treville, the defensive works of which were readily available for a
stand against the enemy, and would enable him to cover Washing
ton. Accordingly, between eight o'clock and midnight, the Union
army retired leisurely and in good order to its new position, the
enemy making no effort to pursue his advantage ; and, on the morn
ing of the 31st, was concentrated in and around Centreville, with out
lying bodies to Chantilly, and on the road to Fairfax Court-House.
During the 31st the army rested, and some supplies and ammuni
tion were received. On September 1st, the strength of the united
Armies of Virginia and the Potomac, including the corps of Franklin
and Sumner, and that of Banks, which had just arrived from Bris
tow Station, where it had been guarding the trains, was reported by
the commanding officers at less than sixty thousand men. As this
force seemed to General Pope too small for offensive purposes under
the peculiar circumstances in which he was placed, he determined to
remain for the present in a defensive attitude, and await the further
movements of the enemy. What the circumstances alluded to con
sisted of may be determined from the following dispatch, sent on Sep
tember 1st to General Halleck: — " Centreville, September 1 — 3.50 a. m.
" Major- General Halleck, General-in- Chief:
" All was quiet yesterday, and so far this morning. My men all resting. They need
it milch. Forage for our horses is being brought up. Our cavalry is completely
broken down, so that there are not five horses to a company that can raise a trot.
The consequence is, that I am forced to keep considerable infantry along the roads in
my rear to make them secure, and even then it is difficult to keep the enemy's cavalry
off the roads. I shall attack again to-morrow if I can ; the next day certainly.
" I think it my duty to call your attention to the unsoldierly and dangerous conduct
of many brigade and some division commanders of the forces sent here from the Pen
insula. Every word and act and intention is discouraging, and calculated to break
down the spirits of the men, and to produce disaster. One commander of a corps,
who was ordered to march from Manassas Junction to join me near Groveton, al
though he was only five miles distant, foiled to get up at all, and, worse still, fell back
to Manassas without a fight, and in plain hearing, at less than three miles distance, of
a furious battle, which raged all day. It was only in consequence of peremptory
orders that he joined me next day. One of his brigades, the brigadier-general of
which professed to be looking for his division, absolutely remained all day at Centre
ville, in plain view of the battle, and made no attempt to join. What renders the

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 335
whole matter worse, these are both officers of the regular army, who do not hold back
from ignorance or fear. Their constant talk, indulged in publicly and in promiscuous
company, is, that ' the Army ofthe Potomac will not fight,' that they are demoralized
by withdrawal from the Peninsula, &c. When such example is set by officers of high
rank, the influence is very bad among those in subordinate stations.
" You have hardly an idea of the demoralization among officers of high rank in
the Potomac Army, arising in all instances from personal feeling in relation to changes
of commander-in-chief and others. These men are mere tools or parasites, but their
example is producing, and must necessarily produce, very disastrous results. You
should know these things, as you'alone can stop it. Its source is beyond my reach,
though its effects are very perceptible and very dangerous. I am endeavoring to do all
I can, and will most assuredly put them where they shall fight or run away. My ad
vice to you (I give it with freedom, as 1? know you will not misunderstand it) is, that
in view of any satisfactory results, you draw back this army to the intrenchments in
front of Washington, and set to work in that secure place to reorganize and rearrange
it. You may avoid great disaster by doing so. I do not consider the matter except in
a purely military light, and it is bad enough and great enough to make some action
very necessary. Where there is no heart in their leaders, and every disposition to
hang back, much cannot be expected from the men.
" Please hurry forward cavalry horses to me under strong escort. I need them
badly ; worse than I can tell you.
(Signed) " John Pope, Major- General.
" A true copy !
" T. C. H. Smith,
"Lieut-Colonel and A. D. C"
As the enemy showed a disposition to work round to the north, as
if for the purpose of turning the Union right, Pope fell slowly back
towards Fairfax Court-House, keeping a strong force under Hook
er, Reno, and McDowell, at Chantilly, which lies west of the former
place. At sunset on the 1st, the rebels made a sudden attack at
Chantilly, and a severe engagement, uninterrupted by a terrific
thunder-storm, was maintained until dark, when the enemy was
repulsed at all points, and left the field in the possession of the
Federal troops. The latter, however, paid dearly for this success by
the loss of Major-General Kearny and Brigadier-General Stevens,
two of the most loyal and accomplished officers in the army. On
the morning of the 2d, Pope's whole command was massed behind
Difficult Creek, between Hint Hill and the Alexandria turnpike,
whence, at noon, in accordance with orders from Halleck, they
marched for Washington, within the defensive works of which they
arrived in good order and without further loss, on the evening of
the 3d. Immediately afterwards, Pope, at his own request, was re
lieved of his command. He at the same time preferred charges of
insubordination and negligence against General Porter, on which the
latter was subsequently tried, and, having been convicted, was cash
iered. When General McClellan had fallen back before the enemy, on the
first of July, and collected his broken columns under cover of the gun
boats on James River, he believed himself to be in a very perilous posi
tion. To retreat down the Peninsula, he thought, in face of a powerful
enemy, was a hazardous proceeding. To embark the army, even if
there had been sufficient transports, while the enemy commanded the
opposite shore, was not a promising operation. The army of General
Pope was not yet ready to threaten Richmond from the north, and all

336 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
the resources of ,the enemy were available for any exigency. Under
such circumstances, there was no resource but to remain at Harrison's
Landing, and, by seeming to threaten Richmond, keep the enemy
employed until time was gained for a new combination. Such were
the arguments he employed, and such the dangers he imagined, to ex
cuse him for remaining week after week at his intrenched camp on the
James, with no enemy of importance nearer than Richmond. The
Government had, on the first of July, promptly called for three hundred
thousand men, and this was followed by a demand of three hundred thou
sand more. Time was required, however, for the enrolling and equipping
of these new troops. To abandon the Peninsula before they were
ready, would have been to release the victorious army of Lee from Rich
mond, and let it rush forward upon the troops which were about to
be combined under Pope, thus placing the National Capital in very
great danger. By continuing to hold Harrison's Landing, therefore,
McClellan pleased himself with the idea that he had saved Washington,
although he did it at an immense loss of life. The mortality from the
malaria of the swamps was frightful, and a stream of troops contin
ually poured off into the hospitals Of the Northern cities. The troops
of General Burnside, arriving from North Carolina, did not ascend
the river to the camp of McClellan, but landed at Fortress Monroe,v
where they remained until August 1st, when they got the order to
proceed to Aquia Creek, which they reached August 2d. The diffi
culty of extricating the army from the Peninsula first occupied the
attention of General Halleck, as we have seen, when he reached Wash
ington to assume command, July 22d. On the 24th he left Washing
ton, in company with General Burnside, for McClellan's head- quarters,
to consult on the position of the army. McClellan required fifty thou
sand fresh troops to make an advance, but Halleck assuring him there
were but twenty thousand to spare, McClellan agreed to make the
attempt with that number. It is worthy of note that the Army of the
Potomac, then numbered over one hundred thousand men fit for duty.
General Halleck returned to Washington on the 27th, and received
a telegram from McClellan that thirty-five thousand men would be
required. This was more than could be spared in the judgment of
General Halleck, and the evacuation was ordered on the 3d of August,
against the strong protestation of McClellan. It was apparent that
without celerity of movement after starting, the enemy could crush
Pope before McClellan could reach him ; but to move a hundred thou
sand men with their material required time, and it was calculated that
by commencing the movement early in August, the greater part ofthe
army could be transferred to the Potomac before the middle of the
month. Halleck, after his return to Washington, immediately con
ferred with the President and Secretary of War. General Pope, after
a long conference, left for Warrenton to put his troops in motion, and
at the same time, Burnside's troops embarked from the Peninsula and
landed at Aquia Creek.
Meantime, on the 4th of August, Hooker's and Sedgwick's Divi
sions, with four batteries, all under Hooker, moved forward to attack
Malvern Hill. This was duly proclaimed as the new forward move-

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 33^
.ment. The position was occupied by two of the enemy's regiments
of infantry, which retired upon Richmond. The enemy imme
diately began to concentrate his forces round Malvern Hill, where
Hooker remained until Sunday, the 6th, when he fell back to the en
campment, and Butterfield's Brigade crossed to the south side of
James River.
But although the order for the withdrawal of the army had been
issued at the beginning of the month, and was peremptory, McClellan,
seemingly unaware of the precious time he was wasting, instead of
actively promoting the movement, began to expostulate against it.
Finally, on the 10th of August, he received a dispatch, saying, " They
are fighting General Pope to-day — there must be no further delay in
your movements. That which has already occurred was unexpected,
and must be satisfactorily explained." To this he replied with excuses
about a want of transportation, which, from the evidence given be
fore the Committee on the Conduct of the War, do not appear to be
altogether well founded. Finally, on the 14th, Porter's Corps marched
for Yorktown, and by the 17th the position at Harrison's Landing was
reported to be entirely abandoned. Between the 19th and 21st, the
Corps of Heintzelman and Porter were embarked, and, as we have
seen, they arrived in time to render assistance to Pope's army. Sum
ner's and Franklin's Corps were several days later, and, after their
arrival at Alexandria, were delayed so long on one pretext or another,
that Pope became very near overwhelmed by the enemy. Had they been
on the field as early as the 28th, or even the 29th, which, in the opinion
of General Halleck, was perfectly practicable, what was substantially
a reverse, might have been changed into a brilliant triumph for the
Union arms, notwithstanding the bad feeling among the officers which
Pope complained of in his dispatch of September 1st, above quoted.
The corps of Keyes was left to garrison Williamsburg, Yorktown,
and other points of the lower part of the Peninsula.
General MfcClellan reached Fortress Monroe on the 19th. All day
the roads were filling up with the immense fleet of transports, pre
senting, as it turned the point of Newport News, a grand though
melancholy sight. Melancholy, because it filled the mind with the
recollection of the great and profitless events and scenes since the
Potomac Army, the grandest the continent ever beheld, landed there
in the spring, and commenced its proud, Confident, even defiant
march up the Peninsula ; because it brought to mind the bloody con
tests it had seen, the tens of thousands slain, the tens of thousands
more wasted by disease ; because it overwhelmed the mind with the
contrast of what that army was, with its promises, its hopes, and the
expectations reposed in it, and what it had become, what it had done,
and what it had failed to do — returning with less than half its num
bers, along the route by which it advanced, almost every mile of
which was marked by unenumerated graves of fallen heroes. So
ended the campaign of the Peninsula — so returned the Army of the
Potomac 1

22

333 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.

CHAPTER XXIX.
The Expedition of Burnside. — Capture of Newbern. — Beaufort Captured. — Operations
on the Southern Coast.— Siege of Fort Pulaski — James Island.
The expedition of General Burnside to the coast of North Carolina,
the successful landing of which was described in a previous chapter,
was designed, in its inception, to have aided the movement upon
Richmond, by approaching that point from the southeast, on the line
of the Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad. After landing at Roanoke
Island, and occupying the adjacent shores — Edenton and other points
: — preparations were made to extend the occupation of the North
Carolina coast. The events on the Potomac resulting in the evacua
tion of Manassas, and the concentration of the enemy at Richmond,
changed the aspect of affairs for Burnside, for whom fears were en
tertained, as he proceeded northward. The Governor of North Caro
lina had ordered a draft of citizens, for the re-enforcement of the Con
federate army. The citizens of Tyrrel County, who were opposed to
the draft, invited the occupation of Columbia, which is on the north
side of Albemarle Sound, supposing that, if captured and paroled, they
would be enabled to remain passive during the contest. Accordingly,
General Foster, with two thousand men, left Roanoke Island for Cq-
lumbia. Meantime, however, the order for draft had been counter
manded, and when the expedition arrived, it found Columbia deserted,
and the expedition returned to Roanoke Island on the following day.
While this operation was being executed, preparations for the whole
force to move upon Newbern, North Carolina, had been completed,
and on the 10th of March, the same day on which Centreville was
evacuated, the whole force sailed for Pamlico Sound. Newbern is a
flourishing city, on the Neuse River, at the confluence of the Trent,
where the Neuse widens into a broad arm before discharging itself
into Pamlico Sound. It is connected with Raleigh, ninety miles dis
tant, by the North Carolina Railroad. The expedition at Hatteras
was joined by the fleet, under Commodore Rowan, and the whole
reached the Neuse on the 12th, when the fleet began shelling the
point which had been selected for landing. At thirty minutes after
eleven the disembarkation was effected, and the troops began to ad
vance, under Reno, without meeting the enemy. After a march of
four miles, the army encamped for the night, and at daybreak of the
14th resumed the forward movement in three columns, under Gener
als Foster, Reno, and Parke.
The advance under Reno soon encountered the enemy, who held a
line of intrenchments extending about a mile from the river at Fort
Thompson, where it was protected by a battery of thirteen guns.
"The force of the enemy was eight regiments of infantry, five hundred
cavalry, and eighteen guns, under Brigadier-General L. 0. Branch.
^Foster's Brigade was ordered up the main country road, to attack the

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 339
enemy's left ; Reno up the railroad, to attack their right ; and Gen
eral Parke was directed to follow General Foster, and attack the
enemy in front, with instructions to support either pr both brigades.
As General Foster's Brigade advanced up the main' road, the Twenty-
fourth Massachusetts was sent into the woods to the right of the
road, and, opening a heavy fire on the enemy, commenced the action.
The Twenty-6eventh was sent to their left to support them, and news
being received that the enemy were trying to outflank us on the right,
the Twenty-fifth was sent out to resist the movement. The Twenty-
third being moved to the front next in line of battle, opened fire
upon the enemy, which was replied to by very heavy volleys, and a
cannonade from a park of field-pieces behind the breastwork. The
Tenth Connecticut moved to the extreme right, where the ground
was very marshy, and had a difficult position to hold. The line of
battle was completed by Parke's Brigade, which, following up the
main road, was placed in line "between the Tenth Connecticut and
Twenty-first Massachusetts, the Fourth Rhode Island holding the
right of line, the Eighth Connecticut the next place, the Fifth Rhode
next, and the Eleventh Connecticut on the left. The guns of the
enemy played upon thi3 line with great effect, and the Twenty-first
suffered so severely that Colonel Clark determined upon storming the
battery in his front. The regiment leaped forward at the double-
quick, and won the breastwork upon the railroad. The colors were
immediately planted upon a frame house, and the sight of them threw
the enemy's gunners into panic, and they fled. The regiment now
charged upon the guns, but were taken in flank by a re-enforcement of
the enemy, and escaped over the parapet. Meantime the Fourth
Rhode Island had been ably sustaining its ground against a battery
of five guns. They got the order to charge, went at the double-quick
directly up to the battery, firing as they ran, and entered the right
flank between a brick-yard and the end of the parapet. When fairly
inside, the colonel formed the right wing in line of battle, and at then-
head charged down upon the guns at double-quick, the left wing
forming irregularly, and going as they could. With a steady line of
cold steel, the Rhode Islanders bore down upon the enemy, and, rout
ing them, captured the whole battery, with its two flags, and planted
the stars and stripes upon the parapet. The Eighth Connecticut,
Fifth Rhode Island, and Eleventh Connecticut coming up to their
support, the rebels fled with precipitation, and left us in undisputed
possession. General Reno finally ordered a charge, which was ledby
the Fifty-first New York, up an acclivity over brushwood and abatis
into the redan. The Fifty-first Pennsylvania, for a long time held in
reserve, was ordered up to participate in the decisive charge of _ the
whole brigade upon the line of redans, and passing through the Fifty-
first New York, as it was lying on the ground, after having exhaust
ed all its ammunition, came under the heaviest fire, and without
flinching or wavering, moved to its place, and rushed, with the other
regiments, upon the defences of the enemy. This movement was sup
ported by the Fourth Rhode Island from the captured batteries, and
;the enemy, already demoralized by the breaking of their centre, fell

340 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
back before the grand charge upon the left and front of their position',
and fled in confusion. The Union loss was ninety-one killed, fouir
hundred and sixty-six wounded. By this victory our combined force
captured eight batteries, containing forty-six heavy guns, and three
batteries of light artillery, of six guns each, making in all sixty-four
guns ; two steamboats, a number of sailing-vessels, wagons, horses, a
large quantity of ammunition, commissary and quartermaster's stores,
forage, the entire camp equipage of the rebel troops, a large quantity
of rosin, turpentine, cotton, &c, and over two hundred prisoners.
The enemy, after retreating in great confusion, throwing away
blankets, knapsacks, arms, &c, across the railroad bridge and country
road, burned the former, and destroyed the draw of the latter, thus pre
venting further pursuit, and causing detention in occupying the towD
by our military force.
The fleet continued its way to the city, which was found abandoned.
The enemy fired the railroad bridge and the county road bridge over
the Trent, a number of cotton batteries, and also the city in several
places. The army, in the mean time, had arrived in front of Newbern,
but, the bridge being burned, it encamped on the outside. With the
aid of two small steamers that the enemy had abandoned, the corps of
General Foster were ferried over and took possession of the town.
General Foster having appointed a provost-marshal, before nine
o'clock in the night perfect order prevailed throughout the city. Citi
zens applied for protection to their property in many instances, and
when real danger existed it was afforded. The negroes were the most
difficult to control. Relieved from the strict rule which prohibits a
negro from being abroad at night, they roamed about the streets until
a late hour, but were quiet about ten o'clock.
On the 15th the following order appeared : —
"Head-Quarters Department of North Carolina, )
" Newbern, March 15, 1862. J
" Special Orders, No. 51.
**********
" 4. Brigadier-General J. G. Foster is hereby appointed military governor of New
bern and its suburbs, and will be obeyed and respected accordingly.
" 5. Brigadier-General J. G. Foster, military governor of Newbern, will direct that
the churches be opened at a suitable hour to-morrow, in order that the chaplains of
the different regiments inay hold divine services in them. The bells will be rung aa
usual. **********
" By command of Brigadier-General A. E. Burnside.
" Lewis Bichmond, Assistant Adjutant- General."
The enemy retired for some distance, and General Branch was
superseded by General Ransom,, who had been an officer ofthe United
States army.
The town of Beaufort, having a population of six thousand eight
hundred and nine, has the best harbor on the North Carolina coast, and
is situated to the southeast of Newbern, on Onslow Bay. The harbor
is commanded by Fort Macon, and the Nashville steamer was then in
port. General Burnside, at the close of the march, dispatched a force

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. , 341^
to occupy Beaufort and reduce Fort Macon. On the 18th of March,'
Generals Burnside and Parke made a reconnoissance towards Beaufort,
and General Parke's Brigade embarked, on the 19th, for Morehead
City, which lies west of Beaufort on the coast, and found it, on the 22d,
evacuated by the inhabitants. Lieutenant Flagler, ordnance officer,
and a member of General Parke's staff, crossed over to Fort Macon, a
distance of two miles across Rogue's Sound, with a flag of truce, and
demanded a surrender, which was refused, and preparations were
made for a regular siege. The fort is situated off a bluff on Bogue
Island, one mile and three-quarters from the town, and commands the
entrance to the harbor, having a full sweep of fire over the main chan
nel Opposite the fort, at the entrance of the harbor, is Shackleford
Bank, one mile and a half across. The fortification is of hexagonal
form, and has two tiers of guns — one in a casemated bomb-proof, and,
the other en barbette. Its armament consisted of twenty thirty-two.
pounders, thirty twenty-four-pounders, two eighteen-pounders, three
field-pieces for flanking defence, twelve flank howitzers, eight eight'
inch howitzers (heavy), eight eight-inch hoWitzers (light), one thirteen-
inch mortar, three ten-inch mortars, and two Coehorn mortars — making
a total of eighty-nine guns. The fort was occupied by five hundred
troops. The fire opened upon the fort from three shore batteries on the 25th
of April, followed by a fire from a fleet of three steamers and a bark
under Commander Lockwood. When within range, and as near as
the shoals allowed the vessels to approach, the Daylight opened fire,
followed in succession by the State of Georgia, Commander James F.
Armstrong, the gunboat Chippewa, Lieutenant commanding A. Bry-
son, and the bark Gemsbok, Acting Lieutenant Edward Cavendish.
The three steamers moved around in a circle, delivering their fire as
they came within range, at a mile and a quarter distant from the fort.
The gunboat attack on the fort was not borne meekly, for the ellipse
had not been sailed over before the garrison opened on the squadron
from the heavy guns on the south angle of the upper terrapleine with
great precision. The rebel columbiads and six-inch rifles were served
so well that a shot entered the Daylight on the starboard quarter,
breaking up several bulkheads ; a shell tore through the Georgia's flag ;
the Chippewa was grazed ; and the Gemsbok had some of her braces
and backstays carried away. The sea now became so rough that the
boats hauled off, after fighting one hour and a quarter. /
Meantime the siege batteries had been energetically worked. These
were three in number — one of three thirty-pounder Parrott guns, com
manded by Captain Lewis O. Morris, of Company C, First Artillery
(regulars) ; one of four ten-inch mortars, commanded by Lieutenant
D. W. Flagler in person ; and one of four eight-inch mortars, commanded
by Second Lieutenant M. F. Prouty, of Company C, Twenty-fifth Mas
sachusetts Volunteers. The batteries were stationed at Bogue Island,
and were all constructed at the rear of the sand-hill, the sides and front
being formed of sand-bags, of which the walls of the service-magazine
were also made. The platforms were laid as substantially as the shift
ing nature of the sand would allow, and suitable embrasures were

342 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION/
i constructed for the Parrott guns. The ten-inch mortars were placed
farthest from the fort, the distance being one thousand six hundred
and fifty yards ; the Parrott guns were two hundred yards directly in
front ; and the eight-inch mortars two hundred yards still farther on,
and a little nearer the beach. Besides these, a small rifle howitzer
was taken from the little captured steamer North State and placed in
battery, in charge of Captam Caswell, of that vessel, and some of his
crew. The whole siege-train, then, consisted of eight mortars and
three rifled cannon (if we except the small howitzer, which, however
good in a ship's launch, can hardly be termed a siege-piece). At nine
o'clock of the 25th, the scene was very grand. The squadron steam
ing slowly in their elliptical course, and firing by turns ; the fort pour
ing fire and smoke at two sides ; our land batteries all engaged at
once; the smoke-puffs of the, bombs showing clear and white against
the blue sky ; the Confederate flag flying over the green slopes of the
work; and the bright sun above all shining on the picture. The
thunder of cannon shook the solid ground, and the window-panes rat
tled in the houses as if they would be shivered the next instant. At
ten o'clock the gunboats drew off, and the terrific cannonade continued
until four p. m., when a truce was agreed upon, and on the next day
the place surrendered. The garrison were allowed the honors of war.
The officers retained their side-arms and were paroled. The loss on
either side was small.
The capture of Fort Macon gave possession of the harbor of Beau
fort, and General Burnside could now receive supplies and re-enforce
ments from vessels of large class, which were unable to cross the bar
at Hatteras.
Meantime, General Reno had been sent by General Burnside to de
stroy the Dismal Swamp Canal. He landed, accordingly, at Elizabeth
City on the 19th, with five regiments. Colonel Hawkins, leading the
advance with three regiments, lost his way, and General Reno en
countered the enemy at South Mills, intrenched with batteries in posi
tion, in the edge of a wood, which commanded the approaches over
the open fields. Colonel Howard, of the marine artillery, in advance,
fired upon the enemy, and our pieces were put in position for a three
hours' artillery duel. General Reno sent regiments to the right and
left to outflank the enemy: the movement was finely executed. When
Colonel Hawkins came up, General Reno ordered him to the right,
but coming into the open field, he charged on the enemy with the bayo
net. A charge was then made by other regiments on both flanks of
the enemy, who retreated to the canal locks, and thence to Norfolk.
Our loss in commissioned officers was killed, one ; wounded, seven ; non
commissioned officers, killed, two ; wounded, thirteen ; privates, killed,
six ; wounded, forty. General Reno, after remaining six hours on the
field of battle, returned to Elizabeth City. Seventeen of our wounded
who could not be removed, were left on the field in charge of a sur
geon, with a flag of truce. The enemy's loss was reported thirty-
eight killed and wounded. General Reno then embarked his force.
The Government at Washington appointed the Hon. Edward Stanly,
a native and former Congressman from the State, military governor of

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 343
North Carolina. He was invested with the powers, duties, and
functions of that station, including the power to establish all necessary
offices and tribunals, and suspend the writ of habeas corpus during
the pleasure of the President, or until the loyal inhabitants should
organize a State Government in accordance with the Constitution of the
United States. His powers are exactly similar to those with which
Governor Johnson, of Tennessee, was invested. His administration of
affairs was calculated to develop the loyalty, if any existed, among the
people, to the old Union.
Meantime re-enforcements had reached General Burnside, and his di
vision was raised to a corps d 'armee, of which the first division was
under General Foster, the second under General Reno, and the third
under General Parke. There were no efforts made to extend the con
quest inland ; and in July, in consequence of affairs in the Peninsula,
General Burnside, with the large portion of his troops, was withdrawn.
They took their departure through the Dismal Swamp Canal, vid Nor
folk, for Fortress Monroe, where they remained until the evacuation
of the Peninsula, when they joined McDowell at Fredericksburg.
General Foster remained in command of the troops left to protect the
military governor, Stanly.
The occupation of Hilton Head, South Carolina, by General Sher
man, was followed by a proclamation, in which he exhorted the people
to return to their constitutional allegiance, and declaring that while he
came to enforce obedience to the Federal laws, he should respect consti
tutional obligations and local rights. The operations of his command
were necessarily confined to the occupation and fortification of Hilton
Head, Edisto, and the neighboring islands. Under these circumstances,
great efforts were made to support the latent Union feeling in that sec
tion. Correspondence opened with leading men developed the exist
ence of a Union party in Florida, which would not be backward in
Bhowing itself if the military pressure was removed. General
Sherman therefore combined a strong military and naval demonstration
against Savannah, which produced the effect of concentrating there all
the disposable forces of that section.
But as the force at the command of General Sherman wouldnot suffice
to attack Savannah, an expedition to Florida was arranged under Flag-
officer Dupont and General Wright. The fleet, comprising some thirty
vessels, including transports, left Hilton Head February 27th, and arrived
off the bar of Fernandina, Florida, March 4th. The garrison at Fort
Clinch abandoned the place on the arrival of the gunboats, and the
place was quietly occupied, the citizens showing no hostility. The
Ottawa then proceeded to Jacksonville, Florida, which immediately
surrendered, there being no preparations for defence. A meeting of
loyal citizens was held, and passed resolutions against secession. The
Stay of the troops was of very short duration, however, since, on
April 7th, orders came from General Hunter, who had meantime suc
ceeded General Sherman at Hilton Head, to evacuate the place, which
was perfected on the 9th, the enemy's cavalry entering as the troops
left. On the 13th of March the city of Brunswick, Georgia, was oc
cupied by a force sent by Dupont. The enemy retired and destroyed

344 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
the railroad bridge ; at the same time, Commander Rogers, of the
Wabash, received the surrender of St. Augustine from the authorities
©f the place, the military, consisting of two companies of Florida
troops, havmg retired on the previous day. Thus the fleet under
Dupont, in connection with the force under General Wright, quietly
occupied the ports of Brunswick, Jacksonville, St. Augustine, and
Fernandina. The occupation of these places was followed by no mili
tary results, nor had public expectation in relation to the landing at
Hilton Head been realized. The point is between the cities of Charles
ton and Savannah, which are connected by the railroad, and facilities
were afforded for approaching either place. There had, however, not
been sufficient strength to make the attempt. Government finally de
termined to place the district in the hands of an agent, who should take
charge of the abandoned estates of the planters, and direct the labor
of the blacks in the cultivation of cotton and in the supply of food for
the army. The result was the appointment of Mr. C. L. Pierce, Gov
ernment agent; associated with whom were a number of females,
whose object was to establish schools for the blacks. The majority
of these persons went under the auspices of the " National Freed-
men's Relief Association." It had been part of the plan of this move
ment that General Sherman should have a successor who would
harmonize more with their views than did that officer. Hence the
arrival of the teachers was followed by that of General Hunter, who
replaced General Sherman, and assumed command of the Department
of the. South, embracing South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. On
March 31st, by a general order, he divided the department into three
districts, of which the first was placed under the command of General
Benham, the second under General Braunan, the third under General
Arnold. Almost the first act of General Hunter was the recall of the
troops from Jacksonville, and the evacuation ofthe place. This move
ment was attended with disaster to those citizens who, on the strength
of Government support, had boldly declared for the Union. It was no
longer possible for them to remain after the troops had left, and they
were compelled to abandon homes and property.
The forces under General Sherman had occupied Tybee Island,
which is at the mouth of the Savannah River, commanding the point-
of Cockspur Island, on which is situated Fort Pulaski, which had fallen
into the hands of the enemy early in the war, and which had been
Originally built under the superintendence of General Benham, now
besieging it. The movements of General Sherman had cut off commu
nication between the fort and Savannah so effectually as to prevent
supplies from reaching the place. On the 13th of March, two of the
enemy's fleet attempted to run down past the Union batteries estab
lished by General Sherman at Jones's Island, Bird's Island, and Long
Island, but the attempt was unsuccessful. The batteries upon Tybee
Island commanded the fort, and its investment was actively proceed
ing when General Hunter assumed command; and, on the morning of
the 10th of April, the batteries under General Gilmore being ready,
General Hunter sent a flag to demand the surrender of the place.
Colonel Olinstead, in reply, stated he " was there to defend the place,

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 345
not to surrender it." There were established eleven batteries, con
taining thirty ten and thirteen-inch mortars, Parrott and James guns,
at distances varying from one thousand six hundred and eighty-five
to three thousand four hundred yards from the fort. On the return
ofthe flag, the fire was opened from a thirteen-inch mortar, and the
fort responded from a thirteen-inch gun. The fire became general, and
it was Sumter over again, the parties being now reversed, the enemy
holding the fort in a circle of fire. After three hours' firing, the ene
my's flag-staff was shot away, but a new one was rigged, and the fire
went on all day with great vigor, but without the loss of a man on the
Union side. The fall of night brought a suspension of operations,
which were resumed with the early dawn. The dismounted guns had
been restored during the night, but soon the enemy's wall began to
crumble before the ten-inch solid shot. The breach being very large,
several rifle-balls passed through it over the terrapleine, and began
to batter the magazine on the northwest corner in a manner that car
ried terror to the hearts of the enemy. From their experience they
knew it was possible for a rifle shell to pass entirely through the walls
of the magazine, and blow it up, and with it the fort and all its occu
pants. This induced a surrender ; and at half-past two o'clock on the
afternoon of the llth, the fort hung out a white flag, and the place
was surrendered unconditionally. There were captured three hundred
and sixty, prisoners, forty-seven guns, with a large amount of powder,
and three months' supply of provisions. The fort was badly cut up,
and afforded another proof that mason-work is of not much use before
the terrific force of ten-inch solid shot and rifled guns..
There were, after the fall of Pulaski, several i§eeks of apparent mil
itary inaction, although preparations were on foot to attack Charles
ton. The enemy, on their side, were equally active. The women and
children mostly left the seaboard, and the population of Charleston was
reduced to its fighting population, the city being belted on every side
with powerful fortifications, covering its land approaches. The harbor
entrance was guarded on either side by the tremendous batteries of
Forts Sumter and Moultrie, about a mile apart. As for the city, the
Governor and Supreme Executive Council of South Carolina, on behalf
of the State, notified the Confederate commanders that they would
prefer rather to see Charleston razed to the ground and its assailants
beaten off, than to see it surrendered or evacuated on any terms what
ever. General Lee had been succeeded by General Pemberton in the
command of the coast of Georgia and South Carolina. An attempt
by Colonel Christ to sever the railroad connection between Charleston
and Savannah failed; and the enemy were enabled to concentrate
large forces at Charleston to meet the expected attack which the prog
ress of the National troops on Coles Island and Stono foreshadowed ;
and they were in strong force on James Island. The forces under the
command of Brigadier-General Wright crossed from Edisto Island to
Seabrook's Point on the 29th, 30th, and 31st of May. The Sixth Con
necticut, the first regiment landed, had a skirmish, with the rebel
pickets on Sunday morning, June 1st, and, at the second attempt,
drove the enemy across the river and obtained possession of the bridge.

346 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
On the 1st and 2d, Generals Hunter, Benham, and Stevens proceeded
to Stono Inlet, with all the available force at their command, accom
panied by eight gunboats. The troops were landed on James Island
without opposition.
Frequent reconnoissances were made on Johns Island and James
Island, resulting in trifling loss on both sides. On the 10th of June,
the Union forces occupied Kimball's plantation, James Island ; and, on
the llth, the pickets of General Wright's Brigade were vigorously
attacked by the Forty-seventh Georgia. A sharp skirmish ensued,
without material results. The force under General Benham consisted
of Wright's Division of two brigades, Chatfield's and Williams's ; Ste
vens's Division of two brigades, Fenton's and Learned's ; altogether,
some sixteen regiments. These troops occupied the southern portion
of James Island, on Stono Creek, which takes a westerly direction,
separating Johns Island from James Island. The latter is separated
from the main-land by Wappoo Creek, which runs from Ashley River,
at a point opposite Charleston, to Stono Creek. Hence, if there were
no obstructions, the gunboats that ascended Stono Creek could pass
through Wappoo Creek to Charleston. The Pawnee and the Ellen
were in Stono Creek, covering the troops encamped on James Island ;
and Wappoo Creek had been rendered impassable by obstructions.
The enemy held Fort Johnston, on the extreme northern point of
James Island, opposite Fort Sumter. He had also a force of twelve
thousand troops within four miles. General Hunter visited the island,
and delayed the attack upon Fort Johnston until he should receive
re-enforcements, and returned to Hilton Head, leaving Benham in
command. The enemy, however, established in front of Secessionville,
and about a mile and a half in advance of our works, a battery, from
which one Very heavy gun threw its shells into our camps, and even
over General Wright's camp into the Stono River, where the gun
boats lay. This camp, as well as that of General Stevens, was liable
to be swept by the enemy's fire at any time ; and the gunboats were
powerless to prevent it, as they had no guns of sufficient calibre to
reach the battery. General Benham, therefore, deemed it indispensa
ble to the security of our position to capture that battery. A recon-
noissance was ordered for the 16th, with the design of taking the work
by a dash before daylight.
Secessionville is a small village on the eastern side of the island,
lying on a creek which winds through the marshes between James and
Morris Islands, and empties into the Stono River near its mouth. On
the west of the village, a short, shallow creek makes its way towards
the waters of Charleston Bay. Thus a tongue of land is formed
between the two creeks, connected with the body of the island by a
narrow neck, thirty yards wide, four or five hundred yards south of
Secessionville. Here Lamar's rebel battery was located, flanked ou
each side by marsh and the creeks. It was a simple earthwork, heav
ily constructed, having a plain face, with an obtuse angle on each side,
and facing south, in the direction of the Stono River, which is about
two miles off. From this point the cleared highland stretches out to
the Stono River. The front of the work was covered with thick abatis

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 347
and rifle-pits. On the 15th of June, a Charleston regiment was a half
mile in advance of the work, with other troops in the rear as a sup
port. General Stevens, who led the main column of attack, advanced
by a road on the right, while General Wright, on the left, reached his
appointed position at four a. m. of the 16th, where he waited for one
hour and a half for the sound of the guns, which were to be the signal
for his farther advance. This delay brought the attack into full day
light, and exposed our men to the severe fire which it had been Gen
eral Benham's object to avoid. Immediately upon the firing being
heard, Wright's column moved forward, and took up a position which
completely protected its flank and the rear from assault, by the main
body of the rebels, who, to the number of twelve thousand, lay a few
miles above, to our left.
The attack of Stevens was made with two brigades, numbering
about four thousand men, who arrived within four hundred yards of
the works before they were discovered by the enemy. The latter
delivered their fire of grape when the command was close upon the
guns, making fearful havoc. The two advanced regiments succeeded,
under the staggering fire, in reaching the abatis, where, exposed to a
murderous rifle practice, they waited for the remaining regiments, until
compelled to retire with heavy loss. Meantime three regiments under
Williams, of Wright's Brigade, which were to have supported the left
of Stevens, lost their way, and came out on the right flank of the
enemy's work, from which they were separated by a deep stream and
an impassable marsh. There were two battalions of the enemy's
rifles facing them across the marsh. They, however, enfiladed the
fort, and inflicted severe loss upon the enemy, tintil he was re-enforced
by a Louisiana battalion arriving on the field with a field-piece, and
forming on the right of the enemy. This movement somewhat out
flanked the Union troops, and they began to retire, their retreat being
accelerated by the arrival of rebel re-enforcements. The attack having
failed, the order to retire to the former camping-ground was given.
The engagement lasted four hour's, and the Union loss, killed, wound
ed, and missing, was six hundred and sixty-eight. The enemy report
ed his loss at forty killed and one hundred and fifty wounded, among
whom was Colonel Lamar. When the news of this disaster reached
General Hunter, he immediately ordered General Benham to report
himself under arrest, for alleged disobedience of orders. On the 27th,
General Hunter ordered the evacuation of James Island, and transports
were sent from Hilton Head to bring off the troops.
After the withdrawal of the troops from James Island, military
affairs in the department relapsed into inaction, except in so far as the
enterprise of the enemy caused occasional movements. The jurisdic
tion of the department gradually contracted : Edisto, Stono, Otter
Islands, and St. Helena Sound were given up ; the command of the
Savannah River, with the forts on its banks, relinquished ; and the
troops held only Hilton Head, Beaufort, Pulaski, and their immediate
dependencies. Early in September, General Hunter was relieved of
his command, and was succeeded by General Mitchel.

348 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.

CHAPTER XXX.
Financial Situation. — Legal Tender. — Interest in Coin. — Duties in Specie. — Gold Notes
at a Premium. — Deposits. — Ways and Means. — Debt. — Excise Loan.— Income Tax.
— Paper Circulation. — Effect of Paper Money. — Bise in Price. — Premium on Gold,
—Commerce. — Government Expenses. — Growth of Debt. — Immense Means.
The expenses of the war continued to press heavily upon the
resources of the Government, while the war itself interrupted the
usual course of production and trade, thereby reducing the ordinary
revenues of the Treasury to a low figure. When the year 1862 open
ed, the prospect was sufficiently gloomy. The Government stocks
were at a discount ; the banks had suspended specie payments ; fifty mil
lion dollars of paper money had been paid out by the Government, on
its face redeemable in C(5in and receivable for customs ; the expenditure
reached nearly two million per day ; and there were heavy arrears to
to be met to pay contractors and soldiers. The moment had come
when the Government must choose between heavy direct taxation
and paper money as a means of meeting current expenses. Unfor
tunately, all provision for the war had been neglected until arrears
accumulated, and there was now no time in which to collect taxes.
This fact was accepted as a sufficient reason for authorizing paper
money. And the Secretary was, by the act of February 25, 1862,
authorized to issue, in notes of five dollars and upwards, one hundred
and fifty million dollars, including the fifty million already out. While
these notes were made a legal tender for all debts, public and private,
except customs, the fact was overlooked that the fifty million out
were not a legal tender, but were, by the terms of the law, receivable
for customs. Inasmuch as that contract could not be repudiated, a
supplemental law was passed, March 16th, correcting that oversight.
A twin measure of this issue of paper money was a provision that
the interest on the national debt should be paid in coin.
This was deemed necessary to reassure the national creditors who
recognized in the paper medium a quasi repudiation of their claims,
since, if they continued to receive a fixed amount of paper annually
for interest, and that paper, following the experience of all previous
issues, should depreciate and ultimately become valueless, they would
lose their revenues. This, it was also hoped, would operate to induce
holders of other property to transfer it into Government stocks. But
if the Government was to pay coin, it must have some means of pro
curing coin. To buy it in the open market in exchange for paper,
would cause the latter rapidly to depreciate. It was therefore resolved
that all duties should be paid in coin. This plan also recommend
ed itself to the manufacturing and protective interests, because it
was in effect raising the cost of imported goods to the extent of the
depreciation of the paper. The duties for the year were estimated at
fifty millions ; and this amount, derived in specie, would, it was sup
posed, meet the interest on the Government debt, and also furnish
sufficient to pay diplomatic salaries and other claims on the Govern
ment abroad. There was apparently a large amount of capital with-

mSTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 349
drawn from trade, that was accumulating in private hands. The
owners did not seem disposed to invest it in the Government stocks,
under the assurance, constantly reiterated in high quarters, that the
war would have a speedy termination. They desired temporary em
ployment for it, under the supposition that speedy peace would
restore the usual occupation of capital. The Secretary of the Treas
ury was therefore authorized to receive money on deposit to the
extent of twenty-five millions, returnable at ten days' notice, and to
pay five per' cent, per annum 'interest in gold. This measure was
successful, and the limit was soon filled. Congress subsequently
raised the limit at various times, until it was fixed at one hundred
millions, when interest was made payable in paper instead of gold.
In addition to these measures, the Secretary was authorized to issue
certificates of indebtedness to the national creditors, bearing six per
cent, interest in gold, and payable in one year ; subsequently the
interest was made payable in paper instead of gold. There was no
limit fixed to this issue. It was paid out at par to the public credi
tors, and by them sold in the market at a greater or less discount^
according to the amount offered for sale.
Meantime the deposits were the most ready means of meeting the
wants of the treasury. The banks and the public held large amounts
of Government, paper, of the old or first issues, having the value of
specie, which the new issue would 'not possess. They would not,
therefore, deposit their notes with the treasury without a stipulation
that the same kind of notes should be received back. This demand was
complied with, and the deposits became large. The fact that the
treasury took all unemployed money at five per cent., caused that
rate to become the minimum rate of interest in the market, since the
Government would be the first choice of lenders. With all these
provisions, the ways and means of the department now embraced
twenty-five million dollars of 7^ three years' bonds not yet issued,
one hundred million dollars of legal tenders credited by the law of
Frebruary 25th, ten million dollars granted by the tariff law of
March, one hundred million dollars of certificates of deposit, and an
unlimited amount of six per cent, one year certificates to issue.
These different credits began to make their appearance as fast as
they could be prepared, and with this emission they began to
depreciate as compared with gold. The premium on gold, which
had been five per cent. January 1st, had declined to one and a half.
It now began to rise, however, and, at the close of the fiscal year,
June 30th, 1862, was at ten per cent, premium.
The debt on the 1st of July, 1862, was $514,211,371,* not includ-
* The Federal debt was composed as follows : —
July, 1S61. December, 1661. /j?'*'*™:
Stocks, five per cent  $30.595,092  $80,5115,093  * 20.595,092
Stocks, six per cent  41,085,563  189.929,856  S2™ ,5
Stocks, seven 4nd three-tenths per cent  100,000,000  122,886,550
Treasury Notes, six per cent  18,5S7,1T9  22,464,762  1»}™
One Tear Certificates, six per cent  7?K?x S?
Deposits, four per cent  *3™5i5
Deposits, five per cent  , 1? 15? „„
Paper Money..  24,650,825  149,660,000
$90,867,828 $267,540,086 *514,211,8T

350 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
ing the arrears, which were estimated at some one hundred million
dollars. The funded debt had thus increased during the year, $423,-
343,543, or $1,163,000 per day, not including the very large sums not
audited. The whole net revenue and. expenditure for the fiscal year
1862, which was the first entire year of war, were, for customs^
$49,056,397; bonds, $152,203; miscellaneous, $931,787; direct tax,
$1,795,332 ; which sums, added to the increased loans, made $475,279,-
263, or $1,302,000 per day, of which amount nine-tenths was borrow
ed. This debt bore an interest of twenty-two million dollars per
annum, payable in gold, which was now, July 1st, at a premium of
ten per cent, for Government paper. It was obvious that the regular
revenue must be increased by taxation, however detrimental that
might prove to the political interests of the party in power. The
direct tax law of the previous session had been repealed, and the
confiscation acts, under which it was alleged the war expenses could be
paid from Southern property, were found to be delusive. It was there
fore determined to pass an excise law, which was to levy taxes upon
all departments of industry, and also a tax upon all incomes over six
hundred dollars. The chief features of the excise law were stamp
duties upon all transactions and legal demands, and a three per cent.
tax upon manufactures. There were also some changes made in the
customs duties, with a view to more revenue. The excise law would
necessarily be a long time in getting into operation, and the income
tax was not made payable until June, 1863. It was necessary, there
fore, that further loans should be resorted to, and July 1 1th a further
issue of one hundred and fifty million dollars paper money was
authorized, of which thirty-five million dollars were to be notes of a
denomination less than five dollars. Of the whole amount, fifty mil
lion dollars were to be reserved as a fund to meet the deposits, in
case they should be called for.
The estimates ofthe Secretary for the fiscal year 1863 embraced an
expenditure of $693,346,321, and the revenue was estimated at $180,-
495,345, from all sources, customs, taxes, &c. There remained, then,
$512,850,976 to be provided for, and in addition, $95,212,456 of pub
lic debt was to be met, making $608,063,432. Soon after, however,
military disasters caused the calling out of six hundred thousand
more men, and raised the appropriation for 1863 to $882,238,800.
To meet these expenses, Congress authorized the issue of five hundred
million dollars, six per cent, stock, redeemable in five to twenty
years, and also a further issue of notes for one hundred million dol
lars, exchangeable at par for the stock authorized. Subsequently, the
Secretary was authorized to issue fractional notes, or for parts of a
dollar, to an unlimited amount. Thus there were authorized seven
hundred and fifty million dollars, and in addition, as much fractional
paper as the Secretary might deem proper.
With these resources the Secretary continued to meet the wants of
the Government, under a manifestly growing discredit, since the price
of gold rose rapidly in the market, and the five-twenty bonds, or
those which were payable after five years and within twenty years,
were limited to sales at not less than the market value, and the

HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 351
holder of Government notes had the right to convert them at any
time at par into those five-twenty bonds. When Congress again as
sembled, the Treasury was again much straightened in its means.
Nearly the same situation presented itself as in the previous year.
The debt now amounted to 1,400 million dollars. There were large
arrears pressing for payment, without the apparent means of meet
ing them. Early in January, 1863, Congress again authorized the issue
of one hundred million dollars of paper money, to meet immediate wants.
The Secretary then desired Congress to amend the law authorizing the
sale of the five hundred million dollars five-twenty bonds, so as to re
strict the right of converting greenbacks into them at par, to the 1st
of July, 1863, and to remove the restriction upon selling them at
market value. A new law was also passed, authorizing the issue of
five hundred million dollars of six per cent, stock, redeemable after
ten and within forty years ; also, four hundred million dollars of
notes, of denominations as low as ten dollars, to be legal tenders, or
convertible into legal tenders, bearing six per cent, interest in paper,
and redeemable in three years. There were authorized one hundred
and fifty million dollars more legal tenders, into which to convert
those small interest-bearing notes. The fractional paper currency was
now limited to fifty million dollars. In addition to these provisions,
a new National Banking Law was enacted, by which banks were to
be authorized in all the States to circulate notes, redeemable in Gov
ernment paper, and secured on Government stocks. The aggregate
circulation was not to exceed three hundred million dollars. It was
also provided that the one year certificates were to have their interest
paid in paper, and also all future certificates of deposit.
Between the passage of this act and the close of the fiscal year
1863, fifty million dollars of one year certificates fell due, and were
paid off. _ The proceeds were deposited with the Government at ten
days' notice at five per cent, interest in paper, and new claims on the
Government were met by the issue of new certificates, on which, how-
over, gold was no longer paid for interest. The continued issue of
the paper money had promoted a great rise in prices, and much specu
lative action in goods and specie. Gold rose to a premium of seventy-
two in February, 1863. This rise had atwofold effect: it caused a great
diminution in the consumption of goods, on account of their dearness,
and also a conversion of old stocks of goods into paper money. The
money seeking investment filled the bank vaults, and was employed
in the Government five per cent, deposits, filling up the limit to one
hundred million dollars. The Treasury Department then organized a
system of agencies, or commissions, which effected considerable con
versions of paper money into the five-twenties, before the expiration
of the limit for conversion fixed by law. That limit was, however,
not observed by the Secretary, who extended the time for conversion
indefinitely, under the power granted by Congress to sell stocks at
his own discretion. A number of banks were also organized under
the new banking law, and prepared to issue notes secured upon the
five-twenties. The deposits on five per cent, certificates, and the con
version during April, May, and June, nearly met the expenses of the

352 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
Treasury during that period. The effect of this change of plan was
to cause a contraction ofthe currency, and gold fell from seventy-two
to thirty-two, causing a corresponding decline in general prices, and
great losses to the holders of goods. At the close of the fiscal year,
1863, the debt stood as follows: —
Stocks, 5 per cent., due 1865 to 1874  $30,483,000
" 6 " " " 1868tol881  87,871,391
» 6  ' 5 20  185,684,141
Bonds, 7.30 " "18641  139,920,500
Treasury Notes to 1863  ,  717,100
Deposits 4 per cent., 10 days.  28,059,295
« 5 " «io "  70,815,639
Certificates, 6 per cent., 1 year  157,093,241
Legal Tender  387,646,589
" Fractions  20,192,459
Total debt, July, 1863  $1,097,274,355
The appropriations, for two years, were as follows : —
July 1, 1861, to July 1, 1862.  $313,261,629
1862," " " 1863  882,238,800
Total  $1,195,500,429
The amount actually borrowed up to July, 1863, was about equal
to the actual appropriation of the two years. The amount of debt
contracted from July, 1861, to July 1, 1863, or seven hundred and
thirty days, was at the rate of one million five hundred thousand
dollars. The large expenditures of the Government, as a matter of
course, afforded a great substitute for the legitimate demands of com
merce which the war had annihilated, and many sections of the coun
try, particularly New England, enjoyed an uninterrupted prosperity,
with greater profits and wages, than in times of peace.
The annual export trade of the country, in time of peace, was equal
to a sale of three hundred and seventy-three million one hundred and
eighty-nine thousand two hundred and seventy-four dollars of domes
tic produce abroad. Of this amount nearly two hundred million dol
lars was cotton. On the outbreak of the war the export trade fell to
two hundred and twenty-one million nine hundred and twenty thou
sand dollars ; but this included an unusual sale of breadstuff's to Eng
land. That country imported, in 1862, the unprecedented quantity of
ninety-seven million bushels of wheat. Of this, more than half was
sold by the United States, because the stoppage of the sale of food to
the South threw upon the Eastern States an unusual surplus, at such
prices as enabled the United States to undersell the corn-growing
countries of Europe. In this state of affairs the Federal Government
came forward as the employer of one million men, and the purchaser
of goods to the amount of seven hundred and fifty million dollars per
annum. It did not extract the money for the expenditure from the
people with one hand, while disbursing with the other, but, using its
credit, it emitted paper that was received as money. Thus the ex-

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 353
, port trade of the country and the Southern markets were supplanted
by the war custom ofthe Government. It may be expressed thus : —
I860. 1863.
Export Trade  $373,189,274 Export  $212,000,000
Southern "  500,000,000 War Exports  750,000,000
Total amount sales  $873,189,274 $962,000,000
It would appear from this that the war was a gain to business, and
there was a semblance of prosperity which was not real. The pay
ments of the Government were promises yet to be made good from
the earnings of future industry to be taxed. It had taken the labor
and merchandise of the people, and given them promises which were
to be made good only by taxing the people that held them. The ex
port trade, of course, was paid for in substantial equivalents, but the
Government expenses were an actual consumption of the national
capital. It was probably the case that this Government consumption
of capital was to some extent compensated by greater economy prac
tised by the people, as a consequence of the high prices which goods
commanded in the paper money of the day. For this reason exhaus
tion was far less rapid than would otherwise have been the case. The
close ofthe second year of war then presented the following result: —
Appropriation. Debt at close.
Fiscal year, 1861  $ 81,578,834 July 1, 1861, $ 60,189,406
" " 1862  313,261,629 " 1862, 514,211,372
" « 1863  882,238,800 " 1863, 1,097,274,366
" " 1864  973,055,670 Estimate " 1864, 1,744,685,586
The debt of July, 1863, did not include the sixty days' pay of the
army and navy then due, and many other large sums, which carried
the amount to one billion three hundred million dollars. The debt of
1864 is the estimate ofthe Secretary ofthe Treasury. The aggregate
interest on the funded public debt amounted to forty-two million
eight hundred thousand dollars per annum, mostly in gold. The
paper money did not bear interest ; but inasmuch as its effect was to
enhance the prices of all commodities bought by the Government, an
average of thirty-five per cent., and which was payable upon all con
tracts, the interest actually paid was nearly thirty per cent, average
on the expenditure other than salaries, and may be estimated at one
hundred and eighty million dollars per annum. This would give an
annual interest of two hundred and twenty-two million dollars paid
by the Government, or twenty per cent, on its whole debt. The in
terest-bearing debt was as follows :— Interest
Funded 4 per cent  $28,059,295.49 $.1,122,371.81
" 5 " "  101,297,638.91 6,064,881.94
" 6 ' "  431,275,874.71 25,876,552.48
" 7.30 "  .... 138,920,500.00 10,214,196.50
Total  $700,553,319.11 $42,278,002.73
" Unfunded  396,721,056.88 180,000,000.00
23

354 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
The average rate of interest on the funded debt is 6.038 per cent
The unfunded costs a great deal more ; but, if funded on as favorable
terms as the first loans, would bear $32,803,263, making together
$75,081,265 of annual interest on the actual debt to July 1, 1863.
The annual charge of the British debt is $127,965,701, or $4.36 to
each person. The United States debt is three-fifths of the British debt
in annual charge, and $3. 79 per head. The charge on the French debt is
$110,000,000 per annum, or $3.05 per head.
The actual increase of the debt for the year 1862 was $1,450 each work
ing day; for the year 1863, it was $1,862,800 each working day; for the
last six months of 1862, it was $2,418,000 per day. This was the
most extraordinary instance in the history of the world of the lavish
expenditure of means for national objects. No country ever before
manifested such resources, and no people ever before offered them up
so freely to the service of the Government. It may here be remarked,
that in the two years in which these marvels occurred, the Northern
States sent nearly 1,000,000 bushels of grain to supply the wants of she
people of England and Europe.

CHAPTER XXXI.
Thirty-Seventh Congress. — Foreign Eolations. — Public Anxiety. — Surrender of Com
missioners. — War Conduct. — Executive Action. — President's Message. — Co-opera
tion. — Hunter's Order. — Border State Delegation. — Kentucky Legislature. — Presi
dent's Letter. — His Position.— Western Delegation.— Emancipation Action of Congress.
— No more Slave Territory. — District of Columbia. — Co-operation Eesolution. —
Military not to Surrender Fugitives. — Troops Authorized. — Conscription. — Work of
the Thirty-Seventh Congress.
On the 2d December, 1861, the second session, or first regular ses
sion- of the Thirty-Seventh Congress, convened at Washington under
the most extraordinary circumstances. The war had continued with
varying fortunes, and grave complications seemed to be surrounding
our foreign relations. The capture of the English mail steamer Trent,
by Captain Wilkes, of the American navy, having on board the Con
federate Commissioners, Messrs. Mason and Slidell, on their way to
Europe, had caused profound excitement at home and abroad. Eng
land complained of it as a violation of the rights of neutrals. Her
.attitude was so hostile as to render war imminent, and the action of
the Federal Government was looked for with the most profound
;anxiety. The House, on assembling, immediately adopted a joint
resolution of Mr. Lovejoy, of Illinois, voting the thanks of Congress
to Captain Wilkes for the arrest of Messrs. Mason and Slidell. This
xesolution was rejected in the Senate. Two resolutions were then
passed: one to request that Mr. Mason be held as a hostage for the
.treatment of a Union prisoner in the hands of the Confederates ; and
the other, that Mr. Slidell be also so held to answer for the treatment
¦of another. The passage of these resolutions was, however, imme
diately followed by the action of the Government in surrendering

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 355
t
Messrs. Mason and Slidell to the English, and the war cloud passed
over. The most important phase which Congressional action now assumed
was in reference to the general war powers which the Government was
authorized to assert, and of which the chief one was manifestly the
control of slavery. The strict constructionists, in their zeal to prevent
any infraction of the Constitution, denied to President or Congress the
power, even in the exigencies which war created, to touch the peculiar
institution of the South, or indeed to exercise any rights not directly
conferred by the Constitution. General McClellan illustrated this
policy when he wrote to President Lincoln from Harrison's Landing,
on July 7th : " Neither confiscation of property, political executions
of persons, territorial organization of States, or forcible abolition of
slavery should be contemplated for a moment ;" and others, entertain
ing similar views, went so far as to assert that unless the war could be
conducted with a precise observance of every legal and political right
to which the rebels had been entitled in time of peace, a compromise
had better be effected with them, or the rebellious States be allowed
to secede quietly. With, them the Constitution was an instrument of
so sacred a character, that it was regarded as superior to that Union
for whose government it had been framed. The Union thus became
the creature of the Constitution.
Fortunately for the country, this class, though possessing no lack of
talent, was without much influence, and the great body of the loyal
people recognized the fact that no such state of affairs existed as should
prevent that reciprocal influence and harmonious co-operation of the
Union and the Constitution which was intended by the founders of
the nation. As the Constitution was "ordained and established,"
among other things, to " insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the
common defence, promote the general welfare," it was assumed, with
reason, that it contained ample provisions for accomplishing these
several objects. Such provisions are in fact fully detailed in Article I.,
Section VIII., of that instrument ; and in accordance with them were
the war powers from time to time exercised by the President and
Congress, against which the sticklers for strict construction so vehe
mently protested. Among these powers the confiscation of slave prop
erty, or the emancipation of slaves, was early recognized ; but such
was the tenderness in approaching this vexed subject, and so strong
the hope that the rebellion might be crushed without resort to it;
so great also the reluctance, in the early stages of the war, to offend
the sensitiveness of the loyal Border Slave States on the subject, that
the Thirty-seventh Congress forbore, at its first session, to interfere
with slavery further than to declare confiscated any slave property
employed in military service in aid of the rebellion. This, however,
was sufficient to enunciate a general principle, which, it will be seen,
was soon carried to its extreme limit.
With the progress of the war it became evident to those who were
in favor of carrying it on with all the means at the disposal of the
Government, that a more vigorous policy on the subject of interfering
with slavery was necessary. The forbearance of the Government had

356 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
•
not only failed to disarm the hostility of the rebels, but had been
conspicuously brought to the notice of European Governments as an
indication that the United States authorities were bent upon preserving
and perpetuating an institution which the civilized nations of tho Old
World united in condemning. Soon after the meeting of the second
session of the Thirty-seventh Congress, a disposition to make consid
erable advances upon the legislation of the extra session began to
manifest itself, and it was boldly affirmed that slavery was the cause
of the war, that the whole power of the Government should be directed
against the cause, and that emancipation was a preliminary to peace ;
that to emancipate slaves and destroy slavery should be the object of
the war, because peace could never exist on other terms.
These principles became the guide to the action of Congress, and
were also the influences under which the separate action of the Execu
tive took place. This action of the Executive was developed in a
series of proclamations upon the subject of emancipation. The first of
these was in the form of a message to Congress, as follows: —
"Washington, March 6, 1862.
"FeUow- Citizens of Vie Senate and House of Representatives: ¦
" I recommend the adoption of a joint resolution by your honorable bodies, which
shall be substautially as follows: —
"Resolved, That the United States ought to co-operate with any State which may
adopt a gradual abolishment of slavery, giving to such State pecuniary aid, to be used
by such State in its discretion to compensate for the inconveniences, public and private,
produced by such change of system.
" If the proposition contained in the resolution does not meet the approval of Congress
and the country, there is the end; but if it does command such approval, I deem of im
portance that the States and people immediately interested should at once be distinctly
notified of the fact, so that they may begin to consider whether to accept or reject it.
" The Federal Government would find its highest interest in such a measure, as one
of the most efficient means of self-preservation. The leaders of the existing insurrec
tion entertain the hope that the Government will ultimately be forced to acknowledge
the independence of some part of the disaffected region, and that all the Slave States
north of such parts will then say, 'The Union for which we have struggled being
already gone, we now choose to go with the Southern section.'
" To deprive them of this hope substantially ends the rebellion, and the initiation of
emancipaion completely deprives them of it. As to all the States initiating it, the point
is not that all the States tolerating slavery would very soon, if at all, initiate emancipa
tion ; but that, while the offer is equally made to all, the more Northern shall, by such
initiation, make it certain to the more Southern, that in no event will the former ever
join the latter in their proposed Confederacy.
"I say 'initiation,' because, in my judgment, gradual, and not sudden emancipation
is better for all. In the mere financial or pecuniary view, any member of Congress,
with the census tables and the Treasury reports before him, can readily see for himself
how very soon the current expenditures of this war would purchase, at a fair valuation,
all the slaves in any named State. Such a proposition on the part of the General Gov
ernment sets up no claim of a right, by Federal authority, to interfere with slavery
within State limits, referring, as it does, the absolute control of the subject in each case
to the State, and it3 people immediately interested.
j " It is proposed as a matter of perfectly free choice with them. In the annual Mes
sage, last December, I thought fit to say : ' The Union must be preserved, and hence
all indispensable means must be employed.' I said this not hastily, but deliberately.
War has been, and continues to be, an indispensable means to this end. A practical
reacknowledgment ofthe National authority would render the' war unnecessary, and it
would at once cease.
^ "If, however, resistance continues, the war must also continue, and it is impossible

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 357 11
to foresee all the incidents which may attend, and all the ruin which may follow it.
Such as may seem indispensable, or may obviously promise great efficiency towards end
ing the struggle, must and will come.
" The proposition now made, though an offer only, I hope it may be esteemed no
offence to ask whether the pecuniary consideration tendered would not be of more value
to the States and private persons concerned, than are the institution and property in it,
in the present aspect of affairs.
"While it is true that the adoption of the proposed resolution would be merely
initiatory, and not within itself a practical measure, it is recommended in the hope that
it would soon lead to important results. In full view of my great responsibility to my
God and to my country, I earnestly beg the attention of Congress and the people to the
subject. "Abraham Lincoln."
Congress also showed its sense of the injuries to the national welfare
which slavery had occasioned, and of which it was likely to be the
future cause, by passing bills for its abolition in the District of Colum
bia and for its prohibition in the Territories ; and in pursuance of the
recommendation of the message of March 6, the following resolution
was adopted by a large majority in either House: —
"Resolved by the Senate and Bouse of Representatives of Vie United States, in Congress
assembled, That the United States ought to co-operate with any State which may adopt
gradual abolishment of slavery, giving to such State pecuniary aid, to be used by such
State, in its discretion, to compensate for inconveniences, public and private, produced
by such a change of system."
On the 9th of May, General Hunter issued an order declaring all
slaves in Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina '* forever free." On
the 19th of May, Mr. Lincoln issued a proclamation abrogating the
order of General Hunter, on the ground that it was in contravention
of the resolution just quoted, which he described as "an authentic,
definite, and solemn proposal of the nation to the States and people
most interested in the subject-matter," and reserving to himself, as
Commander-in-Chief of the army and navy, the right to declare slaves
free, should such a measure be considered necessary to the mainte
nance of the Government. In pursuance of the same subject, the
President, July 12, invited the senators and representatives of the
Border States to the Executive Mansion, and addressed them upon the
subject. He began by informing them that if they had voted for the reso
lution he had sent to Congress, March 6, the war would, in his opin
ion, now have been ended. He then continued to urge upon them
the subject of compensated emancipation, and stated that his repudi
ation of Hunter's order had given offence to parties whose support
the country could not afford to lose ; that the pressure from that di
rection upon him was increasing, and that he desired the border dele
gates to relieve him from the pressure by conceding his request.
The delegates replied that Congress had made no pledge whatever,
and that the Border States could not be expected to act upon the ex
pression of a sentiment. The majority replied in a lengthy _ state
ment, in which they urged the impossibility of acting upon so impor
tant a matter hastily ; that it was an interference of the Government
in State concerns; that the Government had no power to make such

358 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
appropriations of money, which would reach, at least five hundred
millions of dollars ; that the right to hold slaves appertains to each
State ofthe Union ; each has the right to maintain or abolish it; that
the right is a part of the institutions of the Constitution and the Union,
and cannot be taken away without destroying all. They alluded to
the inaugural of President Lincoln, in which he affirmed that he had
" no lawful right to interfere with slavery in States where it exists."
They did not see why sacrifices should be exacted from loyal Border
States any more than from the other loyal States. They denied the
proposition-of the President, that the resolution, if passed, would have
ended the war. They stated that the Confederate strength consisted
in the union of classes, which had not been the case when the war
commenced. The Union had been brought about by the common re
sistance of all parties to aggressions upon their rights. The resist
ance had been strengthened by the non-adherence to the principles of
the inaugural. A minority ofthe Border State members submitted
a reply, in which they acknowledged the wisdom and patriotism of
the President's proposition, and pledged themselves to recommend
it to the consideration of their constituents.
The proposition was acted upon in the Kentucky Legislature, and a
committee reported that the measure would have no influence on the
war ; that " the dominant party in Congress are bent upon the de
struction of the Constitution and the Union. We have viewed with
alarm the rapid strides it has made towards the prostration of every
guarantee which the Constitution provides for the dearest rights ofthe
people." " They declare that they are against the restoration of the
Union, unless slavery is abolished." The report closed with a recom
mendation that the proposition be declined, which course was fol
lowed. In July the President signed the Confiscation Act, which provided
that the slaves of persons adjudged guilty of treason should be freed,
and thatif any other persons engaged in the rebellion should not,
within sixty days after public proclamation duly made by the Presi
dent, cease to aid the rebellion, all their property should be confis
cated in the same manner. As public sentiment began to be devel
oped in favor of immediate and unconditional emancipation as a means
of breaking ojfown the rebellion, the President was urged to avail him
self of these provisions, and it was in reply to a letter embodying the
views ofthe more radical friends ofthe Administration, published by
the Hon. Horace Greeley, that the following communication was
prepared : — " Executive Mansion, Washington, August 22, 1862. »
"Hon. Horace Greeley:
" Dear Sir -—I have just read yours of the 19th instant, addressed to myself through
the New Tork Tribune.
" If there be in it any statements or assumptions, of fact which I may know to be
erroneous, I do not now and here controvert them.
•'If there be any inferences which I may believe to be falsely drawn, I do not now
and here argue against them.
" If there be perceptible in it an impatient and dictatorial tone, I waive it in defer
ence to an old friend whose heart I have always supposed to be' right.

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 359
"As to the policy I f seem to be pursuing,' as you s'ay, I have not meant to leave any
one in doubt. I would save the Union. I would save it in the shortest way under
the Constitution. ,
" The sooner the national authority can be restored, the nearer the Union will be
the Union as it was.
" If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same
time save slavery, I do not agree with them.
"If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same
time destroy slavery, I do not agree with them.
" My paramount object is to save the Union, and not either to save or destroy slavery.
"If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it; and if I could
save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it ; and if I could save it by freeing some
and leaving others alone, I would also do that.
" What I do about slavery and the colored race I do because I believe it helps to
save this Union ; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not beheve it would help
to save the Union.
" I shall do less whenever I shall believe what I am doing injures the cause ; and I
shall do more whenever I believe doing more will help the cause.
" I shall try to correct errors when shown to be errors ; and I shall adopt new
views so fast as they shall appear to be true views.
" I have here stated my purpose according to my view of official duty, and I intend
no modification of my oft-expressed personal wish that all men everywhere could be
free. Yours, A. Lincoln."
Meanwhile, delegations from all parts of the North continued to
urge upon the President the necessity of emancipation. His own
opinions seem also to havejbeen tending in the same direction ; and
just one month after the foregoing letter was written, the long-ex
pected proclamation appeared in the following terms : —
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
A PROCLAMATION. "Washington, September 22, 1862.
" I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States of America, and Commander-
in-Chief of the army and navy thereof, do hereby proclaim and declare that hereafter,
as heretofore, the war will be prosecuted for the object of practically restoring the con
stitutional relation between the United States and the people thereof in which States
that relation is, or may be, suspended or disturbed ;, that it is my purpose, upon the
next meeting of Congress, to again recommend the adoption of a practical measure
tendering pecuniary aid to the free acceptance or rejection of all the Slave States, so-
called, the people whereof may not then be in rebellion against the United States, an<J
which States may then have voluntarily adopted or thereafter may voluntarily adopt the
immediate or gradual abolishment of slavery within their respective limits ; and that
the efforts to colonize persons of African descent, with their consent, upon the conti
nent or elsewhere, with/the previously obtained consent of the governments existing
there, will be continued; that on the first day of January, in the year of ow Lord one
thousand eight hundred and sixty -three, all persons held as slaves within any State, or any
designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United
! States, shaU be then, thenceforward and forever, free, and the Executive Government of
the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize
and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such
persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom ; that
the Executive will, on the first day of January aforesaid, by proclamation, designate
the States and parts of States, if any, in which the people thereof respectively shall be
then in rebellion against the United States; and the fact that any State, or the people
thereof, shall on that day be in good faith represented in the Congress of the United
States by members chosen thereto at elections wherein a majority of the qualified

360 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
voters of such State shall have participated, shall, in the absence of strong counter-
vailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evidence that such State and the people there
of have not been in rebel'ion against the United States.
"That attention is hereby called to an act of Congress entitled ' An Act to make an
additional Article of War,' approved March 13, 1862, and which act is in the words-
and figures following : —
" !Be it enacted by the Senate and Bouse of Representatives of the United States of Amer
ica, in Congress assembled, That hereafter the following shall be promulgated as an
additional article of war for the government of the Army of the United States, and
shall be obeyed and observed as such : —
" ' Article. — All officers or persons in the military or naval service of the United
States are prohibited from employing any of the forces under their respective com
mands for the purpose of returning fugitives from service or labor who may have es
caped from any persons to whom such service or labor is claimed to be due ; and any
officer who shall be found guilty by a court-martial of violating this article shall be dis
missed from the service.
" 'Section 2. — And be it further enacted, That this act shall take effect from and after
its passage.'
" Also to the ninth and tenth sections of an act entitled ' An Act to suppress insur
rection, to punish treason and rebellion, to seize and confiscate property of rebels, and
for other purposes,' approved July 17, 1862, and which sections are in the words and
figures following :— '
" ' Section 9. — And be ; further enacted, That all slaves of persons who shall here
after be engaged in rebellion against the Government of the United States, or who
shall in any way give aid and comfort thereto, escaping from such persons and taking
refuge within the lines of the army, and all slaves captured from such persons, or de
serted by them, and coming under the control of the Government of the United States,
and all slaves of such persons found on (or being within) any place occupied by rebel
forces, and afterwards occupied by the forces of the United States, shall be deemed
captures of war, and shall be forever free of their servitude, and not again held as
slaves " ' Section 10. — And be it further enacted, That no slave escaping into any State, Ter
ritory, or the District of Columbia, from any of the States, shall be delivered up, or in
any way impeded or hindered of his liberty, except for crime, or some offence against
the laws, unless the person claiming said fugitive shall first make oath that the person
to whom the labor or service of such fugitive is alleged to be due is his lawful owner,
and has not been in arms against the United States in the present rebellion, nor in
any way given aid and comfort thereto ; and no person engaged in the military or naval
aerviceof the United States shall, under any pretence whatever, assume to decide on
the validity of the claim of any person to the service or labor of any other person, or
surrender up any such person to the claimant, on pain of being dismissed from the
service.' "And I do hereby enjoin upon and order all persons engaged in the military and
naval service of the United States to observe, obey, and enforce within their respective
spheres of service the act and sections above recited.
"And the Executive will in due time recommend that all citizens of the United
States who shall have remained loyal thereto throughout the rebellion shall (upon the
restoration of the constitutional relation between the United States and their respec
tive States and people, if the relation shall have been suspended or disturbed) be com
pensated for all losses by acts of the United States, including the loss of slaves.
" In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United
States to be affixed. "Abeaham Lincoln.
" Done at the City of Washington, this twenty-second day of September, in the
year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, and of the independence
of the United States the eighty-seventh.
"By the Fresident. " William H. Seward, Secretary of State."
J In bis annual message delivered in December, 1862, the President

HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 361
alluded to the efforts he had made in relation to emancipation, and
also in relation to colonizing the emancipated blacks ; and proposed
articles amendatory of the Constitution, granting compensation to
loyal owners for emancipated slaves in the course of thirty-seven years,
and appropriations for the colonizing of blacks ; and urged that if the
plan were adopted, the emancipation of slaves would follow in some
of the States. The message proceeded to argue the matter at some
length. The plan he stated was proposed as a permanent constitutional
amendment, which cannot be passed without the concurrence of three-
fourths of the States. The plan, however, did not interfere with the
following proclamation, which was issued January 1, 1863 : —
•k BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
A PROCLAMATION.
" Whereas, on the twenty-second day of September, in the year of our Lord one
thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, a proclamation was issued by the President of
the United States, containing, among other things, the following, to wit: —
" ' That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight
hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part
of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States,
shall be then, thenceforth, and forever free ; and the Executive Government of the
United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and
maintan the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons
or any of them in any effort they may make for their actual freedom.
" ' That the Executive will, on the first day of January aforesaid, by proclamation,
designate the States and parts of States, if any, in which the people therein respec
tively shall then be in rebellion against the United States ; and the fact that any State
or the people thereof shall on that day be in good faith represented in the Congress
of the United States, by members chosen thereto at elections wherein a majority of the
qualified voters of such State shall have participated, shall, in the absence of strong
countervailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evidence that such State and the peo
ple thereof are not then in rebellion against the United States.'
" Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, by virtue of
the power in me vested as commander-in-chief of the army and navy of the United
States, in time of actual armed rebellion against the authority and government of the
United States, and as a fit and necessary war measure for suppressing said rebellion,
do, ou this first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and
sixty-three, and in accordance with my purpose bo to do publicly proclaimed for the full
period of one hundred days from the day of the first above-mentioned order, and desig
nate as the States and parts of States wherein the people thereof respectively are this
day in rebellion against the United States, the following, to wit : Arkansas, Texas,
Louisiana— except the parishes of St. Bernard, Placquemines, Jefferson, St. John, St.
Charles, St. James, Ascension, Assumption, Terre Bonne, Lafourche, St. Mary, St. Mar
tin, and Orleans, including the city of Now Orleans — Mississippi, Alabama, Florida,
Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia — except the forty-eight counties
designated as West Virginia, and also the counties of Berkeley, Accomac, Northamp
ton, Elizabeth City, York, Princess Anne, and Norfolk, including the cities of Norfolk
and Portsmouth, and which excepted parts are, for the present, left precisely as if this
proclamation was not issued.
" And by virtue of the power and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare
that all persons held as slaves within said designated States and parts of States are
and henceforward shall be free; and that the Executive Government of the United
States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and main
tain the freedom of said persons.
" Aud I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free to abstain from all
violence, unless in necessary self-defence; and I recommend to them that in all cases
when allowed, they labor faithfully for reasonable wages.

362 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
" And I further declare and make known that such persons, of suitable condition,
will be received into the armed service of the United States, to garrison forts, positions,
stations, and other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service.
" And upon this, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Consti
tution, upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind and
the gracious favor of Almighty God.
"In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the
United States to be affixed.
"Done at the City of Washington, this first day of January, in the year of our
Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the independence of the
United States of America the eighty-seventh
By the President : . " Abraham Lincoln.
" William H. Seward, Secretary of State."
During the summer of 1862, Congress passed an additional article
of war, which prohibits all military officers from returning any fugi
tive slaves to their masters, under pain of dismissal from the ser
vice ; also a law, July 17, 1862, authorizing the President to call out
the militia of the States for nine months. Under this act three hun
dred thousand men were called out, in addition to three hundred thou
sand three years men. The waste of life continued, however, and at
the second session of Congress new means were deemed advisable to
fill the ranks of the army. These were finally adopted in the Conscrip
tion Law brought in by Mr. Wilson, chairman of the Senate Military
Committee, that every man drafted might furnish a substitute, or pay
a sum not exceeding three hundred dollars, in money, for the procuration
of one. This law placed all the arms-bearing citizens in all the States
within the control of the President. After some months of delay, the
necessary1 machinery was organized, and the draft put in force.
In looking back upon the proceedings of the Thirty-seventh Congress,
which expired March 4th, 1863, the most gigantic results are observa
ble. It had inaugurated legal tender paper money, and a comprehensive
national banking system, besides passing a tax law embracing an ex
cise upon all articles of productive industry, a stamp tax upon all
documents, and a tax of three per cent, upon all incomes over six hun
dred dollars ; while the tariff upon imported goods had been raised to
the highest rates. In addition to all this, it had amply provided for the
needs of Government, and under its authority more than a million of
men had been put into the field.
The navy had been reorganized, the grade of rear-admirals had been
created, and nine appointed, with sixteen commodores, thirty-nine
captains, and ninety commanders. There were two hundred and
eighty-two steam-vessels, carrying fifteen hundred and thirty-seven
guns. Of these, fifty-three are iron-clad, and thirteen rams ; and one
hundred and two sailing, vessels, carrying fourteen hundred and fifty
guns. Total, three hundred and eighty-four sea-going vessels, with
two thousand nine hundred and eighty-seven guns.
All this treasure, material, and men had been voted to the service
of the Government, in perfect accordance with public opinion. There
were no murmurs heard from the loyal population at the extent of the
armies, or at the lavish expenditure of money. On the other hand,
the only clamors heard were for a more vigorous prosecution of the

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 363
war, as if no possible action of Congress could keep up with the fierce
impatience of the public to have the war brought to a successful end.

CHAPTER XXXH
Expedition of General Butler. — New Orleans. — Its Defences. — Passage of the Forts
by Farragut. — Capture of City. — Butler's Administration. — Baton Rouge. — Vicks
burg. — Ram Arkansas. — Her Destruction.
The expedition of General Butler against New Orleans, which had
been so long in preparation, finally reached Ship Island on the 20th
March, 1862, but, owing to the weather, did not land until the 23d.
The defence of New Orleans had been intrusted to Major-General M.
Lovell, a graduate of West Point, and connected with Generals Quit
man and G. W. Smith in the Cuban fillibustering expeditions. When
he took charge of New Orleans in October, 1861, he found the city
comparatively defenceless. The troops of that section had gone north
in the Confederate service, and the Mississippi was blockaded. The
most active preparations were immediately commenced for defence ;
guns and munitions were manufactured ; troops organized and drilled ;
forts placed in a position to resist, and with persevering efforts a system
of formidable works gradually grew up. The lower river was com
manded by Fort Jackson and Fort St. Philip, which had been seized
by the Confederates. The former, situated on the west bank of the
river, seventy miles below New Orleans, had cost the United States
over one million dollars ; it was a casemated fort, intended to mount one
hundred and fifty guns, and hold six hundred men; opposite, on the
east bank of the river, St. Philip mounted one hundred and fifty guns ;
it is also a very strong fort. These two forts completely commanded
the river, and it was judged impossible to pass them. The Confed
erates had, however, twice placed obstructions in the river, but these
were swept away by the rising flood. There were five or six other
forts which commanded the approaches to New Orleans by way of
Lake Borgne. As an additional defence, sixteen vessels had been pre
pared aud armed on the river ; of these, eight defended the upper
river, and the remainder, including two iron-clad rams, were destined
to support the forts below. Both forts were commanded by General
J. K. Duncan, a native of Pennsylvania, and a graduate of West Point.
He had been connected with the Lopez expedition to Cuba, and also
with Walker, in Nicaragua, and was considered the best artillerist in
the Confederate service. Colonel Higgins, formerly of the United
States navy, and considered a skilful officer, had the immediate com
mand of Fort Jackson. A large proportion of the forces inside the
forts were Northern men, and included many foreigners. The party
that seized the fort, early in 1861, was a company of German Yagers.
The Northern men were mostly sent down at an early stage of the war,
and it was asserted that most of them volunteered, hoping in that way
to avoid suspicion, and, perhaps, not have to fight against the Govern-

364 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
ment after all. A chain had been placed across the river, three-
quarters of a mile below the forts, and was a formidable obstacle. It
was supported by heavy logs, thirty feet long, and only a few feet apart,
to the under side of which the chain was pinned near the up-stream
end. In a few months a raft formed on the upper side of this chain
which reached up to the forts, and its weight swept away the whole
obstruction and went to sea, carrying the buoys with it. It was then
replaced by a lighter chain, buoyed by the hulks of eleven schooners.
There were also fire-rafts and boats above, prepared to descend the
river with the current and destroy any ascending fleet. The whole
system of defence was such that the place was considered entirely im
pregnable. No uneasiness was felt either in Richmond or New
Orleans when it was announced that the attack had commenced.
General Butler, after a consultation with Flag-officer Farragut, em
barked his force at Ship Island and proceeded to the passes of the
Mississippi to await the action of the fleet. This was the largest that
had then ever been assembled under the stars and stripes. It consisted
of eight steamships, sixteen gunboats, and twenty-one mortar schoon
ers — in all forty-six sail, carrying two hundred and eighty-six guns.
The mortar vessels were under Commodore D. D. Porter. The fleet
ascended the river twenty-five miles to the forts, aud on the 1 8th of
April began a furious bombardment, which lasted six: days. The fire-
rafts proved ineffectual. During this bombardment the fort was so
much shaken that it was feared the casemates would come down about
the ears of the defenders. It was observed that the bombs that fell in
the ditch, close to the walls of the fort, and exploded there, shook the
fort much more severely than any of those that buried themselves in
the solid ground.
During the bombardment the only guns of the fort that were much
used were the rifled guns, of which there were three, and the colum
biad and Dahlgren guns, eight in number. The mortars fired occa
sionally. One of the rifled guns mounted on the fort proper before
the bombardment, was sent, two days before the fire opened, to Island
Number Ten. _ General Duncan telegraphed that the forts were safe,
as the firing did not lead to results. Believing that the reduction of
the forts by bombardment would prove a tedious operation, Farragut
finally determined to pass the forts. Before daylight of the 24th, the
squadron, was formed in two columns, of which one, under Captain
Bailey, second in command, was composed of the following vessels,
leading to the attack of Fort St. Philip : Cayuga, Pensacola, Mis
sissippi, Oneida, Varuna, Katahdin, Kineo, Wissahickon ; while Flag-
officer Farragut led the Hartford, Brooklyn, Richmond, Scioto, Iro
quois, Pinola, Winona, Itasca, and Kennebec, forming the left column,
which was to attack Fort Jackson. The steamers belonging to the
mortar flotilla were to enfilade the water battery commanding the
approaches to the forts.
- The vessels were rather late in getting under way and into line, and
were not fairly started until half-past three a. m. In an hour and ten
minutes the fleet had passed the forts under a furious fire ; the chain
across the river having previously been shifted sufficiently to permit ¦

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 365
the vessels to penetrate the obstructions. It was alleged by the enemy
that the raft had not been closed since a storm had rent a chasm in it ;
that, by some fatality, the signals of both fleets were the same on that
night; that orders of General Lovell, to keep the river lighted with
fire-rafts, had been disobeyed ; that the person in charge of the signals
had neglected to throw up rockets on the approach of the fleet. In
consequence of all these mishaps, the ships got abreast of the forts
before they were discovered. When they Were seen, however,
all the guns opened upon the devoted ships with extraordinary fury,
and this danger once surmounted, they were obliged to encounter the
enemy's fleet, of seventeen vessels, eight of which were armed. The
Varuna, Captain Charles Boggs, led the right column, and was attacked
by the enemy's vessels on all sides. Although badly cut up, she drove
off four of the enemy. A steam ram then attacked her, staving her
side and setting her on fire. The flames were with difficulty extin
guished. The enemy was so crippled in the encounter that he drew
off, when another ram struck the Varuna, crushing in her side.
Although then run ashore in a sinking condition, she delivered her fire
as she went down so effectually, that her enemy suffered great damage.
The Brooklyn followed the Yaruna. She was in the darkness
butted by the ram Manassas without much damage. She pro
ceeded, receiving a fire from a steamer and from Fort St. Philip
as she passed, returning them with marked effect. She then en
countered the fleet of the enemy, and was under fire an hour and a
half, losing eight men killed and twenty-six wounded, and was much
cut -up. The steam rams impelled a fire-raft on board the flag-ship
Hartford, running her ashore. Commodore Farragut then drew oft",
and the fire was extinguished, but the Hartford was much injured.
The Manassas drifted ashore in flames, and was deserted by her crew.
The forts having been thus passed and the fleet of the enemy captured
or sunk, as was supposed, the Union vessels proceeded to New Orleans
without encountering serious obstacles. On the 28th the forts, which
Generals Butler and Phelps had begun to invest from the land side,
surrendered to Commodore Porter. General Duncan alleged that he
was compelled to yield in consequence of a mutiny in the garrison, to
quell which he had been obliged to turn guns upon his own men, when
he found that they were spiked. The rebel naval officers, meantime,
placed all their munitions of war on board the Louisiana, a powerful
floating battery, lying under the guns of Fort Jackson, and she blew up
opposite Fort St. Philip. The forts were found to be well supplied
with provisions and ammunition.
There were around the city of New Orleans a number of vessels
loaded with cotton and tobacco. These, to the estimated value of
several millions, were destroyed by fire by order of General Lovell,
who withdrew his forces from the city in "order hot to subject it to
bombardment. The real reason of the evacuation was probably the
fact that a single frigate anchored at Kenner's plantation, ten miles
above the city, would effectually prevent any troops from leaving it.
On the 26th April the following correspondence took place: —

366 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
" United States Flag-Ship Hartford, i
"Off New Orleans, April 26, 1862. J
"To His Excellency the Mayor of the City of New Orleans:
» Sib :  Upon my arrival before your city, I had the honor to send to your honor
Captain Bailey, United States Navy, second in command of the expedition, to demand
of you the surrender of New Orleans to me as the representative cf the Government
of the Uriited States. Captain Bailey reported the result of an interview] with yourself
and the military authorities.
"It must occur to your honor that it is not within the province of a naval officer to
assume the duties of a military commandant. I name here to reduce New Orleans to
obedience to the laws of, and to vindicate the offended majesty of, the Government
of the United States. The rights of persons and property shall be secured.
"I therefore demand of you, as its representative, the unqualified surrender of the
city, and that the emblem of the sovereignty of the United States be hoisted over the
City Hall, Mint, and Custom-House, by meridian this day, and all flags and other em
blems of sovereignty other than this of the United States be removed from all the pub
lic buildings by that hour.
" I particularly request that you shall exercise your authority to quell disturbances,
restore order, and call upon all the good people of New Orleans to retire at once to
their avocations, and I particularly demand that no person shall be molested in person
or property, or for sentiments of loyalty to their Government. I shall speedily and
severely punish any person or persons who shall commit such outrages as were wit
nessed yesterday by armed men firing upon helpless women and children for giving
expression to their pleasure at witnessing the 'old flag.'
" I am, very respectfully, D: C. Farragut,
"Flag- Officer Western Gulf Squadron."
the reply of the mayor.
"Mayor's Office, City of New Orleans, )
"Citv Hall, April 26, 1862. f
"Flag-Officer D. C. Farragut, United States Flag-Ship Hartford:
" Sir : — In pursuance of a resolution which we thought proper to take, out of regard for
the lives of the women and children, who still crowd the metropolis, General Lovell has
evacuated it with his troops, and restored back to me the administration of its govern
ment and the custody of its honor. I have, in council with the City Fathers, considered
the demand you made of me yesterday of an unconditional surrender of the city, coupled
with a requisition to hoist the flag of the United States on the public edifices, and haul
down the flag that still floats upon the breeze from the dome of the Hall. It becomes
my duty to transmit to you an answer which the universal sentiment of my constitu
ents, no less than the prompting of my own heart, declares to me on this sad and
solemn occasion. The city is without the means of defence, and is utterly destitute of
the force and material that might enable it to resist an overpowering armament dis
played in sight of it.
" I am no military man, and possess no authority beyond that of executing the muni
cipal laws of the city of New Orleans. It would be presumptuous in me to attempt to
lead an army to the field, if I had one at command; and I know still less how, to sur
render an undefended place, held, as this is, at the mercy of your gunners and your
mortars. To surrender such a place were an idle and unmeaning ceremony. The city
is yours by the power of brutal force, not by my choice or the consent of its inhabit
ants. It is for you to determine what will be the fate that awaits us here. As to
hoisting any flag not of our own adoption and allegiance, let me say to you that the
man lives not in our midst whose hand and heart would not be paralyzed at the mere
thought of such an act; nor could I find in my entire constituency so desperate and
wretched a renegade as would dare to profane with hand the sacred emblem of our
aspirations. "Sir, you have manifested sentiments which would become one engaged in a better
cause than that to which you have devoted your sword. I doubt not that they spring
from a noble though deluded nature, and I know how to appreciate the emotions which
inspired them. You have a gallant people to administrate during your occupancy of
this city — a people sensitive to all that can in the least affect their dignity and self-

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.

367j

respect. Pray, sir, do hot fail to regard their susceptibilities. The obligations which I
shall assume in their name shall be religiously comphed with. You may trust their
honor, though you might not count on their submission to unmerited wrong.
"In conclusion, I beg you to understand that the people of New Orleans, while
unable to resist your force, do not allow themselves to be insulted by the interference
of such as have rendered themselves odious and contemptible by their dastardly deser
tion of our cause in the mighty struggle in which we are engaged, or such as might
remind them too forcibly that they are the conquered and you the conquerors. Peace
and order may be preserved without resort to measures which I could not prevent.
Tour occupying of the city does not transfer allegiance from the government of their
choice to one which they have deliberately repudiated, and they yield the obedience
which the conqueror is entitled to extort from the conquered.
"Eespectfully, "John F. Monroe, Mayor"
After the city had surrendered to Commodore Farragut, and was
completely under the guns of the fleet, General Butler,* with a force
composed of eight regiments, two batteries, and two companies of
cavalry, commenced landing on the 1st of Mgy, and established his
head-quarters at the Custom-House. He subsequently ordered the
St. Charles Hotel, which was closed, to be opened for the accommoda
tion of himself and staff. He then prepared a proclamation, which the
papers refused to publish, whereupon he placed Northern printers in
the True Delta office, by whom the document was put in type. It
stated that the laws of the United States would be enforced, but to a
certain extent, and for a limited period, proclaimed martial law. The
payment of municipal taxes, with some exceptions, was suppressed, and
the circulation of Confederate money forbidden. The telegraph was
placed under the command of an army officer. For opposition to the
new Government, General Butler sent the provost guard to arrest the
mayor and common council, and bring them before him at the St.
Charles Hotel. Pierre Soule, formerly United States senator, attended,
at the invitation of the common council. General Butler read his
proclamation to them and addressed them. He was replied to by Mr.
Soule, on whose representations he was induced to modify a portion of
it, and to permit the boats and railroads to bring in supplies of food
to the inhabitants. Mr. Soule also asked that the soldiers might be with
drawn to the suburbs of the city, since their presence was a continual
source of irritation to the people. This was naturally enough denied,
and Soule was subsequently arrested, and sent to Fort Lafayette, New
York. The administration of General Butler, though somewhat
severe, was on the whole admirably adapted to the city and its inhabit-

* Benjamin Franklin Butler was born in Deer-
fleld, New Ham ipshire, in 1818 ; graduated at Water-
ville College, Maine, in 1838 ; and practised law at
Lowell, Massachusetts, from 1841 to 1861. During
this period he was a prominent member of the
Democratic party in Massachusetts, and was for
several years a State senator.' In 1860 he was the
candidate of the Breckinridge Democrats for Gov-
- ernor. As brigadier-general of Massachusetts
militia, he accompanied the first three-months
volunteers of that State to the scat of war, was
$ laced successively in command of Baltimore and
'ortress Monroe, and in May, 1861, was commis
sioned major-general of volunteers. ¦ He took part
la the expedition to Fort Hatteras, and in the early

part of 1862 commanded the expedition which,
with the aid of Farragut's fleet, opened the Lower
Mississippi and captured New Orleans. He pre
sided over the Gulf Department until relieved by
General Banks at the close of 1S62, and was par
ticularly distinguished by his administration of
affairs in New Orleans. In the latter part of 1863
he was appointed to the Department of Virginia
and North Carolina ; and during the campaign of
1864 he partibipated in the military operations
before Petersburg and Richmond, aa commander
of the Army of the James. In January, 1865, he
was relieved of his command, and in tho succeed
ing Bpring he resigned his commission.

368 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
ants, and, considering the circumstances in which he was placed, was
eminently successful.
Meantime, Algiers was occupied by the Union troops, the Opelousas
and Jackson Kailroad seized, and General Phelps occupied Carrollton,
about five miles up the river. When the city of New Orleans had
surrendered to the fleet, and the troops had landed to occupy it, the
gunboats proceeded up the river, and the troops under General Wil
liams occupied Baton Kouge. On the 12th, they reached Natchez,
and surrounded the place. The mayor replied that they were a
defenceless people, and could make no opposition to the force brought
against them, and that there was no Confederate property in the place.
Four gunboats remained, and the others proceeded up the river and
landed troops at Grand Gulf and Port Gibson. Farragut's fleet had
been re-enforced with heavy mortar-boats, and he was instructed to
open the Mississippi River from one end to the other. The enemy, in
the mean time, after the retreat from Corinth, had concentrated a force
under Van Dorn at Vicksburg, which is situated on the Mississippi
River, three hundred and ninety-five miles above New Orleans, and
seven hundred and ninety-nine below St. Louis. It is distant by water
from Cairo about six hundred and thirty miles, and from Memphis
nearly four hundred miles. It is also over a hundred miles above
Natchez. The city is on elevated ground, on the east bank of the
river, which just above it makes a sharp turn to the northeast, rounds
a point and returns on its course southwest, thus forming a tongue of
land twelve miles long and one wide, with intersections between Tus
cumbia and Vicksburg. The enemy had made the most ofthe natural
advantages ofthe place ; a bluff below the town was surrounded with
a fort, mounting eight guns, and the defences were otherwise formi
dable. The bank of the river rises gradually for a couple of miles back,
and on this curved slope lies the town, imbedded in a natural cradle.
Above and below the city, on the sides of the slope, lay the batteries.
Above was a three-banked battery, with tiers rising one above the
other, from a point half-way down the slope to the summit. Four
heavy guns were in each tier. On the 26th of June, the fleet attacked
the batteries, and continued to bombard them all day, with little
result. On the 27th, the fire was resumed, and Commodore Porter
ordered the town shelled. The women and children had been re
moved previously. On the 28th, Commodore Farragut, whose fleet
was then lying about five miles below the city, got word to the
mortars to open fire upon the batteries at four o'clock in the morning,
and he would endeavor to run some of his vessels past the batteries.
Accordingly, the bombardment was recommenced at the hour named,
and during its continuance, Farragut succeeded in passing the entire
Confederate batteries with eight vessels, viz. : three men-of-war, two
sloops-ofrwar, and three gunboats. The Federal loss in passing the
batteries was four killed, twenty wounded. The fleet passed up, and
was joined by that of Commodore Davis, descending from Memphis.
Finding that Vicksburg would hold out, Farragut determined to open
the Mississippi in another way, namely, by cutting a canal across the
tongue of land opposite Vicksburg, thus opening a new channel fo«

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HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 369
the river, and leaving Vicksburg far to one side. Instantly the work
commenced. Negroes were gathered from every plantation around,
and three or four Hundred of them set to work. The canal was finally
cut with much labor, but was found to be of no avail. The river was
fast falling, and the water would not enter, the ditch. General Wil
liams, with about three thousand troops, occupied the west bank of
the river, and greatly aided the digging operations.
Meantime the fleet occupied the river above Vicksburg, near the
mouth of the Yazoo River, up which stream there were in process of
construction some Confederate vessels, pn the 26th June, Colonel
Ellet, with the rams Monarch and Lancaster, proceeded sixty-five
miles up the Yazoo, with a view of destroying three new boats lying
there, and of getting information of the iron-clad steamer Arkansas
being built. On his approach the boats were set on fire and cast
adrift, compelling Colonel Ellet to leave the. river in haste. The
enemy now erected heavy batteries at Grand Gulf, and Ellis Bluff,
below Vicksburg, supported by infantry under Generals Bragg and
Gustavus W. Smith, and several vessels on their way to New Orleans
failed to get past the batteries. On the morning of 15th July, the
gunboats Carondelet and Tyler and the ram Queen of the West got
under way, steamed up the river a short distance, turned, and headed
up the Yazoo. Upon entering the river the Queen shot up ahead of
the rest, the Carondelet following, while the Tyler brought up the
rear. They had proceeded about five miles only, when the Arkansas
was encountered on her way down. The Carondelet met her with a
full broadside, but the shot glanced harmless from 'her plated sides.
The ram ran into the Carondelet, receiving another harmless broadside
as she struck her opponent on the quarter, at the same time delivering
her fire. Captain Walker boarded his enemy, but could find no en
trance. He returned to his guns, but his vessel was a wreck, and a
shot cut away the steam-pipe, scalding many men. The Arkansas
then left her and steered for the Tyler, which made the best of her
way out ofthe river, closely followed by the enemy, into the midst of
the fleet, several of the vessels of which, by some fatality, had not'
sufficient steam to move. The Louisiana shore was lined with our
transports, ordnance boats, &c, while directly opposite them, three
or four abreast, lay Farragut's and Davis's fleet, scarcely two of which
could fire without pouring their broadsides into some of their own
vessels. The ram, keeping her guns busy, passed all the vessels in
succession. The Richmond, the J. H. Dickey, the Champion, and the
Hartford, were all fired into. The eleven-inch shot of the Oneida fell
harmless from her sides, as did the smaller missiles of others of the
fleet, and she finally reached her destination unharmed, under the
guns of Vicksburg. The Union loss was thirty-four killed, sixty-six
wounded, and twenty-three missing.
The Arkansas was an iron-clad vessel of one thousand three hundred
tons, and was built at Memphis, but was removed from that point, in
an unfinished condition, previous to the evacuation by our troops.
She was completed in the Yazoo River. Her commander reported :
24

370 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. " VlCKSBURa, July 16.
" We engaged to-day, from six A. m., with the enemy's fleet above Vicksburg, con
sisting of four or more iron-clad gunboats and two heavy sloops-of-war, and four gun
boats and seven or eight rams. We drove an iron-clad ashore with colors down and
disabled, blew up a ram, burned one vessel, and damaged several others. Our smoke
stack was so shot to pieces that we lost steam and could not use our vessel as a ram.
We were otherwise cut up, as we engaged at close quarters. Loss ten killed and fif
teen wounded, others with slight wounds.
(Signed) "Isaac N. Brown, Lieutenant- Commanding."
The insult thus sustained by the fleet, so similar to that which the
navy in the waters of the IJampton Roads, sustained four months pre
vious, prompted the two commanders-in-chief to destroy her at all
hazards. It was determined in council that the fleet under Commo
dore Davis should attack the batteries above Vicksburg, and the ves
sels of Farragut the lower batteries, and that, during these attacks, the
Essex, under Commodore W. D. Porter, should run in and attack the
Arkansas. On the morning of the 23d this plan was put in execution,
but failed from want of combined action. The Essex, in running into
the ram, missed her blow and ran ashore, exposed to all the guns of
the place, numbering, as reported by Porter, seventy in battery, and
twenty field-pieces. His vessel, he reported, hit forty-two times, and
the armor penetrated twice. She drew off and went down the river,
whence she could not return to join Davis's fleet.
The fleet was now in a critical position ; there was but eighteen feet
of water in the river between New Orleans and Vicksburg, and the
flag-ships and others drew sixteen feet ; as the water was still subsid
ing, there were fears of grounding, until the fall rains. It was there
fore necessary to abandon Vicksburg and to go down the stream.
The vessels of Farragut, above the city, passed down amidst a shower
of shot of two hours' duration, and joined the lower fleet without im
portant loss. The Arkansas took no part in this movement, inasmuch
as she was undergoing repairs. The force of General Williams was
taken down and landed at Baton Rouge.
On the 5th of August, the Confederates, under Generals Breckin
ridge and Ruggles, attacked the Union force, under General Williams,
with great vigor. There were in the river five Union gunboats, which
aided the defence of Williams. The Confederates expected the ram
Arkansas and her guns to aid the attack of Breckinridge, whose object
was to possess the arsenal. After a severe struggle of five hours'
duration, he fell back without accomplishing that object, but with
much loss, including General Clarke. While the enemy's column was
advancing to the attack, it received a volley of musketry from a wood,
where was retired a body of partisan rangers, who fired upon their
friends by mistake. The Union loss was.also large, including General
Williams, who was shot through the heart. During the night, Farra
gut left New Orleans with the Brooklyn and four gunboats, and arrived
at Baton Rouge at noon on the 6th. The cause of the failure of the
enemy's attack was an accident to the ram Arkansas. On her way-
down, under Lieutenant Stevens, one of her engines was disabled, and
she anchored fifty miles above the town. On the 6th, she was attacked •
by the Union gunboats, when her commander ran her ashore and fled.

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 371
She blew up after the crew had made their escape. Thus ended the
second iron-clad vessel of the enemy. Each of them had a very short,
but very brilliant existence, powerfully illustrating the force of the
new agents introduced into naval warfare.

CHAPTER XXXHI.
Privateers. — Confederate Navy. — Oreto— Her Operations. — The Alabama — Her Move
ments. — Diplomatic Correspondence. — Captures — Hatteras Captured.
The organization of the Confederate Government included a naval
force, of which, however, they possessed only the officers, most of
whom had been in the service of the Federal Government, and had
embraced the Southern cause on the outbreak of the war. The South
ern States had never been commercial, nor were they possessed of
much shipping or seafaring population ; hence the material of a
navy did not exist, even if the strict blockade which the immense
naval force of the North maintained on the Southern coast, had per
mitted ingress to and ingress from the numerous harbors of that sec
tion. Notwithstanding these difficulties, the naval authorities managed
to get to sea the Sumter and several other small crafts, which did
much damage upon the ocean to Northern property in the first year
of the war. The operations of that class of vessels closed with the
year 1861, when the Sumter, having taken refuge at Gibraltar, was
closely watched by the Federal steamer Tuscarora, and, being unable
to procure coal, was finally abandoned.
The successes of the Sumter and her colleague had, however, en
couraged the rebels to undertake the formation of a more regular
navy, and several large steamers were contracted for in England.
The first of these was called the Oreto, and was in process of con
struction in Liverpool in February, 1862. When Mr. Adams, the
American Minister, called the attention of Earl Russell to the fact
that an armed steamer was being built to cruise agamst the United
States, Earl Russell replied that it was alleged that she was being built
for the Italian Government, and he had no evidence to the contrary.
On the 25th of the same month, Mr. Adams again addressed Earl
Russell upon the same subject. Earl Russell replied : —
" With reference to your observations with regard to the infringement of the enlist
ment law, I have to remark that it is true the foreign enlistment act, or any other act
for the same purpose, can bo evaded by very subtle contrivances; but her Majesty's
Government cannot, on that account, go beyond the letter of the existing law."
Mr. Adams, having failed to secure her detention, she sailed, on the
22d of March, with a crew of fifty-two British seamen, for Palermo
and Jamaica, in ballast, which was alleged to be one hundred and
' seventy tons of arms. The Oreto arrived at Nassau, where, on the
representation of the American consul, she was seized by the author
ities, but was released on the arrival of Captain Semmes, formerly of

372 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
the Sumter. She was soon after again seized, and again released.
On the 4th of September, she suddenly appeared off Mobile harbor,
into which she succeeded by a skilful ruse in entering. The Oreto,
once in port, was fully armed and equipped for a cruise, and received
as commander John Newland Maffit, who . had entered the United
States naval service in 1832, as a citizen of Georgia, although born in
Ireland, and was a son of the celebrated preacher of the same name.
Maffit bore the reputation of a very bob! and skilful officer. In Jan
uary, 1863, the Oreto, thenceforth known as the Florida, left Mobile
Bay on a cruise, in which she did great damage to the American
shipping. The most active and formidable of the cruisers of the enemy during
the year 1862 was the " 290," or the Alabama, as she was subsequent
ly called. She was constructed at Birkenhead works, Liverpool, and
it was commonly asserted that the funds were supplied by the sub
scriptions of two hundred and ninety merchants having business rela
tions with the Southern States. Captain Raphael Semmes, formerly
of the Sumter, was appointed to command her. The ship was eleven
hundred and fifty tons burden, fourteen feet draught, with engines
built by Laird & Sons, the senior of the firm being a member
of Parliament. She was a wooden vessel, propelled by a screw,
copper-bottomed, about two hundred and ten feet long, and carried
three long thirty-two-pounders on a side, a one-hundred-pounder pivot
forward of the bridge, a sixty-eight-pounder pivot on the main deck,
and a twenty-four-pounder rifle pivot stern-chaser — all ofthe Blakely
pattern. She was bark-rigged, with long, black lower masts, and
wire rigging, and was represented to go thirteen knots under canvas,
and fifteen under steam.
When this vessel was near her completion, it became known that
she was destined for the Southern service, notwithstanding that rumors
were spread that she was built for an Eastern Government. In Au
gust she was nearly ready for sea, and the Federal man-of-war Tus-
carora cruised in St. George's Channel to intercept her passage. Be
fore she sailed, however, a large bark left the Thames for Demarara,
loaded with guns, stores, and munitions. The Alabama then left the
Mersey, under Captain Bullock, with a set of English papers, and a
crew of ninety-three old man-of-war's men, many of whom were expe
rienced gunners, and to avoid the Tuscarora, took the north channel out.
She had on board no guns or warlike stores. After a run of eight days,
she reached Tarissa, one ofthe western islands. On her arrival, she gave
the Portuguese authorities the plea of damaged engines as a reason
for making port there. In the course of a week, the bark which had
left the Thames for Demarara put in on pretenoe of having sprung
aleak, and was quarantined three days. The Alabama immediately
hauled alongside, and cranes were -rigged by order of Captain Bullock.
When in readiness, he began to transfer the cargo. This operation
drew a protest from the Portuguese authorities against the infringe
ment of the quarantine laws. But it was alleged that the bark was
sinking, and it was necessary to save the cargo. On the following
day there arrived in port the British steamer Bahama, having on

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 373
board Captain Semmes and other late officers of the Sumter, twenty
ofthe crew, and the remainder of the Alabama's armament, all of
which was immediately transferred to that vessel. The patience of
the Portuguese authorities, before sorely tried, was now exhausted,
and they ordered all three vessels to leave port. They went a few
miles to Angra Bay, and remained twenty-four hours, and were again
ordered off. They took their departure at once, the Alabama towing
the bark, which made sail for Cardiff for coals for the Alabama. Cap
tain Semmes then mustered the crew of the steamer, and read to them
his commission as a post-captain in the Confederate navy. The docu
ment was signed, " Jefferson Davis, President Confederate States of
America." He then opened and read his sealed orders, directing him
to assume command of the Alabama, hitherto known as the " 280,"
on which he was to hoist the Confederate flag, and " sink, burn, and
destroy every thing which flew the ensign of the so-called United
States of America." The Confederate flag was next raised and salu
ted, and the crew addressed by the captain, and informed if any of
them were dissatisfied or disinclined to enter the Confederate service,
they had an opportunity to go on board the English steamer Bahama,
about to leave for England. The offer was declined, and the vessels
parted company.
The officers of the Alabama were : Captain Raphael Semmes ; first
lieutenant, J. M. Kell ; second lieutenant, R. J. Armstrong ; third
lieutenant, J. D. Wilson; fourth lieutenant, J. Low. On parting
company with the Bahama, the Alabama gave chase to a whaler, and,
on the 6th of September, burned the ship Ocmulgee, of Edgartown.
In the same month she burned eleven others, and before the close of
the year, she had destroyed thirty-seven vessels, of a value, with
cargo, of some millions of dollars. Inasmuch as the Alabama had no
port where she might send vessels for adjudication and condemnation,
she had no scruples against destroying whatever she might capture.
The prize-money, or half the value of the vessels destroyed, was, it is
stated, regularly paid in money to -the crew, and the good pay and
easy condition enabled Captain Semmes to keep a crew of picked
men from the vessels captured. The prisoners captured by the Ala
bama were, in some cases, landed, and in others placed on board of
captured vessels which were bonded. The bonds taken by the Ala
bama were generally payable six months after the recognition of the
Southern Confederacy. These depredations upon the high seas pro
duced the greatest excitement at the North. The Navy Department
dispatched many cruisers to capture the enemy, but without success.
The effect upon the United States commerce was very disastrous, not
only in the actual destruction caused, but in the loss of trade occa
sioned to American bottoms. Numbers of vessels were transferred
to foreign ownerships, and foreign vessels commanded the freights.
In England there was also much excitement, in consequence of the
destruction of British property in the seized vessels.
On June 23d, Mr. Adams addressed Earl Russell on the subject of
the " 290," remarking : " This vessel has been built and launched from
the dock-yard of persons, One of whom is now sitting as a member of :;

374 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
the House of Commons, and is fitting out for the especial and mani
fest object of carrying on hostilities by sea. It is about to be com
manded by one of the insurgent agents, the same who sailed in the
Oreto. The parties engaged in the enterprise are persons well known
at Liverpool to be agents and officers ofthe insurgents in the United
States." The note was accompanied by a letter from the United States con
sul at Liverpool, containing evidence as to the designs of the " 290,"
with other evidence to show the character of her intentions. On the
31st of July, Mr. Adams wrote to Mr. Seward: "In spite of all my
efforts and remonstrances, which as yet wait the opinion of the law
officers of the crown, I received, on the 29th inst., from Mr. Dudley,
the consul at Liverpool, the news that she sailed without register or
clearance from that port on that day. I immediately communicated
the intelligence by telegraph to Captain Craven, of the Tuscarora, at
Southampton. I learn from the consul at that place that the Tusca
rora sailed thence at eight p. m. on the 29th instant."
Earl Russell subsequently remarked in relation to the " 290," that
a delay in determining upon it had most unexpectedly been caused by
the sudden development of a malady of the Queen's advocate, Sir
John D. Harding, totally incapacitating him for the transaction of
business. This had made it necessary to call in other parties, whose
opinion had been at last given for the detention of the gunboat ; but
before the order got down to Liverpool, the vessel was gone. He
should, however, send directions to have her stopped, if she went, as
was probable, to Nassau. " I said," he writes Mr. Adams, " I was
aware that the gunboat was off; but I did not say, what I myself
have little doubt of, that her sudden departure was occasioned by a
notion, obtained somehow or other, that such a proceeding was im
pending. I added an expression of satisfaction that the law officers
of the crown had seen their way to such an opinion, and that it was
the disposition of her Majesty's Government to do something to check
this outrageous abuse."
Under date of September 26th, Mr. Adams wrote : " I have not
been quite satisfied with the way in which my remonstrances respect
ing the outfit of the gunboat ' No. 290 ' had been left. In conse
quence, I seized the first opportunity in my power to remind Lord
Russell that no written answer had been given me. This has had the
desired effect. I have the honor to transmit copies of the two notes
which have passed between us. In former days, it was a favorite
object of Great Britain to obtain from the United States an admission
.of the validity of claims for damage done by vessels fitted out in their
ports against her commerce. This was finally conceded to her in the
seventh article of the treaty of 1794. The reasoning which led to
that agreement may not be without its value at some future time,
should the escape of the gunboat " 290," and of her companion, the
Oreto, prove to be of any serious injury to our commerce."
Subsequently, Mr. Seward wrote to Mr. Adams : " The telegraph
announces the destruction of another half-dozen American vessels on
the high seas by the steamer ' 290.' The President is obliged to re-

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION 375
gard these destructions as being made by British subjects in violation
of the law of nations, after repeated and ample notice, warning, and
remonstrances had been given by me to the British Government. It
is presumed that you have already brought the subject in that light
to the notice of her Majesty's Government. The legal proofs in sup
port of a claim for indemnity will be collected and transmitted to you
as speedily as possible."
The most daring movement of the enemy's cruisers was made in
January, 1863. While a United States squadron, composed of the
Brooklyn, Hatteras, and five smaller vessels, was cruising off Galves
ton, a steamer, just after dark, appeared, in the judgment of the offi
cers of the Hatteras, endeavoring to escape. The crew of the Hatteras
being at quarters, Captain Blake gave chase, when the steamer lay-to
under steam. When within hail, she replied to Captain Blake : —
" Her Britannic Majesty's ship Spitfire*" Immediately thereafter the
Alabama ranged a little ahead ; her commander hailed, declaring her
the Confederate steamer Alabama, and delivered her fire. The two
vessels then, under full head of steam, exchanged broadsides as rapid
ly as possible. The Hatteras, a much inferior vessel in size and arma
ment to her antagonist, in a few minutes was in a sinking condition,
and was compelled to surrender. The officers and crew were taken
to Kingston, Jamaica, and paroled. In the action, the Alabama was
hulled fourteen times without much damage.
The two vessels continued their depredations on the coast with
complete impunity until the month of June, 1863, when the Florida,
having captured the bark*Tacony, put a crew on board, under Lieu
tenant Reed, to cruise on his own account. He made an excursion
among the fishermen of the Grand Banks, capturing and destroying
a great number, and threatening to break up the season's business.
A number of vessels were sent out in search of her, and Lieutenant
Reed formed the daring plan of capturing the United States revenue
cutter Caleb Cushing, then lying in Portland Harbor, her captain be
ing sick on shore. The crew of the Tacony, who had previously
burned their vessel to avoid recognition, and transferred themselves
to a schooner, boarded the Caleb Cushing on the night of June 24th,
and, taking possession, made sail. The wind died away, however,
and they could not gain the offing. As soon as it was discovered
that she was gone, two steam-vessels were sent in pursuit, with the
intention of running her dowm She was, however, blown up and
abandoned by the crew, who escaped in a boat, but were subsequently
captured with their commander.
In the early part of 1863, a third privateer, the Georgia, was built on
the Clyde, received her armament on the coast of France, and joined
in the work of destruction against American commerce.
The operations of these Confederate cruisers were in the greatest
degree injurious to the American commerce. They sailed without
the authority of any recognized power, and although admitted to bel
ligerent rights by neutral nations, were not permitted to send in prizes
for adjudication, and had no ports of their own to which they could
gain access. Their work, therefore, was one of destruction ; and to

376 HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
such an extent was this successful, that a great change was effected in
the nature of Northern commerce. The degree of this change is appar
ent in the following table of the business of the port of New York,
for the fiscal years ending June 30, 1860 and 1863, distinguishing
foreign from American tonnage: —
Tear I860. Tear 1863.
In American In Foreign In American In Foreign
vessels. vessels. vessels. vessels.
Imports from Foreign Ports. .$130,505,156 $104,549,748 $68,856,292 $106,630,141
Exports to Foreign Ports.... 75,411,927 63,274,900 83,321,296 133,094,774
Total Trade of 1859  $213,977,083 $167,824,648 $150,277,588 $239,724,915
Increase  $71,900,267
Decrease  $63,699,495
In 1860 the commerce by American vessels exceeded that by foreign
vessels to the amount of forty-six million dollars. In 1862 this was
reversed, and the commerce by foreign flags exceeded that by our own
flag to the amount of eighty-nine million dollars. A considerable part of
this change was doubtless owing to the greater employment of Ameri
can ships as Government transports ; part of it was also due to the fact
that much of the importing business was done by the steamers, under
the foreign flag ; and still another reason for the change may be found
in a covering transfer of vessels to a foreign flag for safety. But after
making every allowance for these influences, it must be evident that
the fear of depredations on our commerce, by the Confederates and
privateers, drove a large portion of our foreign trade to neutral vessels.
The fact that the vessels which did this damage to American commerce
were built, armed, and to some extent manned from English resources,
and paid for by a loan of fifteen million dollars, contracted in England on
Confederate account, secured upon cotton, was productive of great ill-will
towards that nation. It was evident in the increased employment of
foreign vessels in the international trade that she found her advantage
in the course she pursued.

CHAPTER XXXIV.
General Pope's Army. — Its Condition. — McClellan's Army. — Enemy cross the Potomac.
— McClellan in command. — Halleck refuses Troops. — South Mountain. — Harper's
Ferry. — Antietam. — Hooker. — Sumner. — Burnside. — Betreat of the Enemy — Ad
vance of the Army. — McClellan superseded. /
General McClellan had never been formally deprived of his com-.
mand, which he retained at Aquia Creek and Alexandria, over the
/troops that remained there; but all the troops were in succession
detached from his command in support of Pope, when they were no
longer under his command, and he remained in Alexandria without
any command. On the 1st September, he was ordered verbally to
take command of the defences of Washington, but not to assume con
trol of the troops of Pope. On the 2d, Pope was ordered to retreat

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 377
upon Washington, and a formal order then issued to McClellan to take
command of the troops in and around Washington, comprising those
of Pope. Meantime the enemy, moving by their left, with the design
of invading Maryland, reached the Potomac above Washington. They
crossed the river on the 4th, 5th, and 6th of September, marching at
once upon Frederick, the capital ofthe State of Maryland, which was oc
cupied by General D. H. Hill. At that time, Colonel Miles, with eleven
thousand troops, occupied Harper's Ferry, and the plan of the enemy
seemed to be, for Jackson to move from Frederick by the main Hagers-
town road, and, leaving it at some point near Middleburg, to cross the
Potomac near Sharpsburg, and endeavor to capture the garrison of
Martinsburg, commanded by General Julius White, and cut off the
retreat of the garrison at Harper's Ferry. General McLaws was or
dered, with his own command and the division of General Anderson,
to move out by the same Hagerstown road, and gain possession of the
Maryland Heights, opposite Harper's Ferry. General Walker, who
was then apparently somewhere near the mouth of the Monocacy, was
to move through Lovettsville and gain possession of Loudon Heights,
thus completing the investment of Harper's Ferry. General Longstreet
was ordered to move to Hagerstown, with Hill to serve as a rear
guard. Their reserve trains were ordered to take a position either at
Boonesboro' or Hagerstown. After Jackson and the generals co-oper
ating with him had taken Harper's Ferry, they were to rejoin the main
army at Hagerstown or Boonesboro'.
Meanwhile the armies of Virginia and the Potomac were recruited
by collecting stragglers, by resting the men, and by the addition of
such troops as could be spared from the garrison of Washington, or of
such of the new levies as were available. On September 8th, the united
armies, now under the command of McClellan, were between Rockville,
Maryland, and Washington, and the general plan of campaign agreed
upon was, for the Federal troops to move up the Potomac, and, if pos
sible, get between Lee and the fords by which he had crossed into
Maryland. The enemy on the 8th issued a proclamation to the people
of Maryland, calling upon them to throw off the restraints ofthe Union
Government, and join the South. A general uprising of the people was
no doubt expected to result from this invitation, which, however, re
ceived no response, and the disappointment in this respect no doubt
frustrated the evident plan of the enemy, to remain in Maryland and
invade Pennsylvania. So great was the alarm in this respect, that
Governor Curtin, of Pennsylvania, called out the militia to defend the
State, and seventy-five thousand troops responded to the call.
Perceiving that his avenue of retreat into Virginia was threatened,
Lee made haste to concentrate his troops in the neighborhood of
Hagerstown, and at the same time sent various small bodies of troops
into Pennsylvania, to divert the attention of the Union commander.
These movements enabled him to press more closely the investment of
Harper's Ferry, the capture of which place, with its garrison and
Stores, was one of the prime objects of his campaign. During the 9th
and 10th, McClellan moved cautiously northward, and on the llth he
telegraphed to General Halleck, that, as Colonel Miles could do nothing

378 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
at Harper's Ferry, he should be ordered to join him at once with his
command. To this suggestion Halleck replied as follows: —
" Washington, D. G, September 11, 1862.
"There is no way for Colonel Miles to join you at present. The only chance is to
defend his works until you can open a communication with him. When you do so, he
will be subject to your orders. ,._,.,
"H. W. Halleck, Generaton- Chief.
"Major-General McClellan, Eockville."
Such, in fact, had been the movements of Lee's generals, to invest
Harper's Ferry, that an attempt by Miles to retire from the place and
form a junction with McClellan would have resulted in his defeat by
an overwhelming force, and probably in his capture. The reply of
Halleck was, therefore, the only one which could have been made under
the circumstances, and should have suggested to McClellan that the
best plan for forming a junction with Miles was to push rapidly by the
direct route for Harper's Ferry, if, indeed, it were not too late now to
do that. Why he had delayed his recommendation for the withdrawal
of Miles — which might have been possible a day or two previous —
until the llth, is not very easy to understand. The following extract
from a dispatch from McClellan to Halleck, dated the llth, is interest
ing, as showing the views entertained by the former at this crisis, and
also that his estimate of the rebel strength, and his constitutional
cautiousness, had in no degree been lessened since the Peninsula
campaign: —
" I believe this army fully appreciates the importance of a victory at this time, and
will fight well ; but the result of a general battle, with such odds as the enemy now
appears to have against us, might, to say the least, be doubtful; and, if we should be
defeated, the consequences to the country would be disastrous in the extreme. Dnder
these circumstances, I would recommend that one or two of the three army corps now
on the Potomac, opposite Washington, be at once withdrawn, and sent to re-enforce this
army. I would also advise that the force of Colonel Miles, at Harper's Ferry, where it
can be of little use, and is continually exposed to be cut off by the enemy, be immedi
ately ordered here. This would add about twenty-five thousand old troops to our
present force, and would greatly strengthen us.
"If there are any rebel forces remaining on the other side of the Potomac, they
must be so few that the troops left in the forts, after the two corps shall have been
withdrawn, will be sufficient to check them ; and with the large cavalry force now on
that side, kept well out in front to give warning of the distant approach of any very
large army, a part of this army might be sent back within the intrenchments to assist
in repelling an attack. But even if Washington should be taken while these armies are
confronting each other, this would not, in my judgment, bear comparison with the ruin
and disasters which would follow a single defeat of this army. If we should be suc
cessful in conquering the gigantic rebel army before us, we would have no difficulty in
recovering it. On the other hand, should their force prove sufficiently powerful to
defeat us, could all the forces now around Washington be sufficient to prevent such a
victorious army from carrying the works on this side of the Potomac after they are
uncovered by our army? I think not."
In reply, Halleck showed that very few troops were then arriving in
Washington, and that Porter, who, at McClellan's special request, had
been temporarily restored to his command, had, on the 12th, taken
away twenty thousand men. He added: —
"Until you know more certainly the enemy's force south of the Potomac, you
are wrong in thus uncovering the capital. I am of opinion that the enemy will

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 379
send a small column to Pennsylvania, so as to draw your forces in that direction,
then suddenly move on Washington with the forces south of the Potomac, and those he
may cross over.
"In your letter of the llth you attach too little importance to the capital I assure
you that you are wrong. The capture of this place will throw us back six months,
if it should not destroy us. Beware of the evils I now point out to you. Tou saw
them when here ; but you seem to forget them in the distance. No more troops can
be sent from here till we have fresh arrivals from the North."
In his evidence before the Congressional Committee on the Conduct
of the War, McClellan stated that the impression which he derived from
this dispatch was, that Halleck thought he was wrong in going so
far away from Washington. General Halleck, when examined by the
same committee, testified that he had conveyed no such impression,
but had telegraphed to McClellan that "he was going too far, not
from Washington, but from the Potomac, leaving General Lee the
opportunity to come down the Potomac, and get between him and
Washington." The" apprehensions of the general-in-chief were amply
confirmed by events, since the failure of McClellan to keep near the
Potomac enabled Lee, whose rear-guard, under D. H. Hill, was ordered
to amuse McClellan by threatening the passage into Pennsylvania, to
make sure of Harper's Ferry. On the 12th, the forces destined to
attack this place made their appearance before it, and while Jackson,
with the main body, took position in the rear of Bolivar Heights,
which had been strongly fortified by the Union forces, co-operating
bodies occupied Maryland. Heights on the Maryland shore, and Loudon
Heights on the opposite bank of the Shenandoah, neither of which
points, strange to say, had been permanently fortified, although they
commanded the town of Harper's Ferry and Bolivar Heights, and
strict orders had been given to put them in a condition of defence.
Under such circumstances, but one result was to be expected. On the
13th and 14th the rebels erected batteries on both heights, whence, on
the latter day, they opened fire upon the Union garrison in Harper's
Ferry, who thus lay at their mercy. The fire was resumed on the
15th, and almost immediately the place surrendered. A few hours
previous, twenty -five- hundred Union cavalry cut their way through the
enemy's lines ; but the remainder of the garrison, numbering over
eleven thousand men, became prisoners of war, and were paroled. The
rebels also captured fifty pieces of artillery and a quantity of stores.
In the mean time, the main rebel body had fallen back from Fred
erick, before the advance of the Union army, towards the fords of the
Upper Potomac, in the Hagerstown valley, to reach which it was neces
sary for the Union troops to force the mountain range, which com
manded the valley, and which was defended by bodies of the enemy at
Turner's Gap and Crampton's Gap. The former was carried on the 14th
by the troops under General Burnside, and the latter on the same day by
General Franklin, who thus obtained possession of the mountain range,
and opened the debouches into the valley. The enemy retired towards
Sharpsburg, and the corps commanded by Generals Sumner, Hooker,
and Mansfield were ordered to follow them rapidly along the main
turnpike. The corps of Burnside and Porter were ordered forward by
a small road parallel to and on the left of the main pike, thus being in

380 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION,
position to support either Franklin or the right, as might be necessary.
Franklin was ordered to cross into Pleasant Valley, and to do all that
he could for the relief of Harper's Ferry. The orders given to the
troops on the right were, that if they found the enemy on the march, to
attack him at once ; if they found him in a strong position, then to
make all the arrangements for an attack and await orders. As has
been already stated, Harper's Ferry surrendered on the morning ofthe
15th, too late for Franklin to go to the assistance of the garrison; and
Jackson, after securing possession of his prisoners and spoils, had ample
time to recross the Potomac, and march to the support of the main
army under Lee, now concentrating near Sharpsburg, behind Antietam
Creek, an affluent of the Potomac, to receive McClellan's advance.
The Confederates were formed in two lines perpendicular to the road
and about six miles long each, their road running through their centre,
and had planted about sixty guns to command the Antietam bridge,
by which the Union troops advanced. General McClellan arrived in
front of the enemy on the afternoon of the 1 6th, and at once ordered
Hooker to move three miles above Sharpsburg, cross the Antietam,
and attack the rebel left wing.
Meantime the enemy had formed his dispositions. His force, con
cealed by a cover of woods, occupied a- crescent-shaped height com
manding three lines of retreat to the Potomac, vid the Shepherdstown
road, the Hagerstown road, and the Williamsport road. Along the
front of his position ran the Antietam Creek, crossed by three bridges
corresponding to the three roads named. His left was commanded by
Jackson, his centre by Longstreet, and his right by A. P. Hill. The
Union plan was generally as follows: Hooker was to cross on the
right, establish himself on the enemy's left, if possible, flanking his
position, and to open the fight. Sumner, Franklin, and Mansfield were
to send their forces also to the right, co-operating with and sustaining
Hooker's attack while advancing also nearer the centre. The heavy
work in the centre was left mostly to the batteries. On the left, Burn
side was to carry a stone bridge, the lowest of the three already referred
to, and advancing then by a road which enters the pike at Sharpsburg,
turn at once the rebel flank and destroy his line of retreat. Porter and
Sickles moved their infantry in the hollows of the centre, as reserves
for all contingencies.
The attack was commenced at dawn of the lVth by Hooker, and
Meade's infantry and Ricketts's batteries opened the fire on the enemy's
left. The engagement immediately became very sharp, and raged for
half an hour in a sloping field of ploughed land, terminating in the rear
iu a cornfield, and skirted by a thick wood, at the end of which time
the fire of the enemy began to decrease and his line to waver. As
soon as this was perceived, Meade and his Pennsylvanians rushed for
ward with a cheer. The line carried before it the whole force of the
retreating Confederates, who disappeared into the woods, leaving great
numbers of dead and wounded on their path. As the victorious bri
gade approached the skirt of the cover, a torrent of flame and shot
swept through the advancing line, which hesitated,, halted, closed up,
and retired. It had sustained the overwhelming fire of fresh troops,

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 381
who now issued from the woods in vast numbers, with wild yells,
recovering the ground their comrades had lost. Hooker sent forward
a brigade to stay the torrent, but it was insufficient. Hartstuff's
brigade then came into action with a run, and formed rapidly on a
ridge in the cornfield. This they held for half an hour, when General
Hartstuff was wounded.
Meantime, Ricketts's Division had fallen back with part of Mansfield's
Corps, which had been sent to its relief, and which had lost its general,
mortally wounded ; nevertheless, with Doubleday's guns in position,
the left could hold its own. Orders were then sent to Crawfoid and
Gordon, Mansfield's remaining brigades, to advance, and the whole
line was ordered forward to take a point of woods to the right of the
cornfield, and which was the key of the position. The advance was
led by General Hooker, who, at that moment, was wounded in the
foot by a rifle-shot. Ifewas now nine o'elock, and the battle had raged
four hours, leaving a large portion of Hooker's broken, but his right
and the two brigades of Mansfield still untouched. At this moment
General Sumner arrived on the field and took command. Sedgwick's
Division was in advance, moving forward to support Crawford and
Gordon. Rebel re-enforcements were approaching also, and the strug
gle for the roads was again to be renewed. Sumner sent forward two
divisions. Richardson and French on the left. Sedgwick, moving in
column of division through the roads in rear, deployed and advanced
in line over the cornfield. There was a broad interval between him
and the nearest division, and he saw that if the rebel line was com
plete, his own division was in immediate danger of being flanked.
To extend his own front as far as possible, he ordered the Thirty-
fourth New York to move by the left flank. The manoeuvre was
attempted under a fire of the greatest intensity, and the regiment
broke ; so terrible was the fire, that half their officers were killed or
wounded, their colors shot to pieces, the color-sergeant killed, every
one of their color-guard wounded. Only thirty-two were afterwards
got together. The Fifteenth Massachusetts went in with seventeen
officers, six hundred men, and came out with six officers, and one hun
dred and thirty-four men. Sedgwick himself was wounded. General
Howard, who took command of the division after Sedgwick was dis
abled, exerted himself to restore order, but it could not be done there.
General Sumner ordered the line to be reformed under fire. The test
was too severe for volunteer troops under such a fire. Sumner himself
attempted to arrest the disorder, but to little purpose. As it seemed
impossible to hold the position, Sumner withdrew the division to the
rear, and once more the cornfield was abandoned to the enemy. At
the same moment, the enemy, perceiving their advantage, came for
ward with fresh troops.
It was now one o'clock, and affairs on the right had a gloomy look.
Hooker's troops were greatly exhausted, and their general away from
the field. Mansfield's were no better. Sumner's command had lost
heavily, but two of his divisions were still comparatively fresh. Rich
ardson, while gallantly leading a regiment under heavy fire, had been
severely wounded. General Meagher was wounded at the head of his

382 HXBTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
brigade. The loss of general oflicers was becoming alarming.^ Artil
lery was yet playing vigorously in front, though the ammunition of
many ofthe batteries was entirely exhausted, and they had been com
pelled to retire. Doubleday held the right inflexibly. Sumner's head
quarters were now in the narrow field where the night before Hooker
had begun the fight, and all that had been gained in front had been
lost. The enemy's batteries, however, were fortunately either partially
disabled or short of ammunition. French sent word he could hold his
ground, and Sumner was confident that he could hold his own, but
another advance was out of the question. The enemy, on the other
hand, seemed to be too much exhausted to attack.
At this crisis, Franklin came up with fresh troops, and Slocum was
sent forward along the slopes lying under the first ranges of the hills
held by the enemy, while Smith was ordered to retake the cornfield
and woods which all day had been so hotly contested. It was done in
the handsomest style. His Maine and Vermont regiments went for
ward on the run, and, cheering as they went, swept like an avalanche
through the cornfields, fell upon the woods, cleared them in ten
minutes, and held them. They were not again retaken. Four times
they had been lost and won, but finally remained with the Union
troops, who were bent upon preserving them against impending at
tacks. These, however, were suspended for some hours, perhaps
through the exhaustion of the enemy.
Meantime, affairs on the left were not more prosperous. Burnside
was not ordered to attack until ten o'clock, and carried the bridge
only after a most obstinate resistance at half-past one o'clock ; but the
delay had been so great that at three o'clock but little real progress
had been made. The rebels retired to a range of hills in the rear of
the bridge, whence their batteries played with considerable effect on
the Union troops. Thus, instead of the two attacks having been
simultaneous, as was intended, the right had borne the whole weight
of the enemy before Burnside made himself felt. At four o'clock,
General McClellan sent orders for Burnside to carry the batteries in
his front at all hazards, and for Franklin to carry the woods on his
left front. This latter was countermanded at the instance of Sumner,
who thought it was not prudent to risk a repulse of Franklin, since it
would uncover his own left, which he held with difficulty. Franklin
therefore advanced his batteries to check the enemy on Burnside's
right, who was about to establish himself on the Sharpsburg road in
rear of the enemy.
For this movement he had sixteen thousand men. Getting his
troops well in hand, and sending a portion of his artillery to the front,
he advanced them with rapidity and the most determined vigor
straight up the hill in front, on top of which the rebels had maintained
their most dangerous battery. The movement was in plain view of
McClellan's position, and as Franklin, on the other side; sent his bat
teries into the field about the same time, the battle seemed to open in
all directions with greater activity than ever.
The guns of Burnside opened, from his new position, with a fire
that controlled the enemy's batteries. The long infantry columns

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 383
were seen moving up the green slopes with a rapid and determined
Step. As they reached the crest, a thick cloud .of dust rose over the
road, where were planted the Confederate batteries. A short but
furious struggle ensued, when a sudden shout announced that the hill
was carried. Burnside formed his columns in the near angles of two
fields bordering the road, having high ground about them everywhere
except in rear.
In another moment, a Confederate battle-line appeared on the brow
of the ridge above them, and moved swiftly down in the most perfect
order, though met by incessant discharges of musketry, to which they
offered no reply. White spaces show where men are falling, but they
close up instantly, and still the line advances. The brigades of Burn
side are in heavy column ; they will not give way before a bayonet
charge in line. The firm front seems to intimidate the enemy.
There is a halt, the enemy's left gives way and scatters over the
field, the rest stand fast and fire. More infantry comes up. Burnside
is outnumbered, flanked, compelled to yield the hill he took so bravely.
His position is no longer one of attack ; he defends himself with un
faltering firmness, but he sends to McClellan for help. The latter,
however, alarmed for the safety of his right wing, declines to send a
single man of his fifteen thousand fresh troops in the centre to aid in
offensive operations, and replies with a peremptory order to hold the
bridge at all hazards : " Tell him, if he cannot hold his ground, then
the bridge, to the last man ! — always the bridge ! if the bridge is lost,
all is lost." He, however, detached General Morrell, with five thou
sand men, to Burnside, to aid in holding the bridge, since if the enemy
should pass over it on the flank and rear of the army, the disaster, he
feared, would be fatal. At that moment the fire of the enemy slack
ened. It was sundown, and with the fading fight the tumult of battle
died away.
Hooker, Sumner, and Franklin held all the ground they had gained,
and Burnside still held the bridge and his position beyond. Every
thing was favorable for a renewal of the fight in the morning. But
the expected order to that effect never came. McClellan deemed the
army too disorganized and wearied to fight immediately, and the great
battle of Antietam, with its immense loss of life, proved to have been
simply the most bloody and one of the least decisive battles of the
war. " I had arranged, however," says McClellan in his official report,
"to renew the attack at daybreak on the 19th, but I learned some
time during the night, or early in the morning, that the enemy had
abandoned his position. It afterwards proved that he moved with
great rapidity, and, not being encumbered by wagons, was enabled to
get his troops across the river before we could do him any serious
injury. I think that, taking into consideration what the troops had
gone through, we got as much out of them in this Antietam campaign
as human endurance would bear."
The concluding remark of this statement was doubted by at least
two of his corps commanders, Burnside and Franklin, and the opinion
was very generally entertained by the authorities at Washington that

384 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
by neglecting to renew the attack on the 18th, a signal opportunity to
cripple Lee was thrown away.
McClellan slowly followed the rebel army, and took up a position
on the Maryland Heights on the 20th, and recaptured Harper's Ferry
on the 23d. He stated the number of his army at ninety-three thou-*
sand men, of whom seventy-five thousand were engaged, and _ he
reported his loss at twelve thousand four hundred and sixty-nine,
which, with two thousand three hundred and twenty-five at South
Mountain, made fourteen thousand seven hundred and ninety-four,
and, added to the eleven thousand captured at Harper's Ferry, twenty-
five thousand seven hundred and ninety-four. The number of the
enemy engaged was somewhat less, and his total losses were estimated
by McClellan at thirty thousand.
Indecisive though it was, the battle of Antietam,, by freeing Mary
land of the rebel armies, whose presence in a loyal State had caused
great alarm throughout the country, was generally hailed as a Union
victory, and the star of McClellan, whose lustre had been dimmed by
the ignoble ending of the Peninsula campaign, was once more in the
ascendant. So continuous had been the succession of Union reverses,
that even a victory of this questionable character caused greater ex
ultation, perhaps, than had been manifested since the commencement
of the war, notwithstanding persons of calmer judgment showed that
the boasted triumph of our arms was only another opportunity thrown
away. Had McClellan now taken advantage of this reaction in his
favor to follow up the retreating rebels with vigor ; had he employed
the vast resources again put into his hands to strike such a blow as
the crisis required, and the opportunity offered, he might have regained
and even increased the enthusiastic admiration with which he was sur
rounded in the beginning of his career. But, unfortunately for himself
and for the country, he seemed to have learned nothing by the sad
experience of the few preceding months, and we shall find him again
delaying and temporizing, pleading the demoralization of his troops
and the superior strength of the enemy, urging the necessity of re-
enfoijcements and supplies, digging and fortifying, doing every thing
in fact but move against the enemy, as the ^Government had ordered
and his countrymen wished. So far as military acts may be presumed
to show, his mind was always more occupied with plans to secure his
safe retreat, in case of necessity, from the presence of an enemy, than
to assume the aggressive agamst that enemy ; and, thanks to an in
genious pen and a lucid style, he had the faculty of framing excuses
for his shortcomings, which satisfied many, and silenced, if they did
not convince, others. The ill success ofthe summer campaign of 1862
had now also developed a strong opposition party — which, protesting
that official interference with the plans of McClellan, the radical views
of the Administration on slavery and other subjects, and its evident
intention not to restore the revolted States to their former condition,
were the true causes of our defeats — gladly rallied round McClellan as
their leader. A conservative himself, he sympathized with many ofthe
views which this party publicly put forth, and thenceforth his military
policy was trammelled by political dogmas distasteful to a majority of

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 385
the people, and which experience has shown were inconsistent with a
vigorous prosecution ofthe war.
The battle of Antietam was fought in the middle of September, and
as at least two months of dry weather, well adapted to military opera
tions, would follow, it was confidently expected that, after a brief halt
for rest and recruitment, the army would be pushed forward again
against Lee. In this respect the country was destined to be grievously
disappointed. McClellan advanced no further than Maryland Heights,
where he at once proceeded to fortify, after making the customary
demand for re-enforcements. On the 27th of September he wrote to
Halleck that it was his present intention to keep the army where it
then was, watching every effort of the enemy to cross the river into
Maryland. " When the river rises," he added, " so that the enemy
cannot cross in force, I purpose concentrating the army somewhere
near Harper's Ferry, and then acting according to circumstances, viz. :
Moving on Winchester if, from the position and attitude of the enemy,
we are likely to gain a great advantage by doing so ; or else devoting
a reasonable time to the organization of the army and instruction of
the new troops, preparatory to an advance on whatever line may be
determined. In any event, I regard it as absolutely necessary to send
new regiments at once to the old corps for purposes of instruction, and
that the old regiments be filled at once.
********
" My own view of the proper policy to be pursued is to retain in
Washington merely the force necessary to garrison it, and to send
every thing else available to re-enforce this army. The railroads give
us the means of promptly re-enforcing Washington, should it be neces
sary. If I am re-enforced as I ask, and am allowed to take my own
course, I will hold myself responsible for the safety of Washington."
In his reply to this communication, Halleck stated that the opera
tions of the draft, then in progress, were so slow, that the army could
not afford to await their results. Public expectation and military, ex
pediency could not brook such delay.
" I am satisfied," he said, " that the enemy are falling back towards
Richmond. We must follow them and seek to punish them. There
is a decided want of legs in our troops. They have too much immo
bility, and we must try to remedy the defect. A reduction of baggage
and baggage-trains will effect something ; but the real difficulty is, they
are not sufficiently exercised in marching; they lie still in camp too
long." He also stated, what indeed was perfectly obvious to a large part of
the community, that the allegations that the troops needed long rests
were unfounded, since the average marches made by the Union troops
were less severe than those of the rebels, or of European troops in
time of war.
Early in October, President Lincoln visited the army encamped
around Maryland Heights, and after his return to Washington in
structed McClellan, under date of October 6th, to " cross the Potomac
and give battle to the enemy, or drive him South." The President
advised, but did not order him to take the interior line between Wash-
... 26

386 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
ington and the enemy, in which case he promised him a re-enforcement
of thirty thousand men. If the line of the Shenandoah should he
selected, Mr. Lincoln, remembering how the capital had twice been
imperilled by being left uncovered, declined to re-enforce him by more
than twelve or fifteen thousand men. On the succeeding day McClellan
announced his intention to select the line of the Shenandoah. He
thought it would be at least three days before the First, Fifth, and
Sixth Corps, which were in need of clothing, could move from their
camps, but added that not an hour should be lost in carrying the Pres
ident's instructions into effect.
On the 10th of October the rebel general, J. E. B. Stuart, with
eighteen hundred cavalry and four pieces of horse artillery, crossed the
Upper Potomac, near Hancock, on a raid into Maryland and Pennsyl
vania. Proceeding through Mercersburg to Chambersburg, he thence
turned south, and passing through Emmetsburg and across the Mono-
cacy, destroyed a portion ofthe track ofthe Baltimore and Ohio Rail
road, and on the 12th recrossed the Potomac at White's Ford, near
Poolesville, with one thousand captured horses, and with the loss of
only seven prisoners. During the raid he destroyed many thousand
dollars worth of public property. This daring ride around the Union
lines, which was but feebly opposed by the Union cavalry, was the
source of much alarm and mortification. Its success was ascribed by
McClellan, writing on the 13th, to our deficiency in cavalry, and he
took occasion to urge the necessity of at once supplying the army with
horses, predicting that unless this was done, rebel cavalry raids would
be of frequent occurrence. To this Halleck replied that the Govern
ment was making every possible effort to remount the cavalry force.
"The President," he added, "has read your telegram, and directs me
to suggest that if the enemy had more occupation south of the river,
his cavalry would not be so likely to make raids north of it."
On the 13th the President sent the following communication to
General McClellan, with reference to the operations of the army : —
" Executive Mansion, Washington, October 13, 1862.
" My Dear Sib : — You remember my speaking to you of what I called your over-
cautiousness. Are you not over-cautious when you assume that you cannot do what
the enemy is constantly doing? Should you not claim to be at least his equal in
prowess, and act upon the claim ?
" As I understand, you telegraphed General Halleck that you cannot subsist your
army at Winchester, unless the railroad from Harper's Ferry to that point be put in
working order. But the enemy does now subsist his army at Winchester at a distance
nearly twice as great from railroad transportation as you would have to do without the
railroad last named. He now wagons from Culpepper Court-House, which is just
about tiwioe as far as you would have to do from Harper's Ferry. He is certainly not
more than half as well provided with wagons as you are. I certainly should be
pleased for, you to have the advantage ofthe railroad from Harper's Ferry to Winches
ter ; but it-wastes all the remainder of autumn to give it to you, and in fact ignores the
question of lime, which cannot and must not be ignored.
" Again/one of -the standard maxims of war, as you know, is, 'to operate upon the
enemy's communications as much as possible without exposing your own.' Tou seem
to act as if this applies against you, but cannot apply in your favor. Change positions
with the enemy, and think you not he would break your communication with Richmond
within tie next twenty-four hours? Tou dread his going into Pennsylvania. But if
he does so in full force he givos up his communications to you absolutely, and you havo

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 387
nothing to do but to follow and ruin him; if he does so with less than full force, faE
upon and beat what is left behind all the easier.
"Exclusive ofthe water-lino, you are now nearer Eichmond than the enemy is by
the route that you can and he must take. Why can you not reach there before him,
unless you admit that he is more than your equal on a march ? His route is the arc
of a circle, while yours is the chord. The roads are as good on yours as on his.
"You know I desired, but did not order, you to cross the Potomac below instead of
above the Shenandoah and Blue Ridge. My idea was, that this would at once menace
the enemy's communications, which I would seize if he would permit. If he should
move northward, I would follow him closely, holding his communications. If he should
prevent our seizing his communications, and move toward Richmond, I would press
closely to him, fight him if a favorable opportunity should present, and at least try to
beat him to Richmond on the inside track. I say ' try ; ' if we never try, we shall never
succeed. If he make a stand at Winchester, moving neither north nor south, I would
fight him there, on the idea that if we cannot beat him when he bears the wastage of
coming to us, we never can when we bear the wastage of going to him. This proposi
tion is a simple truth, and is too important to be lost sight of for a moment. In coming
to us, he tenders us an advantage which we should not waive. We should not so
operate as to merely drive him away. As we must beat him somewhere, or fail finally,
we can do it, if at all, easier near to us than far away. If we cannot beat the enemy
where he now is, we never can, he again being within the intrenchments at Eichmond.
" Recurring to the idea of going to Richmond on the inside track, the faculty of sup
plying from the side, away from the enemy, is remarkable, as it were, by the different
spokes of a wheel, extending from the hub towards the rim, and this whether you move
directly by the chord or on the inside arc, hugging the Blue Ridge more closely. The
chord line, as you see, carries you by Aldie, Haymarket, and Fredericksburg, and you
see how turnpikes, railroads, and finally the Potomac, by Aquia Creek, meet you at all
points from Washington. The same, only the lines lengthened a little, if you press
closer to the Blue Eidge part ofthe way. The gaps through the Blue Ridge I under
stand to be about the following distances from Harper's Ferry, to wit : Vestal's, five
miles; Gregory's, thirteen; Snicker's, eighteen; Ashby's, twenty-eight; Manassas,
thirty-eight; Chester, forty-five; and Thornton's, fifty-three. I should think it prefer
able to take the route nearest the enemy, disabling him to make an important move
without your knowledge, and compelling him to keep his forces together for dread of
you. The gaps would enable you to attack if you should wish. For a great part of
the way you would be practically between the enemy and both Washington and Rich
mond, enabling us to spare you the greatest number of troops from here. When, at
length, running for Richmond ahead of him enables him to move this way; if he does
so, turn and attack him in the rear. But I think he should be engaged long before
Buch point is reached. It is all easy if our troops march as well as the enemy, and it
is unmanly to say they cannot do it. This letter is in no sense an order.
" Yours truly,
««¦¦/, . ,r ^ .. "A. LnrooMT.
" Major-General MoClellan."
The following is the reply of General McClellan :—
" Head-Quarters Army op the Potomac, )
"Camp in Pleasant Valley, October 17, 1862.)
Sir :— -Tour letter of the 13th instant reached me yesterday morning, by the hand3
Of Colonel Perkins.
" I had sent out strong reconnoissances, early in the morning, in the direction of
Charlestown, Leetown, &c, and, as sharp artillery firing was heard, I felt it incumbent
to go to the front. I did not leave Charlestown until dark, so that I have been unable
to give to your Excellency's letter that full and respectful consideration which it merits
at my hands.
" I do not wish to detain Colonel Perkins beyond this morning's train. I therefore
think it best to send him back with this simple acknowledgment of the receipt of your
Excellency's letter. I am not wedded to any particular plan of operations.
I hope to have, to-day, reliable information as to the position of the enemy,
whom I still believe to be between Bunker Hill and Winchester. I promise you

388 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
that I will give to your views the fullest and most unprejudiced consideration, and
that it is my intention to advance the moment my men are shod, and my cavalry are
, sufficiently renovated to be available.
" Your Excellency may be assured that I will not adopt a course which differs at all
from your views, without first fully explaining my reasons, and giving you time to issue
such instructions as may seem best to you.
" I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, " George B. McClellan,
" Major- General, United States Army.
" His ExceEency the President."
Week after week had passed away since the President's order of
October 6th, and still no advance of the army took place. McClellan
was asking for clothing, for horses, for quartermaster's supplies, and
multiplying obstacles in the way of progress. Without wearying the
reader with further statements of the various excuses which he put
forth for his delay, we give the following correspondence, which ex
plains itself: — "War Department, Washington City, October 27, 1862.
" General : — It has been publicly stated that the army under General McCleUan has
been unable to move during the fine weather of this fall, for want of shoes, clothing,
and other supplies. You will please report to this Department upon the following
points :
" First : To whom, and in what manner, the requisitions for supplies to the army
under General McCleEan have been made since you assumed command as General-in-
Chief; and whether any requisition for supplies of any kind has since that time been
made upon the Secretary of War, or communication had with him, except through
you? " Second: If you, as General-in-Chief, have taken pains to ascertain the condition of
the army in respect to the supplies of shoes, clothing, arms, and other necessaries ; and
whether there has been any neglect or delay, by any department or bureau, in filling
the requisitions for supplies ; and what has been, and is, the condition of that army, as
compared with other armies, in respect to supplies ?
" Third : At what date, after the battle of Antietam, the orders to advance against
the enemy were given to General McCleUan, and how often have they been repeated 1
" Fourth : Whether, in your opinion, there has been any want in the army under
General McClellan of shoes, clothing, arms, or other equipments or supplies, that ought
to have prevented his advance against the enemy when the order was given ?
"Fifth : How long was it after the orders to advance were given to General McClel
lan before he\informed you that any shoes or clothing were wanted in his army, and
what are his means of promptly communicating the wants of the army to you, or to
the proper bureaus of the War Department ?
" Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War.
" Major-General Halleck, General-in-Chief." " Washington. October 28, 1862.
" Sir : — In reply to the several interrogatories contained in your letter of yesterday,
I have to report :
" First: That requisitions for supplies to the army under General McClellan are made
by his staff officers on the chiefs of bureaus here ; that is, for quartermaster's supplies
by his Chief Quartermaster on the Quartermaster-General ; for commissary supplies
by his Chief Commissary on the Commissary-General, &c. No such requisitions have
been, to my knowledge, made upon the Secretary of War, and none upon the General-
in-Chief. "Second: On several occasions General McClellan has telegraphed to me that his
army was deficient in certain supplies. All these telegrams were immediately referred
to the heads of bureaus, with orders to report. It was ascertained that in every in
stance the requisitions had been immediately fiEed, except one, where the Quarter
master-General had been obliged to send from Philadelnhia certain articles of clothing,
tents, &c, not having a full supply here.

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 389
"There has not been, so far as I can ascertain, any neglect or delay in any depart
ment or bureau in issuing aE supplies asked for by General McCleEan, or by the officers
of his staff. Delays have occasionaEy occurred in forwarding supplies by raE, on ac
count of the crowded condition of the depots or of a want of cars ; but whenever no
tified of this, agents have been sent out to remove the difficulty. Under the excellent
superintendence of General Haupt, I think these delays have been less frequent and of
shorter duration than is usual with freight trains. Any army of the size of that of
General McCleUan will frequently be for some days without the supplies asked for,
on account of neglect in making timely requisitions, and unavoidable delays in for
warding them, and in distributing them to the different brigades and regiments. From
all the information I can obtain, I am of the opinion that the requisitions from that army
have been fiEed more promptly, and that the men, as a general rule, have been better
supplied than our armies operating in the West. The latter have operated at much
greater distances from the sources of supply, and have had far less facilities for trans
portation. In fine, I beheve that no armies in the world, while in campaign, have been
more promptly or better supplied than ours.
" Third : Soon after the battle of Antietam, General McCleEan was urged to give me
information of his intended movements, in order that, if he moved between the enemy
and Washington, re-enforcements could be sent from this place. On the 1st of Octo
ber, finding that he proposed to operate from Harper's Ferry, I urged him to cross the
river at once and give battle to the enemy, pointing out to him the disadvantage of
delaying till the autumn rains had swollen the Potomac and impaired the roads. On
the 6th of October he was peremptorily ordered ' to cross the Potomac and give battle
to the enemy, or drive him south. Tour army must move no w while the roads are good.'
It will be observed that three weeks have elapsed since the order was given.
" Fourth: In my opinion there has been no such want of supplies in the army under
General McCleEan as to prevent his compliance with the orders to advance against the
enemy. Had he moved to the south side of the Potomac he could have received his
supplies almost as readily as, by remaining inactive, on the north side.
" Fifth: On the 7th of October, in a telegram in regard to his intended movements,
General McCleUan stated that it would require at least three days to supply the First,
Fifth, and Sixth Corps; that they needed shoes and other indispensable articles of
clothing, as weU as shelter tents. No complaint was made that any requisitions had
not been filled ; and it was inferred from his language that he was only waiting for
the distribution of his supplies.
"On the llth he telegraphed that a portion of his supplies, sent by rail, had been
delayed. As already stated, agents were immediately sent from here to investigate this
complaint ; and they reported that every thing had gone forward. On the same date
(the llth) he spoke of many of his horses having broken down by fatigue. On the
12th he complains that the rate of supply was only one hundred and fifty horses per
week for the entire army, there and in front of Washington. I immediately directed
the Quartermaster-General to inquire into this matter, and to report why a larger num
ber was not furnished. General Meigs reported on the 14th that the average issue of
horses to General McClellan's army, in the field and in front of Washington, for
the previous six weeks, had been one thousand four hundred and fifty per week,
or eight thousand seven hundred and fifty -four in aU; in addition, that a large number
of mules had been supplied ; and that thejnumber of animals with General McClellan's
army on the Upper Potomac was over thirty-one thousand. He also reported that he
was then sending to the army all the horses he could procure.
" On the 18th General McClellan states, in regard to General Meigs's report, that he
had filled every requisition for shoes and clothing: ' General Meigs may have ordered
those articles to be forwarded, but they have not reached our dep6ts ; and unless
greater effort to insure prompt transmission is made by the department of which
General Meigs is the head, they might as well remain in New Tork or Philadelphia, so
far as this army is concerned.' I immediately called General Meigs's attention to this
apparent neglect of his department. On the 25th- he reported, as the result of his in
vestigation, that forty-eight thousand pairs of boots and shoes had been received by
the quartermaster of General McClellan's army at Harper's Ferry, Frederick, and
Hagerstown; that twenty thousand pairs were at Harper's Ferry dep6t on the 21st;
that ten thousand more were on their way, and fifteen thousand more ordered. Col
onel Ingalls, aide-de-camp and chief quartermaster to General McClellan, telegraphed

390 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
on the 25th : 'The suffering for want of clothing is exaggerated, I think; and certainly
might have been avoided by timely requisitions of regimental and brigade quarter
masters.' On the 24th he telegraphed to the Quartermaster-General that : the clothing
was not detained in the cars at the dep6ts ; such complaints are groundless. The fact
is, the clothing arrives and is issued; but more is stiU needed. I have ordered more
than would seem necessary from any data furnished me ; and I beg to remind you that
you have always very promptly met all my requisitions as far as clothing is concerned.
Our department is not at fault. It provides as soon as due notice is given. I foresee
no time when an army of over one hundred thousand men wiU not caU for clothing and
other articles.' ...
"In regard to General McClellan's means of promptly communicating the wants .of
his army to me, or to the proper bureaus of the War Department, I repeat that, in ad
dition to the ordinary maUs, he has been in hourly communication with Washington by
telegraph. " It is due to General Meigs that I should submit herewith a copy of a telegram re
ceived by him from General McClellan. [See documents.]
" Very respectfuUy, your obedient servant,
* "H. W. Halleck, General-in-Chief.
" Hon. Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War.
On the 22d of October, McClellan announced to the President that
he had decided to adopt the plan of advance originally suggested by
the latter, and particularly explained in his letter of the 13th, and at
length, on the 26th, the main body of the army began the passage of
the river at Berlin, six miles below Harper's Ferry. The advance
proceeded by way of Leesburg, pushing forward scouts towards Aldie
and Middleburg, and moving parallel to and east of the Blue Bidge.
The enemy were in the valley west of the Blue Ridge, and spread
from Winchester southward, with re-enforcements at Gordonsville,
seventy-five miles south of Winchester, whence the railroad runs to
Richmond. A continued series of skirmishes of outposts and 'cavalry
corps resulted in the Union possession of the passes of the Blue Ridge.
On the 1st of November, an artillery duel took place at Philomont,
between General Pleasonton and one battery of Stuart's cavalry. The
latter retired, leaving the Union troops in possession of the place. On
the 3d, General Hancock occupied Snecker's Gap ; and on the following
day General Porter sent a force through the gap to reconnoitre, which
it did with small loss. On the same day General Stahl took possession
of Thoroughfare Gap, driving out the enemy, and General Pleasonton
reached Upperville, and the enemy were driven out of Ashley's Gap.
On the 5th, the enemy fell back before the cavalry of Colonel Wynd-
ham, in the direction of Warrenton, which was occupied by the Union
forces. At this juncture the country was surprised, though scarcely unpre
pared for the announcement, by the publication of the following order,
relieving General McClellan from his command : —
"general orders — no. 182. i
" War Department, Adjutant-General's Office, )
" Washington, November 5, 1862. f
" By direction of the President of the United States, it is ordered that Major-General
McClellan be relieved from the command of the Army of the Potomac, and that Major-
General Burnside take the command of that army.
"By order of the Secretary of War.
"E. D. Townsend, Assistant Adjutant-General."

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 391
The reasons for this action of the President must have been suf
ficiently apparent from what has been previously related of General
McClellan's military career. Admirable as an organizer of an army, a
skilful engineer, and possessing no mean knowledge of theoretical
military science, he seems, from a constitutional cautiousness, to have
been unsuited to play the many-sided part of an active commander in
the field ; and in great emergencies, such as the attack of Lee upon his
communications, and the seven days' fighting on the Chickahominy
which succeeded, he utterly failed in that quickness of apprehension
which detects the weak point in an opponent, and changes a threatened
defeat into a success. From the moment he got his army upon the
Peninsula, he seemed to have made up his mind to manoeuvre it and
conduct the campaign with the precision of an instructor in military
art, illustrating his remarks by the movement of automaton figures.
Beyond this pedantic style of warfare he never advanced, and hence
each crisis found him wanting in every quality — except that of organ
izing escape — which the crisis demanded. His plans once deranged, he
became bewildered and disheartened. In addition to his incapacity
as an active commander, he had displayed a dilatoriness and unwill
ingness to obey his superiors in command, and a reluctance to aid a
brother general when hard pressed, which excited grave suspicions in
some quarters. The President had, with singular patience, already over
looked many instances of flagrant disobedience, and the result was
seen in the failure of the Peninsula and Maryland campaigns. A new
campaign was about to commence, the issue of which, to judge from
the events of the few previous weeks, would be very similar. But the
country ill relished the idea of fresh defeats, and McClellan was re
moved.

CHAPTER XXXV.
Burnside in Command.— Change of Plan.— Pontoons Delayed.— Plans of Crossing.—
Two Attacks. — Franklin's Movements. — Seizure of Fredericksburg. — Sumner. —
Terrible Slaughter.— Repulse on the Right. — Inaction.— Withdrawal of the Army. —
End of Campaign.— Intrigues.— Order No. 8>-Burnaide Relieved.
Geneeal Bubnside having assumed the command of the army, the
plan of operations, at his suggestion, underwent an entire change. In
stead of moving upon Richmond by the Gordonsville route, it was de
termined to make a direct attack by the way of Fredericksburg. That
city is situated on the south side of the Rappahannock, and is connected
with Richmond, sixty-five miles distant, by a railroad which has a
double track forty-two miles to Hanover Junction. Thirty-seven miles
from Fredericksburg, the railroad crosses the Mattapony at Milford,
and three miles further the Pamunkey. Thus between Falmouth on
the north bank of the Rappahannock, opposite to Fredericksburg and
Richmond, there are two main and two minor lines of defence. The
banks of the Rappahannock, above Falmouth, are lined with high hills,
which, with the narrow fords and rocky bottoms, make the crossing

392 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
very difficult for large bodies of troops. Below Falmouth, the river
spreads, winding through spacious plains, forming numerous necks of
land that command the south bank of each water stretch. In front
of Fredericksburg, the northern bank commands the southern shore,
which is a plain running back one and a half miles, and then rising
into a succession of heights, which command the plains to the river.
After the new plan of advance became known to the enemy, they occu
pied those heights, taking advantage of every natural means of de
fence. Their position then consisted of two lines of batteries, one a
mile in the rear of the other, and both overlooking the city. They
extended in a semicircle, from Port Royal toa point six miles above
Fredericksburg. The right, under Jackson, held the line from Port
Royal to Genning's Station, on the railroad. Longstreet, in the centre,
reached to the Telegraph road ; and the left, under Stuart, was west
of the Massaponax Creek The reserves were under A. P. Lee.
This was the position which, after consultation between Generals
Burnside, Halleck, and Meigs, November 12, at the head-quarters of
the former, it was determined to assail. It was then settled that the
line of operations should be transferred from Warrenton to the rail
road to Aquia Creek, where supplies could arrive by water, and the
crossing of the Rappahannock be aided by the gunboats. General
Burnside stated that his plan was " to concentrate the army in the
neighborhood of Warrenton ; to make a small movement across the
Rappahannock, as a feint, with a view to divert the attention of the
enemy, and lead them to believe that we were going to move in the
direction of Gordonsville, and then to make a rapid movement of the
whole army to Fredericksburg ;" for the reason that " we would all
the time be as near Washington as would the enemy, and after ar
riving at Fredericksburg we would be at a point nearer to Richmond
than we would be even if we should take Gordonsville." It was in
dispensable to any sudden movement of this nature that the army
should be provided with a complete pontoon train, and directions
were at once sent to Washington for a sufficient number of pontoons
to be sent to Aquia Creek to enable the army to cross the Rappahan
nock. Generals Halleck and Meigs then left for Washington to perfect
their part of the operations, and the army commenced its march early
on the 16th, General Sumner having the advance. The whole com
mand now underwent reorganization. The Second and Ninth Corps
formed what was called the right grand division, under Sumner ; the
First and the Sixth, the left grand division, under Franklin; the Third
and Fifth, the centre, under Hooker. The Eleventh Corps was in
reserve, under Sigel. The advance of the army, under Sumner, reached
Falmouth on the 17th, but as the promised pontoons did not make
their appearance until the 12th December, or nearly four weeks after
the time anticipated, all hope of surprising the enemy had to be aban
doned, and the important question of where and when to cross was
debated in councih Several plans were proposed, but General Hooker
opposed all that involved a division of the army, and urged that the
whole force should cross at the United States Ford, twelve miles above.
On the arrival of the pontoons, General Burside, governed by informa-

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 393
tion that the enemy had thrown a force down the river, and by the
Consequent hope of cutting the enemy's centre, decided to cross in
two places ; one at Fredericksburg, and one four miles below. In this
view, he detached the command of Franklin with two divisions of
Hooker's command, altogether fifty to sixty thousand men, to the lower
crossing. The orders to Franklin were, that the whole command was
to be kept in readiness for a rapid movement down the old Richmond
road, and while one division should seize the heights on the north side
of the Massaponax, taking care to keep its line of retreat open, another
column was to be sent to occupy the heights at the junction of the
plankroad and the Telegraph road. The whole command was to be kept
in readiness to march as soon as the fog, with which the day opened,
should lift. On Friday, December 12th, the bridges being laid
without much resistance from the enemy, the crossing took place, and
the troops occupied Fredericksburg with little opposition. On the
morning ofthe 13th, the attack on the heights commenced. The right
of Franklin rested on the outskirts of the city. The centre was
advanced about a mile from the city, and the left rested on the Rappa
hannock, about three miles below. The attack of Franklin was made
by the division of Meade, four thousand five hundred men, supported
on its right by that of Gibbon, five thousand, and on the left by Doub-
Ieday. Birney's Division of Stoneman's Corps was formed directly
in the rear of Meade. The attack was made with the utmost vigor
and skill, but failed, for the reason that the enemy were in much
greater force than had been supposed, and because Franklin, though
having more than half the whole army under him, sent an inadequate
number of men into action, and failed to support these properly. Both
Meade's and Gibbon's Divisions were badly cut up, and the first was
replaced by Doubleday's. Those of Howe and Brooks held the right,
protecting the bridges, and the enemy accumulating force towards
three o'clock, handled them very severely. The men held their ground
with a determination and heroism beyond all praise. The enemy then
made a forward movement, under General Hill, and were repulsed
with severe loss, but returned upon the left in such force as to threaten
its safety. At nightfall, by dint of severe fighting, Franklin's extreme
left had gained a mile of ground, though at a fearful sacrifice of life.
The attack upon the left was intended by Burnside to be the main
operation of the day. The greater part of the Federal troops had been
massed there, and upon the success of this Wins; depended the opera
tions of the_ right and centre. The failure of Franklin to accomplish
the part assigned to him is thus commented upon by the Congressional
Committee on the Conduct of the War : —
" The testimony of all the witnesses before your Committee proves most conclusively
that, had the attack been made upo* the left with all the force which General Franklin
could have used for that purpose, the plan of General Burnside would have been com
pletely successful, and our army would have achieved a most briEiant victory."
Meanwhile the right wing of the army had also been hotly engaged.
The Confederate forces occupied the woods and hills in rear of
the city, in a very strong position, and at ten o'clock the division of

394 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
French, supported by that of Howard, was ordered to drive them out
at the point of the bayonet. A stone wall ran across the plain in front
of the ridge held by the enemy. The line advanced steadily until
close to the wall, when there poured forth from it a murderous fire,
which threw the column into some confusion, and it retired to the
cover of a ravine. It was here re-formed upon its supports, and again
advanced at the double-quick, but the space which it was obliged to
cross to reach the wall was now swept by a terrific fire of musketry
and artillery, which thinned the ranks with fearful rapidity, and
finally its centre broke and retired. With marvellous determination
the line again formed, and again the storm of shot swept through it.
Steadily the ranks closed up on the centre and pressed on, but the
line visibly shrank up as it advanced, and for the third time its shat
tered ranks recoiled before that volcano. Sumner then ordered up
his artillery to play upon the stronghold, and the fire, without much
effect, was continued until dark.
During the morning, Hooker, in the centre, opened the attack with
artillery upon the works of the enemy, which was replied to as long
as the fog lasted, with little or no effect on either side. At noon an
attempt was made to carry the works by assault, with the same re
sults as those which attended Sumner's movement. The attempt was
repeated in the afternoon with no better success. At dark the firing
ceased on both sides. Early on the morning of the 14th, General
Burnside sent the following dispatch to the President : —
"I have just returned from the field. Our troops are all over the river, and hold the
first ridge outside the town and three mEes below. We hope to carry the crest to-day.
Our loss is heavy, say — five thousand. "A. E. Buunside, Major- General"
The army remained quiet during the 14th, and on the night of the
15th, Burnside, finding all his generals strongly averse to renewing
the attack, withdrew his troops to the north side, and took up the
bridges. The enemy, fortunately, did not perceive the movement
until it was too late to do any damage. General Burnside then sent
the following message to Washington : —
"The army was withdrawn to this side of the river, because I felt the position in
front could not be carried, and it was a miEtary necessity either to attack or retire.
A repulse would have been disastrous to us. The army was withdrawn at night,
without the knowledge of the enemy, and without loss of either property or men. "
"A. E. Bt/rnstde, Major-General"
The Federal loss was reported at twelve thousand three hundred
and twenty-one. The Confederate loss was comparatively small, inas
much as they were under cover.
Thus ended the third campaign against Richmond. General Burnside,
however, published a statement taking the blame of the failure upon
himself, and exonerating the authorities at Washington. The matter
became afterwards the subject of investigation, in the course of which
was developed such _ a chapter of blunders, intrigues, and jealousies
on the part of inferior officers as shocked and disheartened the coun
try. The delay in procuring the pontoons was a prime cause of failure.

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 395
The evidence given before the Committee on the Conduct of the War,
in relation to this point, was as follows : —
General Woodbury stated that he received that order on the morn
ing of the 13th of November. He testifies : —
" General HaUeck's order to me of the 13th made it apparent that the army was pre
paring to march to Fredericksburg. As to the time when the movement would be
made, I never received any information. Fearing, however, that the movement would
be precipitate, I went to General Halleck's office and urged him to delay the move
ment some five days, in order that the necessary preparations might be made to in
sure success. To this he replied that he would do nothing to delay for an instant the
advance of the army on Richmond. I rejoined that my suggestion was not intended
to cause delay, but rather to prevent it. In making this suggestion I had reference
not only to the pontoon train, but the landings still to be created for the quartermaster
and commissary departments."
General Halleck testifies : —
"I wUl state that aU the troops in Washington and its vicinity were under the com
mand of General McCleUan when ha was relieved, and he issued his orders directly to
the commanding officer at Washington, with one single restriction — that no troops
should be moved from the command of Washington until I was notified by General
McClellan or the commanding officer here. In all other respects they were all under
his direction. General Burnside, when he relieved him, was told that they remained
precisely the same as before. On my visit to General Burnside, at Warrenton, on the
12th of November, in speaking about the boats and things that he required from here,
I repeated to him that they were aU subject to his orders with that single exception.
To prevent the necessity of the commanding officer here reporting the order for the
boats here, the order was drawn up upon his table, and signed by me, directly to
General Woodbury, on the evening of the 12 th, I think — the evening that I was there.
I saw General Woodbury on my return, and he told me he had received the order. I
told him that in all these matters he Was under General Burnside's direction. I had
nothing further to give him, except to communicate that order to him. In conversa
tion with him and General Meigs, it wa3 proposed that the train of pontoons should go
down by land, as they could be gotten down sooner in that way, without interfering
with the supplies which had to be sent to Aquia Creek. I gave no other order or
direction in relation to the matter than that aU other matters were under General Burn
side's direction. He also informed me, whUe at Warrenton, that Captain Duane, chief
of the engineers, had also sent an order to Harper's Ferry for the pontoon train there
to go down. The order had been issued. They being under General Burnside's im
mediate and direct command, I did not interfere at all in relation to them.
" Question. Do you know whether there was any delay in starting them, or in their
progress there ?
" Answer. I heard that there was a delay from the steamer's getting aground with
the pontoons, and there was a delay, as I understood, in the train going down by land,
on account of the difficulty of the roads, and the inexperience, perhaps, of the officers
in command, and it had to be taken by water part of the way ; it could not get through
by land. I considered, from the reports I received, that these delays resulted mainly
from accident and the elements, that no man had any control over. General Burnside
telegraphed to me in relation to General Woodbury, thinking that he had not used
due dUigence ; but afterwards told me he was perfectly satisfied with what General
Woodbury had done, and that he did not know but what the commanding officer of
the train that went down had done his duty also ; that he was disposed to make no
further investigation of that matter ; that he was pretty weU satisfied.
" Question. Was there any request for you to delay the advance of the men untU
the boats arrived, or any thing of that kind ? , /
"Answer. No, sir. I remember this, that General Woodbury, in conversation with
me, said that General Burnside could not get down for several days after I told him ;
and that he could not land the boats until General Burnside arrived ; I think I re
marked to him that I did not know exactly the day when General Burnside would

396 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
move ; but I could not teU him, as the general did not know himseh*. While I was at
Warrenton he proposed this movement, and he was directed to make all preparations
for it, but not to begin it until the President was consulted. I returned on the after
noon of the 13th, and I think, on the niorning of the 14th, I had an interview with
the President, in which he consented to General Burnside's plans, and I immediately
telegraphed to him to go ahead as he had proposed. I understood that there was
considerable delay in getting the boats from Aquia down to the Rappahannock River,
on account of the bad roads, difficulty of transportation, &c, but no other delay than
that which would naturaEy occur over a rough country like that ; and accidental
delay in laying the bridges was reported to me, from the experience of the pontoniers
who laid the upper bridges; there was considerable delay in that. We could not
commence the repair of the railroad until General Burnside took possession of it, as
it was all in the possession of the enemy. That was understood between him and
General Haupt, in my presence. General Haupt went out with me to make the
arrangement for repairing the roads as early as possible. I remember the conversa
tion ; "he could not land any thing, but would have every thing down ready as soon
as he could, and when he found General Burnside was in possession, he would com
mence." Soon after the battle of Fredericksburg, General Burnside devised
a new plan for attacking the enemy in his front, in connection with
which a cavalry raid was projected. A force of two thousand five
hundred men was to proceed to Kelly's Ford, where one thousand
were to cross and destroy the bridges over the Rapidan, and continue
through to Suffolk, blowing up and destroying bridges on the route.
The other fifteen hundred men were to proceed in different directions
to distract the attention of the enemy, while a general movement was
to be made across the river. On the 26th of December, an order was
issued for the men to take three days' cooked rations, and ten days'
rations in wagons, and be ready to move at twelve hours' notice.
At this time occurred a remarkable intrigue, which is best given in
the words of the committee : —
" Shortly after that order was issued, General John Newton and
General John Cochrane — the one commanding a division and the
other a brigade, in the left grand division, under General William B.
Franklin — came up to Washington on leave of absence. Previous to
obtaining leave of absence from General Franklin, they informed him
and General William F. Smith, that when they came to Washington
they should take the opportunity to represent to some one in authority
here the dispirited condition of the army, and the danger there was
in attempting any movement against the enemy at that time.
" When they reached Washington, General Cochrane, as he states,
endeavored to find certain members of Congress, to whom to make
the desired communication. Failing to find them, he determined to
seek an interview with the President for the purpose of making the
communication directly to him. On proceeding to the President's
house, he there met Secretary Seward, to whom he explained the
object of his being there, and the general purport of his proposed
communication to the President, and requested him to procure an
interview for them, which Mr. Seward promised to do, and which
he did do.
" That day the interview took place, and General Newton opened
the subject to the President. At first the President, as General New
ton expresses it, 'very naturally conceived that they had come there

HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 397
for the purpose of injuring General Burnside, and suggesting some
other person to fill his place.' General Newton states, that while he
firmly believed that the principal cause ofthe dispirited condition of
the army was the want of confidence in the military capacity of Gen
eral Burnside, he deemed it improper to say so to the President ' right
square out,' and therefore endeavored to convey the same idea indirectly.
When asked if he considered it any less improper to do such a thing
indirectly than it was to do it directly, he qualified his previous asser
tion by saying that his object was to inform the President of what he
considered to be the condition ofthe army, in the hope that the Pres
ident would make inquiry and learn the true cause for himself. Upon
perceiving this impression upon the mind of the President, Generals
Newton and Cochrane state that they hastened to assure the President
that he was entirely mistaken, and so far succeeded that at the close
of the interview the President said to them he was glad they had
called upon him, and that he hoped that good would result from the
interview." "To return to General Burnside. The cavalry expedition had start
ed ; the brigade of infantry detailed to accompany it had crossed the
Rappahannock at Richards's Ford, and returned by way of Ellis's Ford,
leaving the way clear for the cavalry to cross at Kelly's Ford. The
day they had arranged to make the crossing, General Burnside received
from the President the following telegram : —
" ' I have good reason for saying that you must not make a general movement with
out letting me know of it.' "
General Burnside states that he could not imagine at the time what
reason the President could have for sending him such a telegram.
None of the officers of his command, except one or two of his staff
who had remained in camp, had been told any thing of his plan beyond
the simple fact that a movement was to be made. He could only sup
pose that the dispatch related in some way to important military move
ments in other parts of the country, in which it was necessary to have
co-operation. " Upon the receipt of that telegram, steps were immediately taken
to halt the cavalry expedition where it then was (at Kelly's Ford)
until further orders. A portion of it was shortly afterwards sent off
to intercept Stuart, who had just made a raid to Dumfries and the
neighborhood of Fairfax Court-House, which it failed to do.
"General Burnside came to Washington to ascertain from the Pres
ident the true state of the case. He was informed by the President.
that some general oflicers from the Army ofthe Potomac, whose names
he declined to give, had called upon him and represented that General
Burnside contemplated soon making a movement, and that the army
was so dispirited and demoralized, that any attempt to make a move
ment at that time must result in disaster ; that no prominent officers
in the Army of the Potomac were in favor of any movement at that
time. " General Burnside informed the President that none of his officers
had been informed what his plan was, and then proceeded to explain

398 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
it in detail to the President. He urged upon the President to grant
him permission to carry it out ; but the President declined to do so at
that time. General Halleck and Secretary Stanton were sent for, and
then learned, for the first time, of the President's action in stopping
the movement ; although General Halleck was previously aware that
a movement was contemplated by General Burnside. General Hal
leck, with General Burnside, held that the officers who had made these
representations to the President should be at once dismissed the ser
vice. General Burnside remained here at that time for two days,
but no conclusion was reached upon the subject.
" When he returned to his camp he learned that many ofthe details
of the general movement, and the details of the cavalry expedition,
had become known to the rebel sympathizers in Washington, thereby
rendering that plan impracticable. When asked to whom he had com
municated his plans, he stated that he had told no one in Washington,
except the President, Secretary Stanton, and General Halleck ; and in
his camp none knew of it, except one or two of his staff officers, who
remained in camp all the time. He professed himself unable to tell
how his plans had become known to the enemy."
General Burnside then devised a new plan, and proceeded to put it
in execution, but was obliged to abandon it because of the inclemency
of the weather and the opposition of his oflicers. He then prepared
Order No. 8, which dismissed Generals Hooker, Brooks, and Newton
from the service, and relieved other oflicers of their commands, subject
to the approval of the President. Thepublication of the order was
delayed until General Burnside went to Washington and laid it before
the President, whom he asked to sanction it or accept his resignation.
The President acknowledged that Burnside was right, but declined to
decide until he had consulted his advisers. After doing so, he relieved
Burnside from the command of the Army of the Potomac, and ap
pointed General Hooker in his place. Thereupon General Burnside
insisted that his resignation be accepted. This the President declined
to do ; and, after some urging, General Burnside consented to take
a leave of absence for thirty days, with the understanding that at the
end of that time he should be assigned to duty, as he deemed it im
proper to hold_ a commission as major-general and receive his pay
without rendering service therefor. Burnside objected to the word
ing of the order which relieved him from his command, and which
stated that _ it was "at his own request," as being unjust to him, and
unfounded in fact ; but upon the representation that any other order
would do injury to the cause, he consented to let it remain as it then
read. On January 26th, General Hooker assumed command of the Army
of the Potomac, and by an order issued by the War Department on
the 28th, Sumner and Franklin were relieved from duty with the
army, the former at his own request.

HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 399

CHAPTER XXXVI.
Situation in Kentucky. — Bragg's Invasion. — MumfordsvUle. — Buell's Advance.—
PerrysviEe. — Eetreat of the Enemy. — Features of Campaign.
Ok the retreat of Beauregard's forces from Corinth, the main body,
under Bragg, fell back upon Tupello, Mississippi. General Kirby
Smith was at Chattanooga, and there was also a force at Knoxville.
These drew their supplies mainly over the railroad from At
lanta, Georgia. At the same time Grant held the line of West
Tennessee, from Iuka to Memphis. General Buell remained at Ste
venson, holding the Memphis and Charleston Railroad from that point
westward, and threatening Chattanooga, and General Rosecrans was
in command of Pope's old troops. Early in June the guerrillas be
came very active in the lower counties of Kentucky, under Colonel
John Morgan. On the 10th of June, General Buell left Corinth, in
the direction of Chattanooga, and took positions at Battle Creek,
Huntsville, and McMinnsville. In the mean time, General Bragg
had suddenly broken up his camp, and, by forced marches through
Alabama and Georgia, reached Chattanooga in advance of Buell.
His force was then composed of three corps, of fifteen thousand men
each, under Generals Hardee, Polk, and Kirby Smith, which were
severally occupied in preparations for an advance into the heart of
Kentucky, for the purpose of obtaining supplies, and of recruiting
their ranks from the secessionists of the State, while Morgan was
very active with his guerrillas, in the hope that the people of Ken
tucky would rise. On the 5th of July, Lebanon, at the termination
of the Nashville and Louisville Railroad, was taken by them, while
Murfreesboro', in Tennessee, was captured at the same time by a
guerrilla force under Colonel Forrest. A Federal force at Cynthiana
was defeated by Morgan, and Henderson occupied. Clarksville was
captured, with large military stores, and a Federal force at Gallatin
repulsed. At this time, August 22d, Kirby Smith, with a consider
able force, forming the advance of Bragg's army of invasion, broke
camp from Knoxville, passed the Big Creek Gap, and marched upon
Richmond, Kentucky, the capital of Madison County, and fifty miles
southeast of Frankfort. A Federal force held the place, Composed
of nine regiments, with nine guns, and a squadron of Kentucky horse,
under Generals Manson and Crufts. This force attacked Smith four
miles south of Richmond, on August 30th, and was defeated, with the
loss of several pieces of artillery. As the retreat began, General Nel
son, arriving from Lexington, endeavored to rally the troops, but was
wounded, and obliged to retire. This defeat uncovered the State
capital to the enemy's advance. The Legislature was then in session,
and immediately adjourned to Louisville, carrying the archives of the
State and the treasure of the banks. The Governor, James F. Rob-
iason, issued a proclamation, calling upon all citizens to rally to the
defenee of the State.

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 401
i Smith's advance-guard entered Lexington on the 2d of September.
He at once issued a proclamation, to the effect that the Confederate
army had come as liberators ; and inviting the citizens of Kentucky
to join in driving out the invading Federal force. The capital of the
State was occupied September 6th, a government organized, and re
cruiting stations opened. In the mean time, Bragg, with the main
rebel army, crossed the Tennessee on the 21st of August, and, pushing
rapidly northward, occupied Bowling Green, on the line of the Nash
ville and Louisville Railroad, on September 5th, and thence moved on
to Mumfordsville, which was held by Colonel Wilder .with three
thousand men. The garrison were attacked on the 1 3th by the
Confederates, under General Duncan, who were repulsed after seven
hours' Btruggle. On the following day the place was re-enforced by
Colonel Dunham, who assumed command. The Confederates re
newed the attack on the 1 6th, and, after a Stubborn resistance against
greatly superior numbers, the Federal force, amounting in all to four
thousand men and ten guns, surrendered. On the 18th, General
Bragg issued an address to the people, dated at Glasgow, in which he
reiterated the expressions uttered by Kirby Smith, stating also that
he required supplies, which would be paid for. The Confederate
force now moved in a direction to form a junction with Kirby Smith,
Humphrey Marshall, and Morgan, apparently for the purpose of
making a combined attack upon Louisville. From Bardstown, Gen
eral Bragg issued the following address to the people of the North
west, the object of which was to open separate negotiations for peace
with the people of that section ; —
ADDRESS TO THE PEOPLE OF THE NORTHWEST,
" Head-Quarters C. S. Army in Kentucky, )
"Bardstown, Ky., September 26, 1862. J
" On approaching your borders at the head of a Confederate army, it is proper to
announce to you the motives and the purposes of my presence. I therefore make
known to you:
"1. That the Confederate Government is waging this war solely for self-defence ; that
it has no designs of conquest, nor any other purpose, than to secure peace, and the
abandonment by the United States of its pretensions to govern a people Who never
have been their subjects, and who prefer self-government to a union with them.
"2. That the Confederate Government and people, deprecating civil strife from the
beginning, and anxious for a peaceful adjustment of all differences growing out of a
political separation, which they deemed essential to their happiness and well-being, at
the moment of its inauguration, sent commissioners to Washington to treat for these
objects, but that their commissioners were not received or even allowed to communicate
the object of their mission; and that on a subsequent.occasion a communication from
the President of the Confederate States to President Lincoln remained without answer,
although a reply was promised by General Scott, into whose hands the communication
was delivered.
" 3. That among the pretexts urged for the continuance of the war, is the assertion
that the Confederate Government desires to deprive the United States of the free navi
gation of the Western rivers, although the truth is that the Confederate Congress, by
public act, prior to the commencement of the war, enacted that ' the peaceful naviga-
tionof the Mississippi River is hereby declared free to the citizens of any of the States
upon its border, or upon the borders of its tributaries ' — a declaration to which our
Government has always been, and is still ready to adhere.
"From these declarations,, people of the Northwest, it is made manifest, that by the
26

402 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
invasion of our territories by land and from sea, we have been unwiEingly forced into
a war for selt-defence, and to vindicate a great principle once dear to aE Americans, to
wit : that no people can be rightly governed except by their own consent. We desire
peace now. We desire to see a stop put to a useless and cruel effusion of blood, and
that waste of national wealth, rapidly leading to, and sure to end in national bank
ruptcy. We are, therefore, now, as ever, ready to treat with the United States, or any
one or more of them, upon, terms of mutual justice and liberality., And at this juncture,
when our arms have been successful on many hard-fought fields, when our people-
have exhibited a constancy, a fortitude, and a courage worthy of the boon of self-
government — we restrict ourselves to the same moderate demand that we made at the
darkest period of our reverses — the demand that the people of the United States cease
to war upon us, and permit us in peace to pursue our path to happiness, while they, in
peace, pursue theirs.
" We are, however, debarred from the renewal of former proposals for peace, because
the relentless spirit that actuates the Government at Washington leaves us no reason
toexpect that they would be received with the respect naturally due by nations^ in
their intercourse, whether in peace or war. It is under these circumstances that we
are driven to protect our own country by transferring the seat of war to that of an
enemy who pursues us with an implacable and apparently aimless hostility. If the, war
must continue, its theatre must be changed, and with it the policy that has heretofore
kept us on the defensive on our own soil. So far, it is only our fields that have been
laid waste, our people killed, our homes made desolate, and our frontiers ravaged by
rapine and murder. The sacred right of seh°-defence demands that henceforth some of
the consequences of the war shall faE upon those who persist in their refusal to make
peace. With the people of the Northwest rests the power to put an end to the in
vasion of their homes ; for, if unable to prevail upon the Government of the United
States to conclude a general peace, their own State Governments, in the exercise of
their sovereignty, can secure immunity from the desolating effects of warfare on their
soiL.by a separate treaty of- peace, which our Government wUl be ready to conclude'
on the most just and liberal basis.
" The responsibility then rests with you, people of the Northwest, of continuing an
unjust and aggressive warfare upon the people ofthe Confederate States. And in the
name of reason and humanity, I call upon you to pause and reflect what cause of quarrel
so bloody have you against these States, and what are you to gain by it? Nature has
set her seal upon these States, and marked them out to be your friends and allies. She
has'bound them to you by all the ties of geographical contiguity and conformation,
and the great mutual interests of commerce and productions. When the passions of
this unnatural war shall have subsided, and reason resumes her sway, a community of
interest will force commercial and social coalition between the great grain and stock-
growing States of the Northwest, and the cotton, tobacco, and sugar regions ofthe
South. The Mississippi River is a grand artery of their mutual national lives, which
men cannot sever, and which never ought to have been suffered to be disturbed by
the antagonisms, the cupidity, and the bigotry of New England and the East. It is
from the East that have come the germs of this bloody and most unnatural strife. It
is from the meddlesome, grasping, and fanatical disposition of the same people who
have imposed upon you and us alike those tariffs, internal improvement, and fishing
bounty laws, whereby we have been taxed for their aggrandizement. It is from the
East that will come the tax-gatherer to collect from you the mighty debt which is
being amassed mountain high for the purpose of ruining your best customers and
natural friends. When this war ends, the same antagonisms of interest, policy, and
feeling, which have been pressed upon us by tho East, and forced us from a political
union where we had ceased to find safety for our interests or respect for our rights,
will bear down upon you, and separate you from a people whose traditional policy it is
to live by their wits upon tho labor of their neighbors. Meantime, you are being used
by them to fight the battle of emancipation, a battle which, if successful, destroys our
prosperity, and with it your best markets to buy and sell. Our mutual dependence is
the work of the Creator. With our peculiar productions, convertible into gold, we
should, in a state of peace, draw from you largely the products of your labor. In up,
of the South, you wiE find rich and willing customers. In the East you must confront
rivals in productions and trade, and the tax-gatherer in all the forms of partial legisla
tion. You are blindly foEowing aboUtionism to this end, while they are nicely calcu-

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 403
lating the gain of obtaining your trade on terms that would impoverish your country.
Tou say you are fighting for the free navigation ofthe Mississippi. It is yours freely,
and has always been, without striking a blow. Tou say you are fighting to maintain
the Union. That Union is a thing of the past. A Union of consent was the only
Union ever worth a drop of blood. When force came to be substituted for consent, the
casket was broken, and the constitutional jewel of your patriotic adoration was forever
gone. "I come then to you with the olive-branch of peace, and offer it to your acceptance, in
the name of memories of the past, and the ties of present and future. With you re
main the responsibility and the option of continuing a cruel and wasting war, which can
only end, after still greater sacrifices, in such treaty of peace as we now offer; or of
preserving the blessings of peace by the simple abandonment of the design of subju
gating a people over whom no right of dominion has been conferred on you by God or
man. " Braxton Bragg, General C. S. Army."
A few days after the issuing of this address, the ceremony of in
augurating the provisional rebel Governor of Kentucky, Richard
Harris, was performed at Lexington, all the leading Confederate
generals being present. General Bragg had issued an order, provid
ing for the event, as follows : — " Head-Quarters, Army op Kentucky, )
"Lexington, October 2, 1862. )
"Installation of the provisional Governor at Frankfort, on Saturday, October 4, at
12 M. Major-General Smith is charged with the management of the military and escort
guard and salute. The Governor will be escorted from his quarters by a squadron of
cavalry, and accompanied by the commander of the Confederate States forces, Major-
General Buckner, Brigadier-General Preston, and their respective staffs. The com
manding general will present the Governor to the people; and transfer, in behalf of tho
Confederate States, the civil orders of the State, and pubEc records and property.
" By order, "Braxton Brags, General Commanding."
_ While these events were taking place, much alarm was felt in Cin
cinnati, and, under apprehensions of an invasion, business was sus
pended, and General Lewis Wallace, commanding in the city, pro
claimed martial law, as follows : — v " Cincinnati, September 2, 1862.
. "The undersigned, by order of Major-General Wright, assumes command of Cincin
nati, Covington, and Newport.
' "It is but fair to inform our citizens that an active, daring, and powerful enemy
threatens them with every consequence of war; yet the cities must be defended, and
the inhabitants assist in the preparations. ,
" First. — AU business must bo suspended at. nine o'clock to-day. Every business
house must be closed.
" Second.— Under the direction of the mayor, the citizens must, within an hour after
the suspension of business, assemble in convenient public places, ready for orders, and
as soon as possible they will then be assigned to their work.
"This labor ought to be one of love; and the undersigned trusts and believes that it
wiU be so. Anyhow, it must be done. The willing shall be promptly credited ; the
unwilling promptly visited.
"The principle adopted is:— 'Citizens for the labor; soldiers for the battle.'
"Martial law is hereby proclaimed in the three cities. Until they can be relieved by
the mUitary, the injunctions of this proclamation will be executed by the police.
' Third. — Perry-boats wiU cease plying the river after four o'clock in the morning,
until further orders. "Lewis Wallace, Major-General Commanding."

404

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.

PROCLAMATION OF THE MAYOR.
" In accordance with the proclamation of Major-General Wallace, I give the public
notice that the police force will, until farther orders, act as a provost guard; and I
order and enjoin upon all good citizens to respect and obey them.
" All orders from the general commanding, through the police, will be enforced
strictly. " George Hatch, Mayor"
CLOSING LIQUOE STORES.
general order — no. 1.
"Head-Quaktebs United States Forces, >
" Cincinnati, September 2, 1862. f
"AE places in the cities of Cincinnati, Covington, and Newport, where liquors of any
kind are sold, must be closed at four o'clock this morning; and all soldiers are directed,
upon any failure or refusal to obey this order, to seize the stock on hand, that it may
be confiscated for sanitary purposes.
" By order of Major-General Lewis WaEace.
"H Elston, Jr., Aide-de-Camp and Chief of Staff."
The utmost efforts were made to place Cincinnati in a state of de
fence, and works for this purpose were formed in Kentucky, on the
south bank of the river.
Meanwhile, On August 23d, Buell's army commenced evacuating its
posts to follow Bragg, but although it had the shorter line of march
to Bowling Green, the advance did not reach that place until Sep
tember 14th, Bragg being then at Glasgow, thirty miles east. On
the 21st, Buell reoccupied Mumfordsville, and on the 24th he reached
Louisville. The whole command, numbering above thirty-five thou
sand men, were marched to the river shores above the city, where they
were temporarily encamped. A pontoon bridge, thrown over the
river to Jeffersonville, carried them to the north bank, where the
bulk of the Army of the Ohio reposed on the Indiana shore. While
General Nelson* was receiving and providing for. these men, and re
organizing new corps, he was killed in an affray with General Jefferson
C. Davis, one of the defenders of Fort Sumter, whftm he had grossly
insulted. A day or two after the arrival of Buell, an order was received
from General Halleck, directing a fusion and reorganization of the
armies of Ohio and Kentucky. He was about carrying this order out,
when Colonel McKibben, of General Halleck's staff, arrived from
Washington with an order directing him to turn over the chief com
mand to Major-General Thomas, and assume command of the paroled
prisoners and camp of instruction at Indianapolis. The dilatoriness
of his movements had alarmed the Administration, and in view of the
serious danger menacing Kentucky, it was determined to intrust the
chief command of the Union forces in that State to a more active geri-

* William Nelson was born in Maysville, Ky.,
In 1825, entered the navy .in 1840, Berved in the
Mexican war, and at the outbreak of the rebellion
was a lieutenant on ordnance duty at Washington.
He was then promoted to be lieutenant-com
mander, and detailed to command gunboats on
the Ohio River; but for the purpose of strength
ening the loyal sentiment in Kentucky he was, in
the autumn of 19,61, transferred to the military

service, and commissioned a brigadier-general of
volunteers. He organized Camp Dick Robinson,
was successful in raising troops, and in the spring
of 1S62 commanded a division in Buell's army.
He took part in the second day's fighting at
Shiloh. was svbsoqnently commissioned a major-
general of volunteers, took command at Louisville,
when that city was menaced by Bragg,- and was
killed there by General Davis on September 29th.

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 405
eral. General Thomas immediately telegraphed to Washington, ask
ing for the reinstatement of General Buell, and Generals Crittenden,
Rousseau, Jackson; Boyle, and one or two others, also sent remon
strances, in consequence of which the order was rescinded, and Gen
eral Buell restored. On General Buell's restoration, the work of
reorganization was completed. One regiment of new troops was
attached to each brigade, and the Army of Ohio was divided into three
corps — named first, second, and third. The brigades averaged fully
two thousand five hundred men, giving a total infantry force for
twenty-six brigades of nearly seventy thousand men. Of artillery,
there was one battery attached to each brigade, giving twenty-six
batteries, with a total of one hundred and sixty guns. Of cavalry,
each corps had a small complement attached, while the main body
of mounted troops operated in three independent brigades, represent
ing an effective total of about six thousand men, aud commanded by
Acting-Brigadiers McCook, Zahm, and Gay. It thus appears that
General Buell entered upon the campaign with an infantry and cav
alry force at least one-third stronger than that of the enemy, and with
double his strength in artillery.
The Confederate troops were now scattered through Scott, Wood
ford, Franklin, Spencer, Anderson, Boyers, and Boyce Counties; to
the south of Louisville, and busily engaged in foraging and recruiting.
No body of any considerable strength was within two days' march of
Louisville. The following was the army organization ofthe forces in Kentucky:
DEPARTMENT OP THE OHIO.
Commander-in-Chief — Major-General D. C. BuelL
Commander in the Field — Major-General George W. Thomas.
CORPS.
First — right wing — Major-General Alexander McDowell McCook.
Second — left wing — Major-General Thomas L. Crittenden.
Third — centre — Major-General C. C. Gilbert.
DIVISION COMMANDERS.
Third corps, first division — Brigadier-General Albion Schoepff; first
corps, second division, Brigadier-General Sill; first corps, third division,
Brigadier-General Lovell Rousseau; second corps, fourth division,
Brigadier-General W. L. Smith ; second corps, fifth division, Briga
dier-General Van Cleve ; second corps, sixth division, Brigadier-Gen
eral W. Wood; seventh division, Brigadier-General George W.
Morgan ; eighth division, Brigadier-General James L. Negley ; first
corps, ninth division, Brigadier-General Jackson ; third corps, tenth
division; Major-General Granger ; third corps, eleventh division, Brig
adier-General Sheridan ; third corps, twelfth division, Brigadier-Gen
eral E. Dumont; third corps, thirteenth division, Brigadier-General
' Robert B. Mitchell. -
The enemy gathered an immense booty in cattle and_ supphes, as
well as munitions. Some seven hundred wagons, left behind by Buell

406 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION".
at Bowling Green, were captured, with all their contents, clothing,
tents, arms, &c. The whole territory between Louisville and Nash
ville and Cumberland Gap had been overrun by him.
On October 1st the pursuit ofthe rebels was commenced by Buell.
The main force of the enemy, about forty thousand, under Bragg, was
encamped in the neighborhood of Bardstown, forty miles south of
Louisville. Kirby Smith, with fifteen thousand, was between Frank
fort and Lexington. Humphrey Marshall, with four thousand, was
at Georgetown. In Central Kentucky two bodies of guerrillas, under
Morgan and Scott, were collecting food and munitions. There were
also three camps of rendezvous for two or three thousand men, re
cruited since the advent of Kirby Smith — one near Lexington, another
at Camp Dick Robinson, and the third at Bryantsville. The new
levies were well armed with the pieces captured from our troops at Rich
mond," but were only indifferently drilled and disciplined. Upon the
whole, the aggregate effective strength of the' enemy was hardly sixty
thousand, inclusive of about five thousand cavalry and ninety pieces of
artillery. If united, this would have formed a formidable force ; but
the several portions being separated from each other, its momentum
was greatly weakened.-
These being the general positions, the army of Buell moved over
four different roads, as follows : Of the First Corps, the Second Division,,
under Sill, took the direct road from Louisville to Frankfort, vid
Shelby ville ; the Third, Rousseau, and Tenth, Jackson, ofthe same corps,
under the immediate command of Major-General McCook, followed the
road from Louisville to Taylorsville. The Second Corps, consisting of
the divisions of Wood, VanCleve, and Smith, moved upon Bardstown,
over the direct road from Louisville. The Third Corps, composed of
the divisions of Generals Schoepff, Mitchell, and Sheridan, marched
also upon Bardstown, but by a detour vid Sheppardsville. General
Dumont's Division started in the wake of General Sill's, three days
after the latter bad left Louisville.
The general plan was to separate Kirby Smith and Marshall from
Bragg by the movement of the First Corps, while Bragg should be
attacked with the_ two other corps at Bardstown, where it was ex
pected he would give battle, and where, if the movement was success
ful, his flank and rear would be turned. Although the First Division,
under Sill, had the longest route, it moved the quickest, and reached
Frankfort on the 4th, on which day McCook was at Taylorsville. On
the same day the Confederate generals were all at Frankfort, attend
ing the inauguration of the Governor. On the evening of the same
day Smith commenced to evacuate Frankfort, taking with him his
immense material and spoil, and .proceeding vid Versailles on Harrods-
burg. The retreat from Bardstown commenced on the 3d, and was
completed on the morning of the 4th, on which day the place was
tintered by Crittenden's Corps. Thus the hope of meeting General
Bragg's army at Bardstown vanished. The Confederates retreated
through Springfield upon Perrysville, followed on the 5th by Gilbert's
Corps, with Ci-ittenden in his rear. On the 6th, the enemy, having
effected a junction of their forces, were already in possession of Har-

HISTOEY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 407
rodsburg, which was the point of rendezvous for the two bodies of
McCook's Corps. The hope of dividing the enemy, equally with that
of forcing a fight at Bardstown, proved fallacious. General Bragg
was, however, impressed with the idea that he had only Gilbert's
Corps on his hands, and that it was by that body only that Hardee
had been pressed in his retreat from Bardstown, while he supposed
Sill's Division on Smith's rear to be the main Federal force. He there
fore rallied three divisions, under General Polk, to give battle at
Harrodsburg, and another corps of three divisions he sent to aid Smith
against Sill. Thus Buell sent two corps against one of Bragg's, and
the latter sent two corps against one of Buell's. The corps of Gilbert,
which had arrived by the Springfield road, had orders to form within
three miles of Perrysville, across the Springfield road. Crittenden's
Corps formed with its left on Gilbert's and its right on the Haysville
road. McCook's Divisions, as they arrived from the Mackville road,
formed on the left of Gilbert, having their line extended beyond the
Mackville road. The three divisions of Hardee formed on the morn
ing of the 8th, with their left on the heights overlooking Perrysville,
and their left at Chaplin River, which they commanded. This
brought the enemy's right nearer to Buell's left than was his left to
Buell's right. In other words, McCook was nearer to his line than
was Gilbert. McCook's Divisions got into line by two p. m., but
Buell postponed his attack until the next day, ndt dreaming of being
himself attacked. Bragg, however, still under the impression that he
had but one corps before him, ordered a vigorous attack. In accord
ance with these orders the enemy fell with great fury upon McCook's
men, mostly new levies, soon after they were got into line. These
were five brigades — Starkweather's Brigade on the extreme left ;
Terrell's in front, and to the right of it, in the left centre ; Harris's in
the right centre ; Webster's in the rear of Harris's, in the position of
a reserve ; Lytle's on the right of Harris* as the extreme right of the
line. Six batteries were distributed at suitable points along the line,
and the fighting strength of the command was about eleven thousand
five hundred. Starkweather and Terrell encountered the first burst
of the storm from overwhelming numbers — more than three to one —
and General Jackson fell at the first fire. The troops soon gave way
in confusion, and were driven from the field with the loss of a bat
tery. The stubborn fighting of Rousseau's veterans saved the line from
disaster, while Starkweather, with three regiments and two batteries,
withstood the utmost efforts of the enemy "to move him, until, his am
munition failing, he was forced to fall back for a supply, after which
he kept his ground until dark. When Harris's ammunition gave out
he had orders to fall back in line with Starkweather. Lytle's brigade,,
on the extreme right, was not so fortunate. It fought with great valor
and success until four p. m., when it was turned on the right by fresh
troops, and compelled to retire. At this moment McCook arrived
. from head-quarters, and ordered Webster to support Lytle. In doing
so, Webster was killed, and his men, being new troops, got into dis-'
OTder, and the enemy pressed his advantage"* Gooding's Brigade ar
rived on the ground at this juncture, followed by Steadman, and these

408 HISTORY OF THE GREAT EEBELLIOH".
fresh troops, after ,a severe struggle, forced back the enemy, and the
firing ceased for the day.
The three divisions sent by Bragg to aid Smith against Sill did not
come up with the latter, because he had, instead of pressing the pur
suit of Smith, turned off from Laurenburg, in a westerly direction, to
Chaplin. It was important to rejoin those divisions with Smith. Ac
cordingly, in the night, Bragg moved from Perrysville, in an easterly
direction, ten miles to Harrodsburg, which he reached on the 9th.
Smith arrived on the 10th, and on the llth the entire united force
marched to Bryantsville and Camp Dick Robinson ; thus having
moved twenty-two miles in four days after the battle. Bragg then,
with all the vast stores he had collected, resumed his march for Cum
berland Gap, to leave the State. The movement of Buell was very
slow. It was not until the evening of the 12th October that he
reached Harrodsburg, whence, on the 14th, the pursuit was renewed.
The three corps moved, by parallel roads, to Danville, which they
reached on the same day on which Bragg was at Mount Vernon with
his trains, beyond Rockcastle River, and further pursuit was hopeless.
The general result of the whole movement was, that while the cam
paign had given the rebels abundant spoils, it left Buell with the Union
army in about the same position it had occupied the year previous.
The loss of the enemy in all the encounters had been five thousand two
hundred men, and the Federal loss twelve thousand, including four
thousand killed, wounded, and captured at Periysville. At Richmond
and Mumfordsvitle the rebels had captured ten thousand choice arms,
and thirty-four guns. They gathered, also, thousands of mules, cattle,
hogs, wagons, and an immense stock of clothing, boots, shoes, forage,
provisions, besides two thousand six hundred barrels of pork, and' two
thousand bushels of wheat, left at Camp Dick Robinson for want of
transportation. The wagon train of supplies brought out of Kentucky
was described as forty miles long. Their great success was due to
the singular audacity of Bragg in venturing within the grasp of
Buell's army, with half his strength, and from which he escaped only
in consequence of the culpable dilatoriness of Buell, when by all rule
he should have met his destruction. However successful the campaign
in Kentucky may have been for the Confederates in obtaining supplies,
they were disappointed in the primary object of rousing the State
against the Union, and obtaining recruits.

CHAPTER XXXVIL
Cumberland Gap. — Morgan's Escape. — Iuka, — Price Retreats.— Corinth. — Repulse of
the Enemy. — Vicksburg Expedition. — Reorganization of the Ohio Army by Rose
crans. — His Advance. — Battle of Stone River. — Defeat of the Enemy.
When the army of Bragg entered Eastern Kentucky, it cut the line
of communication between the Federal forces at Cumberland Gap and
the North, and compelled the evacuation of the Gap, which is about
one hundred and fifty miles south from Lexington. The Cumberland

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 409
range of mountains undergoes a depression at this place, which
makes the summit a little more easy or access, the mountains on each
side of the Gap being twelve hundred feet high, and the Gap itself
but four hundred feet. Through this notch passes a good road,
coming from Lexington. The occupation of this Gap was of great
importance to the rebels, as it commanded the entrance to East Tennes
see from the north, and gave them the means of passing into Eastern
Kentucky. At the commencement of hostilities, a Confederate force
occupied it, and held possession until June I8th, when it was taken,
after a brilliant series of operations, by a'Union force under General
George W. Morgan, who retained possession, with a force often thou
sand, until the 17th September. Finding then his supplies cut off by
the advance of Bragg, and his rations nearly exhausted, he evacuated
the place, leaving his sick and four siege-guns, and made for the Ohio
River, which he reached in safety October 4th.
When the Uuion forces, early in June, were divided by the move
ments of Buell towards Chattanooga, and subsequently by the invasion
of Kentucky by Bragg, the remaining rebel forces under Lovell, Van
Dom, and Price, began to concentrate for a forward movement against
Grant. As the Confederate movement began to threaten the line be
tween Corinth and Tuscumbia, the Union advance at that point, under
Colonel Murphy, fell back thirty miles upon Iuka. On the day fol
lowing, a Confederate cavalry force charged into Iuka, and drove out
the brigade of Murphy, capturing large stores, including six hundred
and eighty barrels of flour. Murphy was placed under arrest, and his
brigade ordered back to Iuka, under Mower. It, however, was halted
at Jaeinto. Price then occupied Iuka i» force, in the hope of drawing
Grant from Corinth, which was about to be attacked by. Van Dorn.
The main object of Price was, however, to cross the Tennessee, and
harass the rear of Buell, who then, under the pressure of Bragg's ad
vance, was falling back upon Nashville. This being the position of
affairs, Generals Rosecrans and Grant formed the d;esign of cutting off
Price, and forcing him to surrender. In this view, Grant and Ord,
with eighteen thousand men, were to make a direct attack on Price in the
direction of Burnsville, while Rosecrans, with a part of his army, mov
ing by way of Jacinto, should take him in flank. The remainder of the
Federal troops were to march by the Fulton road, to cut off Price's
retreat. Rosecrans's two divisions reached Jacinto in a drenching rain
on the evening of September 18th, and on the following morning
encountered, at Barnett's Corners, the enemy's pickets, which they
drove in six miles towards Iuka. The whole column had now arrived,
and were listening for the guns, whieh, as Rosecrans supposed, should
announce Grant's direct attack on the west and north. After the
lapse of two hours, a dispatch arrived from Grant, seven miles distant,
saying that he was waiting for Rosecrans, who immediately moved
forward until, within two miles of Iuka, he discovered the Confed
erates occupying a position Of much strength, and which commanded
the country for some distance. The division of Hamilton, with the
Eleventh Ohio battery, had the advance, and were received with a mur
derous fire of artillery and musketry. After a very severe struggle of

410 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.
some two hours, the Confederates charged, and captured the six guns
ofthe Ohio battery. The contest continued with great obstinacy until
nightfall. And on the succeeding morning it was discovered that
Price had made a precipitate retreat, abandoning, the captured guns, a
large number of wounded men, and quantities of stores. He retired
in the direction of Bay Spring, followed some distance by the Federal
cavalry. The Union loss in the engagement was one hundred and for
ty-eight killed, five hundred and seventy wounded, seventy-four miss
ing. The Confederate loss was as considerable, including three generals,
Lytle, Berry, and Whitfield, and nearly a thousand prisoners.
Price, continuing his retreat vid Bay Spring, in a southwesterly
direction, reached Baldwin, Mississippi. He then marched upon Du
mas, where he formed a junction with Van Dorn, and soon after he
was joined by Lovell, at Pocahontas. The combined rebel forces,
numbering forty thousand men, then marched oa Corinth, which they
expected to find inadequately defended. On the 30th of September
their advance encountered the brigade of Ogleby, which had been
thrown forward by Rosecrans, upon the Chewalla road, in. the design
of falling back, and thus leading the enemy under the heavy guns at
Corinth. The resistance offered by Ogleby was very solid, and McAis-
thur was ordered forward to his support, succeeded by Davies. These
three brigades were pushed back on the 3d, by the accumulating force
of' the enemy, with the loss of Ogleby wounded, and General Racket
man killed.
The position of Corinth was very strong. In addition to the origi
nal works, of great extent, built by Beauregard, to .resist the Union
advance under Halleck, the latter had constructed a new line of works,
of- less extent than those of Beauregard ; and now Rosecrans, expect
ing the attack of Price, had constructed a third line, still more com
pact. These consisted of four redoubts, covering the whole, front
of the town, and protecting the flanks, where, also, the ground was
broken and swampy. The Union army faced north. Its extreme
right was held by General Hamilton, on whose left was erected, on
the night of October 3d, a new five-gun battery, which commanded
the road from Bolivar. The Chewalla road, which, coming over hills,
enters the town on the left centre, was commanded by Fort Williams,
with its twenty-four-pound Pai-rotts, and Fort Robinson on a high
ridge, enfiladed both roads. The Confederate plan included an attack
by Price, by the Bolivar road, and a simultaneous attack under Van
Dorn, by the Chewalla road. General Davies's Union Division was on
the left of Hamilton, The Illinois and Missouri sharpshooters were
on his left, and the line was prolonged by McKean's and Arthur^ brig
ades of Stanley's Division. . The cavalry were in reserve.
The Confederates, following up the retreating brigades from the
Chewalla road, on the night of the 3d, came in front of the Union
position, and formed lines one thousand yards distant. During the
night they planted batteries at two hundred yards, and at daybreak
of the 4th opened a fierce fire upon Corinth. The batteries were
soon silenced by the guns of Fort Williams. At ten o'clock dark
masses of the enemy were observed moving up the Bolivar road.

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION. 411
This was the force under Price. They advanced with great impetuosity,
but, coming within range ofthe Federal batteries, were smitten with a
storm of shot that opened great gaps in their ranks. They closed
steadily up, pressed up the glacis, and, receiving the fire of the Union
line with marvellous fortitude, returned it with such vigor that the
division of Davies broke in disorder. The enemy rushed in at the
opening, and took possession of the head-quarters of Rosecrans. The
retiring troops, however, were quickly rallied by the opportune ad
vance of the Fifty-sixth Illinois, and, returning the charge, recovered
the ground. The Confederates now wavered* and a general advance
of the Union line drove them to the woods in front. Meantime, Van
Dorn, having great difficulties to encounter, advanced much slower than
Price, who had already suffered defeat before Van Dorn was in line.
The two forts, Robinson and Williams, were one hundred and fifty
yards apart, on high ground, the latter commanding the former. The
Ohio Brigade of Fuller was formed behind the ridge. The Forty-
third Ohio was on the right, and the Twenty-seventh and Sixty-third,
in succession, towards the left, which rested on Fort Robinson. The
Forty-third stood at right angles with the Sixty-third, and extended
between the two forts. The. Eleventh Missouri was in the angle.
The Thirty-seventh supported the Twenty-seventh. The enemy ad
vanced, with the Mississippians and Texans in front. As they ap
proached, the batteries made havoc in their ranks, but they came on
wfth a determined and unbroken front until they reached a ditch
which lined the front of the position. The Ohio troops were lying flat
behind the ridge, with orders to reserve their fire until the enemy were
at short range. As the latter advanced, under a storm of grape from
the fort, they rose and delivered their fire with terrible effect. The
rebels dropped by scores, and fell back upon their supports. These
came on with terrible vigor. The Sixty-third Ohio, however, opened
fire, and the Missourians came into line just as the enemy rushed in.
A hand-to-hand combat ensued^ until the enemy at last gave way, and
the day was won. The battle had lasted two hours. The enemy
gradually drew back, masking his movements so skilfully as to keep
up the impression that he would renew the attack. At three o'clock
on the morning of the 5th, General Rosecrans, having been re-enforced
by fresh troops from Jackson, sent out a force in pursuit. The Federal
loss in the battle was stated at three hundred and fifteen killed, one
thousand three hundred and twelve wounded, two hundred and thirty-
two prisoners. That of the rebels was over fourteen hundred killed*
eighteen hundred wounded, and two thousand two hundred and fifty
prisoners. They also lost fourteen stand of colors, two pieces of artil
lery, and a large quantity of small-arms and ammunition.
The Confederate army retired by the way it came, and at the Hat-
chie bridge was attacked by a part of Grant's command, under Gen
erals Ord and Hurlburt, defeated and driven off with a loss of six guns.
This action interrupted Price's retreat, but he finally crossed at Cram's
Mills, and was pursued to Ripley, losing one thousand prisoners,
eleven guns, and much ammunition and stores. The battle decided
the fate of West Tennessee, which was now securely held. _

412 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION.
The Confederates, having fallen back, gradually concentrated and
reorganized their broken force, and, having brought it into good con
dition, again advanced northeast, and occupied Holly Springs,'near
Grand Junction. In the mean-time, General Rosecrans was ordered to
Cincinnati to take command of the Army of the Ohio, vice Buell. Gen
eral Grant's force was increased by new levies, and he occupied Co
lumbus, Trenton, Jackson, and Bolivar, on the line ofthe railroad; thus
approaching within twenty miles of the position of Price and Van Dorn,
The opposing forces remained in their relative positions, with little
change, Until towards the end of November.
It was now determined to make a new attempt to capture Vicksburg,
and an expedition for that purpose was organized at Cairo and Mem
phis, under General W. T. Sherman^ who was to descend the Missis
sippi and attack Vicksburg in front, while General Grant should pro
ceed by the railroad route, and operate on the rear of the city. Ac
cordingly, on the 28th of November, General Hamilton's Corps was piit
in motion for Holly Springs, which point he reached on the following
day. The remaining troops followed, and on the 1st of December
Grant encamped at Lumpkin's Mills, seven miles north of the Talla
hatchie River. The enemy, commanded by General Pemberton, had
thrown up extensive works* with a view of defending the passage of
the river; but, simultaneously with the advance of Hamilton, General
Hovey had bean detached with a division, seven thousand strong, of
General Curtis's troops, from Helena, Arkansas, to cross the river, and
make a flank movement upon the Confederate position ofthe Talla
hatchie. Intelligence of this movement caused Van Dorn, who held
the Confederate advance, to fall back, and on the 3d he passed through
Oxford, his rear-piard skirmishing with the Federal advance. General
Pemberton continued his retreat to Granada, under the impression that
the combined force of Curtis and Grant, in his front, was very large.
Hovey, however, after destroying some property on the railroad, and
boats on the river, returned to Helena, when Pemberton immediately
assumed the offensive. Grant's head-quarters were at Oxford, and his
chief dep6t of supplies was at Holly Springs, thirty miles north. Ac
cordingly, a considerable cavalry force was organized, which, making
a circuit, surprised Holly Springs on the 20th December, capturing the
force there with immense stores. The prisoners were paroled, and the
stores and cotton which bad been purchased in the neighborhood' were
destroyed. Simultaneously with this movement, attacks were made
on Jackson, Tennessee, Humboldt, and Trenton. The latter place was
surrendered by Colonel Fry, who was in command, and stores and
cotton burned. These operations, cutting up Grant's line of commu
nication, compelled him to retreat Jto Holly Springs, thus defeating his
plan of co-operation. A division, ten thousand strong, of his troops,
was, however, detached to support Sherman's expedition.
After the successful retreat of Bragg from Kentucky, the forces of
Buell fell back in order to obtain forage and supplies ; and in the latter
part of October, Rosecrans was ordered to take command of the Army
ofthe Ohio, Buell being relieved. The array, somewhat shattered by
its campaign, required reorganizing and recruiting. The calls madd by

HISTORY OF THE GREAT EEBELLION. 413
the President for six hundred thousand men, under the laws of July
and August, were now producing results, and the new troops arriving
freely at camp required. to be organized and drilled, and properly
equipped for active service. To this task Rosecrans sedulously devoted
himself., On the 1st of November, general head-quarters were at
Bowling Green, whence on the 7th they were transferred to Nashville.
Rosecrans at once hastened the opening of the Louisville and Nashville
Railroad in order to obtain supplies, and proceeded with the great work
of perfecting the condition, of his new army, which occupied a position
southeast of Nashville and about ten miles distant from it.
In the mean time, Bragg had brought off his army, with its immense
spoils, into Tennessee ; had rested his men, recruited by an inexorable
conscription, and aided by bodies of mounted men, formed into a
guerrilla-like cavalry, to avoid the hardships of conscription and infantry
service. He had taken position at McMinnsville, Murfreesboro', and
Lavergne, facing the new position of Rosecrans. His force was esti
mated at about forty-five thousand, comprising the three corps of Smith,
Hardee, and Polk, and was greatly superior in cavalry. The difficulties
of an advance into that country, against such a force, and at such dis
tance from his base of operations, with which he was connected by a
single precarious thread, made it manifest that Rosecrans's policy was
to induce Bragg to travel over as much as possible of the space that
separated them ; thus avoiding for us the wear and tear and diminution
of our forces, and subjecting the enemy to all these inconveniences*
besides increasing for him* and diminishing for us, the dangerous con
sequences of a defeat. Both parties remained comparatively quiet
until towards the close of December. At that time, Bragg, under the
belief that Rosecrans with his raw troops would go into winter-quarters
at Nashville, had weakened his force by dispatching Colonel Forrest
to make an attack upon Grant's communications, in aid of Pemberton,
who had commenced his forward movement. He also sent an infantry
force in the_ same direction. Aware of these facts, Rosecrans deter
mined to seize the opportunity for a movement, which was appointed
for Christmas night. The position of the Confederate army at this
time was approachable by several roads. Hardee held the left at
Nolinsville, Polk the centre at Lavergne, and Kirby Smith the right
at Murfreesboro'. The right of the Union army, opposed to Hardee,
was under McCook, at Franklin turnpike. The centre, under Critten
den, with Wood's, Palmer's, and Van Cleve's Divisions, was at Break-
ville, and the left under Thomas, who had succeeded Gilbert, at Mill
Creek The_ general plan was for each corps to advance by the high
way before it, while General Negley should attempt to turn the Con
federate left. At dawn ofthe 26th, the men went forward with great
enthusiasm. McCook drove in the advance posts of Hardee, capturing
one gun, while Crittenden advanced to Lavergne, on the Murfreesboro'
pike, withont serious opposition. The Confederates retired, and were
so sharply pushed that they had no time to destroy the bridges over
which they passed on the Jefferson and Murfreesboro' turnpikes. The
Federals therefore followed uninterruptedly until they reached Stone
River, where the Confederates were concentrated. On the 29th,

414 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION.
McCook moved within seven miles of Murfreesboro', having Thomas
on his left, while Crittenden was on the left of Thomas. On the 30th,
the commanders met at head-quarters, and the plan of battle was ex
plained to them.
. General McCook was cautioned that in his present position he faced
too much to the east, and Should change more to the south, and that
the success of the whole plan of turning the enemy's right depended^
upon his holding his position three hours. General Smith held the
Confederate centre* masked by cedar forests. Their right comprised
the three divisions of Cheatham, Breckinridge, and Buckner, under
Polk, and rested on Lebanon Turnpike and Stone River. At this time
there were several attacks on the Federal rear, by which some wag
ons were captured and the communications threatened:
The morning of the 31st was very foggy. The troops were under
arms at daylight, and at seven were preparing for battle, the opposing
forces being separated by a valley, which narrowed towards the Feder
al left. The corps of McCook was drawn up with Johnson on the right,
Davis in the centre, and Sheridan on the left. • The movement on the
Union side commenced by the advance of Van Cleve on the left. The
enemy had, however, made earlier provision to attack the Union right.
At half-past six o'clock their batteries opened with a furious fire, under
which the infantry advanced in heavy columns of regiments^ at th»
double-quick, and attacked Willich's and Kirk's Brigades of Johnson's
Division* which* being without support, were, after a .sharp contest,
driven back, leaving Edgarton's and part of Goodspeed's Batteries in
the hands of the enemy.
The enemy, following up, attacked Davis's Division, and speedily
dislodged Post's Brigade; Carlin's Brigade was compelled to follow, as
Woodruff's Brigade had previously left its position on his left. John
son's troops, on retiring, inclined too far to the west, and were too
much scattered to make a combined resistance, though they fought
bravely at one or two points before reaching Wilkinson pike. The
reserve brigade ofthe division, advancing from its bivouac near Wil
kinson pike, towards the right, took a good position, and made a gallant
but ineffectual stand, as the whole Confederate left was moving up on
the ground abandoned by our troops* Within an hour from the time
ofthe opening ofthe battle, a staff officer from General McCook an
nounced to General Rosecrans that the right wing was heavily pressed,
and needed assistance.
The retreat of Johnson and Davis uncovered the division of Sheridan,
which offered firmer resistance, and struggled manfully to maintain its
ground, until the others might rally on the supports, and again come
up. The effort was vain, however. The division retreated slowly,
until it again got into line with the others, which had' meantime re
formed, but only again to break. They formed for the third: time,
under cover ofthe advance of the centre, under Negley, Who came to
their aid, and, being supported by Rousseau, succeeded in checking
the Confederate advance. Sheridan, after sustaining four successive
attacks, gradually swung his right from a southeasterly to a north
westerly direction, repulsing the enemy four times, with tho loss, how-

HISTORY OF THE GREAT EEBELLION. 415
ever, of the gallant General Sill of his right, and Colonel Roberts of
his left brigade, when, having exhausted his ammunition — Negley's
Division being in the same predicament, and heavily pressed — after
desperate fighting, he fell back through the cedar woods, in which
Rousseau's Division* with a portion of Negley's and Sheridan's, met the
advancing enemy and checked his movements, relieving Sheridan from
the pressure. This violent irruption ofthe Confederates on the Union
right prevented Rosecrans from throwing forward his left, as he had
intended. He therefore massed his artillery in great strengh upon his
centre, at the probable point of attack. The Confederate force, con
sisting ofthe centre and left-wing, flushed with success, advanced with
great impetuosity, when Negley's covering force retired, and brought
the Confederate line within a most destructive concentric fire of artil
lery, which staggered and caused it to pause; amidst the most terrible
slaughter, then waver and partly retire. Meantime, McCook had suc
ceeded in re-forming his troops, and getting into line on the right of
Thomas. It was now noon ; the Rebels had fallen back, and firing had
ceased along the entire line. The Union troops had been driven back
between two and three miles, with the loss of twenty^eight guns,, two
hundred wagons, four thousand prisoners, and three • thousand killed
and wounded. The Confederate loss was not known.
The left and centre ofthe Union army, occupying very strong posi
tions, was now perpendicular to the Murfreesboro' road, and the right
was parallel to- the road, being thus at right angles with the centre.
The communication with Nashville had been cut off by the Confeder
ate cavalry, which had captured large quantities of hospital stores.
With great promptness and skill, Rosecrans re-formed his lines, and at
about three p. m. the rebels resumed the battle with undiminished
vigor. Four desperate assaults were repulsed with prodigious slaughter,
and at nightfall Bragg drew off his discomfited troops, and both
armies rested.
Although the Union troops were worsted in the fighting, the day
had not been one of unmixed disaster to them. Their new position
was strong, and the ease with which the assaults of the enemy had
been repelled in the afternoon showed that the defeat of the right
wing had not demoralized the army. The enemy had, moreover, suf
fered terribly in the latter part of the day, and would be cautious of
again pushing too hard an opponent, over whom he had apparently
triumphed with so much ease in the morning. At a council of Union
generals, held at Rosecrans's head-quarters, in the evening, it was deter
mined to maintain the position then occupied by the army, and, if op
portunity should offer, to turn the enemy's right, and get possession of
Murfreesboro'. " We conquer or die right here," were the words of
Rosecrans, and the announcement jumped with the wishes of his offi
cers, not one of whom counselled a retreat to Nashville. During the
night ofthe 31st, the Union lines were strengthened, and the morning
of January 1st found them almost impregnable to the attacks of the
enemy. In vain did the latter reconnoitre from right to left : every
where he was met with an artillery fire which drove him back with
heavy loss, and night fell without any decisive or important action.

416 HISTORY OF THE GREAT EEBELLION.
Meanwhile, in pursuance of his plan of turning the rebel right, Rose
crans had sent a portion of Van Cleve's, Division across Stone River,
for the purpose of threatening Breckinridge, who held that part of
Bragg's line. Nothing of interest occurred on the 2d, until about
three o'clock in the afternoon, when a large rebel force suddenly issued
from the woods on the opposite shore of the river, and advanced, in
three heavy lines, with great impetuosity, upon Van Cleve's troops,
who, after several ineffectual volleys, retired in confusion across the
river. On came the enemy, in proud disdain of his opponents, expect
ing to double up and crush the Union left as readily as he had over
powered McCook's troops two days before. But a far different recep
tion awaited him now. The Union artillery* massed on the ridges
that crowned the river bank, awaited but the word to play with full
force into the dense columns which swept up with yells of triumph
and defiance. At length the range was complete, and a dozen batteries
opened such a fire as would have staggered the best troops in the
world. The rebels, brave and confident as they were, recoiled in con
fusion, but, as if by magic, the frequent gaps in their lines quickly
closed up, and they resumed the advance, only to encounter a still
more close and deadly fire of artillery, to which were now added vol*
leys of musketry, The slaughter was here prodigious, but, with desper>
ate resolution, a portion ofthe advance was pushed to the river's
brink, in the vain hope of storming the opposing batteries. But
scarcely a man of those who made the mad attempt lived to return,
and gradually the whole force, refusing longer to obey their officers,
fell back in irreparable confusion. At this moment, the Union troops
dashing across the shallow river with fixed bayonets, drove the routed
foe in wild confusion within the shelter of the- woods, whence they
had emerged scarcely half an hour previous. In this brief but brilliant
affair the Union troops' inflicted a loss of not less than twenty-five hun
dred on Breckinridge's Corps, besides capturing a battery, several thou
sand small-arms, and several sets of colors. Darkness alone prevented
Rosecrans from ordering the pursuit to be continued to Murfreesboro'.
The result greatly depressed Bragg, who judged wisely that the suc
cesses of the 31st of December had been more than neutralized by the
afternoon's disaster. At a council of rebel generals, held on the morn
ing of the 3d, it was determined to retreat on the same night, and at
the appointed hour the disheartened and tired columns moved sullenly
off in the direction of Shelbyville, twenty miles south of Murfreesboro'. ;
On the fifth, the advance of Rosecrans, under Thomas, entered Mur
freesboro', and the enemyhaving by that time got a considerable start,
and the roads being almost impassable for artillery, no further pursuit
was attempted. After the fatigues of the previous week, the army
was greatly in need of rest, and Rosecrans at once went into winter-
quarters. General Rosocrans's statement of force and losses in the three days'
fighting was as follows : —
We moved on the enemy with the following forces : —
Infantry  41,421 I Cavalry  ;3,296
Artillery  2,223 |  ¦
Total  46,910

HISTORY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION 417
We fought the battle with the following forces : —
Infantry  37,977 I Cavalry  3,200
Artillery  2,223 | 
Total  43,400
We lost in killed : —
Officers  92 | Enlisted men  1,441
Total  1,533
We lost in wounded : —
Officers .'  384 | Enlisted men  6,865
Total  ..-.   7,241
Total killed and wounded   8,778
Being 20.03 per cent, of the entire force in action, and three thou
sand six hundred missing.
He estimated the enemy's force at sixty-two thousand four hundred
and ninety men. The rebels estimated their loss at one thousand
killed and thirty-five hundred wounded, which is probably not more
than fifty per cent, of the whole amount.

CHAPTER XXXVIIL
Turn of the Tide of War. — New Combinations. — Vicksburg. — Sherman's Attack. —
Arkansas Post. — Renewal of Attempt upon Vicksburg. — Passage of Batteries by the
Fleet. — Flanking March of Grant.
The tide of victory, which had run so uninterruptedly in favor of
the North from the beginning ofthe war, and which had excited the
highest hopes of a speedy termination of the war, seemed to have
reached its ebb at midsummer, 1862. There had been great success
on the part ofthe Federal arms. Western and Middle Tennessee had
been overrun and occupied by the Government troops. The Con
federates had been driven out of Missouri. New Orleans had been
occupied, and the Federal forces were ascending the Mississippi, while
all its strong points above had been seized by the Government, Vicks
burg and Port Hudson alone offering obstacles to the free navigation
of the river. The sea-coast, from Norfolk, skirting North and South
Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, was under the Federal rule, and the
limits of the Confederacy seemed to be rapidly contracting under the
pressure of the National power.
Suddenly the public were startled with the announcement that the
iron-clads, for the first time, had failed to accomplish their object. The
Monitor and her consorts had attacked Fort Darling, which had been
looked upon as a slight obstruction, and had been repulsed, and that
so effectually, that the attack was never renewed. From that moment,
the general course of events was adverse to the Federal arms. The
defeat of McClellan followed, and other reverses troubled the public.
mind. 27

418

HISTORY OF THE GREAT EEBELLION.

These were grave events, and resulted, as we have seen, in the act of
July 1, calling for three hundred thousand volunteers for the war, and
that of August 9, calling for three hundred thousand men for nine
months, who were to be drafted unless they promptly volunteered.
These six hundred thousand men were designed to open campaigns of
great vigor. Rosecrans was to cross Tennessee and penetrate Alabama,
the heartof the Confederacy, with an irresistible force, and the Mississippi
was to be opened by a grand combination upon Vicksburg from above
and below, while the reorganized and re-enforced Army of the Potomac
was to renew its march upon Richmond. The six hundred thousand
men were soon mustered into the service of the Government, since
the large bounties offered to volunteers sufficed to fill the quotas with
out resort to drafting, and the expeditions and campaigns were opened.
These grand combinations unfortunately produced no practical results.
The Army of the Potomac, reorganized under Burnside, gained no
ground towards Richmond. The Army of the Ohio, under Buell,
failed of its mission, and, under Rosecrans, succeeded only in hold
ing West Tennessee, without penetrating Alabama. Grant had
made' some progress towards the rear of Vicksburg, but had sud
denly retrograded when his communication was threatened. The
plan for the opening of the Mississippi contemplated an assault on
Vicksburg on the 25th of December, Christmas-Day. In that view
an expedition was fitted out under General Banks, for New Or
leans, whence he was to ascend the river, in company with the
fleet under Farragut, while an expedition under General Sherman * was
to leave Memphis and descend the river with Commodore Porter, and
General Grant was to operate upon the rear of Vicksburg. The
main strength of the combination was the expedition under Sherman.
This rendezvoused at Memphis and Helena, and on the 26th of De
cember entered the Yazoo River, which empties into the Mississippi
River ten miles above Vicksburg. At this time, Sherman was ignorant
of the fact that Grant had failed in his co-operative movement. Vicks
burg is situated on a high bluff, rising nearly a hundred feet above the
water, and facing very nearly to the west. This, as has been pre
viously stated, furnishes a natural defence against any force attempting
to get into the rear of the city from the north, of which full advantage
had been taken. Where the bluffs approach the Vazoo River there

* William Tecumseh Sherman was born in Lan
caster, Ohio, in 1820, graduated at West Point in
1840, and in the same year was appointed second
lieutenant of the Third Artillery. He served in
California during the Mexican war, was brevetted
captain in 1850, and in 1853 resigned his commis
sion. After engaging in business in San Francisco,
be became, in 1858, president of the military acad
emy in Louisiana, Dut resigned his office at the
outbreak of the rebellion. In June, 1861, ho was
commissioned colonel of the Thirteenth Regular
Infantry, and subsequently a brigadier-general of
volunteers. He participated in the first battle of
Bull Bun, and in the ensuing autumn and winter
served in Kentucky and Missouri. In the spring
of 1862, he commanded a division in Grant's
army, and distinguished himself at the battle of
Shiloh, earning thereby his promotion to be major-
general of volunteers, He made an unsuccessful

attack on Vicksburg in December, 1862, and took
part in the subsequent campaign against that
place under Grant He accompanied Grant to
Chattanooga In October, 1868, soon alter marched
to the relief of Knoxville, and early in 1S64 con
ducted a successful raid through Southern Missis
sippi. In March he was placed over the middle
division of tho Mississippi, and soon after com
menced his successful campaign against Atlanta,
which he occupied in September. In tho suc
ceeding Novomber, after driving Hood into North
ern Alabama, he commenced his march through
Georgia, and reached Savannah in December.
Thence he marched north to Goldsboro', N. C, and
in April, 1865, received the surrender of Johnstons
army. He now commands the military division
of the Mississippi, with the rank of major-general
In the regular army,

HISTORY OF THE GREAT EEBELLION 419
were constructed formidable batteries, that prevented the passage of
all manner of craft. Just above these batteries, and defended by them,
they had placed a heavy raft of timber and iron in the stream, making
a most effectual blockade.
Thus it was impossible to flank this range of bluffs, and they were
to be attacked, if attacked at all, full in front. Against this the enemy
guarded themselves by fortifying the entire range, from Vicksburg to
Haines's Bluff. These fortifications consisted of abatis in front of the
bluffs to a width on the average of a mile. At the foot of the bluff they
had rifle-pits the entire way. Above the rifle-pits, and in the face of
the bluff, they had constructed batteries mounting one gun each, at
short intervals all the way along. On the summit of the bluffs they
had earthworks thrown up, ready to cover field artillery whenever it
should be desirable to bring it into action from any of these points.
Thus these entire ranges of hills were one complete, bristling fortifica
tion, dangerous to approach and difficult to capture.
These formidable works were held by the combined armies of Pem
berton and Price, amounting to some fifty thousand troops, with one
hundred and sixty guns, who had concentrated after Grant had re
turned to Holly Springs on the 20th. The attack and reduction of
these works promised to be a matter of extreme difficulty. On Satur
day morning, the 27th, the Benton and other boats made an attack on
Haines's Bluff, about twenty miles from the mouth of the Yazoo River.
While this was in progress, the same day, General Sherman landed his
forces on the right bank, ten miles up the river. The line of battle
was at once formed. General A. J. Smith took the right, General
Morgan L. Smith the right centre, General Steele the left centre, and
General G. W. Morgan the extreme left. Our line was. formed in this
order parallel with the bluffs, and in the edge of the timber that skirts
the abatis, bringing it about a mile from the enemy's lines. The ad
vance of the line was through almost impracticable ground. The old
roads had been destroyed, and felled trees and other obstacles were
profusely strewn in the path. It was therefore found to be impracti
cable to carry out General Sherman's design of pushing on to the bluffs
the same night. On Monday morning there was a heavy fog until
eight o'clock, when a bombardment began from one hundred and fifty
guns, which for some hours rained shot upon the bluffs, without much
apparent effect. Finally the line of infantry began to emerge from the
woods in which it was formed. In front of Morgan L. Smith, on the
right centre, was a bayou which it was necessary for the troops to pass.
In front of Steele was a broad plain, covered with abatis, and cut up
with gullies in which were sharpshooters, and Morgan on the left en
countered similar obstacles. The advance of Smith to cross the bayou
was made with great courage and determination, but was met with a
terrific fire which staggered and forced back the column. Smith rushed
to the head to hold his men to their work, when he received a shot
which compelled him to quit the field, and his men, who were now
without a leader, and exposed to a withering fire, fell back. On his
right, General A. J. Smith crossed the bayou, but won the ground
slowly, amid the gullies and felled trees, where his men were exposed

420 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION.
to a biting fire, which they could not effectually return. Their num
bers rapidly wasted in the fierce struggle, when they were opportunely
aided by the opening of a battery upon the Confederate force which
was pressing hard upon the Fifty-fourth Ohio and Eighth Missouri.
Meantime the divisions of Steele and Morgan had pushed through all
obstacles, and with great determination had cleared the rifle-pits and
gained considerable ground, some of the men, with rare courage, even
reaching the bluffs, but in numbers too weak to hold the ground. The
position proved, however, to be too strong to be carried, and the line
retired to the camping-ground of the previous night. A violent storm
and rain, such as usually succeeds heavy cannonading, set in soon after,
and drenched the weary men resting on their arms, causing suffering
to the numbers of wounded that strewed the plain in front.
In consequence of the wound of General M. L. Smith, General A. X.
Smith was placed in command of his division, and General Burbridge
succeeded to the command of Smith. On the 2d January, General
McClernand arrived and assumed command of the army, by virtue of
his priority of commission. He held a council of war, in which it was
determined to abandon the siege, since, through the failure of Banks,
Farragut, and Grant to co-operate as previously intended, the force
was not sufficient. The men were accordingly promptly embarked,
and retired to Milliken's Bend, twelve miles above the mouth of the
Yazoo. The Arkansas River was now navigable, and it was deter
mined to strike a blow at Arkansas Post. General Gorman, who was
in command at Helena, received orders to co-operate in the movement.
The expedition proved completely successful, and on the llth January
the place was captured, with five thousand prisoners. Three other
forts were also captured — St. Charles, Duval's Bluff, and Desarc. The
main body then returned to Vicksburg, and, being largely re-enforced
by troops under General Grant, who now assumed the chief command,
landed on the Louisiana side, five miles below the mouth ofthe Yazoo,
and commenced to reopen the canal begun in the previous year across
the tongue of land in front of Vicksburg, and designed to turn the
channel of the river. A force of five thousand men was put to work
to enlarge the canal, with a view of floating through the troops and
landing them for the attack of Vicksburg on its southern side. The
Union fleet concentrated there comprised one hundred and seven ves
sels, of which ninety-six were transports and nineteen gunboats, the
latter being under the command of Rear- Admiral D. D. Porter.
While the canal was in process of digging, the troops were concen
trated at Milliken's Bend for reorganization and drill. Little of inter
est occurred in the progress of the work until the 2d of February,
when the ram Queen of the WeBt ran the batteries at Vicksburg
down the river without injury, arriving at Natchez the same evening.
She soon after made an excursion up the Red River to attack Fort
Taylor. On the way up she captured, February llth, the Confed
erate steamer Eva, and forced her pilot, John Burke, to take the ves
sel up to the batteries, which were not far ahead, although when he
was placed at the wheel under a guard, he informed the commander
of the Queen that they were fifteen miles distant. He then ran close

HISTORY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.

421

into the batteries, which opened upon the advancing vessel with a
shot that disabled her. The pilot jumped over in the confusion and
gained the shore. The steamer drifted ashore, and was captured,
with eighteen of her men. She was soon repaired and placed in the
rebel service. Meantime, on the 14th of February, the gunboat In-
dianola ran the batteries in order to join the Queen of the West.
Unfortunately, however, she was almost immediately captured by the
Queen of the West, and both were subsequently destroyed by the
Union gunboats. The operations on the canal were prolonged until
it became evident that it would not succeed, and that even if it could
be made passable for the transports, its debouch upon the river was
so commanded by the new batteries erected by the enemy that it
would not answer the object. Finally, owing to a sudden flood which
broke the dam and overflowed the adjacent country, it had to be
abandoned. Attempts were next made to enter the Yazoo River bythe old Yazoo
Pass, which enters the Mississippi many miles above Vicksburg, and
subsequently by a more circuitous route through Steele's Bayou, Black
Bayou, Duck Creek, Deer Creek, Rolling Fork, and Sunflower River,
none of which succeeded, although abundant resources and energy were
expended upon them. It was, however, the opinion of Grant that
Vicksburg could only be turned from the south side, and as the canal
had proved a failure, attention was turned to the project for cutting
a canal from the Mississippi to Lake Providence, in Northeastern
Louisiana, whence transports might pass through Bayou Baxter and
Bayou Macon, and the Tensas, Waehita, and Red Rivers, into the Mis
sissippi, about a hundred miles below Vicksburg. This also proved im
practicable, and, after mature deliberation, Grant determined to adopt
the hazardous scheme of running past the Vicksburg batteries with a
portion of the gunboats and transports, and marching his troops down
the west bank of the Mississippi to a point whence they could be trans
ferred to the opposite shore.
This had been attempted with some success by the fleet of Farra
gut* from below, which passed Port Hudson the 14th of March, for
the purpose of co-operating with Grant. The enemy's batteries ex
tended some four miles at that formidable point, yet the passage was
attempted by seven vessels— the Hartford, Albatross, Richmond,
Kineo, Monongahela, Genesee, and Mississippi — while a number of
mortar-boats kept up a bombardment from the rear. Of the fleet, the
Hartford and Albatross succeeded in passing. The Richmond, put
back with damage, and the Mississippi was destroyed. About eighty

* David G. Farragut was born near Knoxville,
Tennesse, in 1801, entered the navy in 1811, ana
saw much active service in the warof 1812, as a
midshipman on the frigate Essex. He subse
quently served in all parts of the world, and in
1856 reached the grade of captain. In the latter
part of 1861 he was appointed to command the
naval part of the expedition against New Orleans,
and at the same time assumed command of the
West Gulf Blockading Squadron. In April, 1362,
he successfully accomplished the passage of Forts
Jackson and St. Philip, commanding the ap

proaches to New Orleans, and during the next
two months he was actively employed in the same
waters. In July he was promoted to be a rear-ad
miral. In March, 1868, he passed the batteries at
Port Hudson, on the Mississippi, with two of his
vessels, and rendered valuable services to Grant,
then besieging Vicksburg. In August of the suc
ceeding year "he made his memorable passage of
the forts at the entrance of Mobile harbor, for
which he was afterwards promoted to be vice-ad
miral, which grade was specially created by Con
gress for him.

422 HISTORY OF THE GREAT EEBELLION.
were killed in the passage. At Grand Gulf the Hartford again en
countered the enemy's batteries, and received fourteen shot, and on
the 22d she anchored below Vicksburg. Soon after, on the 25th, the
Lancaster and Switzerland, of Porter's fleet, attempted to run past
Vicksburg and join Farragut. The Lancaster was destroyed, but the
Switzerland got down in a disabled condition, but, being taken in tow
by the Albatross, was again made serviceable.
On the night of the 16th of April, a portion of Admiral Porter's
fleet andL the transports Silver Wave, Forest Queen, and Henry Clay,
ran the batteries. The boilers of the transports were protected as
well as possible with hay and cotton. More or less commissary stores
were put on each. All three of these boats were struck, and the
Henry Clay, by the explosion of a shell, or by other means, was set
on fire and entirely consumed. The other two boats were somewhat
injured, but not seriously disabled. No one on board of either was
hurt As these boats succeeded in getting by so well, General Grant ordered
six more to be prepared in like manner for running the batteries, viz. :
the Tigress, Anglo-Saxon, Cheeseman, Empire City, Horizonia, and
Moderator, which left Milliken's Bend on the night of the 22d of
April, and got by in a somewhat damaged condition, with the excep
tion of the Tigress, which received a shot in her hull, below the water-
line, and sunk on the Louisiana shore soon after passing the last of
the batteries. The crews of these steamers, with the exception of
that of the Forest Queen, Captain D. Conway, and the Silver Wave,
Captain McMillan, were composed of volunteers from the army. Upon
the call for volunteers for this dangerous enterprise, officers and men
presented themselves by hundreds, anxious to undertake the trip.
The fleet concentrated at New Carthage, where the troops continued
to arrive. The roads from Milliken's Bend to that place were intoler
ably bad. Nevertheless, on the 29th March, the Thirteenth Army
Corps, McClernand commanding, was directed to take up its line of
march thither, to be followed by the Seventeenth Corps, McPherson,
moving no faster than supplies and ammunition could be transported
to them. The Fifteenth Army Corps, W. T. Sherman commanding, was
left to protect the communications and supplies and deceive the ene
my. To prevent heavy re-enforcements going from Vicksburg to the
assistance of Grand Gulf, where Grant intended to land, he directed
Sherman to demonstrate against Haines's Bluff, and to make all the
show possible. From information afterwards received from prisoners
captured, this ruse succeeded admirably. Arriving at Smith's plan
tation, two miles from New Carthage, it was found that the levee
of Bayou Vidal was broken in several places, thus leaving New
Carthage an island.
It became necessary to march around Vidal to Perkins's plantation,
a distance of twelve miles more, making the whole distance to he
marched from Milliken's Bend to reach water communication on the
opposite side of the point, thirty-five miles. Ultimately the march
was prolonged to Hard Times, seventy miles from Milliken's Bend.
Over this distance, with bad roads to contend against, supplies of ord-

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION 423
nance stores and provisions had to be hauled by wagons, with which
to commence the campaign on the opposite side of the river.
On the 29th April, the Thirteenth Army Corps got on board the
transports and barges, and were moved to the front of Grand Gulf*.
It was intended that the navy should silence the guns of the enemy,
and the troops land under cover of the gunboats, and carry the place
by storm. The position of Vicksburg would thus be effectually
turned, and the garrison compelled either to evacuate or stand a siege,
with the hope of succor from Bragg in Tennessee.

CHAPTER XXXIX.
The Flank Movement against Vicksburg. — Battles of Raymond, Jackson, and Cham
pion Hills. — Investment of the City. — Obstinate Defence. — Surrender. — Chronology
of Events. — Grierson's Raid.
The Federal Army was now below Vicksburg, supported by the
fleet; and those formidable defences, which had so often defied the
efforts directed from the North, were no longer of any avail The
southern side of the position was now to be approached, with much
better hopes of success.
The troops were soon concentrated and formed for a lodgment on
the Mississippi side, which was effected at Bruinsburg, sixty-five miles
below Vicksburg, on the 30th April. On the same day the gunboats
attacked Grand Gulf, without effect. The Thirteenth Corps imme
diately advanced, followed by the Seventeenth, upon Port Gibson, held
by the Confederates, under General Bowen, who were defeated, on the
1st of May, with heavy loss. The Union loss was five hundred and fifty
killed and wounded. This placed Grant in the rear of Grand Gulf,
which was consequently abandoned by the enemy. Admiral Porter,
two days after the engagement at Port Gibson, returned to Grand
Gulf, and found it abandoned. He reported it to have been the strong
est place on the Mississippi. Had the enemy succeeded in finishing
the fortifications, no fleet could have taken them. General Grant then
made Grand Gulf his base of operations.
In the afternoon the army was again in motion in the direction of
Raymond. It had been Grant's original intention to effect a junction
with Banks, and reduce Port Hudson, and then co-operate upon Vicks
burg. The state of affairs on landing, however, induced him to ad
vance at once upon Jackson. Simultaneously with the movement
just described, Sherman had made a demonstration against Haines's
Bluff on the Yazoo, to distract the attention of the enemy, after which
he marched rapidly down the river and crossed over to Grand Gulf.
On the 7th of May an advance commenced, McPherson's Corps
keeping the road nearest Black River to Rocky Springs, McClernand s
the ridge road from Willow Springs, and Sherman following with his
corps divided on the two roads. All the ferries were closely guarded
until our troops were well advanced. It was the intention of General

HISTORY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION 425
Grant here to follow the Black River as closely as possible with
McClernand's and Sherman's Corps, and get them to the railroad at
some place between Edwards's Station and Bolton. McPherson was
to move by way of Utica to Raymond, and from there into Jackson,
destroying the railroad, telegraph, public stores, &c, and push west
to rejoin the main force. Orders were given to McPherson accord
ingly. Sherman was moved forward on the Edwards's Station road,
crossing Fourteen Mile Creek at Dillon's plantation; McClernand
was moved across the same creek, further west, sending one division
of his corps by the Baldwin's Ferry road as far as the river. At the
crossing of Fourteen Mile Creek, both McClernand and Sherman had
considerable skirmishing with the enemy to get possession of the
crossing. On the morning of the 9th of May, the advance cavalry
of the Seventeenth Corps fell in with the enemy's horsemen at Ray
mond, and reported to General McPherson the presence of a large
infantry force in front. The force proved to be four thousand men,
under General Gregg, of Texas. In consequence of this report, the
Second Ohio Brigade, of Logan's Division, was ordered to advance in
column of regiments towards the heavy timber which concealed the
enemy, who opened upon them on overwhelming fire. The first and
third brigades were ordered forward in support, but could not dis
lodge the enemy, and were compelled to give ground when the artillery
of the enemy opened upon them. This was replied to by the Eighth
Michigan Battery. The enemy then made an attempt to take the
battery by a charge, but were repulsed with loss, and fell back to a
position in the rear of Farnden's Greek. The brigades of Dennis and
Smith then renewed the attack, but were taken in flank by the enemy,
and a terrible struggle ensued, in which the Union loss was heavy.
The Twentieth Ohio and Twenty-third Indiana narrowly escaped
annihilation, and the enemy was rapidly gaining ground, when the
opportune arrival of Stevenson's Brigade restored the battle, and
finally compelled the enemy to give ground, leaving to the Union
troops a dearly-bought victory. The enemy, being mostly under
cover, suffered much less than the Union troops. General McPher
son moved on the 13th to Clinton, destroyed the railroad and tele
graph, and captured some important dispatches from General Pem
berton to General Gregg, who had commanded the day before in
the battle of Raymond. Sherman moved to a parallel position on
the Mississippi Springs and Jackson road ; McClernand moved to a
point near Raymond.
On the same day Crocker's Division of McPherson's Corps left
Clinton to encounter the enemy under Johnston, who had just ar
rived at Jackson with a force of nine thousand. It was necessary for
Grant to defeat this force before turning upon Vicksburg, in order '
to clear his rear. He therefore assailed it promptly and vigorously.
Crocker's Division leading the advance, soon fell in with the enemy's
pickets, which fell back to within three miles of Jackson, where the
main body of the enemy was in position on high ground. The rest
of the corps of McPherson supported the division of Crocker. The
first brigade, Sauborne, and the second brigade, Holmes, of Crocker's

426 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION
Division, immediately formed in line to commence the attack. They
advanced steadily over two hills in their front. Between these hills
swept a storm of shot, and a halt was made under cover of a hill-side,
until the remainder of the force got into position. The men rested,
were harangued, and then resumed their forward movement up the
slope, with a vigor so irresistible that a few minutes sufficed to plant
the stars and stripes on the crest, amidst shouts of victory. The
Confederates retired with comparatively little loss, since they were
under cover. The Union loss was two hundred killed and wounded,
mostly by artillery. The result of this conflict was the occupation
of Jackson, with a number of pieces of artillery. Johnston retired on
Canton, twenty-five miles north of Jackson, and connecting with the
road leading to Vicksburg. General Grant sent the following dis
patch to Washington : — "Jackson, Miss., May 15, )
" Vid Memphis, Tenn., May 20. J
" Major-General H. W. Halleck, General-in-Chief, Washington :
" This place fell into our hands yesterday, after a fight of about three hours. Joe
Johnston was in command.
" The enemy retreated north, evidently with the design ot joining the Vicksburg
forces. "TJ. S. Geant, Major- General."
Meantime, McClernand occupied Clinton with one division, Missis
sippi Springs with another, Raymond with a third, and had his fourth
division, and Blair's Division of Sherman's Corps with a wagon
train still in the rear, near New Auburn, while McArthur, with one
brigade of his division of McPherson's Corps, was moving towards
Raymond on the Utica road. General Grant now learned that Gen
eral Johnston, as soon as he had satisfied himself that Jackson was
to be attacked, had ordered Pemberton peremptorily to march out
from the direction of Vicksburg and attack our rear. Availing him
self of this informatian, he immediately issued orders to McClernand,
and Blair of Sherman's Corps, to face their troops towards Bolton,
with a view of reaching Edwards's Station. These troops were ad
mirably posted for such a move. McPherson was ordered, to retrace
his steps early in the morning of the 15th, on the Clinton road, while
Sherman was left in Jackson to destroy the railroads, bridges, fac
tories, workshops, arsenals, and every thing valuable for the support
of the enemy. This was accomplished in the most effectual manner.
The arrival of General Johnston at Jackson was for the purpose
of relieving Pemberton in Vicksburg, who was informed that if he
could hold out fifteen days, one hundred thousand men would succor
him. Johnston therefore manoeuvred to keep open the communica
tion with Vicksburg, and threaten Grant's flank, while awaiting the
troops that were hurrying up from all directions. It was under these
circumstances imperative upon Grant to strike quickly, since, although
he was closing in upon Vicksburg, the enemy were also closing in upon
him, and a little time would place him between two fires. If Pember
ton could hold Grant before Vicksburg until Johnston should be in
strength, Grant would be placed in a dangerous position. It was
similar to the Marengo campaign, when Messena, by his obstinacy in

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.

427

holding Genoa, kept Melas in the southwest comer of Italy, until the
legions of Napoleon had closed in on his rear.
Grant had no recourse but to act promptly. The enemy, under
Pemberton,* were posted at Baker's Creek, some miles east of the
Big Black River, numbering about twenty-five thousand men. On the
morning of the 16th, at 8 a. m., Sherman left Jackson for Bolton.
Blair was ordered to Edwards's Station, McClernand was ordered to
establish communications with Blair and with Osterhaus, of his own
corps, and McPherson to join McClernand.
A range of hills running north and south comes to an abrupt ter
mination near Baker's Creek, the last eminence being known as
Champion Hill. The main road to Vicksburg runs to the north of it.
The hill itself is covered with timber, and on each side are deep
ravines and gullies, filled with scrub oak. Posted on this hill, the
enemy were discovered on the 16th. Hovey's Division of the Thir
teenth Corps was disposed for attack on the road, while two divisions
of McPherson's Corps were on the right of the road, threatening the
enemy's rear. These were awaiting the arrival of McClernand's
Corps, which was advancing on a road about the centre of the enemy's
line, and two and a half miles distant. While waiting their arrival,
the skirmishing of Hovey in front gradually became more serious, and
assumed the importance of a battle by eleven o'clock, when the pres
sure upon him became very severe. His troops stood up to the work
with marvellous energy, until re-enforced by two brigades of Crocker's
Division. Logan's Division of McPherson's Corps had meanwhile proceeded
up the main road to Vicksburg, on the enemy's left and rear. The
advance was made with increased caution, to allow of the arrival of
the remainder of McPherson's Corps in support. The engagement
soon became very warm, and relieved the pressure upon the front.
The Seventeenth Corps then crossed an open field to the foot ofthe
hill, at eleven o'clock, and commenced the action, which raged with
great fury until 4 p. m. The enemy were deficient in artillery, but
served some rifled six-pounders with great vigor. It appears that the
Vicksburg road, after following the ridge in a southerly direction for
about one mile, to where it intersects one of the Raymond roads,
turns almost to the west, down the hill and across the valleV in which
Logan was operating on the rear of the enemy. One brigade of
Logan's Division had, unconscious of this important fact, penetrated

* Lieutenant-General John C Pemberton, a
nati ve of Pennsylvania, born in 1818, was appointed
a cadet in 1888. He graduated on Jnne 80, 1887,
standing No. 27 in a class of fifty members,
among whom were Generals Benham, Scammon,
L. G. Arnold, Vogdes, Williams (dead), French,
Sedgwick, Hooker, Todd, and others in the Union
army ; Braxton Bragg, Mackall, Early, and others
in the rebel army. Ho was promoted to be second
lientenant of the Fourth Artillery July 1, 1887, and
to be first lieutenant March 19, 1842. In the
Mexican war he was aid to General Worth from
1846 to 1848, and was brevetted captain September
28, 1846, for gallant conduct at Monterey, and
major September 8, 1847, for services in the battle

of Molino del Eey. He was distinguished and
wounded in the capture of the city of Mexico. He
was promoted to captain on tho 16th of September,
1850. On the 19th of April, 1861, he resigned his
connection with the United States army, and at
once joined with its enemies. He was made a col
onel of the regular army, and for some time re
mained with this rank, when suddenly he was
raised to the rank of lieutenant-general, and
placed in command of the works around Vicks-
bnre and the Department of Mississippi and EaBt
Louisiana. On July 4, 1868, he capitulated to
General Grant. He subsequently held no impor
tant command in the rebel service.

428 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION.
nearly to this road, and compelled the enemy to retreat to prevent
capture. As it was, much of his artillery, and Loring's Division of his
army was cut off, besides the prisoners captured, 'fie retired, closely
followed by the troops of Osterhaus and Carr, of McClernand's Corps,
who had orders to pursue to Black River and cross if they could. The
enemy, however, retarded the pursuit, and made good its retreat upon
Black River Bridge, twelve miles east of Vicksburg. The battle of
Champion's Hill, or Baker's Creek, was fought mainly by Hovey's
Division of McClernand's Corps, and Logan's and Quimby's Divisions
(the latter commanded by Brigadier-General M. M. Crocker) of Mc
Pherson's Corps. The Black River, on its way to the Mississippi,
runs due south, after leaving Bridgeport, until it approaches Cham
pion Hill, when it bends westwardly for a few miles, and then re
news its southerly course. The direct road to Vicksburg crosses the
stream after it resumes its southerly course. The Confederates in
trenched themselves on the east bank of this river, hoping to hold it
until their material should have crossed, and occupied a strong position
on the 17th, when McClernand's advance came up with them. At ten
o'clock, Carr's Division assaulted the works, and carried them with
little resistance, capturing some guns, and about two thousand pris
oners, comprising Green's Missouri Brigade, and that of General
Vaughn. The main body of the enemy, in the mean time, had crossed,
and planted batteries so as to command the bridge, which was then
destroyed. In this engagement the Confederate General Tilghman
was killed, and General Osterhaus was wounded. The engineer corps
immediately began the construction of pontoons, and many were sent
to General Sherman on the right, to enable him to cross in the direc
tion of Haines's Bluff. He crossed on the 17th, near Bridgeport. The
corps of McPherson and McClernand crossed on the 18th, and the
advance was resumed. Sherman, on the right, moved upon the
Haines's Bluff and Spring Dale roads, encountering the advance of
Johnston, which retired on the approach of McPherson. The centre
followed the Vicksburg and Jackson roads, while McClernand, on
the left, took possession of Baldwin's Ferry road, and the division of
McArthur closed the road from Warrenton to Vicksburg. On reach
ing Bovina, General Grant was joined by General Dwight from
Banks's army. The three corps now converged around Vicksburg,
within supporting distance, and every approach to the place was
closed. The whole army encamped in this position, in the open fields,
on the night of the 18th.
General Pemberton, on retiring within his works, felt himself un
able to defend so long a line as the heights from Vicksburg to Haines's
Bluff, and ordered the evacuation of the latter place. The troops,
and as many of the stores as possible, were removed before our
arrival. A squad of cavalry, of General Steele's escort company,
found Haines's Bluff evacuated, and took possession. A force from
Admiral Porter's fleet also landed, and found the place evacuated.
The works ofthe enemy consisted of a series of redoubts, arranged
with great skill, and extending from the rear of Haines's Bluff round to
the Warrenton road, a distance of ten miles. The ground is singu-

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 429
larly broken, being, in fact, a vast plateau, upon which a multidue of
little hills seem to have been sown broadcast ; and of course the rebel
redoubts were so disposed as to sweep every neighboring crest, and
enfilade every approach.
The corps of General Sherman moved upon the Haines's Bluff road,
taking possession of the ground which he had once vainly attempted
to gain. McPherson advanced on the Jackson road, covering the-
ground from Sherman's left to the railroad, while McClernand's corps
occupied the front from the railroad to the extreme left, Smith's
Division on the right, Osterhaus on the left, and Carr in the reserve.
These dispositions having been completed, an assault was ordered for
the 19th. The action began by a slow fire from our artillery along
the whole line, our guns having a pretty long range, and eliciting but
feeble response from the enemy. About noon; Osterhaus's Division
advanced to the left, to within about six hundred yards of the enemy's
works, to find themselves confronted by fifteen redoubts, with their
rifle-pits, which vomited a terrific fire. At two o'clock the order for
a general advance was given. This was attempted to be executed,
but it was found, on attaining the crest ot the ridge, that it was only
the first of several ridges which were to be crossed, the ravines be
tween being swept by the guns of the enemy. The advance was
checked, and finally the whole line fell back and went into camp.
During the night ofthe 19th heavy siege-guns were planted, earth
works thrown up, and the light artillery moved nearer. The 20th was
employed in endeavoring to level the enemy's works, by means of
artillery, but without success. The 21st was passed in comparative
inaction. A regular assault along the whole line was determined for
the 22d, or rather three simultaneous assaults by the three corps. At
two o'clock on the morning of that day, heavy guns were opened
upon the works to silence the leading batteries, but without much
success. Ten o'clock in the morning was fixed for the assault,
and promptly at the hour the three corps moved forward to the
attack, but were met by overwhelming numbers of the intrenched
foe. The fighting on the left was done by the divisions of Generals Carr,
Osterhaus, and Smith, and was of a more desperate character and of
longer duration than that upon the right or centre. McClernand and
his men performed their part with energy and determination, but were
unable to dislodge the enemy from his works. The assault on the
right was commenced by General Thayer's Brigade of Steele's Divi
sion, consisting of Iowa regiments. The men of this command marched
forward heroically, under the leadership of Thayer. The assault was
made by them at a terrible cost ; but the prize had to be abandoned.
General Blair, on the left of the right wing, moved his men forward
for the bloody work soon after its commencement by Steele. As
sisted by Tuttle's Division, the troops made a desperate charge, but
were repulsed with heavy loss. The Union loss was put at three thou
sand. The assault was gallant in the extreme, on the part of all the
troops ; but the enemy's position was too strong, both naturally and
artificially, to be taken in that way. At every point assaulted, and at

430 HISTORY OF THE GREAT EEBELLION.
all of them at the same time, the enemy was able to show all the force
his works could cover.
The loss of the enemy was comparatively not large, and after the
battle, General Pemberton addressed his men as follows : —
"You have heard that I was incompetent and a traitor, and that it was my inten-
. tion to sell Vicksburg. Follow me, and you will see the cost at which I will sell Vicks
burg. When the last pound of beef, bacon, and flour, the last gram of corn, the last
cow, and hog, and horse, and dog shall have been consumed, and the last man shall
have perished in the trenches, then, and only then, will I sell Vicksburg." '
It now became evident to Grant that the works could not be carried
by assault, and that a regular siege was inevitable to reduce the place.
This was at once undertaken, and parallels were commenced against
the northeastern and southeastern fronts, while every exertion was
made to procure re-enforcements, and to guard against Johnston, who
continued to hover in the neighborhood, slowly gathering a force that
might suffice to raise the siege. If fortifications and natural position
alone could avail, Vicksburg might laugh a siege so scorn. Its weak
ness lies in the fact that communication with the outer world is cut off;
the stock of ammunition and food once exhausted, there is no escape
from surrender.
The siege was prolonged, by the obstinate defence of the enemy
under Pemberton, until, the provisions and ammunition being entirely
exhausted, surrender became inevitable. General Johnston had been
unable to collect a sufficient force to make any serious diversion in
favor ofthe garrison. On the 30th June, however, he made a forward
movement, corresponding with an attempted sortie by the enemy on
the same day on the Union left. The movement failed. On the 3d,
Major-General Bowen, under a flag of truce, brought a sealed dispatch
for General Grant, proposing to surrender, and the following corre
spondence took place : — " Head-Quarters, Vicksburg, July 3, 1863.
" Major-General Grant, commanding United States Forces :
"General: — I have the honor to propose to you an armistice for — hours, with a
view to arranging terms for the capitulation of Vicksburg. To this end, if agreeable
to you, I will appoint three commissioners, to meet a like number to be named by your
self, at such place and hour to-day as you may find convenient. I make this proposi
tion to save the further effusion of blood, which must otherwise be shed to a frightful
extent, feeling myself fully able to maintain my position for a yet indefinite period.
This communication will be handed you under a flag of truce by Major-General James
Bowen. "Very respectfully, your obedient servant, " J. 0. Pemberton."
To this General Grant replied as follows : —
"Head-Quarters Department op Tennessee, )
"In the Field, near Vicksburg, July 3, 1863. )
"Lieutenant-General J. C. Pemberton, commanding Confederate Forces, &c. :
"General: — Your note of this date, just received, proposes an armistice of several
hours, for the purpose of arranging terms of capitulation through commissioners to be
appointed, &c. The effusion of blood you propose stopping by this course can be ended
at any time you may choose, by an unconditional surrender of the city and garrison.

HISTORY OF THE GREAT EEBELLION. 431
Men who have shown so much endurance and courage as those now in Vicksburg will
always challenge the respect of an adversary, and, I can assure you, will be treated
with all the respect due them as prisoners of war. I do not favor the proposition of
appointing commissioners to arrange terms of capitulation, because I have no other
terms than those indicated above.
" I am, General, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
"U. S. Grant, Major-General"
genebal geant's offer foe the sueeender. ,
" Head-Quarters Department of Tennessee, )
" Near Vicksburg, July 3, 1863. J
"Lieutenant-General J. 0. Pemberton, commanding Confederate Forces, Vicksburg,
. Mississippi:
" General : — In conformity with the agreement of this afternoon, I will submit the
following proposition for the surrender of the city of Vicksburg, public stores, &c.
On your accepting the terms proposed, I will march in one division, as a guard, and
take possession at eight o'clock to-morrow morning. As soon as paroles can be made
out and signed by the officers and men, you will be allowed to march out of our lines,
the officers taking with them their regimental clothing, and staff, field, and cavalry
officers one horse each. The rank and file will be allowed all their clothing, but no
other property.
" If these conditions are accepted, any amount of rations you may deem necessary
can be taken from the stores you now have, and also the necessary cooking utensils for
preparing them ; thirty wagons also, counting two two-horse or mule teams as one.
Tou will be allowed to transport such articles as cannot be carried along. The same
conditions will be allowed to all sick and wounded officers and privates, as fast as they
become able to travel. The paroles for these latter must be signed, however, whilst
officers are present, authorized to sign the roll of prisoners.
"I am, General, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
"U. S. Grant, Major-General."
REPLY OF GENEBAL PEMBERTON, ACCEPTING ALL THE TEEMS
OFFERED BT GENERAL GRANT.
"Head-Quarters, Vicksburg, July 3, 1863.
" Major-General Grant, commanding United States Forces :
"General, — I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication
of this date, proposing terms for the surrender of this garrison and post. In the
main your terms are accepted ; but in justice both to the honor and spirit of my troops,
manifested in the defence of Vicksburg, I have the honor to submit the following
amendments, which, if acceded to by you, will perfect the agreement between us : At
ten o'clock to-morrow I propose to evacuate the works in and around Vicksburg, and
to surrender the city and garrison under my command by marching out with my colors
and arms, and stacking them in front of my present limits, after which you will take
possession ; officers to retain their side-arms and personal property, and the rights and
property of citizens to be respected.
" I am, General, yours very respectfully,
"J. C. Pemberton, Lieutenant- General"
To this General Grant immediately replied as follows : —
" Head-Quarters Department of Tennessee, )
"Before Vicksburg, July 4, 1863. J
" Lieutenant-General Pemberton, commanding Forces in Vicksburg :
"General: — I have the honor to acknowledge your communication of the 3d of
July. The amendments proposed by you cannot be acceded to in full. It will be
necessary to furnish every officer and man with a parole signed by himself, which, with
the completion of the rolls of prisoners, will necessarily tale some time. Again, I can
make no stipulation with regard to the treatment of citizens and their private property.

432 HISTORY OF THE GREAT EEBELLION.
While I do not propose to cause any of them any undue annoyance or loss, I cannot
consent to leave myself under restraint by stipulations. The property which officers
can be allowed to take with them will be as stated in the proposition of last evening—
that is, that officers will be allowed their private baggage and side-arms, and mounted
officers one horse each. If you mean by your proposition for each brigade to march to
the front of the lines now occupied by it, and stack their arms at ten o'clock A. M.,
and then return to the inside and remain as prisoners until properly paroled, I will
make no objections to it. Should no modification be made of your acceptance of my
terms by nine o'clock A. M., I shall regard them as having been rejected, and act
accordingly. Should these terms be accepted, white flags will be displayed along your
lines, to prevent such of my troops as may not have been notified from firing on your.
men. " I am, General, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
" TJ. S. Grant, Major-General U. S. A."
To this the subjoined answer was received : —
"Head-Quarters, Vicksburg, July 4, 1863.
" Major-General TJ. S. Grant, commanding United States Forces, &c. :
" General :— I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication
Of this date, and, in reply, to say that the terms proposed by you are accepted.
" Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
"J. C. Pemberton, Lieutenant- General."
In accordance with these stipulations the surrender took place at
once, and three hours elapsed before the stacking of arms was com-.
pleted. At one o'clock the Seventeenth Corps was designated to
take possession of the city. The number of prisoners exceeded thirty-
four thousand, and the killed, wounded, and stragglers reached near-.
ly twelve thousand. The Union loss was officially reported by Gen
eral Grant as follows : — Killed. Wounded. Missing.
PortGibson  130 718 5
Fourteen Mile Creek (skirmish)  4 24 —
Raymond  ."  69 341 32
Jackson  40 240 6
Champion's Hill  426 1,842 189
Big Black Railroad Bridge  29 242 2
Vicksburg  545 3,688 303
Of the wounded, many were but slightly injured, and continued on
duty ; many more required but a few days or weeks for their recov
ery. Not more than one-half of the wounded were permanently
disabled. There were captured in Vicksburg, and during the previous battles,
three hundred and one cannon and forty-five thousand small-arms.
The causes which have led to this stupendous result may be briefly
summed up as follows : The Vicksburg garrison was, in round num
bers, forty thousand at the commencement of the siege. It was
driven within the walls of the city after a hopeless attempt to protect
the line of railroad communication with Jackson. Defeated, dispirit
ed, and worn, the troops retired within their line of intrenchments,
and at once set to work to repair their shattered organization and
perfect their defences.* In the two or three days which elapsed before
Grant's arrival, they rallied. They had their provisions for thirty

HISTOEY OF THE GREAT REBELLION 433
days left. . Unless they could drive off the besiegers within that time,
they were inevitably doomed.
Johnston, who had arrived in Central Mississippi in time to gather
together the fragments of a demoralized army, found before him a
herculean task in restoring it to shape and spirit. He was short of
artillery, transportation, and cavalry, and his supplies he had to draw
from great distances.
The insuperable difficulty was the strength of our army, and the
great advantage of our position. Once on the top of the Chickasaw
ridge, and we were almost impregnable, with our flanks defended by
gunboats. The prime cause of the rebel defeat lay with the War
Department at Richmond, which had. drained the South to sustain
the Virginia army. The second cause was the mistake of venturing
beyond the Big Black River to give battle. This was Pemberton's
blunder. What Grant remarked after the battle of Champion Hills
was true. Vicksburg was virtually won then, and the great battle,
decisive of the fate of the Mississippi Valley, gained by the valor of
our Western troops.
The stock of provisions soon grew short. Already the garrison:
were reduced to the offal and dregs of their commissaries. Mule
meat, while not eaten as a necessity, had become preferable to their
pickled beef. Pork was all gone, flour used up. Corn unground, for'
the most part, was left in limited supply. But the worst difficulty
was that of ammunition. Only ten percussion-caps to the man were
found in their pouches. Originally short of this species of ammuni
tion, they had received forty-two thousand through the lines since the
investment. Of cartridges they had very few. Their medicines were
scanty. Nearly six thousand men were in hospital, and continually
exposed to the dangers of plunging shells; delicate women and chil
dren, crying for bread, and wailing for the loss of friends around
them, were compelled to seek refuge from bursting shells and shot,
in caves scooped out in the steep banks overhanging the Mississippi.
It must have been a strong heart that could have held out longer.
One cause for determining the time of surrender was undoubtedly the
apprehension that on the 4th General Grant would attack. The
result would be the sack and pillage of the city and great slaughter.
The capitulation avoided all, without loss of honor.
The following is a chronological record of the siege of Vicksburg,
from its first inception : —
May 12, 1862^-Flag-officer Farragut demands the surrender.
June 22. — Farragut passes Vicksburg, with his fleet.
June 23. — United naval attack upon. •
June 24. — Naval siege raised by Farragut. '
December 28.— General Sherman defeated.
January 2, 1863,-^General Sherman withdraws from.
January 22, 1863, — General MeClernand prepares for siege operations.
February 4. — General Grant arrives.
February 18. — General Grant commences bombardment.
March 21. — Admiral Farragut arrives.
March 25. — Two gunboats run past
April 16. — Six gunboats run past
28

434 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION
April 27, — Fire, opened from peninsula batteries.
April 29. — Admiral Porter shells and passes Grand Gulf.
April 30. — General Grant lands at Bowlinsburg, and moves on Port Gibson.
' May 3. — Grand Gulf and Port Gibson captured.
Maj' I2.^Engagement and victory at Raymond.
May 13. — Battle of Mississippi Springs. .
May 14. — Occupation of Jackson.
May 16.— Battle of Baker's Creek.
May 17. — Battle of Big Black River bridge.
May 16. — Evacuation of Jackson by General Grant.
May 18j — General Grant invests Vicksburg.
May 18. — Haines's and Chickasaw Bluffs captured.
May 19— General Steele carries the rifle-pits, and General Grant's right and left
rests upon the river.
May 22. — An unsuccessful assault made by General Grant.
July 4. — Vicksburg surrendered to General Grant. ,
This short campaign of General Grant, so eminently successful, re
lieved the gloom in which the Union cause was at that moment envel
oped. A succession of defeats had resulted in the invasion of Penn
sylvania, and in all sections the tendency of affairs was adverse to the
Federal arms. A certain degree of despondency was beginning to he
apparent at the North, and dissatisfaction with the Administration was
more decided. The defeat of Lee at Gettysburg was the first gleam
of light, but the defeat would probably have been less decided had not
the news of the fall of Vicksburg decided General Lee to retreat.
Meantime strong efforts had been made to have General Grant removed*
These, fortunately, had no influence on the President, who, in July,
addressed the following letter to the conqueror of Vicksburg: —
"Executive Mansion, Washington, July 13, 1863.
" Major-General Grant : •>
"My Dear General: — I do not remember that you and I ever met personally. I
write this now as a grateful acknowledgment for the almost inestimable service you
have done the country. I wish to say a word further. When you first reached the
vicinity of Vicksburg, I thought you should do what you finally did — march the troops
across the neck, run the batteries with the transports, and thus go below; and I never
had any faith except a general hope that you knew better than I, that the Yazoo
Pags expedition dhd the like could succeed. When you got below, aud took Port Gib
son, Grand Gulf, and vicinity, I thought you should go down the river and join General
Banks, and when you turned northward east of the Big Black, I feared it was amis-
take I now wish to make the personal acknowledgment that you were right and I
was wrong. A. Lincoln."
While these events were taking place in the immediate neighbor
hood of Vicksburg, a remarkable cavalry raid was executed by Colonel
GrriersOn, of the Illinois Cavalry. On the 1 7th of April, his troops, con
sisting of the Sixth and Seventh Illinois, and First Iowa Cavalry, num
bering one thousand seven hundred men, left Lagrange, Tennessee, for
the enemy's country. They took a southerly course running parallel
with the Mobile and Ohio Railroad, until they were in the latitude of
Vicksburg, when they struck a southwesterly course, and reached
Baton Rouge on the 2d of May, having travelled eight hundred miles.
In their journey through the enemy*s country they had numerous en
counters, killing and wounding numbers ofthe enemy, and taking hun
dreds of prisoners, horses, and blacks— subsisted themselves— destroyed

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.

435

much property in bridges and trestles, some two hundred cars, am
munition, stores, clothing — played havoc with the telegraphs and three
principal railroads, by which the beleaguered troops on the Mississippi
depended for communication and aid from the interior, and which
would take them many weeks to repair, even if they had the facilities
— and all this with the loss of only one killed and six wounded. This
daring feat produced great satisfaction at theNorth generally, and was
received as an offset to some of the cavalry inroads of the enemy.

CHAPTER XL.

Expedition of General Banks.; — Investment of Port Hudson. — Unsuccessful Assaults.
— Brashear City.— Capitulation of Port Hudson. — Chronology j)f Events.
Eaelt in December, 1862, an expedition, which had long been in
preparation with the utmost secrecy, left New York under the com
mand of Major-General Banks.* The public were not aware of Jhe
destination and objects ofthe expedition until, on the 15th of Decem
ber, it arrived at New Orleans, and General Banks superseded General
Butler, whose administration, able and severe, and admirably adapted
to curb an insolent and turbulent populace, had not failed to raise
against him hosts of enemies. There can be little doubt, however,
that the course pursued by General Butler was the only one which
circumstances permitted. He found the city full of the elements of
disturbance, and he transferred it to Banks pacified, and, if not loyal,
at least resigned to its condition.
Preparations were soon in progress for a movement up the river
against Port Hudson, which barred the ascent of the river as Vicksburg
did the descent. Port Hudson is the Gibraltar of the Lower Missis
sippi. It is in East Feliciana parish, Louisiana, on the left bank ofthe
Mississippi, about a hundred and fifty-six miles by river above New Or
leans, and twenty-five miles above Baton Rouge. Although a small vil
lage, it was noted for its extensive shipment of cotton and sugar, drawn
chiefly from Mississippi by the Clinton Railroad. The fortifications
were immensely strong, and the Confederates were confident of suc-

* Nathaniel Prentiss Banks was born In Walt-
ham, Mass., In 1816, and commenced life as an
operative in a cotton-mill in that town. Sub
sequently he became a lecturer and political speak
er, was admitted to the bar, and in 1849 elected to
the lower House of the Massachusetts Legislature.
He officiated as speaker of that body in 1851 and
1863. In 1853 he presided over the Massachusetts
Constitutional Convention, and also entered Con
gress. He was re-elected to the latter body in
1865, and became its speaker. From 1868 to 1861
he was Governor of Massachusetts. In May of
the latter year be was commissioned; a major-
general of volunteers, aud in the succeeding Bum
mer took command on the Upper Potomac. In
the spring of 1862 he drove the rebels up the
valley of the Shenandoah, bat was compelled by

Stonewall Jackson to retreat across the Potomac-
He had an active part in the campaign under Pope
in Virginia, and commanded at the battle of Cedar
Mountain. In the ensuing winter he took chorge
ofthe expedition destined to co-operate in open
ing the Mississippi, and succeeded General Butler
in command at New Orleans. In the spring or
1863 he conducted a successful expedition through
Southern Louisiana, and after several months siege
received the capitnlation of Port Hudson in July.
In the spring of 1864 he commanded thedisastrous
Red River expedition, destined to open the region
of Western Louisiana to trade, and defeat or dis
perse the rebel forces there. He retained his de
partment after this, but was not again actively
employed in the field. In May, 1866. he resigned
his commission and returned to civil life.

436 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
cessfully resisting any force likely to be sent against them. Between
Port Hudson and Vicksburg they had perfect control of two hundred
and fifty miles of the Mississippi, and it was through this territory that
they were constantly receiving supplies of beef-cattle, and other neces
saries from Texas. The river, as at Vicksburg, makes a bend opposite
the city, but not so sharp, and the batteries on the bluffs for four miles
commanded the passage. The rear of the town is swampy, intersected
with ravines, and very difficult of access. The place was defended by
twenty thousand met|, mostly from Western Texas, under the com
mand of Van Dorn and Lovell.
On the 13th of March, simultaneously with the departure of Far
ragut's fleet, the army of General Banks left Baton Rouge for Port
Hudson. The object of the movement at that time was only to make
a diversion in favor of the fleet, and not a serious attack upon Port
Hudson. A detached force, under Colonel Molineaux, diverged from
the main body to keep clear the Clinton road on the right. At Cypress
Bayou bridge^he advance encountered the enemy's force, which retired,
after a short skirmish, with the loss of eleven killed and wounded. The
main army was in three divisions, under Generals Augur, Grover, and
Emory. On receiving the route, Grover's Division moved at four
o'clock p. m., Emory's at seven, and Augur's at three on the following;
morning ; at two p. m. of the 14th the advance reached Springfield Cross
Roads, within five miles of Port Hudson, and bivouacked for the night,
during which the guns from Port Hudson, where Farragut was forcing
his passage, Avere distinctly heard. On the morning of the 14th, the
Hartford and Albatross having passed up, General Banks declared the
object of his movement accomplished, and ordered a return to Baton
Rouge, greatly to the disgust of the troops.
In the month of April an expedition was organized to operate in
the region of the Bayou Teche.. It is one of the most fertile regions
of Louisiana, and numbers of salt works and founderies were there
situated, which it was determined to take possession of. The supplies
for Port Hudson were mostly drawn from that region, and to cut them
off was a necessary preliminary to the reduction of that place. The ex
pedition was quite successful, resulting, among other things, in the de
struction ofthe Queen ofthe West, which, after being fitted up by her rebel
captors, had run into the Atchafalaya. Preparations were now made
to renew the attack upon Port Hudson, and on the 20th of May, the
day after the investment of Vicksburg began, the troops of General
Banks began a march upon Port Hudson, of which a regular invest
ment was commenced on May 2 2d. As the forces of Banks succes
sively arrived and took position, the lines were drawn closely around
Ahe rebel works. The force of the enemy was represented, at thirteen
thousand, under General Gardner. There were two boats, the Star
light and Red Chief, moored just above Port Hudson, in the Big
Sandy Creek, that ran into the Mississippi To destroy those boats,
General Banks dispatched the Seventh Illinois Cavalry, under Colonel
Price, who executed the order on the 25th. This cut off water com
munication, and the place was now encircled by land. Commencing
at the extreme northwestern end of Port Hudson, and stretching round

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION 437
in a southeasterly direction, the whole Union army was placed. Gen
eral Grover, With the commands of Dwight, Paine, Dudley, and
Weitzel, occupied the right, while General Augur occupied the centre,
and General T. W. Sherman the left wing — the entire line extending
over a space of several miles.
Preparations being thus made, at dawn on the 27th the guns along
the whole line opened on the devoted place. The cannonade contmued
until one o'clock, when orders were given to slacken the fire, with a
view to an assault on the enemy's left, in co-operation with which there
was to be a simultaneous assault by General Sherman on the Union left.
The line moved through the woods in their immediate front, and came
upon a plain, on the farther side of which, half a mile distant, were the
Confederate batteries. The field was covered with recently felled
trees, through the interlaced branches of which the troops were to
advance in face of shot, shell, and grape. The field officers dismounted
to lead, since horses could not penetrate such obstacles. The advance
commenced at three o'clock p. m., and for two hours the men braved
the storm and shot while struggling through the obstacles, when, the task
proving too difficult, they were then withdrawn. Among those who par
ticipated in this affair was Colonel Bartlett* ofthe Fortyrninth Massachu
setts, who, having lost a leg, was compelled to go on horseback or not at
all. The enemy was so struck with his bravery that orders were issued
not to shoot him. On the left, the attack of General Sherman, somewhat
later in the day, met with the same results. The column retired, after
suffering heavy loss ; General Sherman himself losing a leg. On the
right the attacking column included the First and Third Regiments of
the colored troops raised by General Banks, who for the first time were
brought into action, and acquitted themselves with such credit as to
will high encomiums from their commander. "In many respects,"
he said, " their conduct was heroic; no -troops could be more deter*
mined or daring. The whole loss of the army in this assault was
about one thousand. The loss of the enemy was reported on their
side at six hundred. On the 28th, General Banks sent a flag pro
posing a cessation of hostilities, for the purpose of burying the dead,
which was acceded to.
The state of affairs now began to change very perceptibly, and the
position of Banks became somewhat critical. The troops with which
he had left the North in December were mostly nine-months men, one-
fourth of whose time had expired before they arrived in the depart
ment, and who then required instruction and drill before they could
be of use in the field. The three-years men that General Banks found
in the department were inured veterans, but their ranks had been
greatly thinned by battle and disease. When the attacks upon Port
Hudson began the time of the majority of the army was drawing to a
close, and this force had now sustained a repulse before works which
vied with those of Vicksburg in strength and capabilities of defence.
The position of Grant's army was not much different. The two armies
were exposed to the malaria of an unhealthy location, and compelled to
drink peculiarly unwholesome waters, and the heat of midsummer was
rapidly approaching. In the mean time the Mississippi had fallen

438 HISTOEY OF THE GREAT EEBELLION
twenty-eight feet,, a very unusual depression, interfering with the effi
ciency of ftiae gunboats and the means of obtaining supplies. The Con
federate armies were also organizing and moving upon the Union
communications flank and rear. General Johnston, it was supposed,
continued to gather force on the northeast of Vicksburg, pressing
Grant's rear and forcing him to intrench, while Price and Marma-
jluke, with twenty-six thousand men, were at Helena, and General
Walker, of General Dick Taylor's army, held Young's Point with
seven thousand men, thus threatening Grant's supplies. At the same
time, Buckner and Breckinridge, with a considerable force, were
closing upon Banks's rear. The whole Opelousas country recently
traversed by Banks had again fallen into the possession of the rebels,
and the remnant of Banks's force, which had been left at Brashear City,
was threatened by a cavalry force under Dick Taylor, who captured
several steamers, also a number of Northern cotton merchants at Pla-
quemine, besides taking possession of Butte Station- on the Opelousas
Railroad. By this movement Brashear City was cut off, while a Con
federate force of five thousand occupied Berwick City.
On the morning of June 23d, the garrison of Brashear City was sur
prised by a large force, which had during the night crossed Lake
Palourde, and come up in the rear. Our loss on this occasion was
large, including a camp of about six hundred convalescent soldiers. The
enemy, also, by the capture of our force, gained possession of Fort
Buchanan and Fort Schene, and another smaller earthwork farther
down the bay. On these fortifications were mounted eighteen or
twenty guns of heavy calibre, several of which were the finest rifled
pieces we had in the department. Large quantities of commissary
and ordnance stores, besides small-arms and horses, also fell into the
hands of the enemy. This disaster extinguished the Union possession
.of Louisiana west of the Mississippi.
Meantime the enemy actively operated upon the communication be
tween New Orleans and Port Hudson. A quantity of supplies for the
besieging army was captured fifty miles above New Orleans ; Banks
was compelled to invigorate his operations, and efforts were made to
concentrate all available troops at Port Hudson, and to recruit the
black regiments. The deserters and prisoners from Port Hudson gen
erally stated that the place was on short allowance, but the appearance
ofthe men belied these assertions. Occasional dispatches were cap
tured, asserting that the garrison could not hold out beyond a fixed
time. These rumors and dispatches had the air of ruse, to induce
Banks to waste his men in attacks. The general situation was such,
however, as to induce the Union general to hasten a crisis, since the
starvation process promised but little success, and his own position
was becoming critical. At length, on the 13th June, a demand for
the surrender of the place was made and refused, and a new attack
was determined for the 14th. The plan contemplated a main attack
by Grover, who was to force the works in front, while Dwight and
Augur were to make feigned attacks on the extreme left. These two
attacks were made with a loss of three hundred men. The column of
General Grover was formed as follows : The Seventy-fifth New York

HISTORY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION. 439
and the Twelfth Connecticut were detailed as skirmishers, forming a
separate command under Lieutenant-Colonel Babcock, of the former.
The Ninety-first New York, Colonel Van Zandt commanding, each
soldier carrying a five-pound hand-grenade, with his musket thrown
over his shoulder, followed next in order. The skirmishers were to
ereep up and lie on the exterior slope Of the enemy's breastworks,
while the regiment carrying the grenades was to come up to the same
position and throw over the grenades into the enemy's lines, with a
view to rout them and drive them from behind their works. The
Twenty-fourth Connecticut, Colonel Mansfield, with arms slung ; in
like manner to the grenade regiment, followed, carrying sand-bags
filled with cotton, which were to be used to fill up the ditch in front
of the enemy's breastworks, to enable the assaulting party the more
easily to scale them and charge upon the rebels. Following these
different regiments came Weitzel's whole brigade, under command of
Colonel Smith, of the One Hundred and Fourteenth New York.
Next came Colonel Kimble's and Colonel Morgan's Brigades, under
the general command of Colonel Birge. This force was held to sup
port the assaulting column, which was under the immediate command!
of General Weitzel, who made the attack on the right. General
Emory's old Division moved in conjunction with. General Weitzel on
the left, forming a separate column. , The two divisions, Weitzel's and
Paine's, were under command of Grover.
The ground to be traversed by the column was, for the first hundred
yards, obstructed by an abatis of felled trees, to which succeeded a diteh
forty feet wide, with six feet of water in it; and beyond that a glacis
about twenty feet high, sloping gradually to the parapet, on which was a
protection for the sharpshooters ; behind, one hundred yards distant,
was another line of works, on which field and heavy artillery was
mounted. At daylight, General Grover's command were formed in
the woods skirting the enemy's position, and three hundred yards dis
tant from the works. The skirmishers then advanced, and deployed
right and left at the point to be attacked, suffering severely from the •
enemy's fire. The whole command followed. The fire of the corvette ¦'
Richmond in the river opened at the same time upon the place. As
the troops left the shelter of the woods they encountered a sharp fire
from the enemy. The skirmishers pushed on, in the hope that on
reaching the ditch they should be able to keep the enemy down so
that the advancing grenadiers should be able to perform their part of
the work. The Seventy-fifth New York reached the ditch, but found.
it so enfiladed that nearly all were either killed or wounded. The
grenadiers, on coming up, threw their grenades over the rebel breast
works, but the enemy actually caught them and hurled them back
among us. In the mean time, while the skirmishers were nobly en
deavoring to sustain themselves in their position, General Weitzel's.
column moved up as rapidly as possible and made a series of desperate
assaults on the enemy's works. At this time, the sun having fairly
risen, the fight became general. A fog,. which had partially obscured
the contending armies, lifted and revealed their respective positions.
The enemy was fully prepared for us, and they lined every part of their

440 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
fortifications with heavy bodies of infantry., The battle had begun' in
earnest, and General Paine's column as well as General WeiizeFs was
actively engaged. Colonel Smith was killed leading the first assault
of Weitzel's Brigade. Lieutenant-Colonel Von Petten, of the One
Hundred and Sixteenth New York, immediately took command of
the brigade, and gallantly led the charge until all further hope of
forcing the position was gone. Brigade after brigade followed in
rapid succession, storming the works, until compelled to fall back under
the terrible fire of the enemy. They were all eventually repulsed with
great slaughter.
The fighting ceased at eleven <? clock in the morning; and the
soldiers, under command of their oflicers, laid themselves down under
shelter of the gullies, trees, covered way, in fact everything that could
afford them protection, and waited for the day to pass and darkness
to come on. At nightfall we commenced the burial of our dead, and
succeeded before the morning in carrying most of our wounded from the
battle-ground. Among the Union losses were General Paine and five
colonels. The loss in killed and wounded was over two thousand;
On the following day5 General Banks issued the following order : —

" Head-Quarters Department op the Gulf, )
" Nineteenth Aumt Corps, J-
"Before Port Hudson, June 15, 1863. )
" The Commanding General congratulates the troops before Port Hudson upon the
steady advance made upon the enemy's works, and is confident of an immediate and
triumphant issue of the contest. We are at all points on the threshold of his fortifica
tions. One more advance and they are ours. For the last duty that victory imposes
the Commanding General summons $he field men ofthe corps to the organization of a
storming column of a thousand men, to vindicate the flag of the Union, and the mem
ory of its defenders who have fallen. Let them come forward. Officers who lead the
column of victory in this last assault may be assured of just recognition of their ser
vices by promotion; and every officer and soldier who shares its perils and its glory
shall receive a medal fit to commemorate the first grand success of the campaign of
1863 for the freedom ofthe Mississippi His name shall be placed in general orders
upon the roll of honor. Biyision commanders will at once report the names of the offi
cers and men who may volunteer for this service, in order that the organization of the
column may be completed without delay.
"By command of Major-.General Banks.
"Richard B. Irwin, Assistant Adjutant- General"
The call was responded to by the Fourth Wisconsin and the Sixth
Michigan, by which regiments the attack was made, resulting in the
repulse and capture of nearly the whole assaulting force.
The siege was now continued vigorously, batteries being ere.cteij
across the river, which were well served by United States regulars.
One hundred and fifty paces from the enemy's extreme right seventeen
eight and ten inch columbiads were established, another battery of
seven pieces was placed in the centre, and one of six guns on the left.
From these a heavy fire was maintained day and night with little, loss
of life to the enemy, but with the effect of disabling most of his artil
lery. About the 20th of June the meat rations gave out, and mules
were butchered for the use of the garrison, who also devoured rats.
Soon after the ammunition began to fail. Amid these accumulating

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 441
difficulties the time wore on to the Yth of July, when the following
correspondence took place : —
" general gardner to general banks.
"Head-Quarters, Port Hudson, )
" Louisiana, July 1, 1863. J
" General:— Having received information from your troops that Vicksburg has been
surrendered, I make this communication to ask you to give me the official assurance
whether this is true or not ; and if true, I ask for a cessation of hostilities, with a view
to the consideration of terms for surrendering this position.
" I am, General, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
"Frank Gardner,
" Major- General Commanding C. S. Forces.
"To Major-General Banks, Commanding U. S. Forces, near Port Hudson."
"general banks to general gardner
"Head-Quarters Department op the Gulp, )
" Below Port Hudson, July 8, 1863. J
" General : — In reply to your communication, dated the 7th instant, by flag of
truce received a few moments since, I have the honor to inform you that I received
yesterday morning, July 7th, at 10.45 o'clock, by the gunboat General Price, an official
dispatch from Major-General Ulysses Grant, TJ. S. Army, whereof the following is a
" ' Head-Quarters Department op the Tennessee, )
" ' Near Vicksburg, July 4, 1863. J
" ' Major-General N. P. Banks, commanding the Department of the Gulf:
" ' General : — The garrison of Vicksburg surrendered this morning. The number of
prisoners, as given by the officers, is twenty-seven thousand, field artillery one hundred
and twenty-eight pieces, and a large number of siege-guns, probably not less than
eighty. " ' Your obedient servant, " 'U. S. Grant, Major- General:
" I regret to say that under present circumstances I cannot consistently with my duty
consent to a cessation of hostilities for the purpose you indicate.
"Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
" N. P. Banks, Major- General Commanding.
" To Major-General Frank Gardner, Commanding C. S. Forces, Port Hudson."
The Confederate garrison having now become exhausted, even their
mules, and their ammunition being no more than twenty rounds per
man, there was now no longer any hope of relief. Vicksburg having
surrendered, which gave the Federals the advantage of the Mississippi to
transport troops from that point to Port Hudson, the reduction of the
latter place, in a very few days, followed as a matter of course.
The following capitulation was signed July 8th : —
" ARTICLES OF CAPITULATION.
( " Article 1.— Major-General FranE Gardner surrendered to the United States forces
under Major-General Banks, the place of Port Hudson and its dependencies, with its
garrison, armament, munitions, public funds, material of war, in the condition, as nearly
as may be, in which they were at the hour of cessation of hostilities, namely, six o clock
A. M., July 8, 1863.
" Article 2.— The surrender stipulated in Article 1 is qualified by uncondition save
that the officers and enlisted men composing the garrison shall receive the treatment
4ue to prisoners of war, according to the usage of civilized warfare.
" Article 3 —All private property of officers and enlisted men shall be inspectea ana
left to their respective owners.

442 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION
" Article 4. — The position of Port Hudson shall be occupied to-morrow, . at nine
o'clock A. M., by the forces of the United States, and-its garrison received as prisoners
of war by such general officers ofthe United States service as may be designated by Major-
General Banks, with the ordinary formalities of rendition. The Confederate troops will
be drawn up in line, officers in their positions, the right of the line resting on the
edge of the prairie south of the railroad dep6t, the left extending in the direction of
the village of Port Hudson. The arms and colors will be piled conveniently, and will
be received by the officers of the United States.
" Article 5. — The sick and wounded of the garrison will be cared for by the au
thorities of the United States, assisted, if desired, by either party of tho medical
officers of the garrison.
" Charles P. Stone, Brigadier-General.
" W. N. Miles, Colonel Commanding Right Wing of the Army.
"Wm. Dwight, Brigadier-General.
" G. W. Stedman, Colonel Commanding the Left Wing of the Army.
" Marshal J. Smith, Lieutenant-Colonel, Chief Artillery.
"Henry W. Birge, Colonel Commanding "Fifth Brigade, Grover's Division.
"(Approved.) N. P. Banks, Major-General.
"(Approved.) Frank Gardner, Major-General."
The place was taken possession of accordingly, July 9th, at 7 a. ii.
As the victors entered, they found the Confederates all drawn up in
line of battle, with arms stacked in front of them, and the hungry sol
diers of General Gardner were soon well fed from the commissariat of
the Union army, from which six thousand rations were drawn. The
number of rebel soldiers drawn up in line when the surrender took place
was about four thousand. In addition to this number there were about
one thousand five hundred sick and wounded ; the wounded numbered
about five hundred. The enemy's report was two hundred killed, five
hundred and seventeen wounded, and six thousand prisoners.
The number of guns taken was fifty, of which, however, all" but
fifteen had been dismounted by the Union fire. The capture of small-
arms was nearly forty thousand, including some that had been gathered
by the enemy when burying the Union dead. The following dispatch
was received at Washington : — " Vicksburg, Miss., July 11, 1863 — 3 p. m.
!' Major-General Halleck, General-in-Chief:
" The following dispatch has been received from General Banks: —
" 'Before Port Hudson, July 8, 1863.
" ' General : — The Mississippi is now opened. I have the honor to inform you that
the garrison at Port Hudson surrendered unconditionally this afternoon. We shall
take formal possession at seven o'clock in the morning.
(Signed) " ' jj. P. Banks, Major-General.'
" 'U. S. Grant, Major- General' "
The following is a chronological record of the operations against Port
Hudson from the first movements of General Banks and the fleet : —
April 12, 1863. — General Banks moves from Brashear City and attacks Patersonville.
April 13, 1863. — Patersonville captured by General Banks.
April 20, 1863.' — General Banks captures Bute La Rose and Opelousas.
April 21, 1863. — General Banks occupies Washington, La.
May 7, 1863. — General Banks's advance occupies Alexandria.
May 8, 9, and 10, 1863. — The mortar-boats bombard Port Hudson.
May 12, 1863. — Reconnoissance in the rear of Port Hudson by General Dudley.
May 19, 1863. — General Dudley makes another reconnoissance within a mile and a
half of the works.

HISTOEY OF THE GREAT EEBELLION.

443

May 21, 1S63. — General Augur's Brigade has an engagement at Port Hudson.
May 23, 1863. — General Banks lands above Port Hudson, forms a junction with his
main body, and closely invests the place.
May 27, 1863. — General Banks opens a combined assault, the gunboats partici
pating. June 14, 1863. — General Banks summons General Gardner to surrender, andj upon
being refused, commences a furious assault, which is repulsed.
June 15, 1863. — Genera) Banks announces that he will renew the assault, and calls
for a forlorn hope.
July 8, 1863. — Port Hudson surrenders unconditionally.
These two great events, the fall of Vicksburg and the surrender of
Port Hudson, put an end forever to the Confederate occupation of
the Mississippi River, and left that mighty stream open to the free
passage of vessels from the Northwest to the ocean. Thus the prom
ise of the great Northwest to open the river was redeemed.

CHAPTER XLI.
New Movement against Richmond. — Lee's Flank Turned. — Battle of ChanceUorsville,—
Retreat of Hooker. — Operations by Sedgwick.
After several months of delay, caused by the state of the roads,
and the necessity of thorough preparation for so arduous a campaign
as the movement upon Richmond was likely to prove, General Hooker *
finally completed his arrangements, and with the improved state of the
roads was prepared to march. This was the more necessary as a large
portion of his army was composed of two-years and nine-months men,
whose terms of service were about to expire, and whose places no
measures had been taken to supply. He had, to use his own words,
" the finest army on the planet," raised to that state of perfection by
the profuse supply of all descriptions of munitions of war, and long
months of camp instruction. He had the experience of McDowell's
campaign, of McClellan's Peninsula campaign, of Pope's Manassas
campaign, and of Burnside's Fredericksburg campaign, to guide him.
He was conducting the fourth attempt upon Richmond. He knew
fully the ground over which he was to travel, the enemy with whom
he had to deal, and was aware that in General Lee he had a skilful

* Joseph Hooker was born in Hadley, Massa
chusetts, in 1819, graduated iit West Point in 1SST,
and was commissioned in the same year a second
lieutenant of artillery. He was successively bre
vetted captain, major, and lieutenant-colonel for
gallant conduct in the Mexican war, and in 1848
became lull captain. He resigned his commission
in 1853, and settled on a farm in California. He
was appointed a brigadier-general of volunteers in
May, 1S61. and for a number of months command
ed a division in Southern Maryland. He bore a
distingnished part in all the chief battles of the
Peninsula campaign, and' also in the second Bull
Hun campaign, and In September, 1862, was pro
moted to the command of the First Army Corps.
In July, 1862, he was commissioned a major-gen
eral of volunteers. He fought with great "bravery
at Antietam, where he was wounded, and, after

Burnside assumed command of the Army of the
Potomac, was assigned to the centre grand divi
sion. In January, '1863. he succeeded Burnside in
command ofthe Army ofthe Potomac, fought the
battle of ChanceUorsville In the ensuing May, and
was relieved by Meade, June 27th. 8ubsequently,in
command ofthe Eleventh andTwelfth Army Corps,
he was sent to relieve Rosecrans at Chattanooga,
ond distingnished himself in tho operations ending
with tho defeat of Bragg in November. As com
mander of the Twentieth Corps, consolidated from
the Eleventh and Twelfth, he participated in Sher
man's Atlanta campaign, but was relieved »t his
own request, in the latter part of J nly, 1864. Soon
after, ho was appointed to the Department of the
North. He is at present a brigndier-general in
Ihe regular army, and commands the Department
ofthe East.

444 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION.
strategist, and in his army a powerful host of veterans, to overcome.
General Hooker thus possessed all the advantages of personal training,
experience, observation, and knowledge which a good leader, with his
superior army, could reasonably ask, in order to insure complete success
to his great enterprise. The confidence of the Government and the
hopes of the country were with him.
The enemy, under Lee and Jackson, still held Fredericksburg, and
the formidable works which had been so fatal to Burnside in Decem
ber. Their force was, however, a matter of conjecture. It was known
that numbers of troops, including Longstreet's command, had been
sent to Suffolk and North Carolina to assist the operations there,
and it was supposed that detachments had been sent in other direc
tions. It was also known that the army at Fredericksburg was con
nected by railroad direct with Richmond, and southwesterly by way
of Gordonsville, and that without those connections the Confederates
could neither retreat nor receive supplies to maintain their position.
The campaign was based on these facts. It was determined to send a
sufficient cavalry force, under Stoneman, by a circuitous route, to the
rear of the Confederates, and cut the bridges which cross the North
Anna and South Anna Rivers on the Fredericksburg road. The for
mer, one hundred and fifty feet long and eighty feet high, if effectually
destroyed, would require a fortnight to replace, a time which, well
employed, would be fatal to Lee. At the same time a portion of the
army was to attack Fredericksburg in front, to turn the right of the
enemy, while the main force, crossing the Rapidan some distance
above its junction with the Rappahannock, should come in on his left,
thus reducing the enemy to surrender in case of defeat, while Hookeif
would still have his retreat open in case of disaster. The nrmy of
Hooker was composed of seven corps, viz. : the First, Reynolds ;
Second, Couch; Third, Sickles; Fifth, Meade; Sixth, Sedgwick.;
Eleventh, Howard (late Sigel) ; and Twelfth, Slocum.
On the morning of April 27th, the Eleventh Corps, Howard, com
posed of the German Divisions of Schurz and Stein wehr, and of that
of Devens, marched for Kelly's Ford on the Rappahannock, near the
line of the Manassas and Gordonsville Railroad, and twenty-five miles
west of Fredericksburg. The troops crossed on the night ofthe 28th,
followed on the next day by the Twelfth and Fifth Corps, which cross
ed at the United States Ford, nearer Fredericksburg. The three corps
turned then eastward, and marched down the narrow strip of land be
tween the Rapidan and the Rappahannock for ChanceUorsville, nine
miles from Fredericksburg. The Germania Ford, on the Rapidan, was
reached at noon by the Fifth Corps, on the left. The cavalry pushed
on towards Fredericksburg, but were met by the enemy six miles from
the junction of the turnpike with the plankroad, and driven back
Meantime, on May 1st and 2d, the First, Third, and two divisions ofthe
Second Corps, had crossed by Banks, and the United States Ford, and
joined the other corps. Thus the entire Army of the Potomac, with the
exception ofthe Thirteenth Corps and one division of the Second under
Gibbon, which were left behind at the former position near Falmouth,
opposite Fredericksburg, had crossed the Rappahannock, and, having

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 445
turned the left of the enemy, had gained his rear, and were concen
trated near ChanceUorsville. So promising did matters look, that
Hooker, in the excess of this confidence, issued the following order: —
" Head-Quarters Army of the Potomac, )
"Near Falmouth, Va., April 30, 1863. \
"It is with heartfelt satisfaction that the, General Commanding announces to the
army that the operations of the last three days have determined that our enemy must
ingloriously fly, or come out from behind his defences, and give us battle on our own
ground, where certain destruction awaits him.
" The operations of the Fifth, Eleventh, and Twelfth Corps have been a series of
Bplendid successes.
" By command of Major-General Hooker. "S. Williams, Adjutant- General"
The effect of this movement ofthe army was to turn the formidable
works behind Fredericksburg, the assault of which had cost Burnside
so dearly, in December, and threaten the communication of the enemy
with GordonsviUft, which was his only line of retreat, in case the mis
sion of Stoneman to cut the bridges over the North and South Anna
Rivers should prove successful, and compel him to fight on ground
chosen by Hooker. It resulted that the enemy was compelled to leave
his works to clear the route to Gordonsville. Although the movement
of Hooker had been a complete surprise, the rebel commander took
prompt measures to counteract it. Meanwhile, the Union troops were
got as rapidly into position, around ChanceUorsville, as circumstances
would permit, and on the 2d of May were disposed in an irregular V,
of which the longer leg, comprising four corps, had a southwesterly
direction, and the shorter one turned rather to the north. ChanceUors
ville was the apex. In the longer line, Meade's Fifth Corps held the
extreme left, near Scott's dam on the Rappahannock, with its left ex
tending beyond ChanceUorsville, which is a single house at the junction
of a plankroad and a turnpike leading from Fredericksburg to Gor-
donsville, ten miles southwest from Fredericksburg. The Gordons
ville turnpike has a general southwesterly course, and along this road,
to the right of the Fifth Corps, was the Twelfth Corps, the Third being
on its right, and the Eleventh on the extreme right. On the shorter
line, the SecondCorps held the position next to ChanceUorsville, and
adjoining it, on the road to the United States Ford, was the First
Corps. ChanceUorsville was the key of the place, and Hooker's head
quarters were established there. The Eleventh Corps had its extreme
right in a densely wooded land covered with the closest undergrowth,
and considered unassailable. The Union troops immediately began,
May 1st, to fortify the whole position, and await the development of
the secondary movements-— those of Stoneman and Sedgwick.
On the morning of the 2d, a force of the enemy approached by the
plankroad from Fredericksburg, and attacked the Fifth Corps. The
battery of Knapp opened upon them and caused them to return. In
the afternoon they again approached in force, when Geary's Division of
Slocum's Twelfth Corps was sent into the woods to flank the advance.
They encountered a sharp fire, and Kane's Brigade broke in disorder,

446 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
throwing the whole column into confusion. The retiring troops were
drawn to the right ofthe road, in order that the artillery might play
upon the advancing enemy. This it did with such effect that he soon re
tired. This seems to have been a feint, however, since, during the night,
the enemy had cut a road through the woods which covered the right
front of Howard, at Wilderness Church, fifteen miles southwest of Fred
ericksburg, and while the attack was going on in front, wagons were
moving to the left of the enemy, and it was assumed that he was in
retreat. To ascertain the state of affairs, a reconnoissance by Sickles's
Corps was made, resulting in the capture of some troops, who stated
that the wagons were ordnance following General Jackson and staff.
General Sickles then advanced, in the hope of cutting the enemy in
two, but at five o'clock in the afternoon, while the movement was in
progress, a terrific crash of musketry announced Jackson's appearance
in force on the extreme right, where was Sehurz's Division of the
Eleventh Corps. With wild yells the Confederates rushed on in over
whelming numbers, and the Germans, overborne, broke and fled in
helpless confusion. In vain officers stormed and entreated ; the men
sullenly made their way to the river, followed by portions of Devens's
and Steinwehr's . Divisions. The brigades of Bushbeck and McLean
held their ground for a time, but were Compelled to fall back before
the irruption of the enemy, who like a whirlwind rushed in at the
opening left by the retreating Germans. At this crisis, Captain Best
rapidly got his batteries into position on a ridge in a cornfield, and
Berry's Division of the Third Corps, throwing itself into the gap, stayed
the torrent which had threatened to roll up the line in disastrous con
fusion. Manfully the Bmall band bore up against the fierce assault of
the desperate foe, and by dint of endurance succeeded in keeping the
foe at bay until supports arrived The enemy's force comprised the
three strong divisions, A. P. Hill's, Trimble's, and Rhodes's, of Jack
son's Corps, and greatly outnumbered the troops to whom they were
opposed. in this affair the enemy sustained the irreparable loss of General
" Stonewall " Jackson, whose left arm was broken by a shot, while
another passed through his right hand. These wounds claused his
death a few days later. General A. P. Hill succeeded him in command
of his corps. It became necessary to order a night attack, in order to
restore the_ connection of the Union lines. This was performed by
Ward's Brigade of Birney's Division, at eleven o'clock, with some
degree of success, and the line fell back upon ChanceUorsville, where
the exhausted men slept on their arms, awaiting the events of a new
day. ^ In these operations, the enemy had completely turned the Union
right, compelling a complete change of position, which would throw him
out ofthe rear into the front. Early on the 3d, the line of battle was
soon formed. The left of the new position lay a little to the west and
south of ChanceUorsville, and was occupied by the Third and Twelfth
Corps. Next, on the right, came the Fifth, and Reynolds's First Corps
held the extreme right. The Second Corps lay in the rear of the Fifth,
and behind the former was the Eleventh, which had finally been rallied,

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 447
though still too much shattered for use. At half-past five A. k. of the
3dj the advance became engaged in the ravine, just beyond the ridge
where Captain Best's guns had made their terrific onslaught the nfght
before. General Berry's Division, which had then checked the enemy's
advance, engaged him again. In vain he advanced his infantry in over
whelming numbers, as if determined to crush Our forces ; the brave
men of Sickles and Slocum, who fought their columns with desperate
gallantry, held him in check. The engagement lasted, without the
slightest intermission, from half-past five a. m. to forty-five minutes
past eight a. m., when there was a temporary cessation on our part,
occasioned by getting out of ammunition. Somewhat later, the enemy,
with the divisions of A. P. Hill, McLaws, and Anderson, added to those
of Jackson's Corps, pressed in front with wonderful persistence, al
though the batteries of the Third Corps did terrible execution. The
rebel batteries repUed with great effect, shelling and setting on fire the
ChanceUor mansion, a large brick structure occupied by General
Hooker as head-quarters. The Union troops held the position for
nearly an hour with the bayonet, and then, as Hooker did not wish to
bring his fresh troops into action at that time, an order was given to
fall back towards the river, where a good position was taken behind
intrenchments. This left the line of battle lying on the edge of the
woods, three-quarters of a mile north of ChanceUorsville, parallel with
the Ely Ford road, and crossing the main road leading to the United
States Ford. This line was maintained through the 4th. In these
movements General Berry was kUled, Generals Devin and Mott
wounded. It now became evident that the enemy were augmenting in force ;
and as nothing had been heard from Stoneman, it was inferred that his
expedition had failed. The rations taken by the army for eight days
were nearly exhausted, and the ammunition was getting short, since,
for celerity of movement, only the caissons had been brought over to
supply the guns. The men had taken forty rounds of cartridges in
their cartouches, and forty rounds extra in their knapsacks, most of
which was expended. One of those heavy easterly storms, common
to the month of May on the Atlantic coast, now set in with copious
rains, and the river rose rapidly behind the army, covering the fords,
and threatening the pontoon bridges, of which there were three. The
rapid rise in the water made it necessary to take up one to prolong
the other two. General Hooker, under these circumstances, called a
council, at which a retreat was decided upon. The heavy guns and
wagons were sent over on Monday night, the 4th, and the troops be
gan to follow, the Fifth Corps covering the retreat. The terrible
storm and the darkness of the night favored the retreat. One by
one the various corps left the intrenchments, filed to the rear, and
passed the river, standing once more on the north bank amid the mud
that had so long held Burnside fast. The number of wounded left
behind was large, and General Hooker sent over a flag offering to
send surgeons, rations, and medicines. General Lee accepted the sur
geons, but declined the rations and medicines.
MeanwhUe, Sedgwick's Sixth Corps remained a short distance be-

448 HISTORY OF THE GREAT EEBELLION.
low Fredericksburg, and on the same side of the river, awaiting
the withdrawal of rebel troops to oppose Hooker, when it was pro
posed to carry the heights so fruitlessly attacked in the previous De
cember. A reconnoissance at dawn of the 3d showed that Marye's
HiU, the position selected for assault,, was held by a considerable body
of troops, which proved to be a part of Early's Division. With a view
of diverting the attention of the enemy from his movement, Sedg
wick directed one of his divisions, under Howe, and Gibbon's Divi
sion, of the Second Corps, which had been left to garrison Falmouth;
to attempt the works lying to the east of Marye's Hill. Newton's
Division was selected to storm the last-named position, and at about
noon accomplished the task in the most gallant manner, though with
heavy loss. Howe's attack was equally successful,, and the two divi
sions captured seventeen giins, including the famous Washington Ar
tillery's battery, and nearly a thousand prisoners. Sedgwick then
pushed forward his whole corps in pursuit of the flying enemy, and
m the afternoon came up with him at Salem Heights, about four nnles
west of Fredericksburg, occupying a position of considerable strength.
Lee by this time had been enabled to send re-enforcements towards
Fredericksburg, so that the enemy now probably equalled his pur
suers in numbers, and had also the advantage of position. Neverthe
less, by resolute fighting, the gallant troops of Sedgwick carried the
hill at dusk, and, not wishing to press their advantage in the dark
ness through the wooded country extending westward, bivouacked
for the night on the battle-field. \
At dawn of the 4th, Sedgwick re-formed his lines, extending his
right to the Rappahannock, in the neighborhood of Banks's Ford.
Soon afterwards he learned that Lee had sent a force to repccupy the
heights back of Fredericksburg. This placed him in a critical posi
tion. His retreat to Fredericksburg was cut off, and the experience
of the previous day had shown him the difficulty, not to say the im
possibility, of cutting his way through to ChanceUorsville, to form a
junction with Hooker. He therefore fell back towards Banks's Ford,
where his command was soon confronted by' an overwhelming force
under Lee. From four o'clock in the afternoon until dusk, the Sixth
Corps, single-handed, stood at bay on the river-bank against double
their numbers, losing in the unequal combat one-third of their whole
force, but at the same time inflicting fearful loss upon the enemy. At
length Lee retired from what he termed the " bloodiest battle of the
war," and, at two o'clock in the morning ofthe 5th, Sedgwick led his
exhausted and shattered columns safely across the river.
The column of Stoneman, on passing the river at Kelly's Ford, was
divided into two columns, under Stoneman and Averill. The main
column under Stoneman moved upon Richmond by Louisa Court-
House and Montpelier, crossing the South Anna at Squirrel Bridge.
AveriU's pushed on to Brandy Station, where it met the enemy's
pickets, and drove them back in a short skirmish. It then advanced
to Culpepper Court-House, where Generals Fitzhugb and Williain-
Henry Lee were found with a rebel force of perhaps five hundred cav
alry, which fled precipitately back across Cedar Mountain.

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 449
At Culpepper Court-House, General Averill pushed on after the re
treating Lees, following them to Rapidan Station, where they burned
the railroad bridge, over which they retreated after a smart fight, in
which they lost Colonel Rosser (late of the United States Army), who
commanded one of the brigades. Our loss there was inconsiderable,
and they lost several killed besides Colonel Rosser, and also thirty-
one prisoners, whom General Averill brought back with him. The
object of Averill's expedition seems to have been to destroy this
(Rapidan) bridge, which the enemy in their panic did for him. After
proceeding as far as Orange Court-House, he returned with his force
to the main army, joining it at ChanceUorsville on Sunday. One col
umn of Stoneman's force, under General Buford, pushed on directly
towards Gordonsville, cutting the Central Railroad between Gordons
ville and Charlotteville.
The column under Stoneman, divided into several expeditions, pro
ceeded through Hanover Court-House to within five miles of Rich
mond, causing great alarm in and about the Confederate capital, and
returned either to the Rapidan or made good its escape into the Fed
eral lines on the Peninsula. Numerous bridges and large portions of
the track of the railroad between Richmond and Fredericksburg were
destroyed. Thus the general plan of the cavalry expedition was
carried out, but was barren of results. It did not materially inter
rupt the enemy's communications. The small force was not only di
vided, but remained so ; and Averill on his return was ordered under
arrest by General Hooker for not carrying out his instructions and
opening communication with Stoneman.
Thus the experiment of an advance upon Richmond by way of
Fredericksburg ended in failure.
The whole plan of campaign seemed to have been, on the part of
the general, a grasping after great effects, without comprehending the
situation or the means of execution. The dividing of the army was
an error, unless it was to be combined in attack. It was done to de
ceive the enemy, and did not deceive him at all. The enemy, having an
inside line of communication, held Sedgwick in check, while by a rapid
flank march he assaulted Hooker on his extreme right, while that gen
eral was expecting him on his extreme left. This attack was made
at 5 p. m. on Saturday, the 2d, and the army retired from its line mak
ing every preparation to attempt the hazardous experiment of a forced
change of front in face of the enemy. Sedgwick did not carry the
works behind Fredericksburg until 10 a. m. Sunday, and, in attempting
to communicate with Hooker, was checked at Salem Heights. At the
same time the main Union Army retired to a new line of defence,
where it did nothing all day Monday, while the enemy turned upon
Sedgwick in full force, Hooker making no attempt to succor him,
although the two armies were but four miles distant. Had Stoneman's
cavalry been with the main army at its accustomed duty, the surprise
and defeat of the Eleventh Corps on the right could not have occurred,
and the defeat of the enemy would have possibly resulted. Hooker
commenced the campaign to open the road to Richmond. He intended
to surprise the enemy, .to force him to fight on his (Hooker's) ground, to
29

450

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.

defeat him in battle, to cut his communication, and capture his army. The
only thing attained was to cause the enemy to fight on the ground
chosen by Hooker. The enemy was not surprised, nor defeated, nor
captured, nor were his communications permanently injured, since he
received all his re-enforcements and supplies. The grand result was
a severe check to the Union arms.
The losses in this brief campaign probably exceeded fifteen thousand,
including nearly five thousand prisoners. The rebels estimated their losses
at sixteen to eighteen thousand. Among the Federal kiUed were Major-
General Berry,* who died gallantly leading his men in a repulse ofthe
enemy on Sunday night ; also General Whipple, who was shot by one
of the enemy's sharpshooters. The enemy had to deplore General
Jackson (Stonewall), who lost his left arm on Saturday, and to that acci
dent was ascribed the diminished vigor of the enemy's attacks during
the remainder of the battles. The death of Jackson, who had earned
the foremost military reputation of the war, was a severe blow to the
Confederate cause, and one for which the victory illy compensated.

CHAPTER XLIL

Second Invasion of Maryland. — Defeat of Milroy at Winchester. — Meade appointed to
Command the Army of the Potomac. — Battle of Gettysburg. — Retreat of Lee.
Aftee the return of the Army of the Potomac to the north side of
the Rappahannock, early in May, a period of apparent quiet ensued. The
army of Hooker was largely composed of nine-months and two-years
men, whose time would expire in June, and as yet no means had
been taken by the Federal Government to supply their places under
the Conscription Law which had passed Congress in February. The
act itself was far from popular, but its enemies made the most strenu
ous objections to the clause which permitted a conscript to commute
for a sum of three hundred dollars. This, and other reasons connected
with the enrolment, prevented any speedy arrangements for the pro
curement of men ; and as the month of June approached, the army of

* Major-General Hirara Gregory Berry, of the
United States Volunteers, was horn in Thomnston
(now Rockland), Maine, August '11, 1824 He was
a carpenter some years; afterwards engaged in navi
gation ; . was mayor of Rockland, and held various
offices in the Maine militia. Under the call for
troops in the spring of 1861, he was made colonel
of the Fourth Maine Volunteers, and participated
in the battle of Bull Run, where It fonght In
Howard's Brigade. Subsequently the command'
was in one of the brigades commanded by General
Sedgwick. The regiment was afterwards trans
ferred to General Birney's Brigade, Hamilton's
Division, and participated in the siege of York-
town. Upon General Kearny's taking command
of the division, Colonel Berry, who had been made
brigadier-general of volunteers on the 4th of April,
1862, was placed in charge of a brigade of Heint
zelman's Army CorpSjWhich change separated him
from his regiment. He participated in tho battle
of Fair Oaks, Juno 1, 1862, and the Seven Days'

battles, June 25th to July 1st. On tho 15th of
August, General Berry moved with his brigade to
Torktown, and thence to Alexandria ; thence by
rail to Warrenton Junction, from which point they
marched to the Rappahannock, and on the 29th
and 80th of August participated with Kearny's
Division in tho battles of Manassas or Second Bull
llun. September 1st he took part in the battle
of Chantilly, where Kearny lost his life. At the
battle of Fredericksburg, December 18, 1862, Ber
ry's Brigade drove back a rebel force, thereby saving
a good portion of Birney's Division from harm.
Berry was nominated by the President major-
general of volunteers in January, 1S68, with rank
from November 29, 1S62 ; was renominated on the
7th of March, and confirmed March 9, 1868. He
was placed in command of the Second Division
of the Third Army Corps, under General Sickles,
and in that position fell at tho head of his com
mand, near ChanceUorsville.

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 451
Hooker saw itself about to be depleted by the return home of men
who had served sufficient time to have learned their duties.
The anxiety of Hooker to gain information of the movements ofthe
ehemy, finally induced him to order a cavalry reconnoissance in force on
the 9th of June, on which day Pleasonton's command crossed the Rap
pahannock at Beverly's and Kelly's Fords and at intermediate places,
the two main columns pushing forward towards Brandy Station, five
miles below Culpepper Court-House, with the design of getting in the
rear of the enemy, who was between the Court-House and the Station.
They captured his pickets, and thus prevented early intelligence of
their movement being reported to the enemy. At seven o'clock in
the morning the enemy were encountered, under General Stuart. Af
ter a severe fight, the rebels were driven with loss from their camp ;
but, having been largely re-enforced, they returned, when, his objects
being attained, General Pleasonton recalled his troops across the Rap
pahannock, at Beverly's Ford. In this battle the reputation ofthe
cavalry arm, as compared, with that of the enemy, was weU sustained.
The chief duty of the Army of the Potomac, as in former years,
seemed to be to remain as a curtain between the enemy and the national
capital. Fortress Monroe was held by General Dix, General Wool
having been transferred to the military district of New York and the
East ; and General Schenck was in command at Baltimore, where he
had been since the breaking up of Fremont's Corps. General Milroy,
who was under his orders, held Winchester with about seven thousand
men. As far back as the previous November, General Cullum, chief
of General Halleck's staff, was sent to examine and report upon the
condition of the works at Winchester, and his report was, not merely
that the works were indefensible from bad location per se; but the
place itself required no works, and ought to have no heavy garrison,
it being merely, in General Cullum's own phrase, " an eye of the Na
tional army looking down the Shenandoah Valley ;" an advanced out
post, from which information could be communicated at an early mo
ment to Harper's Ferry of any advance of the enemy in this direction.
It was upon this report General Halleck advised General Schenck to
Withdraw aU forces from Winchester, leaving there merely strong
cavalry pickets to act as scouts and vedettes.
This being the position of the Federal forces, General Lee, who had
recruited and supplied his army, was ready to execute his long-cher
ished project of a second invasion of the North. This movement was
commenced about the 9th June, by the corps of Ewell, which moved
off towards the vaUey of the Shenandoah Right across the State of
Virginia, starting from the Potomac at Harper's Ferry, and running in
a southwesterly direction to the southern limit of the State, stretches
the Blue Ridge of mountains, intersected by infrequent roads or
" gaps," through which alone it is possible for armies to penetrate.
Upon the possession of these gaps depended the mastery of the situa
tion. If Lee had moved off prematurely from Culpepper Court-House
and seized them, Ewell's mission against the force of Milroy at Win
chester would have been frustrated, since the latter would have heard
that the whole army was moving, and would have sHpped off to Har-

452 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.
per's Ferry. If, after Ewell had struck his blow at Winchester, Lee
had been slow about seizing the gaps, he might have exposed himself
and EweU to great danger, if Hooker, acting promptly, had seized the
gaps, and interposed between Lee and EweU. As it was, the march of
EweU against Winchester was swift, silent, and successful ; the occupa
tion of the three great gaps in the mountain range was timed to a
minute. When Hooker at last became aware of a movement of the enemy,
he started off a body of his cavalry to race for the possession of the
northernmost road through Snicker's Gap. They found Fitzhugh Lee
already in possession, and behind him one of the finest infantry divi
sions in the Confederate army. In vain did the Federal cavalry, under
Pleasonton, race for possession of the next, or Ashby's Gap, supported
by a large body of artillery and infantry. There they found Stuart
and his cavalry thrown out in advance ofthe gap at Aldie, and
here, on the 17th and 19th instant, there were fierce skirmishes, in
which the Union cavalry acquitted themselves with great credit, and
if they did not drive the enemy away, at least prevented him from
penetrating east of the Blue Ridge and flanking Hooker.
But the blow had been struck at Milroy, and Lee was anxious to
draw a Union force into the gap, in which, however, he did not suc
ceed. At Chester's Gap, the road which traverses the mountain near
Front Royal was seized by General A. P. Hill, and with these three
gaps in his possession, General Lee could hold them with insigniBcant
bodies of men, and behind the screen of the mountains manoeuvre,
unseen by and beyond the reach of General Hooker.
Meantime, Ewell had come upon Milroy, and surrounded Winchester
before the Union general had been warned, ofthe approach of an enemy.
On the 13th the Union pickets were driven into the town, and con
siderable skirmishing ensued. But in the night, ascertaining that an
overwhelming force was confronting him, Milroy, with his troops, re
tired into two large forts in the rear of the town. Skirmishing
continued all through the morning of the 14th, and at four o'clock in
the afternoon the enemy assaulted and carried the outworks of the forts,
but all his efforts against the forts themselves proved futile. So hot was
the Union fire that the rebels were compelled to retire with loss at dusk.
At a council of Union oflicers held in the evening, it was determined
that under the circumstances nothing was left to the garrison but to
retreat upon the Potomac. Early on the morning of the 15th, the guns
having been spiked, and aU the surplus ammunition rendered useless,
the troops marched quietly out, but had proceeded only four or five
mUes when they were attacked by the enemy. The rear-guard, facing
about, kept the rebels at bay until the advance could get well on its
way, when it also retreated. This manoeuvre was repeated several
times, and eventually about five thousand of Milroy's command suc
ceeded in crossing the Potomac. His loss in men exceeded twenty-
five hundred, besides twenty-nine pieces of artillery, numerous wagons,
and several hundred horses.
Hooker, on becoming convinced that the enemy in his front were
moving towards the vaUey, sent forward the Sixth Corps, which had

HISTORY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION. 453
occupied the river below Fredericksburg. Belle Plain and Aquia
Creek, by which supplies were brought to the army from Washington,
were evacuated and the property destroyed. The wounded and sick
were sent to Washington. The Sixth Corps arrived at Dumfries on the
night of the 14th, and the main body of the army held the Rappa
hannock from Banks's to Kelly's Ford. The Union commander was
still somewhat in doubt in respect to the movements of Lee's army.
The day EweU occupied Boonesborough, Hooker's head-quarters left
Falmouth. When the news reached him that the advance of the
enemy had actually crossed the Potomac, he put his columns in rapid
motion for the north, and with as much secrecy as possible.
On the 27th of June, the Union head-quarters, by a long and forced
march in the most intense heat, reached Frederick, Maryland, which
had just been abandoned by the enemy. During the march, the
thermometer ranged from 92° to 98° in the shade, aud the soldiers suf
fered severely, there being reported more than one thousand cases of
sun-stroke. Marching along the Blue Ridge, the rebels, on the other
hand, found abundant springs of cool and excellent water, whereas the
march of the Union troops was over one of the thirstiest plains in Vir
ginia — a district which, in the previous year, retarded the troops of
Stonewall Jackson for several days, and delayed the discomfiture of
General Pope, and which took ample toll from the host of General
Hooker. Accordingly, the two armies moving north attained their
destinations in different condition. That of Lee crossed the Potomac
on the 24th, in better condition than it had been for months, and two
days afterwards the attenuated army of Hooker reached Frederick,
almost exhausted with fatigue.
On the advance of the enemy up the vaUey, great consternation pre
vailed at Washington as well as at Harrisburg, the capital of Pennsyl
vania, and at Philadelphia. There had been some steps taken towards
obtaining men under the Conscription Law passed at the previous ses
sion of Congress, but the exigency of an invasion of Pennsylvania was
too pressing to allow of the slow progress of conscription. The Pres
ident, therefore, on the 15th, issued the following proclamation : —
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
"A PROCLAMATION. "Washington, June 15, 1863.
" Whereas the armed insurrectionary combinations now existing in several of the
States are threatening to make inroads into the States of Maryland, Western Virginia,
Pennsylvania, and Ohio, requiring immediately an additional military force for the ser
vice of the United States :
"Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, and Com
mander-in-Chief of the army and navy thereof, and of the militia of the several States
when called into actual service, do hereby call into the service of the United States
one hundred thousand militia, from the States following, namely:
" From the State of Maryland, ten thousand.
"Prom the State of Pennsylvania, fifty thousand.-
"From the State of Ohio, thirty thousand.
"From the State of Western Virginia, ten thousand.
" To be mustered into the service of the United States forthwith, and to serve for
the period of sis months from the date of such muster into said service, unless sooner

454 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.
discharged; to be mustered in as infantry, artillery, and cavalry, iD proportions which
will be made known through the War Department, which department will also designate
the several places of rendezvous.
" These militia are to be organized according to the rules and regulations of the vol
unteer service, and such, orders as may hereafter be issued.
" The States aforesaid will be respectively credited under the Enrolment Act for
the militia service rendered under this proclamation.
" In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the
United States to be affixed.
" Done at the City of Washington, this 15th day June, in the year of our Lord-1863,
and of the United States the eighty-seventh. (Signed) "Abraham Lincoln.
"By the President: " William H. Seward, Secretary of State."
On the same day, the Governor of Pennsylvania issued a proclama
tion, calling upon all citizens " capable of bearing arms to enroll them
selves in nulitary organizations, and to encourage all others to give aid
and assistance to the efforts which will be put forth for the protection
of the State and the salvation of our common country ; who love lib
erty and are mindful ofthe history and traditions of their Revolutionaiy
fathers, and who feel that it is a sacred duty to guard and maintain the
free institutions of our country." The State of New York was called
upon for twenty thousand troops, and immediately the Seventh, Eighth,
?md Seventy-first Regiments of militia left for Pennsylvania, followed
promptly by troops from other States. At the call of the President in
the regular way for men, the troops crowded to the front with an en
thusiasm nowise diminished from the first burst of popular fervor on
the outbreak of the war. The greatest exertions were made to remove
the public property from Harrisburg, which seemed to be the point of
attack. The State property was packed up and means tnken to remove
the archives. The same fears were entertained for Baltimore and
Washington, and measures were at once taken to strengthen the former
city by earthworks at Federal Hill and elsewhere in the vicinity.
The plans ofthe enemy in the mean time were matters of great doubt
and mystery, and the alarm was in proportion to the mystery. His
army was composed of three corps of some thirty thousand men each,
under Hill, Longstreet, and Ewell respectively, with a cavalry force
under Stuart. In throwing this force across the Potomac, it became
necessary to depend upon the country for supplies, and upon victory
for ammunition, since with each mUe of advance the difficulty of com
munication became greater. Accordingly, General Lee left Winchester
with one hundred and twenty rounds for each man., The actual cross
ing of the Potomac, which was effected by Lee with the corps of Hill
and Longstreet at WiUiamsport and Shepherdstown on the 24th, had
in it much of the enthusiasm which accompanied the entrance of the
Confederates into Maryland before the battle of Sharpsburg. It was
then the impression of the Southern army that they were entering into
the. friendly State of Maryland, ground down under the iron heel of a
despotic government, and anxious and willing, upon the first oppor
tunity, to arise and burst its bonds. But the unmistakable sympathy
of Hagerstown, Boonesborough, Sharpsburg, and other small towns in
Western Maryland with the Union, the jeers and taunts of the women

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 455
at the expense of the rebels, taught the latter to expect in the western
counties of Maryland no more aid and comfort.
The march continued with celerity, and the advance reached Cham-
bersburg June 27, when the foUowing proclamation was issued: —
"general order, no. 13.
" Head-Quarters Army of Northern Virginia, £
" Chambersburg, Pa., June 27. )
" The Commanding General has observed with marked satisfaction the conduct of
the troops on the march, and confidently anticipates results commensurate with the
high spirit they have manifested. No troops could have displayed greater fortitude or
better performed the arduous marches of the past ten days. Their conduct in other
respects has, with few exceptions, been in keeping with their character as soldiers,
and entitles them to approbation and praise.
" There have, however, been instances of forgetfulness on the part of some, that they
have in keeping the yet unsullied reputation of the army, and that the duties exacted
of us by civilization and Christianity are not less obligatory in the country of the enemy
than our own.
" The Commanding General considers that no greater disgrace could befall the army,
and through it our ¦whole people, than the perpetration of the barbarous outrages upon
the innocent and defenceless, and the wanton destruction of private property, that have
marked the course of the enemy in our own country. Such proceedings not only dis
grace the perpetrators, and all connected with them, but are subversive of the dis
cipline and efficiency ofthe army, and destructive ofthe ends of our present movement.
It must be remembered that we make war only upon armed men, and that we .cannot
take vengeance for the wrongs our people have suffered without lowering ourselves in
the eyes of all whose abhorrence has been excited by the atrocities of our enemy, and
offending against Him to whom vengeance belongeth, without whose favor and support
our efforts must all prove in vain.
"The Commanding General, therefore, earnestly exhorts the troops to abstain, with
the most scrupulous care, from unnecessary or wanton injury to private property; and
he enjoins upon all officers to arrest and bring to summary punishment all who shall
in any way offend against the orders on this subject. R. B. Lee, General."
On the same day on which General Lee thus inaugurated his entry
into Pennsylvania, Hooker's army entered Frederick, which had been
held by the enemy's pickets ; and on the following day Colonel Hardie
arrived at the head-quarters of the Army of the Potomac by special train
from Washington, as a bearer of dispatches, relieving General Hooker
from the command of the Army ofthe Potomac, and appointing Major-
General Meade, commanding the Fifth Corps, his successor. Soon after
the reception of the orders at head-quarters, General Hooker issued
the foUowing address : — "Head-Quarters Army of the Potomac, )
"Frederick, Md., June 28, 1863. J
" In conformity with the orders of the War Department, dated June 27, 1863, I
relinquish the command of the Army of the Potomac. It is transferred to Major-Gen
eral George G. Meade, a brave and accomplished officer, who has nobly earned the con
fidence and esteem of the army on many a well-fought field. Impressed with the
belief that my usefulness as the commander of the Army of the Potomac is impaired, I
part from it, yet not without the deepest emotion. The sorrow of parting with the
comrades of so many battles is relieved by the conviction that the courage and devotion
of this army will never cease ; that it will yield to my successor, as it has to me, a
willing and hearty support. With the earnest prayer that the triumph of its arms may
bring successes worthy of it and the nation, I bid it farewell.
"Joseph Hooker, Major-General •
"S. P. Barstow, Acting Adjutant- General."

456

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION.

General Hooker immediately left, and General Meade * assumed com
mand in the foUowing address : —
"Head-Quarters Army of the Potomac, )
"June 28, 1863. J
"By direction ofthe President of the United States, I hereby assume command of
the Army of the Potomac. As a soldier, in obeying this order, an order totally unex
pected and unsolicited, I have no promises or pledges to make. The country looks to
this army to relieve it from the devastation and disgrace of a hostile invasion. What
ever fatigues and sacrifices we may be called upon to undergo, let us have in view con
stantly the magnitude ofthe interests involved, and let each man determine to do his
duty, leaving to an all-controlling Providence the decision of the contest. It is with
just diffidence that I relieve in the command of this army an eminent and accomplished
Boldier, whose name must ever appear conspicuous in the history of its achievements ;
but I rely upon the hearty support of my companions in arms to assist me in the dis
charge of the duties of the important trust which has been confided to me.
" George G. Meade, Major- General Commanding.
"S. F. Barstow, Assistant Adjutant- General."
The enemy continued his forward movement, and his cavalry, which
was very numerous, made demonstrations in various directions, collect
ing cattle and such drugs and merchandise as were most useful to him.
A march in the direction of Pittsburg caused great excitement in that
city. Business was suspended, and the citizens turned out to work on
the defences. Ewell, in command of the Second Corps, which consti
tuted the advance, of the Confederate army, had previously pushed on
to Carlisle, and thence proceeded eastward towards York, where he
cut the railroad which connects Harrisburg and Washington. Cham-
bersburg was occupied, aud many supplies drawn thence. The cavalry
under Early entered York and levied a contribution of one hundred
thousand dollars upon the place. He then issued the foUowing proc
lamation : — GENERAL EARLY TO THE PEOPLE OF XOEK.
"To the Citizens of York:
" I have abstained from burning the railroad bridges and ear-shops in your town be
cause, after examination, I am satisfied the safety of the town wbuld be endangered;
and acting in the spirit of humanity, 'which has ever characterized my government and
its military authorities, I do not desire to involve the innocent in the same punishment
¦with the guilty. Had I applied the torch without regard to consequences, I would then
have pursued a course that would have been fully vindicated as an act of just retaliation
for the authorized acts of barbarity perpetrated by your own army on our soil ; but
we do not war upon women and children ; and I trust the treatment you have met
with at the hands of my soldiers will open your eyes to the odious tyranny under
¦which it is apparent to all you are yourselves groaning. "J. A. Early,
"Major-General, C. S. A."

* George G. Meade was born In Spain in 1816,
during the temporary residence of his parents in
that country, and was graduated at West Point in
1889. He was brevetted first lieutenant for gal
lantry at Monterey in 1S46, and at the outbreak of
the rebellion was captain in the Topographical
Engineers, He was soon after commissioned a
brigadier-general of volunteers; served through
out the Peninsula campaign as commander of a
brigade in McCall's Division of Pennsylvania Re
serves, and was severely wounded at the battle of

White Oak Swamp. In September, 1862, ho took
command of a division in Reynolds's First Army
Corps, and subsequently succeeded to the com-
mandof the Fifth Corps. On June 28th. he as
sumed command of the Army of the Potomac,
which he retained with great credit to himself and
benefit to the country until the capitulation of
Lee and the termination of the war. He now
commands the several departments bordering on
the Atlantic, and is a brigadier-general and brevet
major-general of the regular army.

HISTORY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION. 457
The designs of the enemy still remained a mystery, and this fact
gave rise to many fears. It was surmised that he intended to hold the
hne of the Susquehanna, occupying Baltimore and reducing Washing
ton. But there were many who supposed the sacking of Philadelphia
was, if not the main object, a collateral design ofthe invasion. On the
29th the mayor issued the following proclamation : —
proclamation from the mayor.

" to arms ! ! 1
June 29, 1863.

"Office of the Mayor of the City of Philadelphia, )

" Citizens of Philadelphia :
" One more appeal is made to you in the name of duty and of manhood.
" You can close your eyes no longer to the startling danger and disgrace which hang
over your State and city. The foot of the rebel is already at the gates of your capital,
and, unless you arouse to instant action, it may in a few days hence cross your own
threshold. "There is yet time to prepare for defence. You number more than fifty thousand
able-bodied men ; the means to arm and equip yourselves are at hand.
" Close your manufactories, workshops, and stores, before the stern necessity for
common safety makes it obligatory. Assemble yourselves forthwith for organization
and drill. Come ready to devote yourselves to the protection of your homes until your
services shall be no longer needed. Spurn from you those who would delude you to
inactivity or disaffection. Their tongues and hearts are more false and hateful than
even the invaders of your soil. Let no man refuse to arm who will not be able to
justify himself before man and God in sight of a desolated hearth or of a dishonored
family. "Alexander Henry, Mayor of Philadelphia."
Meantime the attitude of the Union army decided Lee to turn his
face eastward, and confront the only formidable enemy which he had
to fear. Ewell, recalled- from York, shaped his course southward
and westward towards Gettysburg to join the army of Lee in its ad
vance over the South Mountain, and to constitute the left wing of that
army. Stuart also approached the main body, having, in his passage
through Maryland, cut the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and joined
General Ewell on the extreme Confederate left.
General Meade, on taking command of the army, which was situated
at Frederick, immediately ordered an advance towards Gettysburg, at
which point he could intercept the communication of Ewell, who com
manded Jackson's old corps, and . was at York, with A. P. Hill and
Longstreet, who were at South Mountain. The First Corps, Reynolds,
and the Eleventh Corps, Howard, proceeded due north and encamped
at Emmitsburg, on the night of June 30th, followed by the Second and
Twelfth Corps. At half-past ten o'clock on the morning of the 1st
July, Wadsworth's Division, constituting the advance of Reynolds, met
the advance of Ewell, moving south from Carlisle, in a wood about
four miles west of Gettysburg. This meeting, which led to a terrible
engagement, seems to have been a surprise to both parties. The exact
whereabouts of the enemy was not known to Meade, and Lee was un
aware of the rapid northerly march of the Union troops, which brought
them in his front when he supposed them much nearer to Washington.
Early on the same morning, A. P. Hill, followed by Longstreet, had
left the top of the South Mountain, and both generals were emerging from

458 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.
the mountain gorge at the moment that the guns of Rhodes and Early,
the advance division of EweU, opened upon the Federal troops. Heth's
Division of Hill's Corps immediately advanced on Ewell's right, while
on the Union side, Robinson's Division took ground on Wadsworth's
right, and Doubleday on the left. These troops received the onslaught
of Heth, standing their ground firmly, until General Reynolds, finding
that his artillery was not properly posted, rode to the front in search
of a more effective position. Here he fell, pierced by a number of balls,
into the arms of his acting-adjutant, Captain Bond. Doubleday suc-
" ceeded to the command. The corps was now heavily pressed by Heth
in front, and the two divisions of Ewell on the right, and was obliged
to give way. The Confederate General Heth was wounded by a shot
in the forehead, which glanced. The Eleventh Corps now came up,
and Howard, assuming command, sent Steinwehr to occupy Cemetery
Hill, on the south side of Gettysburg, while Barlow and Schurz were
ordered to support the First Corps. The two divisions moved through
the town, and formed on the right of the First Corps. Ewell's (late
Jackson's) Corps was now concentrated for the attack, which was
promptly made with infinite fury. It was, however, repulsed. The
remainder ofthe corps of A. P. Hill then joined Ewell, and outflanked
the Union line. The fighting was now very severe, and Howard sent
to the rear for aid from Slocum and Sickles. They were too distant to
be of use, however. Under the increasing weight of numbers, the
Union lines soon crumbled. Schurz's Corps giving way, the Whole
retreated through the town to Cemetery Hill. These were heights
on both sides ofthe Baltimore pike, southeast of Gettysburg. General
Howard succeeded in rallying his troops upon this position, when the
Twelfth Corps, Slocum, and Third, Sickles, came up and formed on
the right and left of Howard. The pursuit by the enemy, under Ewell,
was stopped at the town by superior orders, for the night, during
which General Meade and staff arrived in front. He now disposed this
force on the several hills, circling Gettysburg on the south and east,
so as to form a continuous line of battle, the mountain in the centre,
held by the First and Eleventh, the wings, right and left, receding.
The position was a most formidable one.
Just beyond the town of Gettysburg runs a horse-shoe ridge of low,
uniform hills, seemingly from two to three miles in length, terminating
at both ends in a steep sugar-loaf peak, which thoroughly protected
either flank. On the Federal right and centre the hill was almost en
tirely bare of trees ; on the Federal left the batteries were planted,
under the ] shelter of forest — the sugar-loaf peaks at both ends of the
Une were densely clothed with timber. To attempt to march round
these sugar-loaf pinnacles would have exposed the Confederates to the
danger of weakening their front so greatly as to make it easy for
Meade to cut off the flanking force. There was nothing for them to
do but to attack the Union position right in front, or shrink back into
the gorge ofthe South Mountain, from, which they had just emerged,
and there to await the attack, or to move off by the right flank in the
direction of the Potomac, with their rear clinging to the South Moun
tain range. Each of these three courses was hazardous. To the second,

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 459
which might otherwise have been the safest, the great- objection was
that Ewell's Corps could not be got within the mountain gorge, the
single road of which was already occupied by the two corps of Long-
street and A. P. Hill. Lee, therefore, determined on the attack.
His plan of battle appears to have been to attack the Union left with
General Longstreet's Corps, while A. P. Hill and Ewell pressed heavily
on the centre and right, with instructions to advance their whole line
should Longstreet's attack meet with any success. Two-thirds of the
2d of July wore away in making preparations for this general attack, in
getting the battalions of artillery into position, and disposing the troops, '
which had been on the tramp for the two previous days, for the on
slaught. The Union position, from the nature of the formation, might
be considered impregnable. The whole army, with the exception of
the Sixth Corps, had here concentrated on Wednesday night, July 1st,
and on the next morning the line was formed as foUows : Slocum's
Corps on the right, Howard joining on the left ; Hancock's (Couch's),
Newton (Reynolds's), and Sickles's Corps in the centre ; and Sykes's
(Meade's) on the left. NumericaUy, commencing with the right, the
line was formed of the Twelfth, Eleventh, Second, First, Third, and
Fifth Corps.
Thus far the whole movement had been accidental. Reynolds had
engaged a force of which he had no knowledge, and which was suffi
cient to crush his own and his support. Howard had been driven back
upon a strong position which lay in his way, and General Meade„ on
his arrival, found him in it, and held it. The rapid concentration of
the army upon this position had the effect of causing the army of Lee
for the first time to fight at disadvantage. The Army ofthe Potomac
now held the strong position, and Lee was become the assailant.
The enemy's skirmishers, thrown out early in the morning of
Thursday, the 2d, continued for many hours to press up close upon
the Union lines with more or less vigor, feeling the strength of the
various fronts, and seeking to ascertain the position of corps. Where
the rebel attack was to be made, was a matter of uncertainty to the
Union commander. At four o'clock in the afternoon, the enemy seemed
satisfied with his reconnoissance, and from his left there burst forth a
terrific cannonade, on the right centre of the Union line held by the
Second and Eleventh Corps. During more than two hours this was
replied to with great vigor. This artillery duel was felt by all to be
but the prelude of the real attack, and the utmost vigilance was
exerted to detect the earliest signs of the coming storm. Finally,
dark masses of troops were seen assembling on the left. Soon they
began to advance, the skirmishers became more nuttnerous and bolder,
their support more solid. Sickles was ordered forward to a ridge to
the southwest, to connect with Hancock, or check the advance ; but,
exceeding his instructions, he went a half-mUe in advance of the line.
Scarcely was he in position, when suddenly the roar of artillery ceased,
and there poured forth from the woods a rushing column of the com
bined troops of Longstreet and Hill. On they came, forty-five thou
sand men, three columns deep, at the quick step, gleams of light
glancing from bayonet and sabre as the solid earth shook under the

460 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION.
rushing mass. The tall form of General Hood, leading the Texans,
went down in the melee. Robertson took command, and speedily
met the same fate ; and then General Law led the charge. The Third
Corps met the storm with its wonted coolness, but separated from its
supports, and, left to confront thrice its numbers, it was as nothing
before the swelling tide of furious foes. Its commander, Sickles, was
struck by a cannon-shot in the knee, and was carried from the field,
while his devoted corps, overborne by the terrible irruption of the
enemy, was pushed back with severe loss. On the enemy's side, the
division of McLaws, on Hood's left, did not keep up with the rapid
advance of the Texans, until Longstreet threw himself at the head
of Wofford's Brigade, and led them up the slope under such a fire as
has been rarely witnessed. The enemy, gaining new influence from
their success, poured through the opening between the Third and
First Corps with swelling fury. The Second Corps was ordered to
the breach. It came forward with great alacrity, and threw itself
into the melee without counting the odds, and suffered terribly from
the fire, its commander, Hancock, receiving a severe wound. The
staggering column received support from the Fifth, now coming up
from the left ; and a portion of the Twelfth, from the extreme right,
also re-enforced the heroic troops of the centre. The terrible battle
was thus fed by successive corps, which fought with superhuman
courage and constancy. The enemy, however, pressed on with un
wavering determination, and his swarming numbers seemed to swal
low every fresh advance of the Federals, although he fought at great
disadvantage against the well-placed Union troops. Back, inch by
inch, fighting, falling, dying, cheering, the men retired. It was now
that the Sixth Corps, Sedgwick's, arrived on the field, hungry, footsore,
and weary, from a forced march of thirty-six miles. They were ap
parently too fatigued to stand. The dangers of the moment, how
ever, and the excitement of battle, wrought a wonderful change in those
brave men. They were promptly formed, and precipitated upon the
enemy with irresistible force. This was too much for the enemy. His
impetus had been lost before, and under this new attack, he staggered,
reeled, gave slowly back, and finaUy broke and retired from the field,
as the sun sank behind the western hills.
While the attack on the Union left thus failed, another attack was
formed by Ewell against the extreme right, which had been weakened
to support the left. A portion of the Twelfth Corps had been sent
to support Sickles, and the enemy, taking advantage of this, about
dark formed a heavy column of attack and fell upon Slocum with
such suddenness and fury that he was driven back some distance. The
divisions of Rhodes and Early actually carried a part of the Ceme
tery Hill, and had sent down a peremptory entreaty for support to
Generals Pinder and Anderson of A. P. Hill's Corps. But General
Pinder lay at the moment desperately wounded. The request was,
for some unknown reason, unheeded by General Anderson. Mean
time, the pressure being now removed from the left, the First, Second,
and Sixth Corps came to the support of Slocum. The battle was
thus renewed with great fury, and, despite the utmost efforts of the

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 461
Union right, the enemy remained masters of part of Slocum's posi
tion, when the contest, which had raged there from dark, ceased at
ten o'clock. The night remained quiet.
Early on the morning of the 3d, Slocum, with the design of recov
ering his position of the night before, organized an attack upon
Ewell. A division of the Sixth Corps was added to the Twelfth.
Wadsworth's Division of the First Corps supported Howard's left,
and the Fifth Corps was in reserve at four o'clock. Slocum opened
a terrific fire upon Ewell, which eUcited a most furious charge from
the enemy. The Union troops opposed a solid and impenetrable front
to perhaps the most furious charge of the war. The deadly fire,
coolly delivered, strewed the ground in front with dead in fearful
numbers. Officers and men were heaped in unnatural confusion upon
the blood-soaked field, but their constancy seemed equal to the emer
gency, and again and again they were hurled against the Union
defences, only to encounter defeat. The steady course and persever
ance of Slocum's Corps succeeded at last. A division of the Fifth
Corps, Berry's old Division of the Third, now under Humphreys,
supported Geary, when he was close pressed. The enemy seemed
now to concentrate his artillery fire, but was replied to with full
effect, untU a re-enforcement of Union troops succeeded in bringing
to bear upon him an enfilading fire, which settled the question, and
he retired in confusion. At eleven o'clock the battle was over.
The enemy's whole line at this time surrounded three sides of the
mountain, the Union troops within ; but such was the strength ofthe
position that to take it by assault was a most hopeless undertaking.
Nevertheless, Lee, undeterred by the faUure of the 2d, made prepara
tions to renew the attempt on the next day. Early in the morning
of the 3d, Longstreet's line stood thus : On the extreme right was
the division of Hood, commanded by Law, and next to him the divi
sion of McLaws, both of which were reserved by Longstreet, to launch
against the Union troops should success attend the onward move
ment to their left. Next to McLaws came the division of General
Pickett, of four thousand men, which was to form the point of the
contemplated attack, supported and assisted on its left by the far
larger division of Pettigrew, belonging to A. P. Hill's Corps, and
ordinarily commanded by Heth, who received a wound on the first
day. This division, with the brigade of Wilcox, numbered ten thou
sand; as a prelude to the attack, a heavy cannonade was opened from
aU the Confederate batteries, numbering about a hundred and fifty
guns ; from all points, in a circle radiating around our own, began a
terrific and concentrated fire on Cemetery Hill, which was held, as
previously stated, by the Eleventh and Second Corps. To this a
more than equal number of Union guns responded with infuriate
vigor and effect. The storm of shot was beyond the experience of
the most veteran troops ; an eye-witness thus described its effects: —
"The storm broke so suddenly that soldiers and oflicers — who
leaped, as it began, from their tents, or from lazy siestas on the grass —
were stricken in their rising with mortal wounds, and died, some with
cigars between their teeth, some with pieces of food in their fingers,

462 HISTOEY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.
and one, at least, a pale young German, from Pennsylvania, with a
miniature of his sister in his hands, that seemed more meet to grasp
an artist's pencil than a musket. Horses fell, shrieking such awful
cries as Cooper told of, and writhing themselves about in hopeless
agony. The boards of fences, scattered by explosion, flew in splin
ters through the air. The earth, torn up in clouds, blinded the eyes
of hurrying men ; and through the branches of the trees and among
the grave-stones of the cemetery a shower of destruction crashed
ceaselessly." Thehill, wihch seemed alone devoted to this rain of death, was clearin
nearly all its unsheltered places within five minutes after the fire began.
This continued until nearly three o'clock in the afternoon, when
Pickett, with his long, flowing hair, affecting the recklessness of a
Murat, sprang to the head of his column, which rent the air with a
hideous yell, as the troops advanced from out the short, scrubby tim
ber that had sheltered them. The Federal position was approached
by a large, bare, sloping meadow, nearly a mUe in width. Across this
" valley of the shadow of death " the divisions of Pickett and Petti-
grew had no option but to proceed, swept by the concentrated fire of
the Federal guns, and exposed when nearing those guns to a storm of
musketry bullets. The distance was too great to advance at the
double-quick; it was necessary to move slowly and deliberately, that,
as the men approached the batteries, there might be some dash left for
the final onslaught.
As the column advanced, its impetus increased. The men climbed
fences and rushed along, each bent upon getting first into the ceme
tery. The cannon roared, and grape and canister and spherical case
fell thick among them. Still they rushed onward, hundreds falling
out of the line, until they came within musket-shot of the Federal
troops, when the small-arms began to rattle. As the rebels mounted
the low bank in front of the rifle-pits, a furious hand-to-hand conflict
ensued, and for a time every man fought by himself and for himself.
Hundreds of the enemy pushed forward into the works and up to the
cemetery. . All were shouting, and screaming, and swearing, clashing
their arms and firing their pieces. The enemy's shells flew over their
field upon the Federal artillerists on the hills above. These, almost
disregarding the storm which raged around them, directed all the fire
upon the surging columns below. Every available cannon on the
Cemetery Hill, and to the right and left, threw its shells and shot in
the valley. The fight was terrible ; but despite every effort the enemy
pushed up the hiU and across the second line of works. The fire be
came hotter. The fight swayed back and forth. One moment the
enemy would be at the railings of the cemetery ; then a rush from the
Federal side would drive them down into the valley. Then, with load
yells, they would fiercely run up the hill again into the cemetery, and
have a fierce battle among the tombstones. It was the hardest fight
of the day, and hundreds were slain there.
Pickett had thus gained a partial lodgment. But the division of
Pettigrew, which was to support him, was not in time. On the suc
cess of Pettigrew depends the ability of Pickett to hold his ground.

HISTOEY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 463
As Pettigrew advances, and is near the guns, there appears a Union
force on his left, descending the hill to outflank him. The line halts
and falls into confusion. In vain Longstreet, anxiously watching,
sends Major Latrobe to Pettigrew7 with orders " to refuse his left," in
other words, to throw out a line obliquely to meet the Union columns.
Latrobe's horse is shot under him — he urges his way on foot with des
perate speed — he is too late. The avenging column of Union troops
is doing its work. The confused Confederates fell back. The victori
ous Union troops sweep round in triumph, overlapping Pickett, who is
thus forced to let go his hold and retire with what luck he may. Then
his corps suffered terrible slaughter. What they lost during the fierce
onset up to the Federal guns, was as nothing to the devastation of
their ranks as they retired broken and shattered across the slope. Of
four thousand five hundred who advanced against those fatal works,
two thousand five hundred only were mustered on the foUowing day.
Three brigadiers lay upon the field, and one major only, of all the field
officers, remained sound. Of thirteen colors carried into action, four
only remained with the troops. With this repulse the battle was over.
As it was, both armies, exhausted by their losses, were glad to rest on
their arms and wait the conflict of the morrow.
The following dispatch was at once sent to Washington by General
Meade: — " Head-Qtjabters Army of the Potomac, )
"Near Gettysburg, July 3 — 8.30 p. m. )
"Major-General Halleck, General-in-Chief:
" The enemy opened at one o'clock p. M., from about one hundred and fifty guns,
concentrated upon my left centre, continuing without intermission for about three
hours, at the expiration of which time he assaulted my left centre twice, being upon both
occasions handsomely repulsed with severe loss to him, leaving in our hands nearly
three thousand prisoners.
"Among the prisoners are Brigadier-General Armisted, and many colonels and
officers of lesser rank.
" The enemy left many dead upon the field, and a large number of wounded in our
hands. "The los3 upon our side has been considerable. Major-General Hancock and Briga
dier-General Gibbon were wounded.
"After the repelling ofthe assault, indications leading to the belief that the enemy
might be withdrawing, an armed reconnoissance was pushed forward from the left, and
the enemy found to be in force.
" At the present hour all is quiet.
" My cavalry have been engaged all day on both flanks of the enemy, harassing and
vigorously attacking him with great success, notwithstanding they encountered supe
rior numbers, both of cavalry and infantry.
" The army is in fine spirits. "George G. Meade, Major-General Commanding."
This was foUowed by the foUowing : —
"Washington, D. C, July 4—10.30. a. m. .
" The President announces to the country that news from the Army of the Potomac
up to ten p. M. of the 3d, is such as to cover that army with the highest honor ; to prom
ise a great success to the cause of the Union, and to claim the condolence of all for
the many gallant fallen ; and that for this,, he especially desires that on this day, He,
whose will, not ours, should ever be done, be everywhere remembered and reverenced
with the profoundest gratitude. "Abraham Lincoln."

464 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
Lee, having by this time satisfied himself that his second invasion of
the North was a more mortifying faUure even than his first attempt,
made preparations to retreat ; and all day long on the 4th, while the
guns on either side frowned at each other in angry silence, Ewell's
train, swollen by the plunder in horses and wagons, which he had col
lected, was filing off behind the Confederate centre and left, and push
ing into a pass of the South Mountain, which leads obliquely to Ha
gerstown. Towards evening the wagon train of A. P. Hill's Corps,
which occupied the centre, followed Ewell ; and it was not till long
after midnight that the train of Longstreet's Corps got under way, and
the army concentrated on the evening of the 6th, at Hagerstown.
Meantime, General Meade, having discovered the retrograde move
ment of Lee, occupied Gettysburg, and, as soon as his troops were some
what rested, moved towards the Potomac.
The last invasion ofthe North by the Confederate Army was now
virtually brought to a close, at the moment when the news ofthe fall of
Vicksburg and Port Hudson arrived to hasten the retreat of General
Lee, and to inspirit the movements of General Meade. The Union
losses in this campaign were two thousand eight hundred aud thirty-
four killed, thirteen thousand seven hundred and nine wounded,' and
six thousand six hundred and forty-three missing; in all, twenty-three
thousand one hundred and eighty-six. Upward of four thousand five
hundred rebel dead were buried by Union bands at Gettysburg, and
their losses in prisoners were over thirteen thousand. In the absence
of any official report, their losses in the battle of Gettysburg are esti
mated at at least thirty thousand, including sixteen generals kUled and
wounded, and two captured.

CHAPTER XLni.
Lee's Retreat from Gettysburg. — Peace Mission. — Conscription. — Meade Re-enforced.—
Draft. — Riots. — Lee Crosses the Rapidan. — His Advance and Subsequent Retreat.
General Meade was unable to press the pursuit of Lee with so much
vigor as he could have wished, and the enemy retired unmolested,
with the exception of a cavalry attack in the mountains, by which he
lost a number of wagons and ambulances. The mountain passes being
held by Lee's rear-guard, it was necessary for Meade to pursue by a
flanking movement. The rebel train, guarded by General Imboden,
reached Williamsport on the 6th of July, where, on the succeeding
day, he was worsted in a sharp combat with a body of Union cavalry
and artillery, losing a number of wagons and prisoners.
On the 8th, Lee's rear-guard of cavalry, under Stuart, was driven out
of Hagerstown with loss, and on the 9th the whole rebel army was
concentrated in a strong position between Williamsport and Falling
Waters, covering.the crossings of the river at both places. The Poto
mac was now found to be so swollen by recent rains as to be unfordable.
This interrupted communications with the South, and threatened the
safety of the rebel army. The difficulty of procuring ammunition and

HISTOEY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 465
subsistence became very great, the more so that the swollen river
stopped fhe working of* neighboring mills. The^ pontoon bridge at
Falling Waters having been partially destroyed by the Unionists, the
Confederates were compelled to remain at WUliamsport Until a new
one could be built and thrown across. This was successfully performed
by the 13th. Meanwhile, Lee, having fortified his position by earth
works, awaited an attack from Meade, who, following from Gettysburg
with caution, did not arrive in the enemy's front untU the 12th, and,
decided not to attack until the rebel position could be reconnoitred.
Pending the reconnoissance, on the night of the 13th thearmy of Lee
began to cross, Ewell's Corps fording the river at Williamsport,
while Longstreet and HUl's crossed upon the reconstructed bridge,
near Falling Waters, where most of the train had previously passed.
The movement was very tedious, owing to the condition of the roads,
and was not completed until one p.m. ofthe 14th, when the bridge
was removed. At Falling Waters, HUl's rear-guard was vigorously
assailed by Kilpatrick's cavalry, losing two guns and upwards of fifteen
hundred prisoners. In this encounter the enemy lost Brigadier-Gen
eral Pettigrew, who was mortally wounded, and died a few days after
at Bunker's HU1, which point the rebel army reached on the 15th. The.
army under General Meade crossed in pursuit, and took such a route
as, aided by the swollen condition of the Shenandoah, compelled Lee
to abandon his original plan of retreat and to cross the Blue Ridge, and
keep along the south side of the Rappahannock. He left Martinsburg
on the 18th, and, on the 20th, Meade's whole army was over the Poto
mac in full pursuit.
The retreat and pursuit continued without much of interest, until
Lee's army occupied the south bank of the Rapidan, near Orange.
Court-House. The Union army occupied the north bank of the river,
in. the neighborhood of Culpepper Court-House. At the date of the
battle of Gettysburg, a flag-of-truce boat arrived at Fortress Monroe,
having on board Alexander H. Stephens, Vice-President of the "South
ern Confederacy," between whom and the Federal authorities the fol
lowing correspondence took place : —
" Fortress Monroe, My 4, 1863, )
" United, States Steamer Minnesota — 2 p..m. J
" Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy :
" The following communication is just received from Mr. Stephens, who is in the
flag-of-truce boat anchored above. I shall inform Mr. Stephens that I await your in
structions before giving him an answer. "S. H. Lee, Admiral, &c"
" ' Confederate States Steamer Torpedo, )
" ' In James River, July 4, 1863. )
" ' Sir: — As, military commissioner, I, am the bearer of a communication in writing
from Jefferson Davis,' Commander-in-Chief of the land and naval forces of the Confed
erate States, to Abraham Lincoln, Commander-in-Ohief Of the land and naval forces
of the United States. Honorable Robert Ould, Confederate States Agent of Exchange,
accompanies me as secretary, for the purpose of delivering the communication in per
son, and conferring upon the subject to which it relates. I desire to proceed directly to
¦Washington in the steamer Torpedo, commanded by Lieutenant Hunter Davidson, ofthe
Confederate»States Navy, no person being on board but the Honorable Mr. Ould, my
self, and the boat's officers and crew.
"' Yours most respectfully,
" ' To S. H. Led, Admiral, dec Alexandeb H Stephens,'' "

466 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.
"Navy Department, July 4, 1863.
" Acting Rear- Admiral S. H. Lee, Hampton Roads :
"The request of Alexander H. Stephens is inadmissible. The customary, agents and
channels are adequate for all needful military communication and conference between
the United States forces and the insurgents. " Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy."'
The nature ofthe mission was not at that time made known, but the
circumstance led to numberless conjectures. This attempted commu
nication was foUowed by a vigorous conscription of every male person
between the ages of eighteen and forty:five, and on the 1st of August
Jefferson Davis issued an address to the soldiers of the confederation,
appealing to their honor aind manhood, and assuring them that there
was now no alternative but victory or subjugation, • The army of GeD'r
eral Lee was gradually strengthened by these means, and it continued
in its-cantonments on the southern bank of the Rapidan. The corps
were reorganized and consolidated after the losses incurred in the
Northern invasion, and many changes in command took place. Gen
eral Fitzhugh Lee, who commanded a brigade composed of the First,
Second, Third, Fourth, and Fifth Virginia, and First Maryland Cavalry,
was made major-general, and took leave of his brigade in a general
order September 12th. Brigadier-General Wade Hampton was made a
liiajor-general, and Colonels M. C. Butler, of South Carolina, and
William C. Wiekham, late commander of the Fourth Virginia Cavalry,
were appointed brigadier-generals, and the last named succeeded to
the command of Fitzhugh Lee's Brigade.
The Union Army was at the same time re-enforced by;the new levies
obtained under the draft, which had been enforced in July, and which had
caused a most serious riot in the city of New York. This, instigated
by Southern conspirators, was quelled after considerable loss of life on
thepart ofthe rioters, and destruction ofproperty; and, to hasten re
cruiting, volunteering by bounties was in many places adopted instead
of the draft. The new levies obtained in the Eastern and Middle States
Were, by general order from the War Department, sent to the Army of
the Potomac, to which they gradually added great efficiency. On the
12th September, Warren's Corps moved into position at Hartwood,
about nine miles north of Falmouth, This manoeuvre was deemedjto
indicate an approaching forward movement by General Meade. The
quiet was maintained, however, up to the middle of October. In the
mean time, in consequence of important events taking place in Tennes
see, considerable detachments had been made from the army of Meade,
to support Rosecrans ; and pending the elections in Ohio and Pennsyl
vania, a considerable number of troops had been furloughed that they
might enjoy the right of suffrage. Taking advantage of this state of
affairs in Meade's army, which was encamped around Culpepper Court-
House, and thence to the Rapidan, General Lee, notwithstanding he
had detached Longstreet to re-enforce Bragg in the West, on the 9th
October put his army in motion and crossed the Rapidan, with the
design of bringing on an engagement. Imboden was ordered to ad
vance by the valley ofthe Shenandoah, to guard the gaps ofthe moun
tains, and Fitzhugh Lee, with his cavalry, to remain and hold the lines

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 467
south of the Rapidan. Stuart, with Hampton's Division, moved on the
right of the column, and encountered the Union troops under Kilpat-
rick, near James City, on the 10th. These retired on Culpepper, slowly
followed General Lee, who arrived there on the llth, and remained
there to provision his troops until the 12th. Meantime, Meade, aware
of the rapid approach of the enemy, as if to turn his flank, sent on the
12th a strong cavalry force to the Rapidan for the purpose of ascertain
ing the nature of the enemy's movement. It encountered Fitzhugh
Lee, who repulsed and pursued it to Brandy Station. Here Stuart
and Lee formed a junction and pressed the Union troops vigorously
across the Rappahannock, inflicting some loss. The main body of
Lee's army advanced and reached Warrenton Springs on the 13th.
Meade, who had fallen back fifteen miles, continued his retreat rapidly;
in order to anticipate his antagonist in the possession of the bloody
field of Bull Run. The retreat was conducted on several parallel roads,
while the march of the Confederates was circuitous. Meade, therefore,
could not be- outmarched. On October 14th, the Second Corps, com
manded by General Warren, took up a position at Bristow Station, be
hind the raUroad embankment, and repulsed the advance of the enemy
under Hill, with the loss of four hundred and fifty prisoners and five
pieces of artillery. The enemy's re-enforcements arriving rapidly, the
Union troops retreated across Broad Run, and on the following day
proceeded to fortify Bull Run, extending the line towards Little River
turnpike. Foiled in all his efforts to outflank or deceive his wary op
ponent, who was gradually drawing him into unpleasant proximity to
the fortifications surrounding Washington, and away from his base, the
rebel general gave up the pursuit on the 15th, and retired upon the
Une ofthe Rappahannock, which he reached on the 18th, after destroy
ing the Orange and Alexandria Railroad from Cub Run to that point.
The rear of the retreating Confederates was covered by the cavalry
under Stuart, who, with Hampton's Division, fell slowly back towards
Warrenton, drawing the Union force in that direction, and giving Lee
at Auburn an opportunity for a flank attack at Buekland. As soon as
Stuart heard Lee's guns, he turned upon the Union troops, which, being
in inferior force, were compelled to retreat to Haymarket. The enemy
then resumed their march to the Rappahannock.
Meantime, Imboden, who had proceeded down the vaUey, by a
rapid march surrounded Charlestown, and captured the garrison of
four hundred and thirty-four men stationed there, with their stores, and,
what was of great advantage to the enemy, the transportation. He
then rapidly retired before the advance of the Union troops from
Harper's Ferry. The results ofthe enemy's movement were the cap
ture of two thousand prisoners, for which his own losses in killed,
wounded, prisoners, and artillery scarcely compensated. The events
in East Tennessee being at this time very critical, a mutual distrust
existed between the opposing armies in Virginia, each dreading lest--
the other might send succor to the armies straggling there. General
Meade, accordingly, made such demonstrations as would, it was sup
posed, deter Lee from sending troops to the rebel army in Tennessee,
stud, perhaps, compel him to recall Longstreet. The new Union

468 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION.
levies under the conscription began now to be more and more avail-,
able, and so freely were they , organized that from the middle of
October to June, 1864, according to the declaration of the chair
man of the Senate Military Committee, six hundred thousand
men were sent to the armies. In the first week of November^
there were indications that an aggressive movement by the army
in Virginia would speedily be entered on. It was pubUcly announced
that aU able-bodied troops in garrison at Washington, under command
of General Martindale, would be relieved from duty and sent ,to the
field, and their place filled by the Invalid Corps. Advices from- the
Army of the Potomac showed that the rebels intended to resist our
occnpying the Rappahannock and rebuilding the railroad across it.1
They had also been recently engaged in fortifying the approaches to
the river on the north side. Under these circumstances, General Meade
commenced a forward movement from the line of Cedar Run to the
fine of the Rappahannock. The advance began early on the morning
of Saturday, November 7th. The Sixth Corps, General Sedgwick,
moved from Warrenton to Rappahannock Station. The Second, Third,
and Fifth Corps, under Warren, French, and Sykes^ respectively
marched by Warrenton Junction along the Une of railway by way of
Bealton, where the First Corps, Newton, brought up with the extreme
left. Previous cavalry reconnoissances had shown that the enemy occu
pied the forts at Rappahannock Station, and were also in force. to the
south at Kelly's Ford. From Bealton the Fifth Corps continued in
direct line of march to form a junction with the Sixth at Rappahan
nock Station. The Second and Third deployed at KeUy's Ford. At
this point the Third was in advance, and as they neared the ford they
threw out strong lines of skirmishers and sharpshooters.- Batteries
were planted on the range of hills rising abruptly along the north side
of the river, and sweeping the extensive plateau on the south side.
Under cover of their fire the pontoons were successfully laid, and the
attacking party, consisting of Berdan's sharpshooters, the Fortieth
New York, the First and Twentieth Indiana, the Third and Fifth
Michigan, and the One Hundred and Tenth Pennsylvania, rapidly
crossed the bridge. Having gained the opposite bank, the rifle-pits
were charged, and the rebels, finding themselves surrounded on all
sides, surrendered. The captures at this point were found .to in
clude over four hundred prisoners ; General French's loss was about
seventy. While the Third Corps was thus passing the Rappahannock at Kel
ly's Ford, the Sixth was effecting a crossing under more formidable
difficulties at Rappahannock Station. On the north side the de
fences consisted of a strong fort, two redoubts, and several rifle-pits.
These works were held by nearly two thousand men belonging to
Early's Division of Ewell's Corps. Commanding positions to the rear
of the fort having been obtained, heavy batteries were planted thereon,
and a fierce cannonade opened between tho two sides. Just before
dark, the storming party, consisting of Russell's and Upton's Brigades,
was formed, and the works carried by a very brilliant coup de main.
Over fifteen hundred prisoners, four guns, and eight battle-flags were

HISTOEY OF THE GREAT EEBELLION. 469
taken. General Sedgwick's loss was about three hundred killed'and
wounded. The Third Corps, after the successful crossing at Kelly's Ford,
camped for the night on the south side of the Rappahannock, and on
the foUowing morning (Sunday, 8th) resumed the advance, followed by
the Second and First Corps in order. About noon they came upon a
strong force of cavalry and light artillery, two miles east of Brandy
Station, engaging and pursuing them to a point two miles beyond that
place, the fighting continuing till after dark. Meanwhile, the other
corps (the Fifth and Sixth) were scouring the country up the river
and toward Stevensburg. The rebels had all retreated but a few
hours before. Camps were found prepared for winter-quarters.
The following dispatches were sent by General Meade : —
"Head-Quarters Army of the Potomac, )
" November 1 — 9. 30 p. M. )
" Major-General Sedgwick advanced to the railroad crossing, where he drove the ene
my to the river, assaulted and captured two redoubts with artillery, on this side, taking
a number of prisoners.
" Major-General French advanced to Kelly's Ford, driving the enemy in small force
across the river, and captured several hundred prisoners at the Ford,
"George G. Meade, Major-General Commanding."
" Head-Quarters Army op the PoroMACf )
" November 1 — 10 p.m. J
" General Sedgwick reports capturing, this p. M., in his operations, four colonels, three
lieutenant-colonels, many other officers, and over eight hundred men, together with
four battle-Hags.
" General French captured over four hundred prisoners, officers and. men.
"George G. Meade, Major-General Commanding."
The following telegram was sent by President Lincoln to General
Meade, and published to the Army on the 10th : —
" Washington, Monday, November 9, 1863.
" Major-General Meade : — I have seen your dispatches about operations on the Rap
pahannock on Saturday, and I wish to say ' well done.'
(Signed) "A. Lincoln."
The sum-total ofthe movement was to transfer the line ofthe rebels
from the south side of the Rappahannock to the south side of the
Rapidan ; and of the Army of the Potomac from the line of Cedar
Run to the line ofthe Upper Rappahannock. Here General Meade
took up his position, which was further strengthened by breastworks,
and the restoration of the raUroad in his rear was at once commenced.
The main force of the enemy remained between the Rapidan and
Orange Court-House, the river being thoroughly guarded. Its natu
ral strength is considerable, since it commands the northern bank.
The rebel defences on the south side of the Rapidan were of -a very
formidable character, being situated on ridges from thirty to a hundred
and fifty feet above the river level, and elevated considerably above
the northern bank, where the ground faUs into an extended plain, pre
senting on our side every possible disadvantage for strategic move
ments. '

470 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.

CHAPTER XLIV.
Meade's Advance across the Rapidan.— Recrosses.-^Winter Quarters.— Draft for Three
Hundred Thousand Men.— Reconnoissance.— Eilpatnck s Raid upon Richmond.—
Death of Dahlgren.
The armies maintained their position without material change until
Thanksgiving Day, November 26th, when General Meade, impressed
with the idea that Lee was in retreat, issued orders for an advance.
The cavalry crossed the Rapidan, and, discovering that the enemy had
withdrawn, advanced in pursuit. The movement of the main army
was as follows : The Second Corps, General Warren, crossed at Ger-
mania Ford, taking the road to Orange Court-House, vid Robertson's
Tavern; the Third Corps, General French, at Jacob's MUls Fordyand
took position at night on the right of the Second Corps; the Fifth
Corps, General Sykes, at Culpepper Ford, towards the Fredericksburg
plankroad, and formed a junction with the Second Corps on its right,
at the forks of the road at Robertson's Tavern ; the Sixth Corps,
General Sedgwick, followed the Third Corps at Jacob's Mills Ford ;
and the First Corps, General Newton»with the reserve artillery and
wagon trains, followed the Fifth Corps across Culpepper Ford. The
wagons were parked at Richardsville, about fifteen miles south from
Rappahannock Station.
The crossings were made without opposition. The water was about
waist high, and the men forded the river. While on the march the
columns Vere halted, and the telegrams announcing the victory at
Chattanooga were read to the men. The news was received with the
wUdest enthusiasm. The air was darkened with caps thrown up by
officers and men, and resonant with cheers.
Before this advance, the enemy fell back and took up a position at
Mine Run, southwest of ChancellorsvUle, where severe combats took
place on the 27th and "30th. The strength of this position was such
that it was not deemed prudent to attack. The soundness of this judg
ment was tested some months later, when Grant vainly attempted,
with a much larger force, to carry the position. General Meade, in
consequence, withdrew his troops on December 1st, and reoccupied the
position whence he had advanced, near Brandy Station, on the Orange
and Alexandria Railroad. The army of Lee resumed its former posi
tion at Orange Court-House, his advance guarding the fords of the
Rapidan. The work of recruiting the army was now in progress. The Presi
dent, under date of October 17th, issued a call for three hundred thou
sand men, to serve for three years or the war, and the Governors of
the States were called upon to raise and have enlisted the quotas due
from their States. In case the required number should not volunteer
under this call, a draft was to be made on January 5th, 1864. By
means of liberal bounties offered to veteran recruits, a large number
ofthe men of Meade's army, whose time would expire in the spring of
1864, were induced to re-enUst under this call, thirty days' furlough

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 471
being aUowed them. Towards the close of December the men began
to leave for their homes, and as the work of reorganizing the army
consumed many weeks, there was but little active work, and no impor
tant military movement was undertaken.
Towards the close of January, 1864, it was determined to consoli
date the five corps, which then composed the Army of the Potomac;
into three, under Generals Sedgwick, Hancock, and Warren, who there
after commanded respectively the Sixth, Second, and Fifth. The First
and Third ceased to' exist; The re-enlistments went on rather slowly
under the call of October, and on the 1st of February the following
order appeared : — " Executive Mansion, )
"Washington, February 1. j?
" Ordered, That a draft for five hundred thousand men to serve for thr-ee years or
during the war be made on the 10th day of Maron next, for the military service of tho
United States, crediting and deducting therefrom so many as may have been enlisted
or drafted into the service prior to the first day of March, and not heretofore credited.
(Signed) "Abraham Lincoln." •
By a circular issued by the Provost-Marshal-General, it appeared
that this call amounted practically to a call for two hundred thousand
men in addition to those required by the October caU. The Confeder*-
ates, on their side, were stimulated by the vigor of the Northern efforts
to raise troops by fresh conscriptions, and the utmost rigor was exer
cised in fiUing their depleted ranks. General Meade was at this time
iU in PhUadelphia, and rumors began to spread of the selection of a
new commander for the Army of the Potomac, which, however, proved
to be utterly groundless. The two armies continued comparatively
inactive until the 6th of February, when a reconnoissance in force was
undertaken by General Sedgwick. Kilpatrick's Division of Cavalry,
supported by battery C, Third United States Artillery (Braxton Bragg's
old battery), advanced on the extreme left and crossed the Rapidan at
Ely's Ford ; after which the cavalry was divided into squads to scour
the country in the direction of Richardson's tavern and Fredericks'
burg, on the left. _ The duty was thoroughly performed, but no enemy
was discovered iu force. The cavalry then recrossed the Rapidan.
The Second and Thjrd Divisions ofthe Second Corps were ordered to
cross at Stevensburg early on the 6th, but as the pontoons, which
were ordered, had failed to arrive, the Second Division boldly forded
the deep stream in the face of the enemy, who held his ground, and the
fight continued aU day. The two divisions were withdrawn on the
7th, after having lost two hundred men in kiUed and wounded, most
of whom were in the Second Corps. General Merritt's Division of
Cavalry advanced on the right, and crossed at Burnett's Ford. They
had a brisk skirmish with some of S,tuart's cavalry, and recrossed on
Sunday, the 7th inst. The results of! the movement did not coinfirm
the impression that had been curr«it as to the demoralization of the
enemy. In connection with this movement a cavalry raid, started from
the lower peninsula, demonstrated against Richmond, but finding the
rebels on the alert, proceeded no farther than Bottom's Bridge over
the Chickahominy.

472 HISTORY OF THE GREAT EEBELLION.
There was little further of interest until the 28th of February, when
the cavalry command of Kilpatriok moved from Stevensburg,. Virginia,
on a bold raid, having for its object the liberation of Union prisoners
confined in Richmond. That/this dashing attempt did not meet with
fuU success, does not detract from the originality of the enterprise.
The troops crossed the Rapidan at Ely's Ford, where Captain Dahlgren
was detached with a picked command on' a special mission, while the
main body pushed on through1 Spottsylvania Court-House to Beaver
Dam, which they reached on the afternoon of the 29th. Much destruc
tion of bridges and railroads here took place, and the column advanced
across the South Anna at Taylorsville, and at half-past ten a. m. of the
•30th were within the outer defences of Richmond, on the Brook turn
pike, three and a half miles from the city. On passing the second line
of defences, the force met the fire of the enemy from the third line.
The bridge over Brook Creek having now been destroyed by the
enemy, and the fire in front increasing, KUpatrick moved off rapidly
on the Meadow Bridge road, destroying property as he went. The
command encamped at evening near the Chickahominy, repulsed; an
attack during the night, and, finding that the enemy had destroyed the
boats on the Pamunkey, in the morning moved down the Peninsula,
harassed by the enemy on flank and rear. Meantime, Captain Dahl
gren proceeded to Fredericshall to destroy munitions there, but, finding
the place too strong, declined to attack, and moved off lo the James
River Canal, which he reached eight miles east of Goochland Court-
House. Here he destroyed a good deal of property, and hanged a
guide who had purposely misled him. The command then proceeded
towards Richmond, which it reached after the retreat of KUpatrick
Encountering a body of the enemy's cavalry, Dahlgren fell back, and
with one hundred men got separated from his main body, which, under
Captain Mitchell, joined Kilpatrick, who with his command reached
WUliamsburg. Colonel Dahlgren was killed while pushing towards
the York River, and most of his men taken prisoners. The enemy
claimed to have found upon Dahlgren's body papers detailing a plan
for destroying Richmond by incendiarism, and murdering the members
of the Government. The report of the rebel Secretary of War gave
particulars of the alleged intentions of Dahlgren; but the friends of
Dahlgren and the United • States Government have denied that any
such plan was devised, and the alleged instructions bear internal evi
dence of being a clumsy forgery of the enemy. A co-operating force,
sent by Butler from Fortress Monroe to aid this raid, failed to come up
in time, and the enterprise faUed of any practical results, except the
destruction of public property. This may be considered the more un
fortunate, as it is now known that at the time Richmond was defended
by a totaUy inadequate force, and might, perhaps, by a vigorous exer
tion, have been entered by the Union cayalry.

^^/^u^Cr

LIEUT. G-ETST .ULYSSES S GRftNT.

HISTOEY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.

473

m CHAPTER XLV.
Creation of the Office of Lieutenant-General— General Grant Appointed.— Army Re-
organization.-Draft for Tw6 Hundred Thousand Men.-General Grant assumes Com
mand in Chief-Powers, of the Lieutenant-General.— Country between Washington
and Richmond.— Rule of Advance.— Rebel Position.
The main army was now rested, and measures were in progress to
give it a thorough reorganization. Congress having passed a bill
reviving the office of Lieutenant-General, and recommending General
Grant for the office, on the 10th March a general order issued reliev
ing General Halleck from duty as |eneral-in-chief of the army, and
assigning General Grant to the command of the armies of the United
States, w^h head-quarters in the field. General Halleck was appointed
chief ofthe staff. The command was assumed on the foUowing general
order : — "Head-Quarters of the Armies of the United States, )
."Nashville, Tennessee, March 11, 1864. J
GENERAL ORDER, NO. 12.
"In pursuance ofthe following order ofthe President: —
" ' Executive Mansion, Washington, March 10, 1864v
" ' Under the authority of the act of Congress to appoint to, the grade of lieutenant-
general in the army,, of February 29, 1864, Lieutenant-General' Ulysses S. Grant, United
States Army, is appointed to the command of the armies of the United States.
" 'Abraham Lincoln.'
— I assume command of. the armies of the United States. Head-quarters will be in the
field, and, until further orders, will be with the Army of the Potomac. There will be an
office head-quarters in Washington, to which all official communications will be sent,
except' those from the army where the head-quarters are at the date of their address.
¦ ¦ , "' "U. S. Gsant, Lieutenant-General."
FoUowing this order was a new caU for a* draft of two hundred thou
sand men, as foUo ws : — "Executive Mansion, Washington, March 14, 1864.
GENERAL ORDERS, NO. 100.
"In order to supply the force required to be drafted for the Navy, and to provide an
ample reserve force for all contingencies, in addition to the five hundred thousand men
called for February 1, 1864, the call is hereby made, and a draft ordered, for two hun
dred thousand men for the military service, Army, Navy, and Marine Corps of the
United States. -
"The proportional quotas for the different -wards, towns, townships, precincts, or
election districts or counties, will be made known through the Provost-Marshal-Gen
eral's Bureau, and accounts will be taken of the credits and deficiencies of former
quotas. "The 15th day of April, 1864, is designated as the time up to which the numbers
required from each ward of a city, town, &c, may be raised by voluntary enlistment,
and drafts will be made in such wards of a city, town, &c, which shall not have filled
the quota assigned to it within the time designated for the number required to fill said
quota. "The drafts will be commenced as soon after the 15th of April as practicable.
"The Government bounties, as now paid, continue until April 1, 1864, at which time
the additional bounties cease. On and after that date, one hundred dollars only will
be paid, as provided by the act approved July 22, 1861.
(Signed) "Abraham Lincoln.
"Official: E. D. Townsend, A. A. G."

474 HISTORY OF THE GREAT EEBELLION.
This call, with the two previous ones of October and February,
made seven hundred thousand men called for in six months. While
the material was thus provided, the Army of the Potomac underwent
an entire reorganization, as may be seen by the foUowing order : —
REORGANIZATION OF THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC.
"Head-Quarters Abmt of the Potomac, )
" Thursday, March 24, 1864. )
"GENERAL ORDERS, NO. 10. f
" The following order has been received from the War Department : —
"'"War Department, Adjutant-General's Office, )
"' Washington, March 23, 1864. " J
"' general Orders, no. 415.
" ' First— By direction ofthe President of the United States, the number of army corps
'Composing the Army of the Potomac will be reduced to three, viz. : the Second, Piftli,
and Sixth Corps. The troops of the other two corps, viz., the First and Third Corps,
will be temporarily reorganized and distributed among the Second, Fifth, and Sixth, by
the commanding general, who will determine what existing organization will retain
their corps badges and other distinctive marks. The staff officers of the two corps
which are temporarily broken up, will be. assigned to vacancies in the other corps, so
far as such vacancies may exist. Those for whom there are no vacancies, will cease to
be considered as officers ofthe general staff of army corps.
," ' Second. — Major-General G. W. Warren is assigned by the President to the command
ofthe Fifth .Corps.
" ' Third. — The following general officers are detached from the Army of the Potomac,
and will report for orders to the adjutant of the army, viz.: Major-General George
Sykes, U. S. Vols., Major-General W. H. French, U. S. Vols., Major-General John New
ton, U. S. Vols., Brigadier-General J. R. Kenly, U. S. Vols., Brigadier-General F.
Spinola, U. S. Vols., Brigadier-General Solomon Meredith, U. S. Vols.
'"By order of the Secretary of War. " 'E. D. Townsend, A. A. G:
"Fourth. — The following arrangements are made to carry out the provisions of the
foregoing order : — The Second, Fifth, and Sixth Army Corps will be consolidated into
two divisions. The first and second divisions of the Third Corps are transferred to the
Second Corps, preserving their badges and distinctive marks. The third division ofthe
Third Corps is transferred permanently to the Sixth Corps. The three divisions now
forming the First Corps are transferred to the Fifth Corps, preserving their badges and
distinctive marks, and on joining the Fifth Corps, they will be consolidated into two
divisions. The commander of the division transferred to the Second, Fifth, and Sixth
Corps will at once report to the commanders of those corps for instructions. Brigadier-
General J, B. Carr will report to Major-General Hancock, commanding the Second
Corps, and Brigadier-General H. Prince to Major-General Sedgwick, commanding the
Sixth Corps. The chief of artillery will assign eight batteries each to the Second,
Fifth, and Sixth Corps, these batteries to be taken from those now with the corps, and
with the First and Third Corps. The batteries with the several corps in excess ofthe
above allowance will join the artillery reserve. The consolidation of divisions called
for in this order will be made by the corps commanders concerned, who are author
ized to rearrange the brigades of their respective commands in such manner as they
may think best for the service. The reassignment of officers of the staff departments,
consequent upon the reorganization of the army, will be made upon the nominations of
the chiefs of staff departments at these head-quarters. Special instructions will be
given hereafter with respect to staff officers of the two corps temporarily broken up.
" Fifth. — The major-general commanding avails himself of the occasion to say, that in
view of the reduced strength of nearly all the regiments serving in this army, the tem
porary reduction of the army corps to three is a measure imperatively demanded by
the best interests ofthe service, and that the reasons for attaching' the First, and Third
Corps, for the time being, to other corps, were in no respect founded upon any sup-

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 475
*
posed inferiority of those corps to the other corps of this army. All the corps have
equally proved their valor on many fields, and all. have equal claims to the confidence
of the Government and of the country. The First and Third Corps will retain their
badges and distinctive marks, and the major-general commanding indulges the hope
that the ranks of the army will be filled St an early day, so that those corps can again
be reorganized.
"By command of Major-General Meade.
(Signed) "S. Williams, A. A. G."
The foUowing is a summary of the reorganization of the corps : —
fifth army corps.
Major-General Warren, Commanding.
The consolidation of divisions and arrangement of brigades is made as follows: — The
commanding officer ofthe First Division of the' old Fifth Corps is ordered to consolidate
the three brigades into two brigades, to be designated as the First and Second Bri
gades, First Division, Fifth Army Corps. The'old Second Division, Fifth Corps, has been
consolidated into one brigade, to be designated as the Third Brigade, First Division, Fifth
Corps, commanded by Brigadier-General R. B. Ayres. The old Third Division, Fifth Corps,
will remain as the new Third Division, Fifth Army Corps. The Second Brigade ofthe
Third Division, First Army Corps, has been transferred to the Second Division, First
Army Corps,' and this division will hereafter be designated as the Second Division,
Fifth Army Corps. The First Brigade of the Third Division, First Army Corps, has
been transferred to the First Division, First Army Corps, and this division will here
after bo designated as the Fourth Division, Fifth Army Corps. The designating flags
of the old Third Brigade, First Division, Fifth Army Corps ; of the old Second Division,
Fifth Army Corps; ofthe old Second Brigade, Second Division, Fifth Army Corps; and
of Third Division, First Army Corps, are ordered to be turned in to the corps quarter
master. The following is the assignment of general officers to commands in the consolidated
corps : —
1. Brigadier-General J. S. Wadsworth, commanding Fourth Division.
2. Brigadier-General S. W. Crawford, commanding Third Division.
3. Brigadier-General J. C. Robinson, commanding Second Division.
4. Brigadier-General Charles Griffin, commanding First Division.
5. Brigadier-General R. B. Ayres, commanding Third Brigade, First Division,
6. Brigadier-General L. Cutter, commanding First Brigade, Fourth Division.
1. Brigadier-General Henry Baxter, commanding Second Brigade, Second Division.
8. Brigadier-General J. J. Bartlett, commanding Second Brigade, First Division.
9. Brigadier-General James Barnes, commanding First Brigade, First Division.
10. Brigadier-General J. C. Rice, commanding Second Brigade, Fourth Division.
The following is a portion of the corps staff :-^
Lieutenant-Colonel H. C. Bankhead, Inspector-General
Lieutenant-Colonel F. A. Locke, Assistant Adjutant-General.
Captain D. L. Smith, Acting Chief Commissary of Subsistence.
Captain W. T. Gentry, Commissary of, Musters.
The other officers of the staff have not yet been assigned.
second corps.
Major-General Hancock, Commanding.
_ The original regiments of the Second Corps have been consolidated into two divi
sions, with a new assignment of division and brigade commanders.
The division formerly known as the First Division of the Third Corps, commanded
by Major-General Birney, has been designated as the Third Division of the Second
Corps. The division formerly known as the Second Division of the Third Corps, to
which Brigadier-General Carr has been assigned as commander, will hereafter be known
as the Fourth Division of the Second Corps. Each of these divisions has been reduced
to two brigades. The organization ofthe staff of the Second Corps has not yet been
completed. The following is the arrangement of divisions and assignment of commanders : —

476 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.
first division. '
Brigadier-General T. C. Barlow.
First Brigade— Colonel N. A. Niles, Sixty-first New York.
Second Brigade — Colonel T. A. Smythe, First Delaware Volunteers.
Third Brigade— Colonel P. Frank, Fifty-second New York.
Fourth Brigade — Colonel J. R. Brooke, Fifty-fifth Pennsylvania.
second division.
Brigadier-General John Gibbon.
First Brigade — Brigadier-General A. S. Webb.
Second Brigade — Brigadier-General J. P. Owens.
Third Brigade— Colonel S. S. Carroll, Eighth Ohio.
THIRD DIVISION.
Major-General D. B. Birney.
First Brigade — Brigadier-General J. H. Ward.
Second Brigade — Brigadier-General A. Haye.
FOURTH DIVISION.
Brigadier-General J. B. Carr.
First Brigade — Brigadier-General G. Mott.
Second Brigade — Colonel W. R. Brewster, Seventy-third New York.
Chief of Artillery— Colonel Tibball. SIXTH CORPS.
General Sedgwick, Commanding.
The old Third Division, Sixth Corps, is broken up, one brigade (Shaler's) going to the
First Division ; the Second (Wheaton's and Eustis's) going to the Second Division. The
Third Division, Third Corps, is transferred to the Sixth Corps, and General Prince
is assigned to the command of it. The three brigades of this division are consolidated
into two, under General Russell and General Morris.
FIRST DIVISION.
Brigadier-General H. G. Wright.
First Brigade — Brigadier-General A. T. A. Torbert.
Second Brigade— Colonel E. Dpton, One Hundred and Twenty-first New York.
Third Brigade — Colonel H. Burnham, Fifth Maine Volunteers.
Fourth Brigade — Brigadier-General A. Shaler.
SECOND DIVISION.
¦ Brigadier-General G. W. Getty.
First Brigade — Brigadier-General F. Wheaton.
Second Brigade— Colonel L. A. Grant, " Fremont " Brigade.
Third Brigade — Brigadier-General T. H. Neill.
Fourth Brigade— Brigadier-General A. L. Eustis.
THD3D DIVISION.
Brigadier-General H. Prince.
First Brigade — Brigadier-General W. H. Morris.
Second Brigade— Brigadier-General D. A. Russell.
Colonel C. H. Tompkins, First Rhode Island Artillery, commanding Artillery.
Each of the generals detached took leave of his troops in a general
order. Major-General P. H. Sheridan was summoned from the West
to take command ofthe cavalry ofthe Army ofthe Potomac.
Lieutenant-General Grant arrived in Washington on Tuesday,
April 8th, accompanied by General Rawlings and Colonel Comstock.
On the afternoon of Wednesday, the 9th, the President formally pre
sented to him at the Cabinet Chamber, in the presence of the entire
Cabinet, his commission as lieutenant-general, and thus addressed
him: —

HISTORY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 477
" General Gbant : — The nation's appreciation of what you have done, and its reliance
upon you for what remains to be done in the existing great struggle, are now pre
sented with this commission constituting you Lieutenant-General in the Aimy of the
United States. With this high honor devolves upon you also a corresponding responsibility.
As the country herein trusts you, se, under God, it will sustain you. I scarcely need to
add, that with what I here speak for the nation goes my own hearty personal concur
rence." To which General Grant repUed as follows :«—
"Mr. President : — I accept the commission with gratitude for the high hdnor conferred.
With the aid of the noble armies that have foughtron so many fields for our common
country, it will be my earnest endeavor not to disappoint your expectations. I feel
the full weight of the responsibilities now devolving on me, and I know that if they
are met, it will be due to those armies, and above all to the favor of that Providence
which leads both nations and men."
General Grant was then introduced to the Cabinet, and some time
was spent in conversation.
The new general lost little time in commencing his new duties. He
issued an order directing aU civiUahs, sutlers, and their employes, to
proceed to the rear with all their property, and stopped all furloughs.
He personally inspected the several Eastern departments, visiting For
tress Monroe, Annapohs, and other points, during the month of April.
The weather during the month was adverse to army movements, as
incessant rains sufficed to make the roads impassable. The enemy
On his side had recruited with great vigor, and was indefatigable in
the construction of earthworks.
In Ulustration of the ample powers conferred upon General Grant
and ofthe policy pursued towards him by the President, the following
correspondence is of interest: —
"Executive Mansion, Washington, April 30, 1864.
" Lieutenant-General Grant : '
"Not expecting to see you before the spring campaign opens, I wish to express in
this way my entire satisfaction with what you have done up to this lime so far as I
understand it. The particulars of your plans I neither know, nor seek to know You
are vigilant and self-reliant; and .pleased with this,, I wish not to obtrude any re
straints or constraints upon you. While I am very anxious that any great disaster, or
capture of our men in great numbers, shall be avoided, I know that these points are less
• e,y l-°1fS-Caplf?Ur attentlon than ffi<?y ™>uld be mine. If there be any thing want
ing which is within my power to give, do not fail to let me know it
And now, with a brave army and a just cause, may God sustain yoj.
" Yours, very truly, A. Lincoln."
grant's reply.
" Head-Quarters Armies of the United States, )
ii m™ -n, tt Culpepper Court-House, May 1, 1864. |
The President :— Your very kind letter of yesterday is just received. The confi
dence you express for the future and satisfaction for the past in my military adminis
tration, is acknowledged with pride. It shall be my' earnest endeavor that you and
tne country shall not be disappointed. From my first entrance into the volunteer ser
vice of the country until the present day, I have never had cause of complaint, have
never expressed or implied a complaint against the Administration or the Secretary of
War, for throwing any embarrassment in the way of my vigorously prosecuting what
appeared to be my duty. .' 6
_ " Indeed, since the promotion which placed me in command of all the armies, and in
view ofthe great responsibility and importance of success, 1 have been astonished at
the readiness with which every thing asked for has been yielded, without even an ex

4*78 HISTORY OF THE GREAT EEBELLION.
planation being asked. Should my success be less than I desire and expect, the least
I can say is, the fault is not with you.
" Very truly, your obedient servant,
"U. S. Grant, Lieutenant-General."
With the approach of spring it became necessary to complete the
arrangements for another advance on Richmond ; and this time it was
apparently determined jthat there should be no lack of force and no
diversity of command that should interfere with the directness and
efficiency of the blows to be struck. A large amount of experience
had now been gained in relation to the mode of conducting the cam
paign. In previous years direct advances upon Richmond had failed
in various stages of progress, the army of the invasion generally stop
ping short at the Rappahannock and the Rapidan, The difficulty of
passing these Unes was beginning to be considered as insuperable.
But the Government was determined, by augmented force, more
thoroughly to test that problem. The physical character of the coun
try between Washington and Richmond is such as to exert an unex
ampled influence upon military operations.
On the right of an advancing army are chains of mountains, which
enable an opposing force to conceal any flanking movement they may
undertake, while the valleys afford to it the means for an easy and un
interrupted passage to the Potomac above Washington, and one almost
entirely secure from attacks in its rear. On the front is a succession
of rivers, presenting great natural obstacles to an advance, and at the
same time easily defensible; to make flanking movements by ascend
ing them is to open the rear to attacks from Fredericksburg, and to
cross below the enemy's army would leave the railroad a prey to guer
rillas. The country is, moreover, masked in every direction by dense
¦forests, rendering any thing like a surprise in force impracticable. A
few scouts may at all times easily detect and thwart such a movement.
Such are the natural features of the country.
It is a well-known rule of military operations, that a "base " should
neither be too extended nor too limited^ and it should be accessible by
several routes. The base- of the Army of the Potomac was just the
width of a railroad track, and that railroad furnished really the only
practicable route of communication. With a Umited base an army is
always exposed to be cut in the rear. This is what had happened to
the. Army of the Potomac at every advance. Guerrilla bands infested
the whole country between the Rappahannock and Alexandria (some
sixty nnles), and it is impossible to protect entirely in a hostile country
such an extent of territory. For every mile of advance beyond Fair
fax Court-House, fivehundred men are required to protect the rear.
An entire corps was in March employed by General Meade in doing
this from the Rappahannock to Manassas, and the troops of the De
partment of Washington protected the track from that locality to
Alexandria. Hence the drain of an army for that service can be easily
estimated. After passing the Rapidan, if railroad communication is to
be rehed on for supplies, a strong force must be constantly kept in the
rear; every train, will even then be exposod to capture by bands sweep
ing down from the mountains.

HISTOEY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 470
The rebel leaders fully understood all these circumstances, and were
always ready to take advantage of them. They were aware that they
could hold in check,' with three-fifths of its force, the Army of the Po
tomac. Meantime, they pursued the Fabian policy, and were not
foolish enough to stake every thing on the risk of a battle, except where
invulnerably fortified. Their own rear needed no protection ; they'
had two railroad routes, besides all the ordinary roads. Thus they had
all the advantage of position on their side.
There were several methods by which an army could overcome these
obstacles: First, with a sufficient force to cover its flanks, it might com
pel the enemy to retreat and Richmond to be abandoned. Second, it
might be able to bring on an engagement which would prove decisive.
Third, by cutting loose from Washington and becoming a movable
column,Mt could go at any time to the rear of the rebel army and
open a new base for itself on the Pamunkey or York Rivers, or by the
raUroad from Fredericksburg. It is risking nothing to say that the
army could at any time go to Richmond, if reheved from the necessity
of protecting its rear. This could have been done when General
Meade crossed the Rapidan and was stopped by the rebel works on
Mine Run. The army could transport fifteen days' subsistence and forage,
and with this be moved to Hanover Court-House, to operate on a new
base. Fifteen days is the period usually assigned in Europe as the
length of a march froin one base of operations to another, except the
country traversed be able to support the army. In Virginia, our army
could derive no advantage from the country. It could not subsist itself
for the most limited period. The portion ofthe State which had been the
scene of war was exhausted. Even among the fertile farms of the Pen*
insula it was difficult to obtain small supplies of forage ; of subsist
ence for the men there was actually nothing. The necessity of " bases " -
was therefore evident.
_ The works occupied by Lee's army on the Rapidan extended on the
right three miles below Raccoon Ford. Ewell's Corps and Hill's lay
behind those defences, and stretched out on each side of Orange Court-
House, along a line of twenty miles. Longstreet, having returned some
time "before from Eastern Tennessee, occupied the country around
gordonsville, thirteen miles, southwest ofthe position on the Rapidan.
Such had been the disposition ofthe Army of Northern Virginia during
the latter part Of April. ' ° ¦¦ ¦ ¦ °
.The force with which Grant was about to take the field was mag
nificent in numbers and equipment. Under his personal observation
moved theArmy of the Potomac with its three corps, Hancock's
(Second), Warren's (Fifth), and Sedgwick's (Sixth), recruited to over
forty thousand men each ; in addition to which, the Ninth Corps, under
Burnside, of equal strength to any of the others, and comprising af
largo body of colored troops, was to constitute his reserve on the field,
m connection with the direct advance of this army by-land towards
Richmond, there were to be co-operating movements up the James
River from Fortress Monroe, and up the Valley1 of the Shenandoah,
towards Lynchburg, the foniier to be conducted by the Army of the
James, comprising W. T. ("Baldy") Smith's (Eighteenth) Corps, and

480 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
Gilmore's (Tenth), the whole under the command of General Butler ;
and the latter by the Army of the Shenandoah, comprising the troops
under General Crook, serving in Western Virginia, and somewhat
later Emery's (Nineteenth) Corps. This movement was to be directed,
by Sigel. These three distinct organizations, converging ultimately
toward a single point, had, indeed, a common object, but upon the
Army of the Potomac, which far exceeded the others in strength and
effectiveness, was to devolve the hardest of the fighting.

CHAPTER XLVL
The Army in Tennessee. — Results of Murfreesboro'. — Operations in Tennessee. — Minor
Expeditions. — Advance of Rosecrans. — Retreat of Bragg. — Burnside's Campaign in
East Tennessee. — Occupation of Knoxville. — Evacuation of Chattanooga. — Concen
tration of the Enemy. — Battle of Chiokamauga. — The Two Generals. — Results of
the Battle.
The battle of Stone River, near Murfreesboro, which closed the
Operations of the year 1 862 in Tennessee, left General Rosecrans es
tablished at the latter place with the Army of the Cumberland. The
army occupied a position in front of the town, and a series of exten
sive earthworks, completely encircling it, were constructed for the
purpose of making it a depot of supplies and the base of future opera
tions. The railroad track and the bridges in the rear towards Nash
ville were also repaired. On the 9th of January, the army was di
vided into three corps, designated the Fourteenth, Twentieth, and
Twenty-first, and commanded respectively by Generals Thomas,
McCook, and Crittenden. " Active operations were, however, sus
pended, owing to the rains of the season. Large supplies were col
lected in consequence of the rise of the Cumberland River at NashviUe
and Murfreesboro'. But the enemy was not idle. His cavalry overran
the country, and men and wagons belonging to General Rosecrans
were often captured by him. The object was to cut off the commu
nications between the Army of the Cumberland and its supplies.
Thus also several of the steamers on the Cumberland River were cap
tured and burned.
_ On the 31st of January, 1863, General Jeff. C. Davis, with a divi
sion of infantry and two brigades of cavalry, under Colonel Minty,
moved from camp on an expedition in the direction of Rover and
Franklin. The force was absent thirteen days, during which it,
scoured the country, making many captures from the enemy. On the'
Confederate side there was much activity under Colonel Forrest, who
operated to cut off supplies on the Cumberland. On the 5th of March
a Federal brigade at Spring Hill was surprised by a large force under
Van Dorn. The former consisted of the Thirty-third and Eighty-
fifth Indiana, Twenty-second Wisconsin, and Nineteenth Michigan,
numbering fifteen hundred and eighty-nine men, together with the
One Hundred and Twenty-fourth Ohio and six hundred cavalry, and
one battery of six small guns, all under Colonel John Colburn. Of.
these, thirteen hundred and six men were captured. The cavalry

1

HISTORY OF THE GREAT EEBELLION. 481
and artillery escaped. The enemy were followed to Duck River by
General Sheridan, who succeeded in capturing some prisoners. On
the 20th of March, a force of fourteen hundred men, under Colonel
A. S. Hall, was attacked by the Confederates, under John Morgan, at
Milton, twelve miles northeast of Murfreesboro', and after a sharp
conflict the assailants were driven off. Many expeditions were sent
out by both sides with more or less success. About the 10th of April,
Van Dorn, with a force of about ten thousand men, renewed the at
tack at Franklin upon General Granger, whose force consisted of the
divisions of Brigadier-Generals Baird and Gilbert, and sixteen guns,
and Brigadier-General Smith's cavalry brigade of eleven hundred and
twenty-eight men ; also a cavalry force of sixteen hundred men and
two guns, under Colonel Stanley. The command of Stanley was se
verely handled by the enemy, who finally withdrew with the loss of
many kUled and wounded and two cannon. On the 28th of April,
General Reynolds's Division, with a mounted force, moved to attack
the enemy at McMinnville, whence supplies were sent to Chattanooga.
The operation was a success. In the first week of April a cavalry ex
pedition,! consisting of the First Indiana, Eightieth Illinois, and por
tions of two Ohio regiments, under the command of Colonel A. D.
Streight, numbering altogether eighteen hundred men, was sent into
Northern Georgia, mainly to cut the railroads which supplied the
Confederate army by way of Chattanooga. At Eastport he formed a
junction with General Dodge's force, then marching upon Tuscumbia,
and defeated the Confederate troops stationed there, with considera
ble loss to them. Thence he moved through Northern Georgia, aim
ing to reach the important points of Rome and Atlanta. Meanwhile
General Dodge, with his force, turned southward, to make a sweeping
raid in Northern Alabama, and return to his head-quarters at Corinth.
No sooner had Colonel Streight commenced his march than infor
mation of his movements was received by General Forrest and Colonel
Roddy, who, with a cavalry force, happened to be within striking dis
tance. By a rapid movement they came upon the rear, of Colonel
Streight, and commenced a running fight, which continued for four
days, during which there were two severe battles and several spirited
skirmishes. After the Federal troops had marched over a hundred
mUes towards the heart of Georgia, the rebel force increased to over
whelming numbers, and Colonel Streight, having expended his am
munition, and his men becoming exhausted, was compelled to surren
der at a point fifteen miles from Rome. His men, numbering thirteen
hundred, were paroled and sent to Virginia, and exchanged about
two months afterwards. But his officers were retained and imprisoned,
on the demand of the Governor of Georgia, by whom they, were
claimed as having incurred the penalty fixed by a statute ofthe State
for inciting slaves to rebelUon. It was charged, at the time of the
surrender, that negroes were found in Colonel Streight'a command,
uniformed and bearing arms. This was denied by the privates,, who
asserted that only five or six negroes were with the command,, and
they had started with it from NashvUle. This imprisonment of Colo
nel Streight caused the Federal Government to suspend, the exchange
31

482 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
of Confederate officers, and subsequently to imprison General John
Morgan and his officers in the penitentiary of Ohio. Colonel Streight
was then released from imprisonment as a felon, and subsequently
General Morgan escaped. Colonel Streight also effected his escape
from the rebel prison in Richmond.
As the spring wore on without any movement being commenced in
Tennessee, the inactivity of Rosecrans produced much dissatisfaction.
General Grant was, at that time pressing the siege of Vicksburg,
watched by Johnston in Mississippi, while Bragg was facing Rosecrans.
It was supposed that in consequence of the pressing needs of Pember
ton at Vicksburg, Bragg was sending troops to Johnston to enable him
to operate upon Grant's rear. Hence, Rosecrans, re-enforced by Burn
side, was ordered to attack Bragg while he was thus weakened.
Rosecrans replied, that his cavalry was not yet mounted, that the
enemy was, not weakened materially, that the army could not advance
with reasonable prospects of success, and that a decisive movement at
that time was not advisable. This opinion was shared by nearly all the
commanders in the army. If Bragg was about to aid Johnston, they
argued, he could do so only by leaving Rosecrans's front, which would
give the opportunity to advance. On the other hand, if Grant should
be defeated, Johnston would join Bragg, and then Rosecrans should be
near his base, to receive their attack. Notwithstanding these rea
sons, Rosecrans commenced on June 25th a series of operations which,
without bringing on a general engagement, resulted in the retreat of
the enemy, on July 4th, upon Chattanooga. At the same time, General
Stanley occupied Shelbyville, and pushed on to HuntsvUle, while .
Granger held the former place.
This retreat of Bragg, by abandoning Middle Tennessee to the Fed
eral troops, had a demoralizing effect upon his forces, and discouraged
the friends of the Confederacy in Tennessee. The Federal losses in
these operations were eighty-five killed, four hundred and sixty-two
wounded, and thirteen missing. There were captured from the enemy
one thousand six hundred and thirty-four prisoners, and six pieces of
artillery, many small-arms, much camp equipage, and large quantities
of commissary and quartermaster's stores. Bragg, having returned to
Chattanooga on the south side of the Tennessee River, now fortified his
position, and threw up defensive works at the crossing ofthe river and
as far up as Blythe's Ferry.
The plan of campaign adopted for the capture of the entire upper
mountain region of East Tennessee was an advance in double exterior
lines, concentric on the enemy. The main column, under Rosecrans,
was to move from the front of operations at Tullahoma and Winches
ter, on Chattanboga; and a co-operative column, under Burnside, to
move from Lexington, Kentucky, on Knoxville, and thence on Chatta
nooga. It will be observed that Rosecrans's line of advance was
almost due east— about eighty miles— while Burnside's was almost due
south, about two hundred miles. As both aimed at one common ob
jective point, and moved on it from opposite points, with the enemy
lying between them, the lines of advance were, as we have named
them, exterior and concentric towards the enemy.

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 483
The first object of General Rosecrans was to repair the railroad from
Nashville to Stevenson in Alabama. At Stevenson the Nashville Rail
road unites with the Memphis and Charleston road. Stevenson is
thirty-seven mfles West of Chattanooga, on the Une of the latter road.
Having completed his preparations, he commenced August 16th his
movement on Chattanooga and its covering mountain ridges on the
southeast. On that day, General Thomas moved from Decherd, with
the division of Payne in advance, and occupied Stevenson. On the
same day McCook s Corps occupied Salem, ten miles from Winchester,
on the Huntsville road, and moved on to Bellepont, twelve miles east of
Stevenson, while Crittenden moved north of Chattanooga. The front
of the entire movement extended from the head of Sequatchie Valley
in East Tennessee to Athens in Alabama, thus threatening the line of
the Tennessee River from Whitesburg to Blythe's Ferry, a distance of
one hundred and fifty miles.
A glance at the map will show that the Tennessee River, after running
due westward from Chattanooga for twenty miles, turns abruptly, and
takes an almost due southerly direction, and the line of advance of
Rosecrans's army eastward would meet it almost at right angles. The
river was crossed on the last day of August at three points — Bridge
port, Sfcevenspn, and Shell Mound — the passage being effected by the
fords and one pontoon bridge. While, however, the main body of the
army — comprising the right (McCook's Corps, the Twentieth) and the
centre (Thomas's, the Fourth) — were thrown over the river at the points
indicated, for a flank march on Chattanooga, by the south side of the
river, the left wing of the army (Crittenden's Corps the Twenty-first)
was swung round the bend ofthe river, on the north side, for a direct
attack from that side. The task before the two columns of the army,
therefore, was, for the first, an advance over an interval of thirty
miles, between the points of crossing the Tennessee and Chattanooga
(a country exceedingly rugged and mountainous) ; and, for the second,
a swinging movement by way of the Sequatchie Valley, on the front
of Chattanooga. After effecting the passage of the river, on the 31st,
Rosecrans halted his columns, for some days, for the purpose of allow
ing part of the programme of combined operations assigned to Gen
eral Burnside to be further developed.
Burnside had assumed the command of the Department of the Ohio
in March. On the 30th of that month, General Gillmore engaged and
defeated a large force of the enemy under Pegram, near Somerset,
Kentucky. Other operations consisted of an attempted raid in Har
rison County, Indiana, from which the enemy were driven back with a
loss of fifty-three made prisoners, and a movement under Colonel
Saunders, with two pieces of artillery, the First Tennessee cavalry, and
some detachments from General Carter's command, by which the rail
road near Knoxville and the bridges at State Creek, Strawberry Plains,
and Mossy Creek were destroyed, and ten pieces of artillery, one thou
sand stand of arms, and five hundred prisoners were captured, with
a loss of one kiUed, two wounded, and a few missing. The departure
of the Ninth Army Corps to re-enforce Grant delayed somewhat Burn
side's preparations for an active campaign in East Tennessee. The ne-

484 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION'.
cessity, however, of his co-operating with the movements of Rosecrans,
compelled him to take the field without awaiting the return of this
corps. '
At this time Buckner was in command of the Confederate forces in
East Tennessee, with his head-quarters at Knoxville. His force num
bered about twenty thousand men, which was sufficient to have re
tarded the progress of Burnside through? either the Cumberland, Big
Creek, or Wheeler's Gap in the mountains; but be avoided that route.
Concentrating his forces at Crab Orchard, on the southerly edge of
Lincoln County, Kentucky, Burnside prepared for the movement over
the mountains;
His main column moved on three routes, the objective point being
Kingston, which place was reached on September 1st. On the same
day Knoxville was occupied by a force under Colonel Foster, Buck
ner having previously retreated with his troops to form a junction with
Bragg, and General Shackelford immediately pushed forward to secure
the costly bridge of the East Tennessee and Georgia Railroad which
crossed the Tennessee at Loudon. But it had already been destroyed
by the retiring rebels. Meanwhile, a small column had marched from
Kentucky on Cumberland Gap, held by General Frazier, and Burnside,
by a rapid flank march from Knoxville, cut off the retreat of the gar
rison, which surrendered unconditionally on September 9th. The
fruits of this well-executed manoeuvre were two thousand prisoners,
fourteen pieces of artillery, and a quantity of stores.
Burnside then telegraphed that he held Cumberland Gap and all
East Tennessee above Loudon, and also the gaps of the North Carohna
mountains. A cavalry force was next sent towards Athens to open a
communication with Rosecrans. The main body of Burnside's army
was now ordered by the general-in-chief to concentrate on the Tennes
see River, from Loudon west, so as to connect with Rosecrans's army,
which reached Chattanooga on the 9th of September.
Rosecrans now began pushing forward his columns. The roads
across the mountain ridges between the Tennessee and Chattanooga
had to be made practicable, and it was only after prodigious labor that
he succeeded in reaching the valley bordering the southern slope of the
first ridge on the 7th inst., on which day he established his head-quar
ters at Trenton, eight miles south of the river. Meanwhile the left wing
was swung round towards Chattanooga, on the north bank of the river.
The perilous position of the enemy at Chattanooga was now evident.
Their only line of communication with the East was severed, and
Rosecrans's main body at Trenton was on the flank of Chattanooga.
Their only line of retreat and of communication, the Western and At
lantic Railroad, was seriously threatened. At the same time, a body
powerful enough to take care of itself threatened Chattanooga in front.
Bragg, seeing himself thus in danger of being completely cut off, con
cluded to abandon Chattanooga ; and the left wing, which had in the
mean time moved up close to the city, passed the river into Chattanoo
ga. Bragg retreated towards Cleveland and Dalton, points of the
triangle of railroads formed by the two branches of the Western and
Atlantic, which diverge at Dalton and strike the Virginia and East

HISTORY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 485
Tennessee Railroad, the one at Cleveland, the other at Chattanooga
Junction. At this time the authorities at Washington were led to
believe that Lee was receiving re-enforcements from Bragg. The
slight resistance made by the enemy in East Tennessee, and his aban
donment without defence of such an important position as Chattanooga,
rendered plausible the reports of spies and deserters from Lee's army,
that re-enforcements were arriving there. Fearing, therefore, that
Rosecrans's army might be drawn too far into the mountains of
Georgia, where it could not be supplied, and might be attacked before
re-enforcements could reach it from Burnside, HaUeck sent orders to
Rosecrans to hold the mountain passes west of Dalton, and to ascer
tain whether Bragg was re-enforcing Lee. The troops of Hurlbut on
Rosecrans's right now crossed the Tennessee River towards Whites- •
burg to protect NashvUle, and, if necessary, troops could be drawn
from Sherman, at Vicksburg.
The occupation of Vicksburg by the Union forces had placed the
troops of Johnston at the disposal of the Confederates, and part of
them, about this time, united with Bragg. Suspecting this, Halleck,
on September 13 th, telegraphed to Sherman as follows : —
" It is quite possible that Bragg and Johnston will move through Northern Alabama,
to the Tennessee River, to turn General Rosecrans's right and cut off his communica
tions. All of General Grant's available forces should be sent to Memphis, thence to
Corinth and Tuscumbia, to co-operate with Rosecrans, should the rebels attempt that
movement" By the occupation of Cumberland Gap and Chattanooga, the Fed
eral troops now not only covered the entire States of Tennessee and
Kentucky, but secured a base of inland operations against Alabama,
Georgia, and South Carolina. Two thirds of the nitre-beds, and a
large proportion of the coal which supplied the rebel founderies, lay in
East Tennessee, which, moreover, abounded in the necessaries of life.
It is one of the strongest countries in the world, so fall of lofty moun
tains, that it has been called, not unaptly, the Switzerland of America.
Its loss was felt to be a severe blow.
On the 14th of September, the enemy had concentrated his forces
near Lafayette, Georgia, to dispute the further advance of Rosecrans.
His threatened movement to the right and left proved to be merelv
cavalry raids to cut Rosecrans's lines of supplies, and menace his com
munication with Burnside. His main army had been re-enforced by
troops from Johnston in Mississippi, and by the prisoners captured at
Vicksburg and Port Hudson, and released on parole, but who had
been declared by the Confederate authorities to be exchanged.
Hr-ii ai • Roseorans,s amy extended at this time from Gordon's
Mills to Alpine, a distance of some forty miles, occupying the passes
ot Lookout Mountain. By Wednesday, the l«th of September, the
army had been concentrated on West Chickamauga Creek, about ten
or twelve miles northwest of Lafayette, Georgia, head-quarters being
established at a place named Crawfish Spring. An attempt of our ad
vance to debouch through the passes of Pigeon Mountain, to continue
tbe march soutnward, showed that the enemy held a strong position in
our immediate front, beyond the Creek. Rosecrans held the rising

486 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.
ground west of the stream (his left resting on Gordon's Mills), while
-the enemy held a similar position east of it. The intervening stream
would of course serve the enemy to mask their movements, aud it be
came necessary for Rosecrans to watch with extreme wariness what
their designs might be. Reconnoissances on the 17th and 18th showed
that Bragg was moving up parallel with the creek, massing his troops
in front of Rosecrans's left centre and left, with the manifest purpose
of executing a turning movement that would place him between the
Union army and Chattanooga. To meet this, the Union general
effected a corresponding movement of his force by the left flank,
wheeling the whole army back down the creek. During the night of
the 18th, Thomas's Corps (Fourteenth), forming the centre of the army,
together with Johnson's Division of McCook's Corps, had moved
to the left, past Crittenden's, thus becoming the left wing of the
army, and making Crittenden's Cornfc (the Twenty-first) the centre.
The two other divisions of McCook'PCorps (Davis's and Sheridan's)
were to move into the position abandoned by Thomas's Corps, but
had not time to assume it fully before the commencement of the action
of Saturday morning, the 1 9th.
On the morning of Saturday, the Union line of battle, as formed,
ran along the Rossville and Lafayette roads due north and south, the
right resting at Gordon's Mills, the left at Kelly's House. On the ex
treme left was Brannan, next Baird and Reynolds, with Johnson in
reserve in the centre, Palmer on the right of Reynolds, Van Cleve on
his, and Wood at Gordon's MiUs. The line, completed by Davis's and
Sheridan's Divisions, faced a Ufctle south of east. Negley formed a
defensive crochet at Owen's Ford, higher up the valley. Detached
from this line, covering the Ringgold approach to RossviUe, the reserve
corps, under General Gordon Granger, was stationed, but, not operat
ing with the main column, can hardly be said to have formed part of
the line of battle.
On the 1 8th, the Confederate army, which had been marching through
stifling beds of dust and crumbling rock since the 14th, crossed West
Chickamauga Creek, and upon the morning of the 19th the only acces
sion of strength which Bragg had received from Virginia consisted
of three brigades under General Hood. The troops of Longstreet
had not then arrived.
At 10 a. m., Brannan, on the extreme left, attacked the enemy with
the view of driving him over the creek. TheJ>attle, although it lasted
until nightfall, was little more than a struggle for position, maintained
by the Confederates with a view to holding the ground where they stood,
and by the Federals with a view of driving the enemy across the stream.
It resulted in a drawn battle, both armies at the close of the day occu
pying, the same ground they held in the morning. The strength of the
encounter fell upon the divisions of Van Cleve and Davis, of Critten
den's Corps, on the Federal side; and upon the Confederate side, on
the troops of Cleburne, an Irishman by birth, and once a private in the
English army, who had risen to the rank of major-general in the
rebel army.
During the night of Saturday, General Rosecrans made some changes

HISTORY OF THE GREAT EEBELLION.

48'7

in the disposition of his forces, by which the line was so far withdrawn
that it rested along a cross-road running northeast and southwest, and
connecting the Rossville with the Lafayette road. By this change
the line was contracted by a mile, and the right wmg caused to rest on a
strong position at Mission Ridge. As before, Thomas held the left,
Crittenden the centre, McCook the right. Upon the right of General
Thomas's line, as held by Reynolds and Brannan, was a slight rise in the
plain, and from the top of this the whole field could be commanded. It
was the key to the position. During the night Thomas's troops had
built a rude breastwork of logs and raUs for their protection. General
Lytle held Gordon's Mills.
At 11 o'clock on the night of the 19th, Longstreet* reached the
head-quarters of Bragg, and was immediately put in command of the
left wing of the Confederate army. Of his own corps, as it stood in
Virginia, he had Benning's, Lane'^s, and Robertson's Brigades of Hood's
Division, and Kershaw's and "Humphrey's of McLaws's Division.
There were added, however, to his command the corps of General
Buckner, including the divisions of Generals Preston and Stewart,
and also, outside of Ruckner's command, the divisions of Generals
Hindman, Walker, and Bushrod Johnston. The right was composed
of HUl's Corps, of two divisions, under Cleburne and Breckinridge;
With the division of Cheatham, of Polk's Corps, and the division of
W. H. T. Walker. The disposition of the whole rebel army from
right to left was Breckinridge, Cleburne, Cheatham, Stewart, Hood,
Hindman, Preston.
Bragg's plan of battle (the same which he invariably pursued) was
to attack along his whole line, commencing on his right and allowing
the attack to be taken up successively by division after division, until
it reached the extreme left. Accordingly, Polk was ordered to com
mence the attack at daybreak ofthe 20th, but, owing to some unforeseen
difficulties, this did not take place until nine o'clock, when Breckinridge
and Cleburne opened upon Thomas's f command. The battle soon raged

* James Longstreet was born in South Carolina
about 1820, and graduated at West Point in 1342.
He was brevetted captain and major for gallant
conduct in the Mexican war, and at the outbreak
of the rebellion held the position of paymaster,
with the rank of major. Having joined the Seces
sion movement, ho' commanded a brigade at the
first battle of Bull Run, after which he was com
missioned a major-general in the rebel arm y.
Early in the spring of 1S62 he was ordered to the
Peninsula, ana from tho commencement of the
siege of Yorktown to the battle of Malvern Hills
he was in almost every action. He commanded
the rebel troops at the battle of Williamsburg,
- May 5th, 1862. In the second Bull Sun campaign,
and in the invasion of Maryland, terminating with
the battle of Antietam, he commanded a corps, and
rendered valuable service. He commanded tho
rebel left, with the rank of lieutenant-general, at
Fredericksburg; and in February, 1868, was sent
to besiege Suffolk, Va», from which place he was re
called, after a fruitless campaign, to re-enforce Lee,
in May. lie commanded one of the three corps
of Lee s army which invaded Maryland and Penn
sylvania in that summer, and had an important

iber,

he was sent to re-enforce Bragg, and greatly contrib"
uted to the rebel victory at Chickamauga, after
which he was detached to capture Knoxville and
drive Burnside out of East Tennessee, in which he
utterly failed. In April, 1831, ho united his troops
once more with tho army of Lee, and was so se
verely wounded at tho battle of the Wilderness,
May 6th, as to be incapacitated for service until
tho following October. Ho held command of his
corps during the winter of 1864-'65, and was in
cluded in the capitulation of Lee to Grant
t George Henry Thomas was born in Sonthamp-
tonCounty.Va., in 1816, and graduated at West Point
in 1S40. lie entered tho service as brevet second
lieutenant of the Third Artillery; served in tho
Florida war, and was brevetted first lieutenant,
and for gallant conduct in the Mexican war was
brevetted captain and major. In 1861- ot be was
instructor of artillery and cavalry at West Point,
and he subsequently saw much active service in
the West. In Mav, 1861, he was appointed colonel
of the Fifth Cavalry, and in August a brigadier-
general of volunteers. He defeated Zollicoffer at
the battle of Mill Spring, or Somerset, January
19th, 1862, was appointed major-general of volun
teers In the succeeding April, and during the sum-

488

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.

furiously along this part ofthe field, but the veteran troops of Thomas
held their ground against the utmost efforts of the enemy. Again
and again the rebels, advancing en 'echelon by brigade from the cover
of the woods into the open field, charged with impetuous fury and
terrific yells towards the breastwork of logs and rails; but each time
the fiery blasts from our batteries and battalions swept over and around
them, and their ranks were crumbled and swept away. In the mean
time, Longstreet had at eleven o'clock commenced his attack on the
Union left wing. Steadily advancing, he swept away the head of every
formation : though often checked, and for themoment repulsed, again
and again he rode to the head of his troops, and, hat in hand, rising in
his stirrups, with voice and gesture animated his men. The Western
troops were brave and hardy men, the material of as fine an army as
ever shouldered musket, but could not check the attack of Longstreet,
who was pressing right on for the possession of Chattanooga. To meet
this danger, Rosecrans, having disposed of Polk on his left, commenced
to move'troops rapidly from left to right. Wood was ordered to go in
stantly to the relief of Reynolds, who was hard pressed by Longstreet,
while Davis and Sheridan were to shift over to the left and thus close
up the line. Wood, though fiercely assaulted, succeeded in reaching
his destination. The Confederate General Walker, observing this
march from left to right, sent intelligence of it to Longstreet, who im
mediately ordered forward Buckner, with twelve pieces. This force
fell heavily upon Davis, who was coming up to fill Wood's place, and,
who, being thus attacked with great suddenness and fury, was pushed to
the right in utter disorder, losing many men.
Meanwhile, Van Cleve's and Palmer's Divisions, exposed by the with
drawal of Davis, were attacked with equal vehemence on the right,
and forced back in great confusion. The rout of the right and centre
was now complete, and, after that fatal break, the line of battle was not
again re-formed during the day. The army was in fact cut in two —
McCook, with Davis, Sheridan, and Wilder, being thrown off to the
right, and Crittenden, except one brigade of Wood's, being broken in
pieces. But before the interference of Buckner, Thomas had crossed
from left to right, and in the afternoon determinedly faced Longstreet,
taking his stand upon the bare and bluff termination of Missionary
Ridge, upon which he had thrown up breastworks, and which, as being
the last stronghold south of the Chattanooga works, he held with
indomitable courage against the assaults of the enemy.
His line was so formed that the left, resting upon the Lafayette road,
and the right at the Gap, represented an arc of a circle, and a southeast
hill about its centre formed the key to the position. Here were col
lected the troops who had so successfully repulsed the rebel right in

mer commanded a wing ofthe Army of the Ten
nessee. He commanded the centre ofthe Army
of the Cumberland at the battle of Stone Elver,
participated in tho advance upon and occupation
of Chattanooga, and at the battle of Chickamauga
saved the Union army from destruction. In
October, he was appointed to the Department of
the Cumberland, and assumed command of the
army at Chattanooga, and he had an important

share in the victory of November 25th at that place.
He participated in Sherman's campaign, ending in
the capture of Atlanta in September. 1SIS4, and was
then ordered to Nashville, where, on December
15th and 16th, ho practically annihilated tbe armv
of Hood, in a series of battles, which may be said
to have ended the war in the West He is now a
brigadier-general in the regular armv, and com
mands the military division of the Tennessee.

HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 489
the forenoon, together with fragments of Sheridan's and other divisions,
which had been partially raUied. Against this position Longstreet
now directed his battalions. That general's onward career had not
been checked during the day. Commencing with his line running
northeast and southwest, he had gradually swung round untU it ran
due east and west, and comprised within its control the main road to
Chattanooga ; and at nightfall, having described all but a circle, he
found his fines again stretching almost in the same direction as in the
morning, but with their backs turned at night towards the point
whither their faces looked at daybreak. It was shortly after the troops
had gained the Chattanooga road that General Hood, riding in front
with his men, was struck by a Minie bullet, which shattered his thigh
bone four inches below the hip. Longstreet ordered Kershaw, of Mc-
Laws's Division, to attack Missionary Ridge in front. He came forward
with great vehemence, but sustained a terrible repulse. About half-
past three p. m., the enemy discovered a gap on the Union right flank,
and began pouring his columns through the opening. At this crisis
Granger reached the field with his reserves, and by great exertions
pushed the rebels back from the gap. The fight now raged around
the hiU with redoubled fury. General Thomas formed his troops in
two lines, and as each marched up to the crest and fired a deadly voUey
at the advancing foe, it fell back a little way, the men lay down upon
the ground to load, and the second line advanced to take their place,
and so on in succession. An attack by Hindman met the same fate as
that of Kershaw. This was followed by the division of Preston, a por
tion of which deployed in Une and ascended the hill in face of a fire
which caused them to reel and stagger. After a moment's hesitation
they again came forward with fixed bayonets, but were again driven
back with loss. Finding every effort to carry the Union position of
no avail, the rebels fell back at dusk beyond the range of our artillery,
and Thomas was left master of the well-fought field. As most of the
troops of McCook and Crittenden had by this time retired within the
defences of Chattanooga, Thomas fell baek during the night to Ross-
viUe, where, during the 21st, he offered battle to the enemy, who, how
ever, declined to renew the contest. Accordingly, on the night of the
21st he withdrew his troops into Chattanooga.
The Union loss in this battle was: —
THOMAS. — FOURTEENTH CORPS.
Offiters. Men. Total
Killed  36 635 671
Wounded  206 3,277 . 3,503
Missing.  127 2,000 2,127
369 5,932 6,301
M'COOK. — SECOND CORPS.
Officers. Men. Total.
Killed  40 363 403
Wounded  168 2,367 2,535
 77 1,503 1,580
285 4,233 4|518

490

HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.

CRITTENDEN. — TWENTY-FIRST CORPS.

Officers. Men.

Total.

Killed 

 39 296

335

,,.131 2,157
 \ 22 655
2,288
677
_^_ — —
¦"
192 3,108
3,290
GRANGER. — RESERVE CORPS.
Officers. Men.
Killed  16 219
Wounded  59 . 877
Missing  54 507
129 1,603
1,732
TOTAL.
Killed  131
Wounded  564
Missing  280
975
Men.
1,513
8,698
4,665
14,866
Total 1,644
9,262
4,945
15,851
They also lost thirty-six guns, twenty caissons, and several thousand
small-arms and infantry accoutrements, and captured over two thousand
prisoners. The rebels suffered even more severely than their oppo^
nents, and their total loss, as stated by themselves, exceeded eighteen
thousand. It is now very well known that the rebels largely outnumbered the
Union army in this battle. The following extract from a letter by
General Rosecrans shows how great was their advantage in numbers: —
" We have five independent ways of arriving at the fact that we fought against ter
rible odds th'ere : —
"lsf. This was the opinion of the corps and division commanders, none of whom
were bad judges.
" 2d. The enemy reports a loss of eighteen thousand seven hundred (18,700) killed
and wounded; and admits his loss to have been twenty per cent, of his entire command
— a very large loss — which gave him ninety-three thousand five hundred at Chickamauga.
" 3d. Bragg had thirty -two thousand troops when driven from his intrenched camp
at Shelbyville and Tallahooma, across the mountains and the Tennessee. Buckner
joined him with about ten thousand troops frcm East Tennessee, Johnston with about
twenty-five thousand, and Longstreet with about twenty-five thousand more, giving
again ninety-two thousand as his whole force.
" 4th. General Grant and several of his subordinates estimate the force fought at
Mission Ridge at from forty-five thousand to fifty thousand. Add twenty-five thousand
for. Longstreet's army, which had previously left, and was then in front of Knoxville,
and eighteen thousand for those put liars de combat at Chickamauga, and it gives eighty-
eight thousand.
"5th. A Union merchant, of Chattanooga, who was at Marietta when the foe were
advancing on us, tried to send me word, and subsequently saw and told me that the
enemy had re-enforced Bragg with thirty thousand under Longstreet, and twenty-five
thousand under Joe Johnston, in addition to which Governor Brown had fifteen thou
sand Georgia militia ; and so confident were they of overwhelming us, that the Ken
tucky and Tennessee rebel refugees at Marietta had hired conveyances and loaded their
household goods, expecting to follow their victorious hosts back into Tennessee and
Kentucky.
* HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 491
" I could add much more corroborative evidence to show that the brave and devoted
Army of the Cumberland sustained and successfully resisted the utmost power of a
veteran rebel army, filled with the spirit of emulation and hope, and more than one-
half larger than itself; inflicted on it much more damage than we received, and held
the coveted objective point, Chattanooga.
" What we attempted we accomplished. We took Chattanooga from a force nearly as
large as our own, and held it after our enemy had been re-enforced by as many men as
we had in our whole command. "W*. S. Rosecrans, Major-General."
After Rosecrans's retreat to Chattanooga, the passes of Lookout
Mountain, which covered his communication with Bridgeport, and
were necessary to secure the transportation of supplies to the Union
army, were occupied by the enemy, who also sent a force across the
Tennessee River and captured McMinnville, thus almost completely
isolating Rosecrans from his base.
This battle of Chickamauga, as it is called, was one of the most
bloody ofthe war, and, without accomplishing any important results
in relation to the great contest, was fatal to the commanders on both
sides. The Federal commander lost a high reputation and the con
fidence of his Government, by the faulty dispositions which led vto a
defeat more signal than any other of the war, except the first Bull
Run."- The rebel commander lost an influence which had been wa
ning since Murfreesboro, through his inexplicable inactivity on the
Monday following his victory, whereby all the fruits of the contest
were thrown away. On- both sides, the public dissatisfaction caused
by their conduct produced, ultimately, a change of commanders. It
may be well, therefore, to look back at the career of each, and the
circumstances of the campaign to which Chickamauga formed the
termination. The origin of the Army of the Cumberland was a small body of
Kentucky volunteers, assembled under Colonel, afterwards General
Rousseau, near Louisville, in the spring of 1861. In the succeeding
summer, the military Department of the Ohio was organized, and
given to General Robert Anderson, of Fort Sumter fame. On the
llth of August, it was extended over the whole State of Kentucky
and the State of Tennessee, and was designated the Department of
the Cumberland. In October, 'General W. T. Sherman took com
mand, Anderson's health failing. In November, Sherman was re
lieved by Ruell, and the limits and title of the Department were
again changed to the Department of the Ohio. In November, 1862,
there was a new arrangement of departments and of commanders.
Tennessee, east of the Tennessee River, and Northern Alabama and
Georgia, were made a department, under the revived name of the
Department of the Cumberland, into which Kentucky was again
transferred. The department remained the same under Rosecrans.
It will be remembered that when Beauregard retreated sUently
and successfully, some time after the battle of Shiloh, from Corinth,
leaving Halleck, who was then facing him, as ignorant of his move
ments as was the rest of the North, he fell back with what remained
of his army to Tupelo, in Mississippi. Shortly afterwards Beaure
gard's health gave way, and Bragg took his place. Bragg found the

492 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
army, which had at one time been the finest force, numerically, which
the Confederates ever had in the field, reduced to forty thousand
men, in the worst possible condition of discipUne, decimated by deser
tion consequent upon Beauregard's long inaction at Corinth, and
swept by disease. It was an occasion for the display of many of the
finest quaUties of a general, as a promoter of discipline, and an organ
izer of imperfect or broken-down army departments ; and everybody
confessed that Bragg was equal to the occasion. He exhibited much
of that firmness and indifference to popularity which are so rare
among republican generals, took upon his own shoulders the odium
of causing some twelve or fifteen men to be shot without court-mar
tial ; and finally, by the total expulsion of whiskey from his camp, and
by divers other salutary measures, restored his army to a higher
degree of discipline and efficiency, than it had ever before attained.
"With this reorganized army he operated with great success against
the Army ofthe Cumberland, under Buell, in the autumn of 1862, up
to which time Bragg had not ceased to rise in reputation.
It was then, however, that General Rosecrans, having defeated Van
Dorn and Price at Corinth, was transferred to the command of the
Army of the Cumberland. The condition of that army was not un
like that of Beauregard's when Bragg succeeded to it. Its ranks had
been thinned by disease, battle, and the nameless vicissitudes of war.
In every respect it was largely overestimated. Nearly seven thousand
of its number had deserted. More than twenty-six thousand were
absent by authority. The consoUdated semi-monthly reports for No
vember 15th, two weeks subsequent to the change of commanders,
show that a total of thirty-two thousand nine hundred and sixty-six
officers and men — at least one-third of the whole army — were absent
from their command ! The army was composed in about equal pro
portions of veteran soldiers and raw recruits. The former were
poorly clad and equipped, the latter were inexperienced in drill and
discipline, with officers often ignorant, and sometimes incompetent.
To sum up, briefly, the spirit of the army was broken, its confidence
destroyed, its discipline relaxed, its courage weakened, and its hopes
shattered. 'Such were the peculiar circumstances under which Rose
crans assumed command. The condition to which he soon brought it
was well illustrated by its stubborn courage in the hard-fought battle
of Stone River.
The two generals had been successful in reorganizing their armies,
but lost their prestige when those armies were Drought into contact
Rosecrans has been blamed for fighting this battle, and a review of
the campaign wUl show that, even if he could not have avoided art
engagement, he might have fought it under more favorable circum
stances. When it was determined to cross the Tennessee River west of Chat
tanooga, it became necessary for the army, after effecting the passage
ofthe river, to cross the Sand or Raccoon Mountain, which is the first
range south of the Tennessee River. Lookout Mountain was then the
great barrier between them and Chattanooga. This mountain is some
sixteen hundred feet above the level of the surrounding country, is

HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 493
fifty mUes in length, and ends abruptly on the Tennessee, three or
four miles west of Chattanooga. For forty miles it has but three
passes practicable for the passage of an army, and those very difficult;
one at the point of the mountain, near Chattanooga, one at Stevens's
Gap, twenty-five miles south, and one at Wmston's, forty miles from
Chattanooga. The plan of the campaign was, to hold the rebels in check at Chat
tanooga, by a small force, sent for the purpose, up the north side of
the river, opposite the place where the main body of the army, cross
ing Lookout Mountain by Stevens's and Winston's Gaps, should get in
their rear, destroy their lines of communication, and. either besiege
them in Chattanooga, or force a battle on advantageous ground. To
prevent the rebels from sending a force from Chattanooga, by the
pass around the point of Lookout Mountain, into Lookout Valley, to
interrupt or destroy our lines of communication with our depots at
Bridgeport and Stevenson, Crittenden's Corps was sent down Look
out Valley, to near the foot of Lookout Mountain, which latter was
held by the enemy with infantry and artillery. The corps of Thomas
and McCook were moved rapidly up Lookout Valley, and across
Lookout Mountain, the former by Cooper's and Stevens's, the latter
by Winston's Gap. As soon as this movement was known to Bragg,
who, as yet, had not received the bulk of his expected re-enforcements,
it became evident to him that if he remained in Chattanooga the army
of Rosecrans would get- between him and his expected re-enforce
ments, and whip them in detail, besides taking possession of his lines
of communication, without which he could not subsist, his army a
week. The evacuation of Chattanooga by the rebels was therefore a ne
cessity. Bragg fell back rapidly, and evidently with the intention
of retreating on Rome, Crittenden, discovering the evacuation,
moved his corps into Chattanooga by the pass around the point of
Lookout, and moved out in pursuit of the enemy. Facts soon began to
be discovered which led to the belief that the enemy had not retreated
far. A cavalry reconnoissance on the extreme right, to Alpine, ren
dered it certain that they had not retreated on Rome, but were con
centrating at Lafayette, and receiving re-enforcements, and that it was
their intention to endeavor to retake Chattanooga.
Crittenden's Corps, at this juncture, holding a position on the
Chickamauga, near Gordon's Mill, confronted the entire rebel
army. Thomas's Corps was at the eastern foot of Lookout Moun
tain, and McCook was at Winston's Gap, the distance from Critten
den's position, at Gordon's MU1, to McCook's right, near Winston's,
being upward of forty miles, while, from the best information
gathered from all sources, it appeared that the enemy were rapidly
concentrating, and might attack Crittenden before the remainder of
the army could be brought within supporting distance. It was
therefore necessary, in order to cover Chattanooga, for Rosecrans to
concentrate his army rapidly, and in the face of the enemy. It was
while this was being done that the rebels attempted to turn his left
flank, and obtain possession of the roads in his rear leading to Chat-

494 HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
tanooga : in the attempt to prevent this the battle was brought on. It
was absolutely necessary, under the circumstances, to secure the pos
session of Chattanooga, which, it- is very evident, Bragg never in
tended to permit us to hold. It was a common matter of wonder,
when the Union army first occupied the place, why Bragg left so
many public buildings standing, all his hospital buildings and dep6ts,
and two steamboats at the landing, all of which he would naturaUy
have destroyed in evacuating the place with the intention of leaving
it for any considerable time in our possession.
Could General Rosecrans have concentrated his army at Chatta
nooga, avoiding a battle meanwhile, the contest would undoubtedly
have taken place there, instead of on Chickamauga Creek. Whether
the results of such a battle would have been more advantageous to
Our arms, or not, is a question difficult to answer.

CHAPTER XLVH.
Inaction of Bragg.— His Position. — His Indecision. — Rosecrans Recruiting. — Storms.
Hooker Arrives. — Grant Ordered up. — He Supersedes Rosecrans. — Thomas in Com
mand of Department. — Position of the Army. — Movement to open River. — Defeat
of the Enemy. — Sherman's March. — Combat. — Change of Route. — Burnside's Posi
tion. — Longstreet Detached from Bragg. — Siege of Knoxville.— Burnside Hard
Pressed  Bragg Weakened. — Grant Attacks. — The Movement Successful. — Sher
man Relieves Burnside. — Retreat of Longstreet.
After the battle of Chickamauga the opposing armies remained for
a long time inactive. ' The enemy's forces continued before Chattanooga,
where Rosecrans was, receiving re-enforcements. Bragg employed
means to cut off supplies coming to the Federal army by the direct
route, while his main army, strongly re-enforced on the 20th and 21st,
held a line from Bridgeport to Cleveland. Longstreet occupied the
extreme left on the Tennessee River, from Bridgeport to Trenton,
Johnston the centre at Lafayette, holding Lookout Mountain, and
Bragg the right at Dalton, with his right at Cleveland. His cavalry,
under Wheeler, foraged in Rosecrans's rear, and captured the tram of
the Fourteenth Corps. Sonie eight hundred wagons and two thousand
mules were captured and destroyed. Most of the supplies for the
Army of the Cumberland were carried over the mountains by pack
mules, -on account of the difficult transportation. The trains were
much annoyed by rebel sharpshooters between Bridgeport and Chatta
nooga, who daily picked off teamsters, mules, and horses, and so closely
was the Union army pressed that rations began to fall short in Chat
tanooga. The long inaction of Bragg greatly demoralized his army. Two
days after the battle it was agreed, unanimously, by a council of war,
that the Confederate army should strike en masse in the direction of
Knoxville. But scarcely had the division generals commenced the
execution of this resolve, when Bragg announced that he had changed
his plan, and the army sat down, and continued for nearly three weeks

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 495
enveloping the town of Chattanooga and the treble Unes which sur
rounded it.
, In the mean time, Rosecrans was reorganizing his troops and
working industriously with the spade to strengthen the defences^ be
sides securing his lines of communications and accumulating supplies.
These operations were, however, greatly retarded by the storms of an
unusuaUy wet autumn. On 'the 23d of September, the Eleventh and
Twelfth Corps of the Army of the Potomac were detached under
Hooker to re-enforce Rosecrans, and were assigned for the protection
of the line of communication between Bridgeport and Nashville.
, While these events were occurring, such of the forces of Grant at
Vicksburg and elsewhere in the Southwest as were avaUable, were put
in motion for Tennessee, and Grant himself, who was then at New Or
leans, was ordered to take command of the array in Tennessee. He
arrived at Louisville October 18th, aud isstied General Orders, No. 1 : —
" Head-Quarters Military Division of the Mississippi, )
" Louisville, Kentucky, October 18, 1863. J
"GENERAL ORDERS, KO. 1.
" In compliance with General Orders, No. 337, of date Washington, D. C, October 16th,
1863, the undersigned hereby assumes command of the 'Military Division of the
Mississippi, embracing tho Departments of tho Ohio, of the Cumberland, and of the
Tennessee.' " The head-quarters of the Military Division of the Mississippi will be in the field,
where all reports and returns required by army regulations and existing orders will
be made. "TJ. S. Grant, Major-General"
• On. the 19th, Rosecrans took leave of the army, and Major-General
George H. Thomas was placed in command of the Department of the
Cumberland, and W. T. Sherman of that of the Tennessee. The two
corps of McCook and Crittenden, the Twentieth and Twenty-first,
consolidated into one, and designated the Fourth, were assigned to
Gordon Granger.
At this time Sherman was yet on the route from Memphis, and
Hooker, with his two corps, had just arrived at Bridgeport, opposite
the points held by Longstreet. The army occupying Chattanooga
had its right at Chattanooga Creek, near the base of Lookout Moun
tain, and the left at Citico Creek. The picket lines followed these
two creeks for some distance, and then passed across the low grounds
between, which lie also between the foot of Missionary Ridge and
the high grounds about the town upon which the defensive works were
constructed. These works were connected by a strong line of rifle-pits.
Behind this line <and around the town the greater portion of the army
was bivouacked, for very little camp equipage was to be had. This
was the only point held by a Federal force south of the river, while
the north side was occupied with troops stationed to guard the points
above. The base of the army at Chattanooga was at Stevenson and
Bridgeport, and was supplied from dep6ts at Louisville and Nashville
by a single track of railroad. The south side of the river, however,
from Lookout Mountain to Bridgeport was in possession of the enemy,

496 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION*
and. the river road on the north side was rendered impassable by their
sharpshooters stationed on the opposite bank. It was thus necessary
to bring all supplies to the army over a distance of fifty or sixty miles,
taking the road from Bridgeport up the Sequatchie Valley, over the
mountains into the Anderson road, thence to Chattanooga. The Ten
nessee was crossed by pontoon bridges, constructed from such mate
rials as the forest and the town could afford. The storms rendered
the roads nearly impassable, and the army was in danger of starva
tion. As it was very desirable to open the river and restore the transpor
tation of supplies by that channel, General Thomas devised a plan
having this object in view. Hooker, who held the right at Bridgeport,
was ordered, on October 27th, to cross the Tennessee at that point, and
demonstrate against the enemy's left' flank, in Lookout Valley. At
the same time a force under General Hazen passed the river at Brown's
Ferry, below the city, where pontoons had been skilfully laid by
General W. F. Smith, and began ascending Lookout Mountain, which
was soon taken, the enemy giving way with very slight opposition.
When Hazen crossed the river and marched up the point of Lookout
Mountain, the retreat of the enemy's forces in that direction was cut
off, and they could only retire up the valley towards Trenton, Georgia,
some twenty miles, thus making a long detour before they could join
the main rebel army. This force consisted of two brigades of infantry
and one battery. Hooker crossed the river at Bridgeport, and moved
up, uniting with the force at Brown's Ferry. This opened the river,
the road to Kelly's Ferry, and the direct road to Bridgeport, as well
as the river road on the north side aroimd the bend. This successful
movement is thus described by a spectator in the camp of the enemy :—
" The enemy were several miles distant, and the smoke of thoir bivouac fires, resting
above the tree-tops, indicated a halt. Subsequently the column resumed it motion, and
during the afternoon the long, dark, thread-like line of troops became visible, slowly
wending their way in the direction of Chattanooga. On Lookout Peak, gazing down
upon the singular spectacle — a coup oVo^l which embraced in curious contrast the beau
ties of nature and the achievements of art, the blessings of peace and the horrors of
war — were Generals Bragg, Longstreet, and otheTs, to whom this bold venture of the
enemy opened at once new vistas of thought and action. Infantry, artillery, and cav
alry, aU glided silently by, like a procession of fantocini in a panorama, until, among
all the ' sundown's sumptuous pictures' which glowed around us, there was not ono
like that of the great, fresh, bustling camp, suddenly grown into view, with its thou
sand twinkling lights, its groups of men and animals, and its lines of white-topped
wagons, now strung like a necklace of pearls around the bosom of the hills. The Fed
erals had succeeded in effecting a junction with the army of Chattanooga.
" The question which naturally arises is, why did not General Bragg throw his army
in front of the advancing columns and check the movement ? The answer is in the
shape of one of those stolid facts which even strategy cannot always stir. On Mon
day night, General Thomas— or perhaps Grant; for he is now in Chattanooga— crossed a
force of six thousand men, first over the Tennessee at the edge of the town, then over
the neck of land known aa the Moccasin, and finally over the river again at Brown's
Ferry, in rear of Chattanooga, where, after a brief skirmish with one of our regiments,
they took possession of the hills and commenced the work of fortification. Simul
taneously with this movement, a column at Bridgeport, consisting of the Eleventh
Corps, General Howard, and the Twelfth Corps, General Slocum, the whole under
command of General Joe Hooker, started up the valley.
" Under these circumstances, an interposition of our forces across, the valley would in

HISTORY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION. 497
the first place have required the transfer of a considerable portion of our army from
the east to the west side of Lookout Mountain, thereby weakening our line in front of
Chattanooga, while the enemy reserved his strength ; secondly, it would have necessi
tated a fight on both our front and rear, with the flanks of the Federals protected by
the mountains : and, finally, had we been successful, a victory would only have demor
alized two corps of the Yankee army, without at all influencing the direct issue in
volved in the present investment of Chattanooga."
This movement resulted in giving Thomas possession of the river to
Bridgeport, twenty-eight miles distant from Chattanooga, and the
point at which the Nashville Railroad crosses the Tennessee. Several
steamboats were immediately employed in bringing up supplies, aftd
the army was soon on full rations again.
The march of General Sherman's troops from Vicksburg was not
unmolested. On the 21st the advance, under Osterhaus, moving east
ward from Corinth, encountered near Cherokee Station, eighty-nine
miles from Tuscumbia, a body of rebel cavalry under Generals S. D.
Lee, and Loring, estimated at from four to six thousand men. The
enemy was discovered at eleven o'clock drawn up in line of battle,
with skirmishers advanced. A heavy fog rendered it difficult to find
out much about his position, and the fight opened somewhat to our dis
advantage. Presently, however, our line was advanced, and the enemy
vigorously attacked ; and General Osterhaus, having succeeded in
getting up his twenty-pounder Parrotts, the rebels, under their fire,
broke in great confusion. The fight, which was very spirited through
out its entire duration, did not last over sixty minutes from the firing
of the first gun, until the enemy was in full retreat.
The enemy under Johnston, however, compelled Sherman to change
his .route. It had been proposed to bring his column along the south
bank of the Tennessee, in order that he might open the Memphis and
Charleston Railroad from Bear Creek as far east as Decatur, and as
much farther towards Huntsville as possible, under intimations from
the War Department that this would be the main channel of commu
nication with Chattanooga. Work was accordingly commenced, andi
by the 1st of November the road had been opened from Corinth,,
through Iuka and across Bear Creek, -to Cherokee Station, Alabama..
As soon, however, as this intention was apparent to the rebels, a swarmi
of their cavalry settled on the railroad, harassing the advance and. de
stroying every thing destructible. After enduring this annoyance for-
some time, the programme was changed, and Sherman, abandoning the
attempt to open and guard the railroad line, crossed to the north side-
of the Tennessee, where his march would not be interrupted.
At this time, Burnside was covering Knoxville and an important part'
of East Tennessee. In the expectation that he could be driven out,,
Longstreet had been detached from Bragg's army to move on Knox
ville, and on the 6th of November he captured the garrisons often of
Burnsides's outposts, fifty miles from Knoxville, threatening to com
pel the Union general to fight at disadvantage or uncover KnoxviUe.
From that point the rebel cavalry advanced towards KnoxvnTej.and on
the 15th captured portions of two or three cavalry regiments, number
ing three hundred men, at Marysville, fifteen miles frams Knox--
32

498 HISTOEY OF THE GREAT EEBELLION.
vUle, in the direction of the Little Holston, and drove the remainder
of the force into Knoxville.
On learning this result, General Saunders, commanding a cavalry
brigade, advanced to give the enemy fight, but finding them too strong
for him, he withdrew his force in line of battle three miles from Knox
ville. This position, after an ineffectual struggle, was abandoned.
From this point, this portion of the enemy's force advanced on Rock-
ville, eight miles from Knoxville, driving the Union outposts before
them close up to the latter place. While these operations were pro
ceeding on the line indicated, the main force of the enemy, under Long-
street, Cheatham, and Pegram, advanced by way of Loudon and
Lenoir — the passage of the river at the former place being made on
Saturday, November 14th, and the Union troops falling back before
them in good order. During all the 15th brisk skirmishing was going
on, and on the 16th the enemy was held in check all day at Campbell Sta
tion, twelve miles from KnoxviUe, on the Lenoir road. Burnside was,
during this action, personally in command. His loss amounted to two
hundred and fifty men: rebel loss unknown. During the 16th our
army fell back on Knoxville, and early on Tuesday morning (1 7th) the
line of battle was formed around the city. At noon the rebels ap
peared on the Lenoir road, two miles from the town, and heavy skir
mishing immediately commenced — Saunders holding the line gallantly
and stubbornly until nightfall. Late in the evening our troops charged
the rebels, and drove them from their ground, but fell back to the orig
inal line. On Wednesday, 1 8th, heavy skirmishing was resumed, both
parties losing severely. General Saunders, a brave and excellent
officer, was among the wounded, and died of his wounds on the fol
lowing day. Thursday and Friday, 19th and 20th instants, witnessed
a continuation of the struggle, with the element of heavy artillery
firing added, and on the 23d we find the following dispatch from
General Bragg : — "Missionary Ridge, November 23.
" To General Cooper :
" Wo hold all the railroads leading into Knoxville, except the one between Holston and
French Broad Rivers. General Jones's cavalry might close that. The enemy's
cavalry is most broken up. Wheeler cut 'off his train between Cumberland Gap and
Knoxville. (Signed) "Braxton Bragg."
The siege of Knoxville proceeded without any occurrence of special
interest until the 28th, when an attack was made against a small fort
mounting six guns, on a hill near the town, and commanding the ap
proaches to it on that side of the river. The fort was occupied by the
Twenty-ninth Massachusetts, the Seventy-ninth New York, and two
companies of the Second and one of the Twentieth Michigan. On its
front and flanks was once a field of pines, which had been cut down
with the tops falling in all directions, making an almost impassable
mass of brush and timber. A space around the fort was cleared. The
ditch in front was about ten feet deep, and the parapet nearly twenty
feet high. The assault was made near daylight, on the 29th, by the
brigades of Bryan and Humphrey, with a party from Wolford's. The

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 499
enemy advanced in three lines and made the attack fiercely, but all
attempts to scale the sides of the fort failed, and they were finally
repulsed with a loss of two hundred killed and wounded, and several
hundred made prisoners. Meantime the force of Burnside was closely
pressed, and provisions became so scarce that his troops were put
on half rati6ns of bread.
By the movement of Longstreet, however, Bragg was weakened, and
Grant therefore determined to attack the latter, and if possible separate
him from Longstreet. The forces of Bragg held Missionary Ridge, the
Chattanooga Valley, and Lookout Mountain, with their left resting on
the latter, and their right on the ridge near the tunnel of the Knox
ville and Chattanooga Railroad. Their pickets occupied the south
bank of the Tennessee River for miles above, and their supplies were
brought by the railroad from Atlanta and Dalton. The principal rebel
force was in the Chattanooga Valley, between Lookout Mountain and
Missionary Ridge, and on that slope of Lookout, thus being very nearly
on his centre. The ridge was heavily posted with artillery.
The movement projected by Grant was promptly executed. Orders
were sent to Burnside to lure Longstreet as far away as possible, and
fall back to a position where he could stand a siege and subsist from
the country. A division of Sherman's troops was to be sent to Tren
ton, threatening the enemy's left flank. Under cover of this move
ment, Sherman's main body was to march up by Hooker's lines, cross
ing the Brown's Ferry bridge mostly at night, thence into a concealed
camp on the north side of the river, opposite South Chickamauga
Creek. One division was directed to encamp on the North Chicka
mauga ; about one hundred and twenty pontoons were to be taken
under cover of hills and woods, and launched into the North Chicka
mauga ; these were to be filled with men, to be floated out into the
Tennessee and down it, until opposite the South Chickamauga (about
three miles below), to effect a landing on that bank, and throw up
works ; the remainder of the command were to be taken across in the
same boats, or a portion of them ; the Tennessee and South Chickamauga
were to be bridged, and then the artiUery crossed and moved at once
to seize a foothold on the ridge, taking up a line facing the enemy's
right flank near the tunnel. Howard's Corps of Hooker's command
was to cross into 'the town by the two bridges, and fill the gap be
tween Sherman's proposed position and the main body of Thomas's
army. Hooker, with the remainder of his force and the division sent
to Trenton, was to carry the point of Lookout, and then threaten the
enemy's left, which would thus be thrown back, and forced to evacuate
the mountain and take position on the ridge ; and then the Federal
troops, threatening the enemy's communications upon one flank, were
to advance the whole line or turn the other flank, as the chances might
dictate. Then a part of the force was to follow as far as possible,
while Sherman destroyed the railroad from Cleveland to Dalton, and
then pushed on to relieve Knoxville, and capture, disperse, or drive off
Longstreet from before it.
General Smith, chief engineer, took personal charge of the preUmi-
naries necessary for the move on the left flank. The pontoons were

500 ' HISTORY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
put in the Chickamauga; the men encamped ; the bridge trains ready
to debouch at the proper point ; and so completely was every thing
arranged that no confusion whatever occurred. Artillery was posted
on the side of the river to cross fire in front of the point of landing,
and force the same, if necessary.
On Monday, November 24th, an armed reconnoissance was maae by
Thomas on his left, which developed the enemy's lines and gave the
Union general a line of battle in advance of his picket lines, at the
same time allowing the Eleventh Corps (Howard's) to come into the
position assigned it. At midnight the men entered the .pontoons,
floated down, and effected a landing. At daylight the pontoniers were
at work, and at noon the Tennessee River was bridged by a pontoon
bridge fourteen hundred feet long, and the rest of Sherman s troops
crossed with his artillery. He then pushed out to the ridge and took
up his position, and Howard communicated with him, his force having
marched to its place. Hooker's forces formed a line of battle running
up and down the side ofthe mountain and sweeping around the point,
and at night of the same day (the 24th) held what he had gained, and
communicated with Thomas's right. That night the enemy evacuated
Lookout Mountain top, and fell back from his front to the ridge.
Thus, on Tuesday night, Bragg was threatened on both flanks, with a
heavy line of battle in his front. It was difficult for him to determine
what the Federal move would be. His railroad must be held, at all
hazards, from Sherman. The amount of Hooker's force he could dis
tinctly see. He re-enforced his right very heavily, leaving enough to
hold his left and front, as he supposed. On the 25th, Wednesday,
Sherman commenced to move. Two hills were taken. From the
third he was several times repulsed, and he moved around more force,
as if to get in rear of Bragg's line, and the latter then commenced
massing against him. The critical moment had now arrived. Hooker
moved his columns along the Rossville road towards Bragg's left, and
this drew still more force from the latter's centre.
Grant now ordered Thomas to advance and take the rifle-pits at the
base of the mountain. The Army of the Cumberland, remembering
Chickamauga, and impatient by reason of remaining spectators of the
operations of Sherman and Hooker, for two days.went forward with a
will, drove the enemy in disorder from his lower works, and went
on, heedless of the heavy artillery and musketry hurled against them
from the crest of the ridge. Half-way up they seemed to falter, but it
was only for breath. Without returning a shot they kept on, crowned
the ridge, captured thirty- five out ofthe forty-four pieces of artillery on
the hill, turned some of them against the masses in Sherman's front, and
the rebel line fell back, while the rest of Bragg's army, including Bragg
and Hardee, fled, routed and broken, towards Ringgold. Thousands of
prisoners and small-arms and quantities of munitions of war were taken.
" Hooker took up the pursuit, and that night Mission Ridge blazed re
splendent with Union camp-fires. The next day, Hooker pushed the
enemy to Ringgold, where he made a show of stubborn resistance,
but was forced to retire. Sherman and Howard pushed for the rail
road, which they smashed completely. The Union loss in this battle,

HISTORY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION. 501
in killed, wounded, and missing, was reported at about four thousand.
Upwards of six thousand rebel prisoners, not including wounded, were
captured, besides forty-two pieces of artillery, many thousand small-
arms, and a large train. The rebel loss is not known.
Sherman was now re-enforced by the Eleventh Corps, and began his
march to relieve Knoxville. Five miles above Loudon, at Davis's
Ford, the Eleventh Corps crossed the Little Tennessee, and at Mor-
gantown, seven miles farther up, the Fourth and his own corps crossed.
The Eleventh moved on the next day to Louisville, a distance of thirty-
one miles. The o'ther troops moved to Marysville. All were on the
south side of the Holston. On the night of December 3d, the cavalry
of Sherman reached Knoxville. This movement turned the flank of
Longstreet, and he raised the siege and retreated towards Rutledge on
that night. On the next day, the Fourth Corps arrived at Knoxville,
and in conjunction with Burnside's forces immediately commenced a
pursuit. Longstreet fell back into the border of Virginia, and took a
strong position. Burnside was subsequently relieved from the com
mand of the Department of the Ohio at his own urgent request, and
General Foster assigned to its command.
When Longstreet reached Rogersville with his main force, he was
joined by Vaughan and Ransom, and he here made a stand which re
lieved Bragg from the pressure of pursuit, and remained there some
time, exposed to many hardships.

CHAPTER XLVIH.
Operations against Charleston. — Arrival of Monitors. — Montauk. — Attack by the
Enemy. — Iron-clad Attack on Sumter. — Capture of the Atlanta. — General Gillmore in
Command. — Assault on Fort Wagner. — Bombardment of Fort Sumter. — Siege and
Reduction of Fort Wagner. — Occupation of Morris Island
The operations in the Department ofthe South after the evacuation
of James Island were for a long time unimportant, owing to the
employment of troops in other operations. Early in 1863, a naval attack
was contemplated upon Charleston, with which a land force was
deemed necessary to co-operate. General Foster was, therefore, sent
with a considerable force and a large siege equipage to assist the naval
attack. But not proving acceptable to General Hunter, then in com
mand, he returned to North Carolina, leaving his troops and siege
equipage. These, in consequence of the failure of the naval attack,
were never employed for the purpose intended. The vessels engaged
in blockading the coasts of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, com
prised the South Atlantic Squadron, Rear-Admiral S. J. Dupont com
manding. Early in January, 1863, the first detachment of iron-clads,
destined to operate against Charleston, arrived, and the Montauk was
ordered to attack Fort McAllister, on the Ogeechee River, with a view
of testing her capabilities. Accordingly, on January 27th, the Mon
tauk, supported by seven gunboats, opened upon the fort with her
fifteen and eleven inch guns, and, having expended her shells, retired.

502

HISTORY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.

She was struck thirteen times, but received no material injury ; and
the fort, a powerful sand-work, mounting several guns, was in no per
ceptible degree affected by the bombardment. This settled the ques
tion of the efficiency of this species of defensive works as agamst iron
clads. On the morning of the 4th January, the enemy's iron-clad steam
rams, Palmetto State and Chicora, under Flag-officer Ingraham, ran
out of Charleston in a thick haze, and attacked the blockading fleet.
They disabled the Mercedita and the Keystone State, but retired on
the approach of the Housatonic. The enemy claimed that by this
operation they had broken up the blockade of Charleston, by tempo
rarily driving off the fleet, and that by the law of nations sixty days'
notice would be required to restore the blockade. This claim was not
allowed, however.
The preparations that had long been on foot for a combined attack
by the iron-clads upon the fortifications of Charleston Harbor were
finallycompleted, and on the morning of April 6th, 1863, the fleet
passed the bar, and moved to the attack in the following order:
Weehawken, Passaic, Montauk, Patapsco, New Ironsides, Catskill,
Nantucket, Nahant, and Keokuk. Admiral Dupont was on board his
flag-ship, the New Ironsides. The squadron was ordered to pass up the
main channel without returning the fire of Morris Island, and to engage
Sumter on its northwest face, at a distance of from eight hundred to
one thousand yards. At half-past twelve o'clock, the fleet began to

ClTX

S Xng9*y TJSff*HtrjJ*CE.jrr

HISTORY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 503
move, the Weehawken, having a raft for clearing obstructions, being
in advance. The fleet got within effective range of Fort Sumter and
Sullivan's Island shortly before three o'clock, and at ten minutes to
three the batteries of Sullivan's Island, Morris Island, and Fort Sumter
opened upon it. In the channel between Sumter and. Sullivan's Island
the obstructions proved to be of so formidable a character that the
Weehawken deviated from her course, and the line got into some con
fusion: The New Ironsides became unmanageably and was fouled by
the Catskill and Nantucket, so that for half an hour the three vessels
were at dead-lock. It was four o'clock before the remainder ofthe fleet
got into position on the northeast front of Sumter, at five hundred and
fifty to eight hundred yards distance, beyond which point, owing to float
ing torpedoes, it was found impossible to pass. Meantime, the enemy had
concentrated a fire of three hundred guns upon the fleet, exceeding in
rapidity of fire and weight of metal any previous cannonade known in
warfare. The iron-clads could reply but with sixteen guns, and their
officers described the effect of the shot upon the sides of the vessels as
like the ticking of a clock. A dense cloud of smoke settled over the
fleet, which was the focus of this fire, adding to the embarrassment of
the occasion. The iron-clads directed their efforts mainly against Sum
ter, and the Keokuk ran up to within five hundred and fifty feet ofthe
fort, where she remained thirty minutes a special target. In that time
she received ninety shots, three per minute. Of these, nineteen pen
etrated at and below the water-line, some entering her turret. She drew
off with pumps going to keep her afloat, having fired but three times.
The remaining vessels suffered far less than the Keokuk, and none were
materially injured. The New Ironsides never got fairly into action,
and discharged but one broadside. At half-past four, Admiral Dupont
signalled to withdraw from action. During the forty-five minutes that
the fleet had been under fire, five had been partially disabled, while the
injuries inflicted by them upon the fort had been comparatively slight.
Under these circumstances, the whole fleet, with the exception of the
New Ironsides, returned on the 12th to Port Royal. The President
telegraphed to Dupont to hold his position inside Charleston Bar, and to
permit the enemy to erect no new batteries on Morris Island. This
was in view of a second attack upon Fort Sumter and Charleston by
the combined military and naval forces.
The most marked arid extraordinary conflict within the limits of this
squadron, or indeed in the service during the year, and in some respects
one of the most significant and instiuctive naval battles ofthe war, took
place on the 17th June, in Warsaw Sound, between the Weehawken,
a vessel ofthe Monitor class, and the formidable armored steamer At
lanta. Like the contest in Hampton Roads, in March, 1862, when the
Monitor and Merrimac were engaged, this battle was between armored
vessels and of great disparity in size, but the result was vastly more
speedy and decisive. The Atlanta was a powerful steamer, had been
iron-plated by the rebels, and prepared for war purposes at immense
expense. In the confidence of certain victory over her comparatively
diminutive antagonists, the Weehawken and Nahant, she was accom
panied by boats loaded with gay parties to witness her triumph; but

504

HISTORY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.

the brave officers and men of our turreted vessels knew their power
and sought the encounter. This battle was to test not only the vessels,
but the new fifteen-inch ordnance, then for the first time brought into
naval warfare, and concerning which there had been, as well as with
respect to the vessels themselves, some variety of opinion. The con
flict was so brief and decisive that only one of the two Monitor vessels,
though not widely separated, and each eager for the fight, was able to
participate in the engagement. The Nahant, having no pilot, followed
in the wake of the Weehawken, but before she could get into action
the contest was over. Such was the brevity of the fight that the Wee
hawken, in about fifteen minutes, and with only five shots from her
heavy guns, overpowered and captured her formidable antagonist, be
fore the Nahant, which was hastening to the work, could discharge a
single shot at the Atlanta. This remarkable result was an additional
¦ testimony in favor of the Monitor class of vessels for harbor defence
and coast service against any naval" vessels that have been or are likely
to be constructed to visit our shores. It appears, also, to have extin
guished whatever lingering hopes the rebels may have had of with
standing our naval power-by naval means.
Early in June, General Hunter was succeeded in the command ofthe
Department ofthe South by General Q. A. Gillmore,* and about the
same time Rear-Admiral Dupont having expressed a willingness to
relinquish the position which he had occupied for eighteen months,
Rear-Admiral Andrew H. Foote was detailed to relieve him. When
on his way to his command, however, he was seized with fatal illness
and died in New York. His associate and second in command, Rear-
Admiral John A Dahlgren, proceeded immediately to Port Royal, and,
on the 6th day of July, assumed command of the squadron. A com
bined operation of naval and army forces, the latter under General
Gillmore, was immediately instituted for the occupation and possession
of Morris Island, on the south side ofthe entrance to Charleston Har
bor. Morris Island, the site of Forts Wagner and Gregg, is a narrow
ridge of sand, formed by successive accumulations from the beach,
running along the entrance to Charleston Harbor. This ridge slopes
from the shore inward, terminating in a series of salt-water marshes,
intersected by narrow creeks, which lie to the west of it. The width
Of the portion disposable for the trenches in no point exceeds two
hundred and twenty-five yards, while in others it narrows to twenty-
five yards at high tide.

* Qirincy Adams Gillmore was born In Lorain
County, Ohio, in 1825, and graduated at West Point,
at the head of his class, in 1849. Previous to the
breaking out of the war he was much employed on
the fortifications, and was also for four yearsiustruc-
tor of engineering at WeBt Point. In October, 1 861.
he was appointed chief engineer to the Port Royal
Expedition, and in the succeeding April he planned
and carried out the operations for the capture of
Fort Pulaski, in the Savannah Elver, of which he
published an account in 1868. In April, 1863, he
was appointed brigadier-general or volunteers.
Having been transferred to the Department of the
Ohio, he defeated a large rebel force near Somer
set, Ky., on March 80th, 1868. In June, he assumed
command of the Department of the South, and, la

the series of operations which led to the occupa
tion of Morris Island, developed a now era in the
science of engineering and gunnery. He retained
command of the Department of the South until
the spring of 1864, when he took the field at the
head of tho Tenth Army Corps, under Butler, to '
co-operate in the movement against Richmond.
Having come into collision with Bntler, he was
relieved of his command, and in the latter part of
the year undertook a tour of inspection among the
fortifications in the West. In the spring of 1865,
he was reappointed to the Department of the
South. He now commands the Department of
South Carolina, and is major-general of volunteers
and a brigadier-general of the regular army.

%e

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 505
The plan of attack proposed by Gillmore was : First, to effect a
lodgment on the south side of Morris Island, which it was known that
the enemy was then strongly fortifying. Second, to besiege and reduce
Fort Wagner, by which all the works on Cummings's Point would ne
cessarily fall. Third, from the positions thus gained, to reduce Fort
Sumter. Fourth, the vessels of war to remove the obstructions at the
entrance of the harbor and reach the city by running by the works on
Sullivan's Island.
The first point was effected by a diversion made on the Stono, which
drew off half the enemy's forces from Morris Island, and rendered its
capture by surprise comparatively bloodless. This was done July 10th,
as appears by the following dispatch : —
" Head-Quarters Department of the South )
"In the Field, Morris Island, S. C, July" 12, 1863. )
"Major-General H. "W. Halleck, General-in-Chief:
" Sir : — I have the honor to report that at five o'clock on the morning of the 10th
instant I made an attack upon the enemy's fortified position on the south end of
Morris Island, and, after an engagement of three hours and a quarter, captured all his
strongholds upon that part of the island, and pushed forward my infantry to within six
hundred yards of Fort Wagner.
" We now hold all the island except about one mile on the north end, which includes
Fort Wagner and a battery on Cummings's Point, mounting at the present time four
teen or fifteen heavy guns in the aggregate.
" The assaulting column was gallantly led by Brigadier-General Strong. It landed
in small boats under cover of my batteries on Folly Island and four monitors led by
Rear-Admiral Dahlgren, which entered the main channel abreast of Morris Island soon
after our batteries opened. The monitors contmued their fire during the day, mostly
on Fort Wagner.
"On the morning of the llth instant, at daybreak, an effort was made to carry Fort
Wagner by assault. The parapet was gained, but the supports recoiled under the fire
to which they were exposed, and could not be got up. Our loss in both actions will not
vary much from one hundred and fifty in killed, wounded, and prisoners. We have
taken eleven pieces of heavy ordnance and a large quantity of camp equipage.
"The enemy's loss 'in killed, wounded, and missing, will not fall short of two
hundred. " Q. A. Gillmore, Brigadier- General Commanding."
The failure of two assaults on Fort Wagner led to a modification of
the plan. As Fort Sumter kept up an annoying fire across Fort Wag
ner upon Gillmore's trenches, some heavy guns were placed in battery,
and at a distance of from two to two and a half miles succeeded in
silencing the fire. Having effected this important object, the ap
proaches and other works against Fort Wagner were more easily
pushed forward. Armed with seventeen heavy guns, well flanked
with a wet ditch, a bomb-proof for its garrison that resisted the
heaviest shells, approachable only in front over the sand ridge which
narrows down to twenty-five yards in width just in front of the work,
guarded on the1 east by the sea and on the west by Vincent's Ci-dek
and the marsh from surprise, seen in reverse by Battery Gregg and
thirty guns on Sullivan's Island, in flank by the batteries on James's
Island, while all the ground in advance of it was swept at one point
or another by all its guns, a more difficult problem had seldom, if ever,
been presented for the solution of the engineer than its reduction.
The first parallel and the batteries in it were ready on July 18th, and

506 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION.
fire was opened at one thousand three hundred and fifty yards, several
hours prior to the assault on that day. It was commenced at noon by
General Gillmore's batteries and.the frigate Ironsides ; five monitors,
two mortar schooners, and three wooden gunboats soon joined in. The
enemy replied briskly from Fort Wagner, Battery Bee, beyond Cum
mings's Point, and the guns on the southwestern face of Fort Sumter.
The fire was chiefly directed against the vessels, and occasionally a shell
was thrown at the batteries. Soon after four o'clock the fire of Fort
Wagner ceased. It was known that one gun had been dismounted, and
another was supposed to have exploded. Under the impression that
the works were evacuated, another attempt to occupy them was deter
mined upon. For this purpose two brigades, consisting of the Seventh
Connecticut Regiment, the Third New Hampshire, the Ninth Maine, the.
Seventy-sixth Pennsylvania, and the Forty-eighth New York, under
Brigadier-General Strong, and the Seventh New Hampshire, Sixth Con
necticut, Sixty-second Ohio, One Hundredth New York, and Fifty-
fourth Massachusetts (colored), under Colonel Putnam, were ordered
forward from behind the sand-hills. The brigades were formed in line on
the beach, with the regiments disposed in columns, the colored regiment
being in advance. This movement was observed at Fort Sumter, and
a fire was opened on the troops, but without effect. At dark the order
was given for both brigades to advance, General Strong's leading, and
Colonel Putnam's within supporting distance. The troops went for
ward at quick time and in silenpe, until the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts,
led by Colonel Shaw, was within two hundred yards of the work,
when the men gave a fierce yell and rushed up the glacis, closely fol
lowed by the other regiments of the brigade.
The enemy, hitherto silent, opened upon them furiously with grape,
canister, and a continuous fusilade of small-arms. The negroes, how
ever, plunged on, and many of them crossed the ditch, although it con
tained four feet of water, gaining the parapet. They were dislodged,
however, in a few minutes, with hand-grenades, and retired, leaving
more than one-half of their number, including their colonel, dead
upon the field. The Sixth Connecticut Regiment, under Lieutenant-
Colonel Rodman, was next in support of the Fifty-fourth, and they
also suffered terribly, being compelled to retire after a stubborn, contest.
The Ninth Maine, which was next in line, was broken up by the pas
sage of the remnant of the repulsed colored regiment through its lines,
and retired in confusion, excepting three companies which stood their
ground. It now devolved upon the Third New Hampshire Regiment to push
forward, and, led by General Strong and Colonel Jackson in person,
they dashed up against the fort. Three companies gained the ditch,
and wading through the water, found shelter against the embankment.
Here was the critical point of the assault, and the Second Brigade,
which should have been up and ready to support their comrades ofthe
First, were unaccountably delayed. Strong then gave the order to fall
back and lie down on the glacis, which was obeyed, without confusion.
While waiting here, exposed to the heavy fire, Strong was wounded.

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION. 507
Finding that the supports did not come, he gave the order for his
brigade to retire, and the men left the field in perfect order.
Soon afterwards the other brigades came on, and made up for their
tardiness by their valor. Rushing impetuously up the glacis, unde
terred by the fury of the enemy, whose fire was not intermitted,
several of the regiments succeeded, in crossing the ditch, scaling the
parapet, and descending into the fort. Here a hand-to-hand conflict
ensued. The troops fought with desperation, and were able to drive
the enemy from one side of the work to seek shelter between the trav
erses, while they held possession for something over an hour. This
piece of gallantry was unfortunately of no advantage. The enemy
rallied, and, having received re-enforcements, made a charge upon them
and expelled them from their position by the force of numbers. One of
the regiments engaged in this brilliant dash was the Forty-eighth New
York, Colonel Barton, and it came out almost decimated. The Forty-
eighth was among the first to enter the fort, and was fired upon by a
regiment that gained the parapet some minutes later, under the suppo
sition that it was the enemy. About midnight the order was given to
retire, and the troops fell back to the rifle-pits outside of their own
works. The loss in killed, wounded, and missing was fifteen hundred
and thirty.
The second parallel was opened by the flying sap on the 23d July, at
seven hundred and fifty yards from the fort. The third parallel, at
four hundred and fifty yards, on August 9th ; and beyond this point the
trenches were sometimes pushed forward by the flying sap, sometimes
by the full sap, as opportunity demanded. The fourth parallel, at
about three hundred yards, was made on the 22d and 23d August.
The fifth parallel at two hundred yards, and a ridge wrested from the
enemy, August 26th. Beyond this point the approaches were simply
zigzags, making very acute angles with each other, as there was not
front enough for a parallel.
The bombardment of Fort Sumter had been irregularly opened on
the 18th of August, and was continued until August 24th, when Gill
more reported it a shapeless mass of ruins, and that it was no longer
necessary to continue the bombardment. Batteries were established
within effective range of Charleston, and notice was given to Gen
eral Beauregard to evacuate Fort Sumter, and that Charleston would
be shelled. Beauregard protested, and threatened retaliation. The
bombardment was commenced, with very little effect, however, on
military events. Gillmore now moved to the front all his light mortars,
enlarged the positions for his sharpshooters, obtained the co-operation
of the Ironsides by day, used powerful calcium lights to blind the
enemy by night, and opened fire with as many heavy guns to his rear
as he could without danger to his men in the trenches, thus essaying
to keep the garrison confined to their bomb-proof, and to breach this
through a breach in the work. These measures were inaugurated on
the morning of September 5th, and for forty-two hours the fort
was silent. The garrison were immured in their bomb-proof,^ and the
work went on in safety except from the batteries on James's Island.
The men moved about in the trenches, even sat on their parapets, and

508 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
hunted torpedoes, at which they had become as skilful as rat-catchers
at scenting out rat-holes. The counterscarp of the work was crowned
on the night of September 6th, and some formidable obstructions in
the ditch removed. All being now ready for an assault, the order for
it was given ; but seeing the hopelessness of their position, the enemy
evacuated just in time to avoid the result.
The evacuation was thus reported by GUlmore : —
"Department of the South, Head-Quarters inI
the Field, September 1, 1863. )
"Major-General H. W. Halleck, General-in-Chief:
" General : — I have the honor to report that Fort Wagner and Battery Gregg are
ours. Last night our sappers mined the counterscarp of Fort Wagner on its sea
point, unmasking all its guns, and an order was issued to carry the place by assault at
nine o'clock this morning, that being the hour of low tide.
" About ten o'clock last night the enemy commenced evacuating the island, and all
hut seventy-five of them made their escape from Cummings's Point in small boats.
" Captured dispatches show that Fort Wagner was commanded by Colonel Keitt, of
South Carolina, and garrisoned by one thousand four hundred effective men, and Bat
tery Gregg by between one hundred and two hundred men.
"Fort Wagner is a work of the most formidable kind. Its bomb-proof shelter, capable
of containing one thousand eight hundred men, remains intact after the most terrific
bombardment to which any work was ever subjected.
" We have captured nineteen pieces of artillery and a large supply of excellent am
munition. " The city and harbor of Charleston are now completely covered by my guns.
" I have the honor to be, general, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
"Q. A. Gillmore, Brigadier- General Commanding."
The captured forts on Morris Island were enlarged and new batter
ies erected by General Gillmore, which effectually commanded Fort
Sumter, and could aid any naval attack on Charleston. But little
further progress, however, was made in the siege during the remainder
of the year. The forts of the enemy were occasionally bombarded
severely, and the shelling of Charleston at intervals, during day and
night, was continued. The portion of the city within the reach of the
shells was greatly injured, and entirely abandoned by its inhabitants.
An attempt was made by the enemy to blow up the frigate Ironsides,
with a torpedo, on the night of October 5th. It failed of success, and
did no serious damage to the vessels.

CHAPTER XLIX.
Advance on Richmond. — Crossing of the Rapidan. — Routes of Corps. — The Enemy
Attempts a Flanking Movement. — Meade's Attack. — Repulse of Griffin. — Hancock
Arrives.— Concentration of the Army.— Burnside ordered Forward. — New Dispositions.
— Advance of Hancock on the 6th. — Arrival of Longstreet. — Fall of Wadsworth. —
Longstreet Wounded. — Attack on the Union Right. — Results of the Two Days'
Fighting. The advance of the Army of the Potomac against Richmond com
menced on the evening of Tuesday, May 3d, when the men, provided
with six days' rations, broke up camp, and marched for the Rapidan.
The Second Corps crossed at Ely's Ford, and the Fifth and Sixth at
Germania Ford, the Fifth Corps being four hours in advance of the

HISTORY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 509
Sixth. A plankroad, as our readers will remember, runs from Fred
ericksburg west, past ChanceUorsville, the former head-quarters of
Hooker, and Old Wilderness Tavern, and across Mine Run to Orange
Court-House. Hancock, with the Second Corps, advanced from Ely's
Ford to ChancellorsvUle, the Fifth Corps from Germania Ford to Old
Wilderness Tavern, and the Sixth held the road from the ford to the
tavern. The Lieutenent-General and General Meade had head-quarters
at Germania Ford on Wednesday night, the 4th. At early dawn on
Thursday, Hancock was to move by the Pamunkey road in a south
westerly direction to Shady Grove Church; Warren was to move five
miles west, to Parker's Store, twenty miles distant from Orange Court-
House, and the Sixth Corps was to follow on the Germania Ford plank
road. Sheridan's Cavalry was to scour the country on the left of Han
cock. This disposition, if carried out, would have straightened the
army in a line facing southwest, with Hancock on the left. These
operations were intended to be preserved untU the trains could cross
the river, when a general advance was to be made towards Orange
Court-House, the presumed base of the enemy.
These dispositions were, however, not suffered to be completed. The
enemy, from his signal station on Clark's Mountain, had observed the
whole movement, devised its intent, and made preparations to defeat
it. His movement began on Wednesday night, while the Second Corps
was at ChanceUorsville. The corps of Ewell moved along the turnpike
from Old Verdierville, on Mine Run, to take the Sixth Corps in flank,
while marching along the Germania Ford plankroad, while A. P. Hill
moved over the Orange Court-House plankroad, which runs for some
distance parallel to the turnpike, and up which Warren was advancing.
Thus, as we have said, Grant's army was in a line running northwest
and southeast;. Sedgwick at the right in front of Ewell, Warren in
the centre in front of Hill, but not yet in line, and Hancock marching
to take position on the left. The enemy's design being ascertained,
Sedgwick and Warren were hastily formed in line of battle on the
Germania plankroad, and Hancock was ordered to diverge upon the
Brock road, which would bring him upon the Orange Court-House
road in the rear of Warren. The danger was that Hill would force his
way down this road and get possession of it before Hancock could
effect a junction, and thus cut the army in two. To guard against this,
the Second Division, Getty, of the Sixth Corps, was detached to
support Warren's left. Meantime, the enemy pressed heavily in
front, and the Fifth New York Cavalry was driven in with considera
ble loss.
It was supposed that Lee intended by a fierce attack upon the right
centre to destroy the army; and to frustrate that attempt, Warren was
ordered to assume the offensive. About noon, Griffin (who had reported
the enemy in his neighborhood, and as having driven in his advance,
consisting ofthe Eighteenth Massachusetts, with the Eighty-third Penn
sylvania, under Colonel Hayes, ofthe former) was ordered to push his
(First) Division of the Fifth Corps out to the right and left ofthe turn
pike, to feel the enemy. Accordingly, he moved Bartlett's Second
Brigade to the left ofthe road, and Ayres's Third Brigade of regulars

510 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.
to the right— Barnes's First Brigade (Sweetser in temporary com
mand) being in reserve. Less than a mile's march, stretching across
the turnpike, brought them against a part of Ewell's force, well posted
on a wooded acclivity. A sharp engagement at once ensued for an
hour ; but the pressure of the enemy in full strength upon our two
brigades, and especially upon Ayres's on the left, could not longer he
resisted, and our forces fell back, leaving two pieces of artillery, with
nearly all the horses kUled, in the enemy's hands. Wadsworth's Fourth
Division, and Robinson's Second Division, ofthe Fifth Corps, at once
relieved Griffin's Division, after its well-fought battle, and held the
enemy in check. After an hour's firing by infantry and artillery, the
enemy moved off to another point in our line. Our loss, principally
confined to Ayres's and Bartlett's Brigades, was in the region of one
thousand men.
At eleven o'clock, word was sent to General Sedgwick that skirmish
ing in front of the Sixth Corps was becoming heavy. He accordingly
galloped down the Germania plankroad about a mile, dashed into the
forest at the head of his staff, and penetrated to the front through the
tangled underbrush and knotted trunks and ragged foliage of a thick
chapparal. Through, and beyond this, far in front, the deep occasional
boom of a gun might be heard amid the quickening rattle of the skir
mish firing, but the denseness ofthe wood prevented any knowledge of
what was going on at any distance. There was a voUey at last — Gen
eral Griffin's Division of the Fifth Corps had opened the fight.
"Forward! by the right flank, forward ! " rings along the lines.
Yonder in front are the gleaming bayonets of our first line of battle ;
back, just in rear, is the second line, the anxious eyes ofthe soldiers
peering through the trees.
And through a thicket blind and almost interminable, over abatis of
fallen trees, through swamps and ditches and brush-heaps, and once —
a glorious breathing-space — across a half-acre of open field, the obedient
troops move on. The "bizz" of the balls, which had been occasional,
now conies thicker and faster, while the crashing voUeys are more dis
tinct; and as the advancing lines approach a forest, a little way ahead,
there is heard a crackling, roaring tumult, mingled with wild cheers.
The Fifth Corps has begun the fight in earnest — Griffin is pressing
on. Wadsworth and Robinson and Crawford are going in : the latter,
on the left, supported by Getty, is advancing towards the enemy at
Parker's Store. Behind Crawford and Getty, who are on the Orange
Court-House road, is the junction of that and the Brock road, up which,
from the direction of ChanceUorsville. Hancock is advancing to make
connection. That is the vital point — that junction; to be held against
all odds unto the death, else the army is severed. To hold the enemy
all along the line in check, to prevent his massing any forces in our
front upon that point, the Fifth Corps is pressing on, and the Sixth
Corps is about to enter.
It was at this moment that Griffin fell back, and Crawford's Divi
sion, that had been sent forward to Parker's Store, retreated with
loss. Hancock, who,. in obedience to orders, had checked his advance,
was rapidly marching across to close the gap in the line of battle; He

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. " 511
arrived in season — but with no time to spare — and found the advance
of the enemy already inserting themselves in the interval. Getty's
Division, ofthe Sixth Corps, had been temporarily detached and moved
to the left, to the right of the Orange Court-House plankroad. The
advance, the First Brigade, of Mott's Fourth Division of the Second
Corps, had barely formed junction with Getty, when A. P. HiU was
upon them with great force.
Birney formed on Getty's right, Mott and Barlow on the left of the
Une, and Gibbon's Division was held in reserve. The enemy were
checked, but their concentration continued. Troops were sent to the
left from the Fifth Corps, and by four o'clock Hancock was in com
mand of half the army in action.
And now, from left to right the sound ofthe shock of battle arises
anew. To relieve the pressure upon the Second Corps, an advance of
the whole line is necessary. Hancock is advancing, Sedgwick is
advancing, Warren is preparing. Like a great engine, dealing death,
the Second Corps and its supports move forward, taking equal death
in return. Companies fall, regiments are thinned, brigades melt awav.
Stricken in the head by a bullejt, General Alexander Hayes, command
ing the Second Brigade of Birney's Division, has roUed from his horse,
dead. General Getty is wounded ; Colonel Carroll, commanding the
Third Brigade of the Second Division, is wounded ; a host of line
oflicers are stricken low ; the enemy fights like a demon, but the fio-ht
moves on.
Sedgwick moves on, breaking the enemy's line for a moment, and
taking four or five hundred prisoners. There are ripples of disaster on
all the line, but they are quickly repaired. Slowly, for the enemy is
stubborn ; slower yet on the extreme right towards the river, forthe
enemy there has massed another force and strives to break our flank.
He finds a rock, and, though he checks our advance, though hundreds
of soldiers sink in death before him, he does not come on.
And as the day dies, and the darkness creeps up from the we^t, al
though no cheer of victory swells through the Wilderness from either
side, we have accomplished this much at least, with much sore loss :
the concentration of our army, the holding ofthe junction of the Orange
Court-House and Brock roads, the turning back ofthe enemy's right
flank from our path towards Richmond, and the average gain of a half-
mUe of ground.
In some respects, however, we had gained decided advantages.
First, General Grant had learned the position and strength of Lee's
army— a knowledge ofthe greatest value. Second, he had been able
to gather his troops well in hand, putting them into a more substan
tial line than at the opening of the engagement. Finally, then; was
no longer any doubt as to the policy of calling General Burnside from
the further side ofthe river — the enemy's force being obviously all in
our front. The Ninth Corps, under General Burnside, came to the
field of battle on Thursday, after a forced march, and was distributed,
as occasion required, on the right, right centre, and left centre. But
our line remained substantially as during the day, stretching north wfrt,
and southeast over a line nearly parallel to that from Germania Ford

512 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
to ChanceUorsviUe, and with head-quarters not much in advance of the
Wilderness. _ '
The enemy had intrenched himself in our front on an extended ridge,
approachable only through a thickly-wooded swamp of considerable
width, protected by a front and flank fire ; and during the night the
sound of axes showed that he was engaged upon new defences.
The Union troops were consolidated and posted anew, the three
corps retaining their respective positions — Warren in the centre,
Sedgwick on the right, Hancock on the left, the latter still having the
lion's share of troops, gathered from all the corps. On the extreme
right of Sedgwick, and nearest the river, was Shaler's Fourth Brigade
of the First Division, and in succession to the left came Seymour's,
Neill's, Upton's, Russell's, and Smith's. Warren's Corps prolonged
the line through the forest and across the Locust Groveroad to within
half a mile of the Orange Court-House road. Across this road and far
to the left the troops led by Hancock were disposed — CarroU's and
Hayes's (now Crocker's) Brigades on the right, and Ward's and Owens's
Brigades on the left ofthe thoroughfare. The three brigades of Getty's
Division of the Sixth Corps, cammanded by Eustis, Wheaton, and
Grant, were in support. Mott's Division of the Second Corps adjoined
on the left — the whole left of this line being under command of Birney.
The divisions of Gibbons and Barlow formed the left ofthe line, under
command of Gibbons. Our cavalry were operating still farther on the
left, and the left flank ofthe army was for the first time in a position
strongly supported by artillery.
The Second Corps had strongly intrenched itself on the Brock road
with logs and abatis, and the rest ofthe line was protected by light earth
works. The weak point in the line was a gap between the centre and
left, to stop which a part of Burnside's Corps was sent forward.
This was not done without much delay that was nearly fatal to the army.
Orders were issued for both Sedgwick on the extreme right and Han
cock on the left to attack at five a. m. on the morning of Friday, May
6th. The enemy, however, made an attack twenty minutes earlier,
but without much vigor. He was repulsed by the Sixth Corps, which
gained a few hundred yards without any material advantage.
Meantime, Hancock, at five o'clock, moved to the attack with such
vigor, that by eleven o'clock he had gained a mile of ground from
Brock road towards Parker's Store, and had got possession of some
of the enemy's rifle-pits. This advance increased the gap between the
Second and Fifth Corps, and Burnside's man were still absent. Han
cock had in his front the divisions of Heth and Wilcox, of Hill's
Corps, which had suffered greatly on the previous day, and were to
have been relieved at night. They stood gallantly for a" while ; but at
last, shrinking before the compact masses hurled upon them, they
commenced a retreat, which from a walk grew into a run, from a run
into a demoralized rout. At this moment the corps which Longstreet
had so long led advanced along the plankroad. Into their leading
files dashed at headlong speed aud in wild disarray the broken ranks
of Heth and Wilcox, mingled with field-pieces, ambulances, caissons,
runaway horses, and shouting oflicers striving to bear up against the

HON. EDWIN M\ STANTON
SECRETARY OF WAR.

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.

513

rout, but whirled along in its resistless current. Beside the road was
General Lee, irritated and excited beyond precedent, eager to stem the
torrent of flight hy catching hold of any organized body of men and
launching them in person against the head of the Federal advance.
Upon this hurly-burly of confusion and alarm supervened at the most crit
ical moment Longstreet and his Corps. This fresh body of troops, with
Kershaw's Division in advance, came forward upon the exhausted Fed
eral troops in such force, overlapping the left, that the Third Brigade,
Colonel Frank, broke and fled back. The pressure was so great along
the whole line of the command thus assaulted, that it was also broken
in several places. Portions of the front line retreated in disorder.
Officers who commanded there, commanded in some instances troops
not their own, and of whose fighting qualities they knew nothing.
Those officers did their best, but could not stem the panic. General
Wadsworth,* galloping, appealing, commanding, fell dead from his
horse in the front of the battle, deserted by more than half his troops.
The line fell back before the advancing rebels, and the ground
whence Heth and Wilcox had been forced once more passed into their
hands. Hancock's whole force retired behind the Une intrenched the
day before on the Brock road. In this encounter the enemy lost Gen-
eneral Jenkins killed, and General Longstreet wounded. The circum
stances under which the latter was injured were thus described by a
Southern spectator : " At this moment (the retreat of Hancock) Long-
street, after brief cousultation with General Lee, suggested a flank
movement not dissimUar to that by which, twelve months before,
the bloody day of ChanceUorsville was decided by Jackson. It was
commenced : the promise of the first movement was richly encouraging.
Generals Longstreet and Jenkins rode in great glee with their staff
along the plankroad, when one of those unforeseen accidents which are
inseparable from war, and doubly hazardous with undisciplined troops*
checked in an instant all laughter and merriment. A volley at short;
range, issuing from Mahone's Brigade of Confederates as they poured.
obliquely through the tangled undergrowth of the Wilderness, struck
Longstreet's little party like a white squall; General Jenkins sprang
high from his saddle and fell dead with a bullet through his brain;;
Longstreet himself lay stretched in the road pulseless and inanimate,.
and, as all thought, with but few minutes of life left in him. Instantly -
the flank movement was arrested. About an hour later, Longstreet, .
awaking from his swoon, exclaimed to Dr. Cullen : ' In another half
hour, but for my wound, there would not have been a Yankee regiment ,
standing and unbroken on the south of the Rapidan.'" It is some
what remarkable that this took place very near the spot where " Stone_

* James Samuel Wadsworth was born in Gene-
aeo, New Tork, October 30th, 1807, was educated at
Harvard and Yale Colleges, and admitted to the
bar in 1S38. But having inherited an immense
landed estate in Western New Tork, ho devoted
himself chiefly to its improvement. He was a
prominent member of the Republican party from
the period of its formation, and a commissioner
to the Peace Conference at Washington in 1861.
He embarked heartily in the cause of the Union,
was appointed brigadier-general of volunteers

August, 1861, and in March, 1862, became Military
Governor of Washington. In the fall of that year
he wa9 the Union candidate for Governor of New
York, but was defeated by Horatio Seymour. Aa .
commander of a division of the- Army of the Po
tomac he fought with reputation at Fredericks
burg, ChanceUorsville, and Gettysburg,- and fell
at the head of the Fourth Division of the Fifth,
Corps, at the battle of the Wilderness, .May 60^.
1864, as described in the text..

514 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION.
wall " Jackson, a year previous, lost his Ufe by a simUar mistake of his
own men.
A comparative lull occurred at noon, and our forces took the oppor
tunity it afforded to draw up and concentrate their lines, interposing
the greater part of Burnside's Ninth Corps between Hancock and
Warren. The left also was brought forward a little from the Brock
road, to which it had been driven, towards the centre. Hardly had
these fortunate dispositions been made, when again, in the middle of
the afternoon, the enemy fell upon our left and centre with great fury,
and again pushed them back. At the junction of the left and centre
the attack was particularly severe, Crawford's Third Division of the
Fifth Corps, Carr's Fourth Division of the Second Corps, and Steven
son's Division of the Ninth Corps suffering its brunt. The latter
division, on Hancock's right, giving way overpowered, the enemy
rushed through the gap. Hancock then dispatched Carroll's Third
Brigade, Second Division of the Second Corps, to sweep along the
whole line and attack the enemy in flank. The manoeuvre was most
gallantly and successfully executed, the enemy retiring with much loss,
and our troops gradually gaining their old alignment. The left and centre
ofthe army, thus having attacked and been attacked throughout the day,
stood firm at last — the field and forest floor before it and around it strewn
with its and the enemy's dead, and throbbing with its wounded. It
had taken in the course of the day many prisoners ; it held a larger part
of the field than that occupied in the morning ; its losses were severe.
The resolute and persevering enemy was not yet at rest, however,
but now massed his troops for a final rush at the extreme right, where
were posted the commands of Shaler and Seymour. On the extreme
right, towards the river, a dark column wound its way out of the
breastworks of the enemy, through the thick forests towards our right
flank, moving with such deliberation that a working party was enabled
to throw up a slight earthwork between themselves and our troops.
A supporting column formed behind this work. Between six and
seven p. m., the attack burst with resistless force upon the troops of
Shaler and Seymour, who were mostly captured, with their command
ers, a few only escaping to Germania Ford. This disaster on the right
exposed the whole army to imminent peril. Amid the panic, however,
are seen Sedgwick and the officers upon his staff building up order out
of the ruin. The grand old commander — his hat off, his bridle dropped,
a pistol in one hand and a sword in the other — is an assurance of safety
preventing further panic. The enemy come on, but to no further con
quest. For there is a line of steel which cannot be broken— Neill's
Brigade. Against it, as a billow against a rock, the exultant masses
of the enemy fall and break, and are thrown back, and retire.
The disaster to the extreme right of the Sixth Corps was of a serious
character, and might have proved fatal had the enemy been in a condi
tion to follow up his advantage. But so dearly was the advantage
gained that their effort to thrust themselves between us and the Ger
mania Ford was left unprosecuted, even when it was nearest being
successful. Artillery, however, had been posted to command the col
umn of rebels; in case it should burst through and over the right flank

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 515
of our army. Our losses in this wing fell Uttle below six thousand, of
which four thousand, probably, occurred during the enemy's assault.
Our losses in the Second Corps ranged in the neighborhood of three
thousand. And our total losses in the two days' fighting were not far
from fifteen thousand men. Those of the enemy were probably no
less severe. In these battles there was an unusual proportion of
wounded among the casualties, arising from the fact that so little
artillery was used on either side. Among our general officers kUled
in the two battles were Hayes and Wadsworth; and on the rebel side,
Jones and Jenkins, with Longstreet, Pegram, and Hunter severely
wounded. It is remarkable that in the official dispatches on both sides, including
those of our Secretary of War. and of General Lee, each army claimed
to have " repelled the fierce attack of the enemy," rather than to have
initiated the attack. At aU events, it seems clear that both armies de
signed attack. On Tuesday our forces undoubtedly moved out to find
the enemy, and discovered him advancing to oppose us. In like man
ner, it is certain that an attack both on the right and left was ordered
for our forces at five a. m. on Friday. On the left it was made, but on
the right it was anticipated by the enemy, who had the same intent,
but had set the time of execution a few minutes earlier than we. The
same mutual disposition to attack reappeared more than once during
the day, and with marked emphasis in the afternoon, and at the attack
on Hancock. It ¦ may be added, that this terrific infantry contest of
Friday closed on a disputed field, neither army having gained great
advantage, and friend and foe lying side by side over a broad stretch
of territory in attestation of the equal fortune of the day. General
Grant held substantially the same line as on Thursday evening, but he
had strengthened it on the left. During the night, preparations were
made to strengthen the right also, and to repair the disaster which
the enemy's last charge had wrought on that flank. Except for this work,
the night was comparatively quiet, our army lying silently along their
hasty lines of rifle-pits, and the rebels still keeping their more formidable
intrenchments on the edge of the woods, while the intervening space
so often fought over was held by the dead and wouuded of both the
combatants.

CHAPTER L.
Movement upon Spottsylvania. — The Enemy on the Alert. — Attack of May 10th. —
Death of Sedgwick. — Position of the Troops. — Grant " to Fight it out on that Line."
— Assault by the Second Corps on May 12th. — Large Captures of Prisoners and
Guns. — Results of the Struggle. — Sheridan's Cavalry Kaid. — Death of General
Stuart. — Battle at Meadow Bridge. — Sheridan at the James River.
The morning of Saturday, May 7th, opened with an interchange of
shot and shell. The right wing had been protected and strengthened
in view of renewed attack. The morning wore away, however, with
nothing of more importance than skirmishing. About noon a rather
vigorous demonstration was made against our centre, and repelled by
a portion of the Fifth Corps and a battery which obtained position in

516 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
the woods. Reconnoissances in the afternoon discovered that the
main body of the enemy had fallen back some distance. Preparations
were at once made for a further advance, but in view of the exertions
of the last few days, a brief respite for rest was allowed. The follow
ing passage, written by an eye-witness, gives a graphic description of
the scene at head-quarters at this moment : " The Ueutenant-general
here, at the foot of a tree, one leg of his trowsers slipped above his
boots, his hands limp, his coat in confusion, his sword equipments
sprawling on the ground ; not even the weight of sleep erasing that
persistent expression ofthe lip which held a constant promise of some
thing to be done. And there, at the foot of another tree, is General
Meade — a military hat, with the rim turned down about his ears, tap-
ping a scabbard with his fingers, and gazing abstractedly into the
depths of the earth through eye-glasses that should become historic.
General Humphreys, chief of staff — a spectacled, iron-gray, middle-
aged officer, of a pleasant smile and manner, who wears his trowsers
below, after the manner of leggins, and is in all things independent
and serene, paces yonder to and fro. That rather thick-set officer,
with closely-trimmed whiskers, and the kindest of eyes, who never be
trays a harsh impatience to any comer, is Adjutant-General Williams.
General Hunt, chief of artillery, a hearty-faced, frank-handed man,
whose black hair and whiskers have the least touch of time, lounges
at the foot of another tree, holding lazy converse with one or two
members of his staff. General Ingalls, chief quartermaster of the army,
than whom no more imperturbable, efficient, or courteous presence is
here, plays idly and smilingly with a riding-whip, tossing a telling
word or two hither and thither. Staff officers and orderlies and
horses thickly strew the grove."
Amid these reposing men drops an occasional shell from the enemy,
and as the day draws to a close there are signs of renewed activity.
At dusk an order was issued for the whole army to move towards
Spottsylvania Court-House, vid Todd's Tavern. The Fifth Corps
marched in advance, the Sixth Corps next, Hancock and Burnside
following. The Sixth Corps marched on the ChanceUorsviUe road,
reaching Piney Branch Church towards the latter part of Sunday fore
noon, the 8th. A part of our troops stretched across and occupied
Fredericksburg, the Twenty-second New York Cavalry entering that
city at eight o'clock on Saturday evening. A depot for our wounded
was established there, and a basis for supplies arranged. Hancock's and
Burnside's Corps pressed on, on Saturday night, resuming the chase
again at daylight on Sunday morning, and camping at noon twenty
mUes away southerly from the Old Wilderness battle-field. The Fifth
Corps, remaining till dark on the battle-ground, marched all Saturday
night, though exhausted by the events of the four days and nights pre
ceding, taking the Brock road past Todd's Tavern, towards Spottsyl
vania. Meanwhile the enemy's cavalry was on the alert, and Stuart reported
to Lee that Grant had resumed his flank movement, and that under
cover of the thick woods he was throwing a force forward in the
direction of Spottsylvania Court-House, on the direct road to Rich-

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.

517

mond. Orders were immediately issued for Anderson's Corps (late
Longstreet's) to march at eleven o'clock at night for that place, and
preparations were immediately made to put the whole army in motion
for the same destination on the foUowing day. The distance from the
battle-field, which is near the western boundary of Spottsylvania
County, to the Court-House, is fifteen miles. Warren's Corps left the
Wilderness Tavern with Bartlett's Brigade in the advance as skirmish
ers. These pushed forward with confidence, but incautiously advanc
ing, when near Spottsylvania Court-House, beyond the main body,
were assailed by a heavy fire and driven back with severe loss. Gen
eral Robinson fell, wounded in the leg. A line of battle was then
formed, with Griffin on the right, Robinson on the left, and on his left
Crawford's and Wadsworth'? (now Cutler's) Divisions. The troops
in the rear were brought up, and a portion of the Sixth Corps formed
on the right. Meautime, Ewell's Corps had joined Longstreet's (now
Anderson's) at Spottsylvania Court-House, where Lee had succeeded
in throwing his army in advance of Grant's movement to the same
place. Hill's Corps had not yet arrived, but was hourly expected.
These events of the 1th were officially given to the public as fol
lows : — " Washington, Monday, May 9 — i. v. m.
" A bearer of dispatches from General Meade's head-quarters has just reached here.
He states that Lee's army commenced falling back on the night of Friday. Our army
commenced the pursuit on Saturday. The rebels were in full retreat for Richmond by
the direct road. Hancock passed through Spottsylvania Court-House at daylight yes
terday. Our head-quarters at noon yesterday were twenty miles south of the battle
field. We occupy Fredericksburg. The Twenty-second New York Cavalry occupied
that place at eight o'clock last night. The dep&t for our wounded is established at
Fredericksburg, "Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary cf War."
Sunday night, the 8th, found the Union army intrenched, facing the
enemy northwest of Spottsylvania Court-House in an irregular Une.
Monday, the 9th, was occupied by the two armies in getting into posi
tion and preparing for battle. There was more or less skirmishing
throughout the day, and some artillery firing, which began at dawn.
There were some changes in the disposition of the troops. The ene
my's sharpshooters were very busy, depriving the Union army of many
a valuable officer. General W. H. Morris, of the Sixth Corps, and
numbers of others, were killed or wounded. The most severe loss was
that of General Sedgwick,* who, accompanied by Ms staff, had walked

* John Sedgwick was born in Connecticut,
about 1815, and graduated at West Point in 1837.
He was brevetted captain and major for gallant
conduct in tho Mexican war, and at the outbreak
of the rebellion held the position of lieutenant-
colonel of the Second United States Cavalry. He
was soon after promoted to the colonelcy of tho
Fourth Cavalry, and on August 81st was commis
sioned a brigadier-general of volunteers. As.com-
manderof the Third Division of Sumner's Corps,
he participated in the Peninsular campaign, and
particularly distinguished himself at Fair Oaks.
He waB wounded at Antietam, was promoted in
December, 1S62, to be a major-general of volun
teers, and in February, 1868, took command of
the Sixth Army Corps, During the ChanceUors

ville campaign, he stormed and captured Marye's
Heights, in the rear of Fredericksburg, and sub
sequently, after hard fighting against overwhelm
ing numbers, succeeded in crossing the Kappa-
hannock with his command. He had an honor
able share in the Gettysburg campaign, and in
November, 1863, was publicly "thanked by General
Meade for a well-executed manoauvre on the Eapi-
dan, by which wo captured a whole rebel division,
with Beveral guns and colors. He died in the
manner described in the text, leaving a reputation
as a brave, judicious, and accomplished officer,
second to that of no man in the army. Ho sev
eral times held temporary command of the Army
of the Potomac, and more than once declined the
supreme command,

518 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
out to the advanced line of breastworks occupied by his men. A con
stant hum of bullets about this place ca'hsed the soldiers in the works
to dodge and duck their heads. The general smiled at them good-
naturedly. He had a winning smUe. Finally, one bullet hummed so
near a soldier that he dropped down upon bis face. General Sedg
wick touched him with his foot in humorous disdain. "Pooh, pooh,
man 1 Who ever heard of a soldier dodging a bullet ? Why, they
couldn't hit an elephant at that distance."
There was a laugh at this, even though the straggling shot yet
hummed unpleasantly around. The general was stUl snuling over the
banter, when Colonel McMahon heard the buzz of a buUet culminate
in what seemed an explosion close beside him.
" That must have been an explosive bullet, general."
No answer. But as the face of General Sedgwick sUghtly turned
towards the officer at his side, a sad smile was upon it. Another mo
ment, and the form of the general fell helplessly backward. It was
caught by Colonel McMahon as it fell. A ball had entered the face,
just below the left eye, pierced the brain, and passed out at the back
of the head. He never spoke afterwards, though he breathed softly
for a while.
On Tuesday, our forces at dawn occupied a line stretching out a
length of about six miles on the northern bank of the Po, and taking
the general form of a crescent, the wings being thrown forward ; the
Second Corps held the right wing, and the Sixth the left. The pre
ceding night, Hancock had succeeded in crossing the Po, and now held
a line on the right, nearly parallel to the road from Shady Grove
Church to the Court-House. Warren held the centre, being on the east
side of the Po ; and Wright, who had succeeded Sedgwick in the
command of the Sixth Corps, the left, facing towards the Court-House.
Farther out on the left was Burnside's Ninth Corps, which, unknown
to himself, and fortunately unknown to the enemy, was disconnected
from its supports, and in a very dangerous position. Arnold's, Rod
ger's, Sleeper's, and other batteries covered our right ; Meade's, Mar
tin's, and others our left centre. In our front was a dense forest. The
enemy still held Spottsylvania and the region north of the Court-
House. On the preceding day, his left rested on Glady Run, sweeping
northward, and sheltered by strong works. His right curved in a sim
ilar direction, and rested on the Ny River ; and his centre, a little
thrown forward from the right centre and left centre, was posted on
commanding ground. His position was well supported by breastworks,
and along his centre was the forest and underbrush, lining a marsh
partially drained by a run. In the morning the conflict opened by a
terrific cannonade of our artillery against the advancing rebel lines ;
and for the first time in the campaign, this arm was brought into fuU
and destructive use.
Mott's Fourth Division ofthe Second Corps was then transferred to
the left, and the advance continued at this point. Orders, however,
had been given to attack the rebel centre. Accordingly, Gibbons's
Second and Birney's Third Division of the Second Corps were drawn
back from the other side of the Po, to connect with Warren. The

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 519
Second and Fourth Divisions of the Fifth Corps commenced the attack
on the centre. The rest of the Fifth Corps and the two divisions of
the Second then advanced and fought with great tenacity for several
hours, driving the enemy to his rifle-pits, but failing to capture them.
Gibbons's gallant Second Division, and especially Carroll's Brigade, suf
fered severely in repeated charges. General Rice, of the Second Bri
gade, Fourth Division, Fifth Corps, was at this time killed. The check
of our centre threw the remaining division, Barlow's (First), of the
Second Corps, on our right, in extreme peril, and orders were given
to withdraw it to this side the river. The enemy, however, had al
ready attacked it in great force, and turned it. He pounced so sud
denly and fiercely upon the division as to force it back from the flank
ing position it held, and produce a momentary confusion. This was soon
checked, and the division, though pressed by superior numbers, fought
its way slowly backward, and, still fighting, retreated across the river
and joined the Second Corps, against the right of which the enemy con
tinued to exert his strength until after nightfall, when he was repulsed.
Towards evening, a most energetic and gallant assault was made by
the whole Une. Across the open fields, through reaches of wood,
through depths of swamp and mire, the dark Unes of our battalions
struggled forward against a fearful fire poured down upon them from
works that only our artillery could reach effectively. The divisions of
the Fifth Corps, subjected to an enfilading volley of great guns from
right and left, suffered greatly. The terrible work set for these men,
under such a fire, was not accomplished, when darkness closed around
the struggling hosts with the repulse ofthe enemy on the right ofthe
Second Corps. Upton's First Brigade of Wright's First Division of
the Sixth Corps, with Russell's Third Brigade of the Third Division,
moving steadily forward amid a raking and murderous fire, without
firing a shot, scaled the enemy's works in gallant style, and captured
more than one thousand of the very men who had stampeded the
brigades of Shaler and Seymour on Friday night in the Wilderness,
and sending a scattering volley after a host of flying rebels. Twelve
guns also came into our possession. But Upton, finding himself far in
advance of the army, was compelled to fall back with his prisoners
from his daring assault. As always before, night closed on a hard-
fought but indecisive field. Our losses were perhaps more severe than
those of any previous day. The Sixth Corps alone, in the battles up
to that night, had lost over five thousand killed and wounded. The
following bulletin was issued upon the reception of the news of these
events in Washington : — " Washington, May 11—11.30 a. k.
" To Major-General Dix :
"Dispatches from General Grant, dated at eight o'clock this morning, have just
reached this Department. He says : —
'"We have now ended the sixth day of very heavy fighting. The result to this
time is much in our favor. Our losses have been heavy, as well as those ofthe enemy.
I think the loss of the enemy must be greater. We have taken over five thousand
prisoners in battle, while he has taken from us but few except stragglers. I propose
to fight it owl on this line if it takes all summer.'
" The Government is sparing no pains to support him.
" Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War.''

520

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.

Wednesday, May llth, was a day of no extended operations, and
was spent mostly in skirmishing and changing positions on both sides.
The enemy shifted his lines to the left, and corresponding movements
were made on the Federal side. It had been determined to assault on
Thursday^ morning, and the Second Corps being selected to make the
attempt, it was, during the night, which was -very stormy, moved
from the right to the left of the Sixth, between that and Burnside, so
that on Thursday morning the corps were disposed as follows : the
Fifth Corps on the right, the Sixth Corps next, the Second Corps next,
and Burnside, as before, on the extreme left. It was in front of Han
cock's new position that the vital section of the enemy lay — a strong
salient angle of earthworks, ditched in front, defended by cannon at
every point, and held by Johnson's Division of Ewell's Corps, EweU's
whole corps adjoining.
On Thursday, the 12th, Hancock's* Corps occupying a position ex
posed to the enemy's guns, moved at dawn cautiously up to the enemy's
lines amidst a dense fog. Barlow's Division — Nidi's Brigade leading
— formed in column by battalions, took the advance, while Birney,
Mott, and Gibbon, in two lines of battle, supported the attack. The
storming column advanced silently, and without firing a shot, up to
the angles of the breastworks, over which it rushed, taking the forces
within in flank, surrounding them, capturing nearly the entire division
of Johnson, three thousand men, with its commander, and also a bri
gade or two of other troops, Brigadier-General George H. Stuart in com
mand. Over forty pieces of artillery were also captured. The point
of the lines thus carried was at Ewell's right and A. P. Hill's left,
and the captured division was a part of Stonewall Jackson's famous
old corps. It was an exceedingly important point, Hancock being
thus inserted like a wedge between the enemy's centre and right.
The charge of the Second Corps was followed by a heavy cannon
ade all along the line, to which the enemy repUed with great vigor.
Five furious charges were made by the enemy to retake that position.
Ewell's Corps, driven from it in the morning, came down first en masse,
and were repulsed. Hill moved down from the right, joined Ewell,
and threw his divisions into the struggle. General Wright moved up
from the right, supporting Hancock to meet the surge. Anderson
came on from the extreme left of the enemy's line. Warren sent in
troops from the left of ours. The lines of both armies, thus contracted,
met in a continual death-grapple in and to the right of the angle taken
in the morning. The enemy's columns dashed with unflinching deter
mination against our lines, retiring each time with great loss. At

* Winfleld Scott Hancock was born in Mont
gomery County, Pennsylvania, in 1824, and grad
uated at West Point in 1844. He was brevetted
first lieutenant for gallant conduct in the Mexican
war, subsequently saw much service in the West,
and at tho breaking out of the rebellion held the
position of quartermaster. He was appointed
brigadier-general of volunteers in September,
1861, commanded a brigade in the Peninsular cam
paign, and was highly commended for his conduct
at the battle of Williamsburg, May 5th, 1863.
After the battle of Antietam, he assumed com
mand of a division In the Second Corps, and dis

tinguished himself at Fredericksburg, Chancel
lorsvUle, and Gettysburg. At the last-named
battle he held commaDd of the Second Corps, and
was severely wounded. He participated in the
campaign of 1864 against Richmond, and organ
ized the assault which led to the capture of John-
Bon's division, May 12th. In the latter part of
the year he resigned the command of the Second
Corps to General Humphreys, and was assigned
to the First Corps, then reorganizing. At the
cIobo of the war he commanded in the Shenandoah
Valley. He is now major-general of volunteers,
and has charge of the Middle Department.

> r-.i

B W B

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 521
length, towards noon, they ceased their efforts to retake the position.
But they had successfully disputed our further advance. Part of the
captured cannon remained covered by sharpshooters, so that neither
party could carry them off. The only solid advantage gained was the
possession of the angle surprised in the morning. The enemy's front
remained elsewhere apparently impregnable, every avenue of approach
being swept by the withering fire of artillery, and their force be
ing strong enough to hold the position against twice the attacking
numbers. After many heroic attempts to force them, the design was
abandoned. General Meade began early in the afternoon contracting his line and
massing troops on his left, with a view to turn the enemy's right. All
the afternoon the battle raged with great fury. The enemy made cor
responding movements from his left to his right. Every inch of soU,
muddy with gore, was fought over with desperation, and yielded only
when it became impossible to hold it. Neither the rain nor the mire
of the roads delayed the rapidity or intensity of the fight. The rival
bayonets often interlocked, and a bloody grapple over the intrench
ments lasted for hours, the rebel battle-flags now surging up side by
side with our own, and anon, torn and riddled, disappearing in the
woods. The dead and wounded lay thickly strewn along the ground,
and fairly heaped up where the fight was deadliest.
After fourteen hours' fighting, night fell on a battle unsurpassed in
severity in the history of the war. For the first time in the campaign
a decided success was achieved. Warren and Wright, who moved two
hours after Hancock, had not advanced on the enemy's front ; but this
was not expected, as his' position could not there be carried. On the
extreme left, Burnside had severely suffered ; while on the left centre,
Hancock had stormed and held an important angle of the enemy's
works, despite all their efforts to repossess it. Official dispatches add
that the day's work also gave us more than three thousand prisoners,
and also two general officers, and eighteen pieces of artillery actually
brought into our Unes. Between forty and fifty pieces had been at one
time captured, but the remainder rested on debatable ground, and were
subsequently withdrawn by the enemy. The brilliant dash of the morn
ing had secured a strong grasp on the enemy's left centre, and an ad
vance of a mile in our line in that direction. Five determined assaults
were made during the day to expel our troops, but all were fruitless.
No more gallant, desperate, or long-continued fighting, on either side,
for the possession of intrenchments, had occurred during the war;
while the severity of the wounds gave proof of something more than
musketry fighting.
The foregoing movements were thus described by the Assistant Sec
retary of War, who accompanied the army in its advance : —
"Spottsylvania Court-House, Ya., Friday, May 13, 1864 — 8 a. m.
"Hon. B. M. Stanton, Secretary of War:
"Lee abandoned his position during the night, whether to occupy a new position la
the vicinity, or to make a thorough retreat, is not determined.
" One division of Wright's and one of Hancock's are engaged in settling this ques
tion, and at half-past seven A. m. had come up on his rear-guard. Though our army is

522

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.

greatly fatigued from the enormous efforts of yesterday, the news of Lee's departure
inspires the men with fresh energy. The whole force will soon be in motion, but the
heavy rains ofthe last thirty-six hours render the roads very difficult for wagons and
artillery. The proportion of severely wounded is greater than on either of the pre
vious days' fighting. This was owing to the great use made of artillery. " C. A. Dana. „
Meanwhile, on May 9th, a picket body of cavalry, under the imme
diate command of General Sheridan,* chief of cavalry of the Army of
the Potomac, had left the front on an expedition to the rear of Lee's
army, the main object of which was to cut off the rebel communica
tions and supplies. Moving rapidly south along the Negro Foot
road towards Childshurg, he crossed the North Anna River at the
fords and suddenly pounced upon the Beaver Dam Station of the Vir
ginia Central Railroad, where a rebel provost-guard, having charge of
nearly four hundred Union prisoners, was captured. The latter were
promptly released. Thence moving towards Richmond, he sent a de
tachment to Ashland Station, on the Fredericksburg Railroad, where
the track, station-house, and considerable rolling stock were destroyed.
On the llth the command, again concentrated, had reached a point
within six miles of Richmond, where the rebel cavalry under General
Stuartf was encountered, and, after a sharp fight, defeated, with the loss
of several guns, Stuart himself being mortally wounded. On the suc
ceeding morning a detachment penetrated to the second line of defences
of Richmond, but not being in sufficient force to make a dash at the'
city, rejoined the main body, which was moving towards Meadow Bridge,
on the Chickahominy. The rebels, aware by this time of the intentions
of Sheridan, were moving rapidly in superior force to surround and cut
him off, and upon reaching the river the Union cavalry found Meadow

* Philip Henry Sheridan was born in Perry
County", Ohio, in 1381, and graduated at West
Point in 1S53. He saw considerable service in the
West, and after the outbreak of the rebellion was
commissioned a captain in the Thirteenth United
States Infantry. For nearly a year he acted as
chief quartermaster in the Trans-Mississippi De
partment, and in May, 1S62, was appointed colonel
of the Second Michigan Cavalry. In June he was
put in command of a cavalry brigade, and for a
brilliant victory over the rebel General Chalmers,
at Booneville, Mississippi, July 1st, he was pro
moted, on General Grant's recommendation, to be
a brigadier-general of volunteers. During the in
vasion of Kentucky by Bragg, in 1862, he was as
signed to the command of a division in Buell's
army, and subsequently fought at Perrysville and
Murfreesboro', earning by his valor in the latter
engagement his promotion to be major-general of
volunteers. He participated in the campaign of
1863 against Chattanooga, and again distinguished
himself at Chickamauga and the succeeding battle
on Missionary Ridge. In the spring of 1864 he
was summoned eastward to assume command of
the cavalry ofthe Army ofthe Potomac, in which
capacity he led several daring expeditions against
the enemy's communications. In August he took
^harge ofthe military division ofthe bhenandoah,
falned the brilliant victories of September 19th and
1st over Early, and on October 19th won the hard-
fought battle of Cedar Creek, changing by his op
portune arrival a Union defeat into a signal vic
tory, in March, 1865, he moved his cavalry to the

James River, and in the flanking movement by
which Lee was driven out of Petersburg and event
ually destroyed, he held the chief command, de
feating the rebels with sever© loss at the battle of
Five Forks. At the conclusion of the war he went
to Texas as commander ofthe military division of
the Gulf. He is a major-general of the regular
army. t James E. B. Stuart was born in Patrick Coun
ty, Virginia, about 1832, and graduated at West
Point in 1854. He served, in a cavalry regiment un
til the outbreak of the rebellion, when he resigned
his commission and entered the rebel army, in
which, in September, 1861, he was commissioned
a brigadier-general. In the ensuing winter he or
ganized the rebel cavalry forces in Virginia, and
during the Peninsular campaign distinguished him
self by a raid in McClellan's rear, wh~ich was the
Srecursor of that general's change of base to the
ames River, and of the seven days' fighting which
accompanied the movement. He commanded the
cavalry during the succeeding invasion of Mary
land, and a few weeks after the battle of Antietam
again rode around the Union lineB, bringing off a
considerable amount of spoils. In the Chancel
lorsvUle campaign and Lee's second invasion of
the North, his cavalry was active, and, after the
battle of Gettysburg, effectually covered the rebel
retreat. He was mortally wounded in an encoun
ter with the Union cavalry at Yellow Tavern, near
Richmond, on the llth, and died a few hour* later.
He then held the rank of lieutenant-general

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION. 523
Bridge destroyed and *the Fredericksburg Railroad bridge, which
crosses the Chickahominy near this place, commanded by defensive
works. To add to Sheridan's embarrassment, another rebel force now
came up in his rear, cutting off his retreat and seriously ieopardizing
the command.
Hemmed in between two fires, with a difficult river to cross, and a
vigilant and confident enemy surrounding his tired troopers, Sheridan
acted with consummate coolness and judgment. The railroad bridge
being under the circumstances impracticable, he immediately com
menced to reconstruct Meadow Bridge, though exposed the while to a
severe fire, to which his own artillery effectually replied, and obliged
to repel the enemy in his rear by frequent counter-attacks. At length,
the bridge was completed, and preparations were made to pass his
ammunition train across. But as this operation, under the hot fire
of the enemy, would be attended with no little risk, he gathered his
men up for a final charge, and, putting himself at their head, sabre in
hand, drove the rebels in confusion to the shelter of the neighboring
woods, their flight being accelerated by several well-aimed shots from
the Union artillery. The trains were now quickly passed across the
river, and the rebel force on the farther bank was driven through
Mechanicsville to Cold Harbor, with the loss of many prisoners. Sheri
dan encamped that night at Gaines's Mill, the old battle-ground of
June 27th, 1862, and on the 14th reached General Butler's head
quarters, near City Point, on the James River. He then opened com
munications with Yorktown, and thence with Washington.

CHAPTER LI.
Eetrograde Movement of the Enemy. — Bad Condition of the Eoads. — Union Movement
to the Left. — Relative Position of Armies. — Re-enforcements. — Irruption on the Rear
Repulsed. — Grant Crossing the North Anna. — Impregnable Position of the Enemy.
— North Anna Recrossed, and Movement to the Left continued.
Friday, the 13th, continued stormy, but the skirmishers were early
pushed out, only to discover that the enemy had fallen back to a new
position, made necessary by the loss ofthe angle occupied by Hancock.
The roads were in such a condition that rapidity of movement was out
of the question, and the day was occupied mostly in burying the dead.
General Meade issued a congratulatory order to the troops. Towards
night, new dispositions were determined on. The enemy's right being
deemed the only practicable point of attack, our lines were to be
once more shifted down to the left, in the endeavor to flank. The
Fifth and Sixth Corps were selected this time, for an attempt resem
bling that of the Second and Ninth. The position of Thursday, the
12th, as already indicated, ran thus, from right to left: Warren,
Wright, Hancock, Burnside. About nine o'clock, on Friday night,
the two right corps were put in motion, and marched all night to their
new position. The difficulties of the march through the ankle-deep
and iknee-deep mud, and amid the furious storm, made the movement

524 HISTOET OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
slow and arduous, and only endurable by contrast with the severer
experience of constant battle.
On the morning of Saturday, the 1 4th, the enemy was found to have
fallen back a little, and to have brought his line more to the east, still
holding the Court-House and the forked roads. In this neighborhood,
the Ny and the Po Rivers, branches of the Mattapony, approach each
other to form their junction. The Federal army was in the fork form
ed by these streams, and at right angles with the road from Fredericks
burg to Spottsylvania. The several corps were posted as follows:
Hancock's Second Corps on the right, Burnside's Ninth on the right
centre, Wright's Sixth on the left centre, Warren's" Fifth on the left.
On Saturday, Wright had not been able to get immediately into posi
tion, and was farther to the left and a little thrown back, as if in re
serve. The position was a good one, on the crests of rolling ridges
running nearly northwest and southeast, and covering the southerly
bank of the Ny River. There was also space for the sweep of the
artillery. Unfortunately, the almost indescribably bad condition of
the roads had prevented the successful completion of the movement in
season to authorize an attack. There was no hope of surprise, and
before our artillery trains and infantry masses were in position the
enemy was alert and hostile.
The head-quarters of Grant and Meade were at Gail's House, eight
miles from Fredericksburg and two miles from the Court-House. The
extremities of the two wings were about equidistant from the house,
and the skirmishing line a mile in front. The enemy's position was a
semicircular line of earthworks, with rifle-pits here and there, well
established on commanding heights, and the whole flanked right and
left by dense woods. Artillery was already in position, and new in
trenchments building. A part of the works appeared to be sodded,
-showing an old construction, and the utmost activity was manifest in
strengthening the position. Our forces soon commenced to throw up
field-works, and the great armies, so lately contending with bayonet
and bullet, were now quietly and sedulously emulating each other with
the spade.
Sunday, the 15th, was the twelfth day since the army had left Cul
pepper, and was the first of comparative rest that the men had enjoyed.
There was but little skirmishing on either side. On Monday, the 16th,
Grant sent word to Washington that operations would be suspended
until the roads should be passable. Monday and Tuesday passed in
welcome rest for the army. The wounded were sent back in long
trains of ambulances to Fredericksburg, and the roads were lined
with crippled soldiers painfully making their way in the same direc
tion. Mosby's guerrillas scoured the country on both sides of the
Rapidan, picking up squads of stragglers. Re-enforcements had been
received to the extent of thirty-five thousand, according to the an
nouncement of the Secretary of War, to fill up the terrible gaps made
by the previous ten days' service. The time was similarly employed
by the enemy.
By Tuesday afternoon, the 17th, the ground had become somewhat
improved, so as to admit of reconnoissances. Hitherto the constant

HISTOET OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.

525

effort of Grant had been to turn the enemy's right. It was now de
termined to reverse the operation, and, if possible, to throw the enemy
off his guard ; the more so that the ground was more favorable for
manoeuvring on our right than on our left. In accordance with this
determination a new disposition of troops was made during Tuesday
night, and the Jine was formed Wednesday morning, the 18th, from
right to left, as follows : Wright, Hancock, Burnside, Warren. The
right and right centre, Wright and Hancock, were to attack. It was
hoped by this means to surprise the enemy, as our movements of the
past week — refusing our right constantly, and massing on the left —
seemed to indicate a fixed purpose on the part of Meade of turning
the rebel right. The enemy, however, divined the intention, and were
already perfectly prepared. When Hancock advanced he found them
in an impregnable position. Hancock pushed through two outer lines
of rifle-pits, which had been abandoned in apparent haste to draw him
on, but presently struck an extremely strong line of breastworks, with
abatis in front, and very heavily armed with artillery. The position
could only have been carried by an immense loss of life, if it could
have been carried at all. The order for assault was, accordingly, at
ten o'clock a. m. countermanded. A nearer view of the position it was
intended to assail convinced the commanding general that it could not
be carried. If it could be gained by hard fighting, he was not the man
to flinch on that account ; but success seemed hopeless.
General Grant, finding it impossible to force the enemy's front, once
more determined to move by his left. On Wednesday night a cav
alry force under General Torbert entered Guinney's Station, a point
on the Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac Railroads, about ten
miles in a direct line southeasterly from Spottsylvania, across the Po,
and consequently on the right and rear of the enemy's position. The
cavalry destroyed the buildings and supplies, the telegraph apparatus,
&c. This was only the precursor of a general movement in that di
rection. On Thursday a portion of the right began to move towards
the left, and dispositions were in progress to carry out the whole
movement, when an unexpected interruption took place. EweU,*
noticing the movement of our troops from the right, moved a part of
his corps to thwart it. The division of Rhodes having the advance,
crossed the Ny River, and reached the Fredericksburg wagon-road in
the rear of our right flank, where he captured ambulances and a subsist
ence train within three-quarters of a mile ofthe head-quarters of Gen
erals Meade and Grant. The only troops we had on the ground at
the time were Tyler's Division of heavy artillery, which had lately
been brought from Washington. Three divisions, one each of the

* Rieliard Stoddard Ewell was born in the Dis
trict of Columbia about 1820, and graduated at
West Point in 1840. He was brevetted captain
for gallantry in the Mexican war, subsequently
saw considerable service in the West, and at the
outbreak of the civil war resigned his commis
sion and entered the rebel armv, of which he
was appointed a brigadier-general. He was sub
sequently promoted to be a major-general, and
took command of a corps in the Army of Vir
ginia, He lost a leg at the second battle of Bull

Run, and did not resume his command until after
the battle of Gettysburg. He participated in the
Invasion of Maryland and Pennsylvania in 1863,
distinguished himself at Gettysburg, and during
the campaign of 1864-'65 commanded one of the
three corps of Lee's army. On April 6th, 1866,
his corps was disastrously routed by Sheridan,
west of Burkesville, and he himself captured. He
was subsequently confined in Fort Warren, but
after some months released.

526 HISTOET OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
Second, Fifth, and Sixth Corps, were sent to his support. Tyler met
the attack near the woods, where the enemy had formed in a single
line, with skirmishers in front. He felt some apprehension at the
result of the encounter, as his troops were raw and had never been
employed in open field-fighting. But when once fairly under fire they
showed a degree of courage and audacity which surprised the rebels
not less than their commander. No sooner did they see the enemy,
than, regardless of the devices which older troops would have taken
to screen themselves in a close encounter in the woods, they fired a
volley and followed it up by an impetuous charge, which sent the
rebels quickly towards their camp. The honors of the repulse of the
enemy, whose boldly-conceived movement might, under different cir
cumstances, have produced disastrous results, rested with Tyler's heavy
artillery division, and partly also with Birney's Division of the Second
Corps, and Crawford's of the Fifth, which formed line, enabling Tyler
to withdraw, after driving the enemy for several miles and clearing
the valley of the Ny.
The grand movement, which had been delayed by this attack, recom
menced on the night of Friday, the 20th, when Torbert's Cavalry left
Guinney's Station, on the Fredericksburg and Richmond Railroad, and
pushed on to Bowling Green, fifteen miles southeast of Spottsylvania,
and thence to Milford Station, hoping to capture Lee's stores ; but
they had been already removed. At midnight of Friday, the Second
Corps followed the cavalry, striking Massaponax Church about four
o'clock, Guinney's Station on Saturday morning, and finally Bowling
Green — reaching the latter point, after a march of about twenty miles,
by nightfall of Saturday. The weather was fine but warm, and the
roads good. Proceeding from Bowling Green, the Second Corps next
struck the Mattapony at Milford's Bridge, five miles south, crossed the
river, and formed line in a commanding position about a mile from the
bridge. Here, a few hundred rebel cavalry dashed against Barlow's
Division while forming, but discovering in season they were about to
capture a Tartar, wheeled and escaped with safety. The enemy's
infantry was in strong force in front. During the day of Sunday, the
22d, the corps marched forward and held the ground for a mile or two
from the Mattapony. Milford Station is about forty miles from Rich
mond. At ten o'clock on Saturday morning, Warren's Fifth Corps broke
camp and followed the Second, encountering cavalry, like its prede
cessor, near Guinney's. The Sixth and Ninth followed the Fifth,
bringing up the rear, and, on Saturday, the whole army had left Spott
sylvania. Our advance found everywhere that the movement had been
anticipated ; stores had been removed, and Lee's main army taken
from our path. AU the corps had more or less skirmishing — that in
the rear being at one time quite lively, but no damage or delay was
caused. The advance was conducted in a bold and confident style,
the corps striking out, with, occasionally, long gaps intervening, caus
ing no little trepidation in some quarters, lest a part of our force
should be cut off by an attack of the enemy, while it marched by the
flank.

HISTOET OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 527
By Sunday the column began to consolidate, and a sort of line was
formed, facing westerly, the Second Corps holding the left at Milford
Station, and the Fifth the right at Guinney's, with the centre in the
direction of Bowling Green. It was already clear to Grant that the
enemy was preceding him in the direction of Hanover Court-House,
and the whole army on Monday pushed forward at a rapid rate, and
reached the North Anna River in the neighborhood of Jericho Mills.
The Second and Fifth Corps were in the advance, the latter at the
right of the Second. Hancock rushed at the enemy's strong position,
after briefly reconnoitring its strength, his troops gallantly charging
the enemy, while our batteries played into their works. The battle
was very severe ; but, with a loss of about three hundred men, Han
cock succeeded in forcing the position. Meanwhile, Warren's Fifth
Corps had already crossed higher up, without much difficulty, but
were soon attacked with fury and vehemence. Secretary Stanton's
dispatch from General Grant says that Warren " was attacked with
great vehemence. I have never heard more rapid or massive firing,
either of artillery or musketry. The attack resulted in a destructive
repulse of the enemy. At the position attacked by Hancock the
rebels were intrenched, and in considerable force, between the creek
he had crossed and the river, and made a pertinacious resistance to
his onset ; but before dark he had forced them from their works and
driven them across the stream." By night, the Second and Fifth
Corps were both across the river, and the Ninth and Sixth held the
thither side. On Tuesday the whole army was across.
Lee had even on Friday night suspected Grant's movement. He
knew the impregnability of his own position. He knew that the Fed
eral advance on his works had been abandoned without serious attack,
and when Ewell's attack on the Federal lines discovered the absence
of Hancock, Grant's plan was demonstrated. At midnight of the
20th two corps of the rebel army were already on the way to head
off Grant, while the third remained on the ground and attacked the
Federal Sixth on Saturday morning. The route of Lee was much
shorter and more direct to the same point than that of Grant. He
accordingly sent a flying body to harass the troops of Grant, while
Ewell and Longstreet passed over the Telegraph road, and A. P. Hill
farther to the west, over the Negro Foot road, and when our troops
reached the North Anna River, Longstreet and Ewell had been in
position twenty-four hours.
Tuesday, the 24th, was passed in getting the army into position on
the south of the North Anna. Port Royal, on the Rappahannock,
became the new base of supplies, and head-quarters were at Jericho
Mills. On Wednesday noon, the 25th,thelinerestedasfollows,fromrightto
left : Wright's Sixth Corps, Warren's Fifth, Burnside's Ninth, Hancock's
Second. Wright's Corps was held rather in the rear, covering Jericho
Ford. Hancock's extreme left touched on the railroad, and was but
very little advanced from the river. Between our right and left the
enemy was found in strong force opposite our centre, with his left a
little thrown back. Our own line extended about four miles. The

528 HISTOET OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
reconnoissances of the day showed that the enemy's line lay northwest
of Sexton's Junction, in the general form of a V. The apex, or his
centre, stretched towards the North Anna, his right wing resting on
the formidable marsh known as Bull Swamp, through which the creek
of that name empties into the North Anna, and extending across_the
Fredericksburg Railroad, protecting it and covering the junction.
His left wing ran along Little River, crossing the Virginia Central, and
protecting it also at Sexton's Junction. The salient, an obtuse angle,
was pushed out towards Ox Ford, confronting Burnside. Hancock's
Corps lay pretty nearly parallel with the enemy's right. This position,
naturally strong, appeared to be fortified with extensive and elaborate
intrenchments, to which the enemy was busily adding others. The
whole position looked formidable, and the enemy did not yield to the
slight pressure of our reconnoissance.
On Thursday head-quarters were at Quarles's Ford. Reconnoissances
again went on, but showed nothing new. The strength of the rebel
army, with the morass on the right and the river on the left, with its
centre dangerously inserted between the two fords, and threatening to
penetrate our own centre, was again obvious. In case of a battle, the
rapidity with which troops could be thrown back and forth from flank
to flank, as occasion required, was no less obvious. The position was
skilfully chosen, and, it would, seem, threatened our security, as well
as provided for its own.
A glance at the position sufficed to show that it was almost impreg
nable, and once more the movement to the left commenced. To make
this movement, it was necessary to recross the North Anna, which was
swelling from the recent rains, and no time was to be lost. With a
vigilant enemy on his rear, the task was not easy. To cover the move
ment, a demonstration was made during Thursday, the 26th, on the
enemy's works, and the cavalry set to burning the track of the Virginia
Central Railroad. Under cover of this attack, on Thursday evening,
the Sixth Corps quietly and swiftly withdrew to the north branch of
the river, followed by the other corps in quick succession, and moved
out easterly for the Pamunkey. Hancock protected the rear, and,
meanwhile, a strong skirmish line was left in front, to engage the
enemy's attention and disarm suspicion. At 9 o'clock on Friday
morning, Torbert's First and Gregg's Second Division of Sheridan's
Cavalry took possession of Hanover Ferry and Hanovertown, finding
there only a rebel vedette. General Torbert captured seventy-five
cavalry, including six officers. The First Division of the Sixth Corp3
arrived at 10 a. m., and the rest of the column closely followed. On
the morning of the 27th, while our army moved down the north side
of the Pamunkey, Breckinridge's Division was sent to move down on
the south side of the stream, to Hanover Court-House, to act as a corps
of observation ; and a brigade of cavalry was sent still farther on, on
the Piping Tree road. Hanovertown is on the Pamunkey, fifteen miles
northeast of Richmond, nine miles in an air line from Hanover Court-
House, and sixteen from White House, on the same river. But the
exceedingly tortuous nature of the river makes the two latter dis
tances very much greater by river and somewhat greater by road. It

HISTOET OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 529
was at once evident that the familiar spot known as White House was
henceforth to be our base of supplies. Thirteen miles east of White
House is West Point, where the Mattapony and Pamunkey form, by
their confluence, the York River. The distance by the winding stream
is much greater. A railroad connects the two points.
In the afternoon of Friday, General Meade's head-quarters were at
Mongohick Church, situated at the cross-roads on Mehixen Creek, in
King William County, ten miles north of Hanovertown. On Satur
day morning, the 28th, our troops had obtained complete possession of
Hanovertown and the neighboring region, having marched probably
twenty-five miles, in the heat and dust, since Thursday night. On
Sunday, the 29th, the whole army was successfully across the Pamun
key, and fronted southwest, about three miles from the river. The
corps moved cautiously forward, and an attack from Lee was expected.
None such was made, however, and the only firing came from recon
noitring parties far in the front. Reconnoissances were made from
each corps, followed up by a gradual advance. It appeared that the
enemy was in force half a dozen miles distant from our lines, across
Tolopatomoy Creek, with his extreme right holding Shady Grove and
Mechanicsville, his right centre in front of Atler's Station on the Vir
ginia Central, and his left still persistently covering Hanover Court-
House. Trains now began to run to and from White House, and dis
positions were made for battle.

CHAPTER Ln.
Original Plan of Campaign. — Butler's Expedition up the James. — Movement on Peters
burg. — Port Darling. — Repulse of the Union Forces. — Attack by Beauregard. —
Beauregard Re-ehforces Lee. — Smith sent to Support Grant.
The campaign of General Grant upon his appointment as Lieutenant-
General to the chief command of all the armies of the United States,
comprised a simultaneous movement by the army under Sherman in
Tennessee, by that under Sigel in the Valley of the Shenandoah, and
another under Butler, which was to land at City Point on the James
River, and destroy the Petersburg Railroad connection with Rich
mond, thus preventing Beauregard, who commanded on the south sidp
of ihe James, from going to re-enforce Lee. This expedition, consist
ing of the Eighteenth Corps, Major-General W. F. Smith, known as
Baldy Smith, and the Tenth Corps, Major-General Gillmore, was em
barked on transports at Yorktown and Gloucester Point. Demon
strations of an advance up York River were made to deceive the
enemy, and then the whole proceeded up the James. This movement,
made, on the same day as that on which Meade's army crossed the
Rapidan, took the enemy somewhat* by surprise. There was no at
tempt at City Point pr elsewhere to dispute the landing, which was
described in the official telegram as follows : —
34

530 • HISTOET OE THE GEEAT REBELLION.'
" Off City Podtp, Va., May 5.
"Lieutenant-General Grant, Commanding Annies of the United States, Washington,
D. G:
" We have seized Wilson's Wharf Landing. A brigade of Wild's colored troops are
there. At Fort Powhattan Landing two regiments of the same brigade have landed.
At City Point, Hinks's Division, with the remaining troops and battery, have landed.
The remainder of both the Eighteenth and Tenth Army Corps are being landed at
Bermuda Hundred, above the Appomattox.
"No opposition experienced thus far. The movement was apparently a complete
surprise. Both army corps left Yorktown during last night. The monitors are all
over the bar at Harrison's Landing and above City Point. The operations of the fleet
have been conducted to-day with energy and success. Generals Smith and Gillmore
are pushing the landing of the men. General Graham, with the army gunboats, led
the advance during the night, capturing the signal-station of the rebels.
" Colonel West, with eighteen hundred cavalry, made several demonstrations from
Williamsburg yesterday morning. General Kautz left Suffolk this morning with his
cavalry, for the service indicated during the conference with the Lieutenant-General.
" The New Tork flag-of-truce boat was found lying at the wharf, with four hundred
prisoners, whom she had not time to deliver. She went up yesterday morning.
" We are landing troops during the night — a hazardous service in the face of the
enemy. Benj. F. Butler, Major-General Commanding.
" A. F. Puffer, Captain and A. D. C."
General Kautz, with three thousand cavalry from Suffolk, on the
same day with the movement up the James River, had forced the
Black water, and burnt the railroad bridge at Stony Creek, below
Petersburg, but not in time to prevent the troops under Hill reaching
Petersburg in time to contest the progress of our troops. He also
made a dash at Petersburg, but was compelled to retire with loss.
On Monday, the 9th, our troops advanced in force against the Rich
mond and Petersburg Railroad, with the purpose of more effectually
disabling this main line of supply for General Lee. Gillmore on the
right and Smith on the left, feeling their way cautiously through the
thick woods, they advanced in momentary expectation of a fight; but
contrary to expectation, their march was unopposed, and, after doing
some damage, the troops occupied the north bank of Swift Creek, three
miles above Petersburg.
While in front of Vicksburg, in conversation with a number of offi
cers, General Grant, without expecting to be ever called to the place,
gave his views of the proper plan to capture Richmond. He said that,
in his view, two armies should move against the rebel capital — one by
way of the Rapidan, and the other by way of Petersburg. Either of
these columns should be strong enough to fight Lee out of his intrench
ments — a circumstance which would compel Lee to keep his army
together, as a division, with the James River between the sections,
must prove fatal. The army on the south was to cut off communica
tions, and threaten the destruction ofthe rebel capital from the south,
and be able to take it, if Lee did not fall back ; if he did fall back, the
army from the north could press him, and besiege him in the capital,
and by means of gunboats a perfect connection across James River
could be kept up. The moment the army on the south side occupied
Manchester, Richmond would become untenable; and under any cir
cumstances, with all communications cut, the city could not stand a
long siege ; and though a portion of the rebel army might escape, it

HISTOET OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 531
could only do so in a demoralized condition. Such being the views of
Grant, it is evident what part General Butler was intended to play in
the campaign.
On Friday, May 13th, a cavalry expedition under Kautz went out for
the purpose of destroying the railroad communications between Rich
mond and Danville. In support of this movement Gillmore advanced
with his corps, on the left, up the railroad towards Chester and Rich
mond, while Smith, with the Eighteenth Corps, moved on the right,
up the Richmond and Petersburg turnpike along the James River.
Ames's Third Division of the Tenth Corps remained to watch Peters
burg. Smith advanced, skirmishing with the enemy, until he reached
Proctor's Run, three miles from Fort Darling, and Gillmore, on the
left, reached the Halfway House, when the troops rested for the night.
In the morning the enemy were discovered behind a line of earthworks,
stretching from the James to a quarter of a mile beyond the railroad,
and constituting the outer defences of Fort Darling. Brisk skirmishing
at once commenced. The Third New Hampshire, the One Hundredth
New York, and Twenty-fourth Massachusetts were sent to turn the
enemy's right flank, while our left, under Gillmore, was ordered to
swing round upon the centre and right. The attack of the flanking y
party was successful, and the enemy withdrew to a stronger bine, three-
quarters of a mile beyond. More or less skirmishing was kept up un
til the 16th, when the enemy, under Beauregard, attacked vigorously.
Our line was formed with Smith's Corps on the right, and Gillmore's
on the left. Early Monday morning, the 16th, concealed by a very
dense fog, the enemy, under General Ransom, massed his troops against
our right wing, which at that time was particularly vulnerable. He
burst upon Hickman's Brigade, of Weitzel's Division, Smith's Corps,
and, in the blinding fog and darkness, a terrific conflict ensued. Borne
down at last by numbers, the gallant brigade fell to the rear with loss
of some artillery, four stands of colors, and about three hundred pris
oners. Here Colonel Drake's Brigade, Weitzel's Division, consisting
of the Eighth Maine and One Hundred and Twelfth New York, came
to the rescue, and by hard fighting for a time stayed the tide of the
enemy. Farther to the left, Wistar's and Burnham's Brigades of
Weitzel's Division were also set upon with fury. On our left there
was a simultaneous attack, Hawley's and Barton's Brigades of Terry's
Division, Tenth Corps, were roughly handled, and the line forced
back. Gillmore covered the retreat. A movement of the enemy to
cut off the retreat was repulsed by Ames. The two corps then fell
back to their intrenchments, the enemy holding the turnpike. Our
total loss was nearly four thousand men, a great proportion of them
being captured on the right, from Heckman's Brigade, consisting of the
Ninth New Jersey, and the Twenty-third, Twenty-fifth, and Twenty-
seventh Massachusetts. Ashby's and Belger's batteries lost ten guns.
A large number of officers, including General Heckman, were also
captured by the enemy^ who admitted a loss of fifteen hundred.
The cavalry under General Kautz returned at sundown on Tuesday.
The object had been to tap the Richmond and Danville Railroad, and
the attenipt had more or less annoyed the enemy.

532 HISTOET OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
• Thus the prime object of the expedition of General Butler seems
to have failed, although he had succeeded in getting a foothold on the
south side ofthe James. If, after his first landing at the mouth ofthe
Appomattox River, he had shown more vigor, it is difficult to see how
Petersburg, distant some ten miles from the James River, could have
been saved. As it was, time was given to Beauregard to gather up a
force from Charleston and Wilmington, and he had little difficulty in
subsequently inflicting a defeat on Butler's forces. Butler was also
blamed for not intrenching when he carried the first line of the ene
my's works. The movement would then perhaps have proved a suc
cess. The forces remained inactive until the 19th, when Beauregard moved
in front of the Union lines, and about midnight attacked Terry's and
Ames's Divisions of the Tenth Corps. With some intermissions the
attack was kept up until nine o'clock of Friday, the 20th. A more
vigorous assault was then made. In front of General Ames's line was
a series of rifle-pits, between which and our intrenchments intervened
a field devastated by fire, around which the woods formed an irregular
semicircle. The enemy came down upon these rifle-pits in force, cap
turing them after a desperate fight. In an attempt to retake the rifle-
pits, the Ninety-seventh Pennsylvania and Thirteenth Illinois Regiments
were ordered to move through the woods to co-operate with a move
ment made by another portion of Gillmore's forces. Misunderstand
ing the order, the troops were moved by the flank along the skirt of
the woods. Marching steadily along, they came unexpectedly upon a
battery, which opened a murderous cross-fire, literally mowing them
down. It appeared to the looker-on as though the entire force melted
away before this terrific rain of grape and canister. The loss is esti
mated at three hundred. The other movement was successful, and the
enemy were driven from their position. The rebel General Walker
was dangerously wounded and captured. Butler then ordered the
navy gunboats in the Appomattox to shell the woods in front of the
left and towards the centre.
Butler was now in a measure shut up in his lines, and Beauregard
was enabled to send a portion of his force to the support of Lee. His
total force was composed of twelve brigades : Clingman's, Greysie's,
and Ransom's Brigades of North Carolina troops ; Hunton's, Burton's,
Terry's, Corse's, and Wise's Virginia Brigades; Hagood's and Walk
er's South Carolina Brigades, and Bushrod E. Johnson's Brigade — al
together about thirty thousand men.
On Tuesday, the 24th, some of the enemy's cavalry, under Fitz
hugh Lee, attacked the fort at Wilson's Wharf, on the north bank of
the James, garrisoned by colored troops, but retired with the loss of
twenty-six killed and many wounded. On the 26th, General Martin-
dale made a similar attack upon the enemy's lines at Bakehouse Creek,
and retired with the loss of thirty men.
It was now that Grant, moving by his left, was approaching White
House, his new base of supplies, and required re-enforcements over and
above what had been sent from the North. General Smith with tho
Eighteenth Corps was therefore detached on the 29th, for the White

HISTOET OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 533
House vid Fortress Monroe. From the moment of the departure of
the Eighteenth Corps, Butler was penned up between a watchful
enemy and the river, secured, however, from disaster by the gunboats.
.The movement of Smith's Corps was promptly known to the enemy,
who also detached a force to Lee, which reached him before Smith
joined Meade. Butler remained within his lines, against which the
enemy made occasional demonstrations, without important results on
either side.

CHAPTER Lin.
Position of Grant's Army. — Warren's Advance. — Further Development of the Union
Left Wing. — Severe Battles around Cold Harbor. — New Flank Movement determined
upon. — Crossing of the James and Junction with Butler. — Results of that Campaign.
The morning of Monday, May 30tb, found Grant's line of battle dis
posed as follows : Wright's Corps on the extreme right, extending in
the direction of Hanover Court-House ; Hancock's on the right centre,
on the Shady Grove road; Warren's on the left centre, on the Mechanics
ville road ; Burnside's on the left, and a little in rear, and so disposed
as to threaten Richmond. Our right and rear were covered by Wil
son's Third Cavalry Division, which had previously been ordered to
destroy the railroad bridges over the Little River and South Anna, and
to break up the roads leading thence lo Hawe's Shop. Gregg's and
Torbert's Divisions were dispatched out on our left flank. The Old
Church Tavern cross-roads were held by Torbert's Division, with a
picket force of two squadrons along the road leading from Cold Harbor
to Old Church Tavern.
About noon, Torbert's pickets were driven in by an apparent at
tempt to get in our rear. A brisk skirmish was followed by the re
treat of the enemy along the Cold Harbor road. Towards five o'clock,
Warren began to move slowly towards Mechanicsville. Crawford's
Division, which was in advance, towards Shady Grove, and a little de
tached, was suddenly assailed by Rhodes's Division of Early's Corps,
with great vigor. The flark of Warren's Corps being thus endangered,
General Meade ordered an attack all along the line, in order to relieve
him. Hancock was the only one who received the order in time to
attack before dark, and he immediately dashed upon the enemy's skir
mish line, captured their rifle-pits, and held them all night. The en
gagement was rapid and brilliant, and the losses not large. Warren
held his ground, about seven miles distant from Richmond, and near
Mechanicsville. The enemy at once moved down troops to prevent
any further dangerous concentration on his right. At midnight, an
attack was made upon Hancock, inflicting more or less loss, but with
out material success. On Tuesday, the 31st, a general advance of our
lines began, attended by considerable firing, the enemy being little
inclined to be pushed farther back from his position. The army
now occupied nearly the same ground that it had two years before,

534 HISTOET OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
when McClellan was before Richmond. Warren, now in command of
the Fifth Corps, was upon the same spot where then he had commanded
a brigade of Porter's Corps. The Union army was now re-enforced by
the Eighteenth Corps of Smith, while the enemy was joined by Breckin
ridge and Beauregard. The line of the enemy was disposed so as to
cover the Chickahominy, which is the outer line of defence for Rich
mond, with its right, and the Virginia Central Railroad with its left.
Most of the ground between the Chickahominy and the Pamunkey is
favorable for manoeuvring, being open and dry. South of the former
river are those well-known swamps which were traversed by McClellan.
Parallel with the river runs a road from Winston's Bridge, on the
north, to Bottom Bridge, on the south, on which are Shady Grove and
Mechanicsville ; and parallel with this road, and north of it, is another,
which runs through Walnut Grove, Cold Harbor, and Gaines's Mill.
Lee's line held this road from Atlee's Station, on the Fredericksburg
Railroad, to Gaines's Mill. His cavalry reached Hanover on his left,
and Bottom Bridge on the south. This line was not straight, but at
the northern part faced east, and at its southern position northeast,
and was disposed as follows, left to right : A. P. Hill, Anderson, Ewell.
The Federal line, consequently, faced westerly and southwesterly, and
on Tuesday, May 31st, was disposed as follows, fromsright to left:
Wright, Hancock, Burnside, Warren.
Grant intended on Tuesday to resume his customary movement of
massing upon his left. Torbert's Division of cavalry was, therefore,
sent to Cold Harbor. This led to some skirmishing, which notified the
enemy of what wns intended. Meanwhile, Lee, suspecting Grant would
attempt to repeat what was known among the Confederates as his
" crab movement," began to manoeuvre for position. Kershaw's and
Hoke's Divisions, of Anderson's Corps (the latter temporarily attached
to the corps), were sent to the right, to the old battle-fields of Gaines's
Mill and Cold Harbor, with orders to occupy the eminences in that
quarter. A sharp fight ensued, which resulted in Torbert's holding
his ground.
During the night, the Sixth Corps marched across from the right to
Cold Harbor, where it was to be joined by the Eighteenth Corps, which
had been detached from Butler, and landed at the White House. The
latter corps, after losing its way, arrived on the ground at three o'clock
in the afternoon of June 1st, having marched twenty-five miles, and
took position, on the right of the Sixth, in four lines, the Sixth being
in one. The two corps then stood as follows, from right to left : Mar-
tindale's, Brooke's, and Devens's Divisions, comprising the Eighteenth
Corps, and Ricketts's, Russell's, and NeilPs, ofthe Sixth. In front was
a ploughed field, and beyond a strip of pine forest, where the enemy were
intrenched. Our artillery opened on the left, and almost immediately
the line moved briskly forward. The two centre divisions, Devens's
and Ricketts's, with a cheer, charged across the ploughed field, at a run,
receiving a biting fire from artillery and musketry ; and so vigorous
was the onset, that they carried the enemy's first line, with six hundred
prisoners. The line thus brilliantly carried, as well as a lodgment se
cured farther to the right, it was soon found were enfiladed by the

HISTOET OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 535
enemy's fire. A. portion of the Eighteenth Corps made a vigorous
effort to silence the fire, and with some success. The position gained
was, however, commanded by a redoubt in the enemy's second line,
and it was relinquished During the night, the enemy made the most
persistent efforts to recover their lost line, but without success. The
Federal loss was over two thousand; that of the enemy considerably
less, as he was covered by his works. The result of the day's fighting
was the retention of Cold Harbor by the Union forces.
The Union line was now eight miles long, extending from Bethesda
Church to Cold Harbor, and, by reason of the march of Wright and
the accession of Smith, was formed as follows, from right to left:
HaiiCock, Burnside, Warren, Smith, Wright. Cold Harbor, the left
extremity, was simply an old house, the tavern at the junction of roads
leading to the White House on the east, Dispatch Station and Bottom
Bridge on the south, Richmond vid Gaines's Mill on the west, and
Hanovertown and Newcastle on the north. The possession of the road
thence to White House was indispensable to Grant. Bethesda Church,
the right of the line,~was also an old structure, on the road from Hano
vertown to Shady Grove, not far from the latter. On the right, in the
afternoon of the 1st, there was a forward movement of Gibbon and
Potter, with a view to cover an intended withdrawal of the Second
Corps from right to left, to follow the footsteps of the Sixth, already
gone to extend our flank in that direction. The result was a rally of
the rebels in force, and a determined attack, towards evening, on our
whole line, as soon as the two divisions had fallen back.
Grant now determined to make the attempt to push Lee across the
Chickahominy, and secure a place to ford the stream, and it was with
this object that the Union left had been prolonged by shifting the
Second Corps to that quarter of the field. The new disposition was
completed by noon of Thursday, the 2d ; but, owing to a heavy rain
storm, the attack was postponed until the following morning. Heavy
skirmishing continued during the 2d, without material advantage to
either side. Lee, suspecting this movement, had posted his troops to
meet the anticipated attack. His right was held by Breckinridge's
and Mahone's Divisions of Hill's Corps; his centre by Kershaw's,
Field's, and Hoke's Divisions of Anderson's Corps ; and his left by
Ewell's Corps, all of which were protected by strong intrenchments.
The rain having ceased, at four o'clock on the morning of Friday, June
3d, the assault was made. Our line was well massed and compact,
moving as follows, from right to left: Burnside, Warren, Smith, Wright,
Hancock, reaching from Tolopatomoy Creek to and across the road
from Cold Harbor to the Chickahominy. The ground was varied,
along the line, with wood-lands, swamps, and open, our left being on a
position a little elevated, and the rebel line lying in a strip of woods
and covering the series of roads parallel to the river, of which particular
description has before been given. Promptly at the hour appointed, the
skirmishers advanced, and very quickly the whole line was wrapped in
the fire and smoke of terrific battle. Although the struggle lasted five
hours, the first ten minutes decided its fate. In that first rush of ad
vance, ten minutes of time carried our whole front close up against a

536 HISTOET OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
line of works, which we were unable to break through, or, breaking
through, were unable to hold.
In Hancock's Corps, Gibbon had the right, with Barlow on the left,
Birney being in reserve. The two divisions of Gibbon and Barlow
dashed gallantly forward, across wood-lands and underbrush, and, again
emerging into an open space swept by shot and shell, passed straight
u"p the acclivity on which the enemy had concentrated their men and
artillery, as being the stronghold of their line. The impetuosity ofthe
charge, not checked even by the terrible slaughter, carried the men
over the breastworks of a salient on Breckinridge's left, where they
captured three guns. But, General Finnegan, re-enforcing the enemy
at this moment, drove Hancock's troops out, recaptured the guns, and
took some prisoners from Owen's Brigade, Gibbon's Division. Not
until the splendid attack of Hancock's Corps had been made was he
aware of the supreme importance of the position thus carried and lost,
which had been the key-point ofthe battle of Gaines's Mills, two years
before. This position is a bald hill, named Watts's Hill, dominating the
whole battle-ground, and covering the angle of the Dispatch road.
Along this ridge the enemy's works formed a salient, and in front of
it was a sunken road. Of this road Hancock got possession, and the
brigades of Miles and Brooks actually struck and carried the work
directly on the salient. Had the Union troops held this point, they
would have had a position whence the entire of the enemy's line
might have been enfiladed.
The Sixth and Eighteenth Corps at the same time emulated the de
termined courage of the Second, but with no better results. Charg
ing through the underbrush and across the open, they were received
by the murderous enfilading fire with which all our most advanced
brigades found their daring repaid. The assault of the Sixth Corps
was made with the utmost vigor, and succeeded in carrying the first
line of rebel rifle-pits along its entire front, and got up within two
hundred and fifty yards of the main works. Smith's Corps, connect
ing on the right with the Sixth, had advanced in conjunction with it ;
but the left, division, that of Martindale, who led the attack in heavy,
deep columns, got disarranged, and was repulsed. Smith made three
different attacks to relieve Martindale, but his last supports did not
get up in time to allow him to hold on. The effect of this re
pulse on the left of Smith had a disastrous effect on the position of
Wright. It uncovered the right flank of the Sixth and exposed Rick
etts's Division, which was stoutly holding the advanced position, to a
savage fire on the prolongation of its line. For a long time, these lat
ter hung obstinately to their conquests, which, at length, were wrung
from them, and they were forced back with great loss. But here, as
on the left, our men held and intrenched a position considerably in
advance of the starting-point, close up to the enemy's works. The
Fifth and Ninth Corps on the extreme right pushed out their skir
mish lines and kept up a cannonade. The weight of the battle was,
however, driven against the position of Anderson and Breckiuridge's
left. In many respects the battle was a repetition of that of the 12th of

HISTOET OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 537
May at Spottsylvania Court-House. While he kept up a threatening
attitude along the whole line, Grant massed a very heavy force and
hurled it again and again with tremenduous violence against a single
point. Seven times the persistent valor ofthe Sixth Corps carried the
men with indomitable force against the right centre of the enemy, and
seven times the strength of the rebel position defied the efforts of the
assaulting- columns. Nevertheless, our whole line was advanced close
to the enemy — within fifty yards for a great portion of it — and, on the
extreme left, one brigade was reported to be but fifteen yards from the
enemy. Both armies kept close to their breastworks, the exposure of a
figure above the intrenchments, at that narrow distance, being fatal. Un
der such circumstances, when the Federal troops advanced, the concealed
Confederate marksmen cut them down in wide swathes stretching
far across the field. At Spottsylvania and Cold Harbor the Confeder
ates were more completely behind breastworks than at any previous
battle of the war. Hence their small comparative loss. The battle
raged with great violence until half-past ten o'clock A. m., just five hours.
Among the Confederate killed in this battle were Brigadier-General
Doles, of Georgia ; Colonel L. M. Keitt, of South Carolina, formerly
a member ofthe United States House of Representatives, and Colonel
Edwin Willis, of Georgia, a late graduate of West Point. The
Union loss in these terrible assaults was estimated at about seven thou
sand. The enemy reported theirs at one thousand.
Saturday, the 4th, was spent by the Union troops in intrenching. In
exposed positions, this work could only be carried on at night, the
enemy's" sharpshooters being very busy, and pursuing men and officers
with fatal dexterity of fire. Our own marksmen retorted wherever
practicable, and desultory skirmishing resounded along the line all
through the day. To appreciate the situation of the parties, it must
be remembered that the hostile lines were separated, for long ex
tents, only by distances varying from fifty to one hundred and fifty
yards. . The position of the corps remained substantially as on Friday.
During the night of the 5th, Grant retired his right wing about two
miles, placing it behind a swamp which protected its front and flank.
On the same evening he sent a communication to General Lee, propos
ing that, when the armies were not actually engaged, either party
might, upon notification to the other, succor its wounded and bury its
dead. Lee replied that he preferred that the party desiring to remove
its wounded and inter its dead should do so through a flag of truce.
The care of the wounded and dead was accordingly effected by this
means. The battle of Friday was one of the most terrible of the war up to
that time. The movements ofthe preceding days had drawn our lines
close in front of the Chickahominy, and reduced the military problem
to the forcing of the passage of that river — a problem which, if solved
in our favor, would decide whether Richmond could be carried by a
coup de main, if a decisive victory should attend our arms, or whether
operations would settle down to a siege in form. The great struggle
did not result in a success. Probably no action so important in its
character was ever crowded into so brief a space of time — ten terrible

538 HISTOET OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
minutes in the early dawn developed on the part of -the enemy su
strength both of position and force, as to carry conviction that aj
victory that could be here achieved would be purchased at too gre
a cost. All that matchless valor directed by consummate skill cou'
do, was done, but it was in vain.
The results of the attack on Cold Harbor made it evident that t!
rebel position could not be carried by a direct attack in front, and
repetition of the flank movement to the left was determined upon ; bi
as it was necessary to rest the men and to prepare a new base, Grai
remained ten days without any further attempt to advance. The tin
was spent, however, in busy preparation to march for the James an
then cross to join Butler. The enemy was, meanwhile, constantly o
the alert, and made repeated attacks on either wing, while he kep
pace with the gradual extension of Grant's line, always appearing i
force as the Union left crept out towards the. east. On Friday, th
10th, the railroad which had just been laid down between the arm
and White House was taken up, and the rails put on board barge,
On Saturday the enemy roughly handled Mcintosh's Cavalry on oi
right flank, while the main cavahy force made demonstrations on the
route between Richmond and Washington. On the night of Sunday,
June 12th, the army was at length put in motion for the James River,
intending to cross the Chickahominy by three bridges, which occur in
the following order : Bottom Bridge, Long Bridge, six miles farther
east, and Jones's Bridge, twelve miles from Bottom Bridge. The
enemy held the river as far as Bottom Bridge, where he was in
trenched. _ Wright and Burnside, on breaking camp, marched for
Jones's Bridge, crossed the river and moved rapidly for Charles City
Court-House, nine miles from the bridge and within one of the James.
At the same time, Hancock and Warren crossed at Long Bridge and
marched for Wilcox's Whaif, on the James, twelve miles due south,
and a little west of Charles City. Smith's Corps returned vid White
House, in transports, to Fortress Monroe and Bermuda Hundred,
where Butler was intrenched with the Tenth Corps. General Butler
had carefully prepared pontoons for the crossing. At three o'clock on
Sunday afternoon, Meade's head-quarters were moved from Cold Har
bor south of Summit Station, near Long Bridge, and at six the next
morning, head-quarters were in the saddle on the march.
The whole movement was conducted with great success. The men
moved cautiously from their intrenchments, which, for miles, as we
have already said, lay under the enemy's guns. And only a few shells
thrown at the rear, as it moved off; betokened that the enemy had
taken the alarm. All night and all day Monday, the troops moved for
ward, with hardly more skirmishing or impediment than that of their
first march from Culpepper to ChanceUorsville. On Monday evening,
the advance had reached Wilcox's Landing, where also head-quarters
were. Before noon of Tuesday, our forces were all up, having made
their movement in perfect security, and the only fighting being a little
cavalry skirmishing at its close. On Tuesday, the 14th, the crossing
was commenced, our army was transferred to the south side of the
James, and the change in position fully consummated. The little

HISTOET OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.

539'

opposition made to the movement by Lee was ascribed to the want
of stout artillery horses necessary for field service. Of the whole
movement, a dispatch from head-quarters to the War Department
savs • " Our forces drew out from within fifty yards of the enemy s
intrenchments at Cold Harbor, made a flank movement of about fifty-
five miles march, crossing the Chickahominy and James Rivers, the
latter two thousand feet wide and eighty-four feet deep at the point
of crossing, and surprised the enemy's rear at Petersburg.
Grant was npw exactly on the opposite side of Richmond from that
at which he began his campaign. The Federal gunboats and trans
ports planted Butler at Bermuda Hundred, at the very outset of the
campaign, with the express purpose of effecting a diversion on the
south of Richmond, while Grant made the main attack from the north.
It is obvious, therefore, that while the army maintained the character
it had already acquired for indomitable perseverance, Grant omy re
sorted to this manoeuvre because his original plan had not fulfilled
expectations. He began from this moment, to all intents and purposes,
a fresh campaign. Few generals and few troops would have persisted
in this dogged and determined struggle.

CHAPTER LTV.
Advance on Petersburg. — Position of the City. — Assault and Capture of Earthworks
and Guns. — Assault of Saturday, June 18th. — Repulse. — Aspect of the Campaign.
On the morning of Wednesday, June 15th, the Eighteenth Corps,
which arrived at Bermuda Hundred on the evening of the 14th, from
Fortress Monroe, started for Petersburg. A pontoon bridge had been
thrown across the Appomatox, at Point of Rocks, over which Kautz's
Cavalry crossed, followed by Brooks's and Martindale's Infantry Divi
sions. 'The skirmishers ofthe enemy were encountered on the City Point
road, along which the advance was made. At Harrison's Creek, the
enemy held a line of-rifle-trenches with two field-pieces, from which the
head ofthe column suffered a good deal. Brooks's Division coming up,
however, they hastily retired behind a temporary line of earthworks,
about two miles from Petersburg, leaving their guns in the hands of
the Union troops. In front of this new line, the latter were now
drawn up in line of battle, Martindale holding the right, Brooks the
centre, and Hinks the left. Towards sunset, the line charged with
great determination and vigor, in the face of a hot artillery fire, carry
ing the earthworks with sixteen guns and three hundred prisoners.
The Federal loss was about five hundred. After the battle, the Second*
Corps arrived, too late, however, to render the success decisive, and by
the next morning the IS" inth Corps was on the groun d. Meantime, Kautz
had moved to the left and attacked the enemy's works on the Norfolk
and Petersburg Railroad, but, finding them too strong, he retired after
a smart skirmish. The Federal attack upon Petersburg had been sus
tained by the local forces, the main rebel army having not yet arrived

540 HISTOET OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
On Thursday morning, the 16th, General Butler conceived the idea of
advancing in his front, to intercept the movement of Lee towards Peters
burg. He accordingly sent out a portion of the Tenth Corps, which,
after destroying a portion of the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad,
was compelled, by the approach of overwhelming forces, to retire
within the lines.
The city of Petersburg lies chiefly on the southerly bank of the
Appomattox, which thence runs nearly northeast to the James. It
was defended by several lines of earthworks, consisting not only of
square redoubts, but also of well-established rifle-trenches. It was the
outer line of these that had been carried on the 15th, and was now
held by Birney's Corps. The abandonment of the north side of the
James by Grant had not been fully credited by the enemy, who left a
force under A. P. Hill to guard against any sudden movement in that
direction. Now, however, Beauregard's men again filled up so rapidly
the trenches in front that it was necessary to hurry up Burnside to
hold the ground won. That corps at length coming up, after a forced
march from Charles City Court-House, a line of battle was immediately
formed, Smith on the right, Hancock in the centre, Burnside on the
left. The ground in front was rather open,' though rugged, with here
and there fields of grain. At six a. m. on the 16th, the attack was
made. Barlow's Division and Griffin's, Brigade, of Potter's Division,
made a handsome charge under destructive artillery fire, and succeeded
in gaining a foothold in the rifle-pits outside of the stronger works.
Here our troops were annoyed by the enemy's fire, and Barlow, in
connection with Burnside, determined to try an assault on the main
works. But meanwhile the enemy opened so severely on Burnside as
to show there was no hope of surprise. The enemy also cut off the
skirmish line in Barlow's front, amounting to three hundred men, with
their officers. After a three hours' fight, therefore, the assault was
suspended till morning. The right had not taken an important part
in the contest, and had lost but a few men. Birney's loss was about
five hundred, and Potter's, in his gallant charge, not less. The entire
loss was probably from fifteen hundred to two thousand. The enemy's
loss was probably much less, from their advantage of position.
On Friday the attack was renewed, and some rifle-pits were carried
by Burnside's Corps. About nine o'clock on Friday night, the enemy
snowed himself in force upon Birney's front,, but did not advance. A
little later, he made a desperate and successful effort to retake from
Burnside the works captured during the day. He moved in two col
umns, one in front, the other in flank. A very sharp fight followed.
The enemy succeeded- in leaping the works under cover of the dark-
fcness, and drove our men out. In the early part of the attack, about
two hundred of the enemy were captured by us, and in yielding up the
works, a like loss was suffered by us. The enemy's batteries co170 '°d
the attack by vigorous shelling.
Early in the morning of this same day, part of Pickett's and Field's
Division of the enemy attacked our lines near the James. Foster's
Division, of Brooks's Tenth Corps (from which General Gillmore had'
been relieved), held a line extending across from near Ware Bottom

HISTOET OE THE GEEAT REBELLION. 541
Church towards the Appomattox. The enemy were posted near How-
lett's House, in his front. Our line was pushed back a little.
It was now determined to make a new and more vigorous assault
on Saturday morning, the 18th, and the line was formed as follows,
from right to left: Martindale's and Hinks's Divisions of the Eigh
teenth Corps, Wright's Sixth, Hancock's Second (under Birney), Burn-
side's Ninth, Warren's Fifth. At four o'clock a. m. the assault was to
be made. But, upon sending out skirmishers, the enemy was found to
have abandoned the works in our immediate front for an inner series
of defences. New combinations were necessary, therefore, for the
day. These were completed, and by noon a general advance of the
three left corps was ordered. In the Second Corps, Gibbon pushed up
an assaulting column of three brigades, the first and second of his own
(Second) division, and the Second Brigade of Mott's Division. The
remainder ofthe corps threw out double lines of skirmishers to divert
the enemy's attention. Gibbon's men moved promptly up to the works
to be assaulted, which were situated near the Fredericksburg and
City Point Railroad. As they came out from their cover, they were
met by a murderous fire, which enfiladed their left. They struggled
desperately through it, but their ranks were swept by incessant vol
leys, from which even their veteran soldiers recoiled. The breastworks
were approached, but not reached, and our men retired, leaving their
dead and wounded on the field.
In the afternoon a second storming party was organized, to com
mence the attack from General Mott's position. The assaulting column
was formed of Mott's Division, with detachments from the other two
divisions. A little before five o'clock p. m., Mott moved out his force
in two columns, and in gallant style the two leading brigades burst
upon the enemy. They were received with a withering fire from con
centrated batteries and musketry, and in spite of the most desperate
bravery, were forced back, with terrible loss. The charge was worthy
of the proverbial gallantry of the corps, but it failed of success, as the
previous charge had also failed. The movements on the left by the
Ninth and Fifth Corps were equally energetic and equally unsuccess
ful. The operations ofthe day, on the whole, did not repay the very
serious loss sustained. The lines remained comparatively quiet during
the three following days.
The first effect of the transfer of the whole Federal army to the
south bank of the James River was, of course, the withdrawal of the
Confederate force which had confined Butler to his intrenchments. It
became necessary for Grant to capture Petersburg, and he immediately
made the attack, while the enemy were yet unprepared. The attack,
as we have seen, failed. The enemy, having recovered from immediate
apprehension for Petersburg, turned his attention in other directions.
He intrenched largely on the west side of the Appomattox, as Grant
did on the east side of it. Having again driven Butler inside his lines,
he reoccupied his works there, put the railroad into repair, and, from
their lines as a base, began to make demonstrations in front, and to
raid towards the James. On the night of Sunday, the 19th, he de
stroyed the wharves at Wilcox and Westover Landings.

542 HISTOET OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.

CHAPTER LV.
Relative Strength, of Armies. — Grant Moves against the Railroad Connections of Rich
mond. — Combat of June 21st. — Repulsed the 23d. — Sheridan's Expedition. — Move
ment of Wilson and Kautz on the Danville Road. — Five Hundred Thousand Men
called out. — Explosion of the Mine in Front of Petersburg. — Failure of „he Assault.
The consolidation of Butler's army with that of the Potomac had
not added much to the relative strength of Grant. A similar junction
of Beauregard with Lee had been effected, and the works behind
which the enemy was intrenched were strong enough to enable him
to hold them with inferior numbers, and, as will presently appear, to
detach a force up the valley. On Tuesday, the 21st, Grant commenced
operations designed to sever the Southern railroad connections with
Petersburg. The road running to Norfolk was in his possession, and
it was proposed to occupy and destroy that leading to Weldon. For
this purpose, the Second Corps, on Monday night, moved to the left,
and on Tuesday marched rapidly forward in a southerly direction, fol
lowed by Griffin's Division of the Fifth Corps, with the Sixth Corps in
support. At the Jerusalem plankroad the enemy were encountered in
force, and a counter-attack sustained. The troops then fell back into
position for the night, during which the Sixth Corps came up, and
formed on the left ofthe Second, directly on the left of the Jerusalem
plankroad. The attack was to have been made at daybreak on
Wednesday, the 22d, but each corps waited for the other until each
got orders to advance at once, independently of the other, each being
cautioned to protect his flank in case connection was not made by the
other. No sooner had Barlow struck into the thick woods than he began
to open a gap between .his left and the right of the Sixth Corps, and
accordingly disposed flanking regiments so as to protect himself at the
break. Mott, meanwhile, had moved directly to the position indicated
for him, having without difficulty secured it, and had begun to in
trench. Gibbon was already in position. Barlow, havino- moved for
ward sufficiently, was, about to intrench also, when he was suddenly
startled by firing on his flank, quickly spreading towards his rear.
The enemy, Hill's Corps, advancing to check our movement on the
railroad, was swiftly approaching in several solid columns, which fol
lowed hard on a dense crowd of skirmishers. At this time, the Sixth
Corps was far distant on the left and rear, and a gap occurred in our
advancing line, like that between the Fifth and Second Corps in the
Wilderness. With more success in the present case than before, the
enemy took advantage of the error. One entire division, with
Mahone's Brigade in advance, came driving through the interval.
Barlow's skirmishers were of course quickly overcome, and, with a
quick appreciation of his advantage, and an impetuous rush, sweeping
all before it, the enemy's column glanced diagonally between the two
corps, struck Barlow's flank with great force, and almost instantane-

HISTOET OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 543
ously rolled it up, capturing several hundred prisoners. The sudden
recoil of Barlow's Division under this most dangerous of all attacks,
a movement on the flank and rear, quickly uncovered the left flank of
Mott, and exposed him to the same disadvantage. In his turn, Mott
fell back also, with the loss of several hundred prisoners, and thus ex
posed the left of Gibbon. Meanwhile the other troops from Hill's
Corps had joined the assault, and, having captured Mott's entire line
of intrenchments, now pressed not only in front, but in the rear. His
right brigade was able to repel the comparatively trifling assault. But
his left brigades were almost encircled by fire. McKnight's four-gun
battery of the Twelfth New York Artillery opened, and was briskly
and handsomely fought. But the troops in support were driven back,
and the enemy had already carried Gibbon's intrenchments. In a word,
in the sudden shock and confusion, several whole regiments were' swept
off and captured, without the chance of any thing like stout resistance.
McKnight's Battery was then surrounded and captured entire, though
most of the horses and caissons, and some of the men, succeeded in
escaping to the rear.
At length Miles's reserve division, with a New Jersey battery, came
up, enabling Gibbon's Division to rally on them, and form a new line.
The enemy was now to some extent exhausted by his own exertions,
but he repulsed an attempt of Birney to recapture the battery. The
newly -formed line ofthe Sixth and Second Corps again advanced, push
ing the enemy before it; and, having proceeded a short distance, halt
ed, and passed the night in strengthening its position. The enemy did
the same on the east side of the Weldon road. The Federal loss in the
attack was large, and included a number of prisoners. During the day,
the cavalry of Wilson and Kautz had proceeded to the left, and cut the
railroad about ten miles from Petersburg.
On Thursday, the 23d, Wright, finding the enemy weak on the ex
treme left, sent the Third, Fourth, and Eleventh Vermont regiments to
occupy the railroad. They had not reached it, however, before they
were enveloped by Anderson's Division, and severely handled. They
lost some prisoners, besides a number killed and, wounded. The ene
my, flushed with success, pressed our men back to the main body, and
then attacked right and left. Our line was withdrawn towards even
ing to the cover of breastworks, and operations ceased. Skirmishing
continued to the close of June without any important operations.
Simultaneously with the transference of his own army from the north
ern bank of the Chickahominy to the southern bank of the James,
Grant sent forth Sheridan, with a considerable cavalry force, to traverse
the country^ between the Rappahannock and Richmond, and pass near
pharlottesville,in the direction of Lynchburg, with a view of penetrat
ing the valley, in order to give the hand to General Hunter, who was
advancing on that point to close up upon Richmond. Sheridan set out
on the 9th of June, and on the llth reached Trevillian's Station, on the
Virginia Central Railroad, where he inflicted a severe defeat upon a large
cavalry force in his front. On the succeeding day he thoroughly de
stroyed the railroad between Trevillian's and Louisa Court-House;
and, early on the 13th, the rebels under Wade Hampton and Fitzhugh

544 HISTOET OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
Lee having in the mean time gathered in his front in great numbers,
and his ammunition getting low, he moved off towards White House,
followed at a respectful distance by Wade Hampton, who did not ven
ture a serious attack until Sheridan had crossed the Pamunkey. Hamp
ton then made a detour, and attacked the trains that Sheridan had left
at the White House. General Abercrombie, with three thousand men,
maintained his ground until Sheridan came up, when the enemy was
driven off with loss. As soon as Sheridan had obtained a little rest, he
resumed his march to the James with all his trains and guns. He was
again assailed by Hampton, near Jones's Bridge, on the Chickahominy,
on the 23d, without much result. 'As he approached Charles City
Court-House, the enemy appeared again on his front, and on Friday,
the 24th, attacked with vigor the trains protected by Gregg's Divi
sion, who succeeded in keeping them at bay. The affair was sharp, and
Sheridan's rear-guard was badly handled. A brigade of infantry was
sent to his relief. He succeeded in beating the enemy off at length,
after the loss of four or five hundred men, saving all his train ; and, on
Saturday, the 25th, his whole force crossed the James safely, four or
five miles above Fort Powhattan, under cover of the gunboats.
On the morning of June 22d the combined cavalry force of Wilson
and Kautz set out on a raid against the Weldon and Danville Railroads.
At Reams's Station, on the Weldon road, considerable damage was done
to the track and buildings ; and at Sutherland's and Ford's Stations, on
the Petersburg and Lynchburg road, which the column next reached,
a number of locomotives and cars and about twenty miles of track were
destroyed. A part of the column now pushed on to Burkesville, the
junction of the Lynchburg and Danville roads, where a similar destruc
tion of property took place, and on the 24th the command bivouacked
for the night at Keysville, on the Danville road. On the next day the
railroad bridge over the Staunton River was reached, but was found to
be too well defended by the enemy to attack. The order to return
was now given, and so closely was the column harassed and pressed
on the route, that it broke up into several bodies, which arrived in
camp at various times between July 1st and 3d, exhausted and in
wretched plight. The losses in men, guns, and trains combined to ren
der the expedition a costly failure, notwithstanding the damage it had
inflicted on the enemy.
There were no important operations undertaken for some time by the
army before Petersburg. The state of affairs in the Valley of the
Shenandoah, to which allusion will shortly be made, compelled the
movement of troops to protect Washington, and the Sixth Corps was
sent thither in the first week of July, a result very different from the
anticipated accession of aid from Hunter as the consequence of tho
hoped-for capture of Lynchburg. The attention of the public was di
rected to the progress of Sherman in Georgia, from whose campaign
against Atlanta most important results were expected.
Continual skirmishing was kept up in front of Petersburg, with alter
nate success, but no great operations were undertaken. The army had
need of rest and recruiting. Nearly three months had elapsed since it
crossed the Rapidan ; and having fought its way to the northern bank

HISTOET OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 545
ofthe James, it was suffering from intense drought and heat, in the
presence of an enemy who seemed determined to give it no rest, and
disorganization and lassitude inevitably resulted from such continued
effort. A contemporary writer thus alluded to the condition of the
army in July: "The men, missing the familiar forms and voices that
had led them to the charge, would complain that they had not their
old oflicers to follow. On the other hand, more than one leader of a
storming party was forced to say, as he came back from an unsuccess
ful attempt against the outworks of Petersburg, 'My men do not
charge as they did thirty days ago.' A few commanders, too, showed
the fatiguing effects of the campaign by a lack of health, by a lack of
unity and harmony, or of alertness and skill. The attacks on Peters
burg ofthe 22d and 23d of June showed how fatigue was telling upon
men and officers. On the former occasion, the Second Corps, whose
reputation was unexcelled, fell back, division after division, from the
enemy's onset, and one ofthe very finest brigades in the whole army
was captured with hardly a shot fired. But when, in addition to this,
the Vermont Brigade of the Sixth Corps was badly cut up on the fol
lowing day, it became clear that the rapidity of the fighting must be
checked a while. There was need of rest, recruitment, and some re
organization. It may be added, that the influx of raw troops and of
Augur's troops from Washington, with new officers, had temporarily
changed the character of brigades, of divisions, and almost of corps."
The loss of men in the Valley and in Georgia with Sherman was also
very great ; and in view ofthe necessity of filling up the thinned ranks
of the army, the President issued the following call for volunteers : —
[Official.]
"BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
"a proclamation.
" Whereas, by the act approved July 4th, 1864, entitled ' An Act furtherto regulate
and provide for the enrolling and calling out the national forces and for other purposes,'
it is provided that the President of the United States may, ' at his discretion, at any
time hereafter, call for any number of men, as volunteers, for the respective term of
one, two, and three years, for military service,' and ' that in case the quota, or any part
thereof, of any town, township, or ward of a city, precinct, or election district, or of a
county not so subdivided, shall not be filled within the space of fifty days after such
call, then the President shall instantly order a draft for one year to fill such quota, or
any part thereof, which may be unfilled;'
" And whereas, the new enrolment heretofore ordered is so far completed as that the?
aforementioned act of Congress may now be put in operation, for recruiting and keep
ing up the strength ofthe armies in the field, for garrisons, and such military operations"
as may be required for the purpose of suppressing the rebellion and restoring Hia
authority ofthe United States Government in the insurgent States :
"Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, do issuBtbia-
my call for five hundred thousand volunteers for the military service ; provided, never
theless, that this call shall be reduced by all credits which may be established under
Bection eight of the aforesaid act, on account of persons who have entered ths naval
service during the present rebellion, and by credits for men furnished to the military
service in excess of calls heretofore made.
" Volunteers will be accepted under this call for one, two, or three yeara, as they
may elect, and will be entitled to the bounty provided by the law for theperiod of ser
vice for which they enlist.
"And I hereby proclaim, order, and direct that immediately after the- fifth day- of
35

546 HISTOET OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
September, 1864, being fifty days from the date of this call, a draft for troops to serve
for one year shall be had in every town, township, ward of a city, precinct, or election
district, or county not so subdivided, to fill the quota which shall be assigned to it
under this call, or any part thereof which may be unfilled by volunteers on the said
fifth day of September, 1864.
"In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the
United States to be affixed.
" Done at the City of Washington, this eighteenth day of July, in the year of our
p.. Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, and of the independence of
L • S--l the United States the eighty-ninth. "Abraham Lincoln.
" By the President : William H. Seward, Secretary of State."
.Meantime, there was in progress a new attempt to carry the Peters
burg defences by means of a mine, while a feint on the northern bank of
the James should draw off the defenders of Petersburg. The line of
Grant's army was twenty miles long, and by ostentatiously threatening
the enemy from our right it was supposed he would weaken his own
right at the point where the true assault, after the explosion of the
mine, was to take place. The idea ofthe mine was due to Lieutenant-
Colonel Pleasants, ofthe Forty-eighth Pennsylvania, a regiment recruited
mostly among the miners of that State. The point selected was the
side of a ravine, surmounted by an earthwork, in front of Burnside's
(Ninth) Corps, and the mine was pushed towards a formidable fort of
the enemy, situated about two thousand yards from Petersburg. The
distance to be mined was about five hundred feet, and the work was
difficult. The mine was constructed in the usual method. The surface
was carefully measured by triangulation, and the gallery was made in
the usual shape, four and a half feet high, and about four feet wide at
the bottom, sloping up to the top. A ventilating shaft was sunk near
the entrance. The chamber ofthe mine was about twenty feet below
the fort, and wings extended from it right and left, extending under the
fort. In these were placed eight tons of powder, connected by a fuse
which led out of the gallery. It required thirty days to complete this
work. During its progress the Ninth Corps kept up an incessant skir
mishing, for the purpose of concealing the movement. The plan of
assault was to explode the mine, and immediately to open a terrific can
nonading from every gun on the line. This concentrated fire would
naturally unnerve the enemy somewhat, and, under its cover, a strong
storming party would rush through the gap made by the explosion,
and endeavor to carry the enemy's position beyond. In the rear of his
first line, a hundred and fifty yards distant, was a very strong crest,
which quite commanded the city of Petersburg. To gain this would
gain the battle. But the intervening space was difficult and arduous,
entanglements and abatis being planted near the fort, and the whole
ground being swept by the enemy's artillery. Our own heavy guns
had been brought up after much hard and dangerous labor through six
weeks, and with much loss of valuable life among officers and men.
They now numbered nearly one hundred pieces, some of which were
eight-inch and some even heavier mortars.
The assault was fixed for the 30th of July, and preparations for it
began by a feint on the right. Across the James at Deep Bottom,

HISTOET OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 547
Foster's Division of the Tenth Corps was intrenched, with a pontoon
bridge in his rear, and protected by gunboats. On the 21st a second
bridge had been thrown over at Strawberry Plains, and a brigade of
the Nineteenth Corps crossed to hold it. These, with other demon
strations, induced the enemy to add Kershaw's Division to the other
troops in front of Foster. On the 27th, the Second Corps left the ex
treme left ofthe army, and, followed by Sheridan and Kautz, crossed
the James; and on the following day a line of battle was formed as
follows, from right to left: Sheridan, Hancock, Foster. Foster de
monstrated throughout the day, inflicting severe loss on the enemy. On
Friday, the 29th, the feint was continued, and long trains of empty
wagons were sent north of the river for display. These movements
had the effect of causing Lee to. send fifteen thousand more men to his
left. On Friday evening, however, the Second Corps returned quietly
to Petersburg amid an incessant and vindictive fire.
Soon after midnight of the 29th, the troops were in position. The
Ninth Corps had been carefully arranged fronting the mine, to head
the assault. The Eighteenth Corps was drawn off from the right of
the Ninth, and massed in its rear. Mott's Division ofthe Second Corps
was moved into the vacancy left by the Eighteenth, and the other
divisions occupied adjoining positions, after arriving. The Tenth and
the fraction ofthe Nineteenth Corps remained on the James and near
Bermuda Hundred. The assaulting column, then, was the Ninth Corps,
supported by the Eighteenth, with the Second in reserve on its right
and the Fifth on the left. The whole force was closely massed, only
the necessary garrisons lining the more distant intrenchments. The
Ninth Corps was disposed with Ledlie's (First) Division in advance ;
Wilcox's (Second) and Potter's (Third) next in support, and Ferrero's
(Fourth), the colored division, in the rear.
The time for lighting the fuse was half-past three o'clock on the
morning of Saturday, the 30th. At that hour the troops were all pre
pared, and alive with excitement. An hour passed, and there was no
explosion. The fuse had gone out in the damp gallery. Again it was
lighted by some bold soldier. The sun had already risen, when, forty
minutes past four, a heaving and trembling ofthe earth was followed
by a terrific explosion, and huge clods of earth, with all the contents
of the doomed fort, guns, caissons, and limbers, and the regiment who
manned them, were flung into the air. To the myriad of astonished
spectators it resembled a great fountain. Poised for a moment, the
mighty column then descended with a resounding thud, and the sway
ing, quaking, and trembling of the adjacent earth were over. A
yawning crater, one hundred feet and more in length, with half as great
width, and a depth of twenty feet, with heaps of ruins, was left where
once stood a six-gun fort and its camp equipage, and two hundred men.
Instantly upon the explosion, a gun broke out from our line, then an
other, and soon a hundred cannon, from every eminence along the line,
joined in a fire which exceeded in intensity even that of Malvern Hill
and Gettysburg, The enemy responded with prompt energy, and their
entire line added its thunder of artillery and musketry to our own.
The alacrity with which the enemy rallied to his task from the sudden

548 HISTOET O^ THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
shock, and the steadiness with which he turned his fire to the storming
party, in spite of the tremendous shelling with which the Union bat
teries endeavored to disconcert him and distract his attention, showed
that he was in a measure prepared for what had happened.
Meantime, Ledlie's Division was already in front of its intrenchments,
with Marshall's (Second) Brigade in advance, and Bartlett's (First)
Brigade in the rear. On the left of Ledlie was Hartranft's Brigade of
Wilcox's Division, and, on his right, Griffin's Brigade of Potter's Divi
sion. The Second Brigade was delayed by some mistake, but soon,
with a wild, enthusiastic cheer, leaped to their work, and, rushing across
the deadly plain, under hot fire, stumbled down into the horrible breach
which the mine had made. The supporting brigades spread out and
enveloped the flanking rifle-pits, captured two hundred prisoners, and
sent them to the rear. The Fourteenth New York Heavy Artillery
were first to enter the gap, amid the wreck of the fort and the upturned
earth, with the mangled bodies and dissevered limbs of its occupants
protruding here and there from the disordered, fallen debris. The
dense cloud of dust still rolled over the place, thickened by the heavy
smoke of battle, which had now shrouded the whole field from view.
Here an unfortunate delay took place. Instead of pressing right on
for the object beyond, some of the men were set at digging out two
of the six cannon of the fort ; others threw up hasty breastworks
against the tempest of shot and shell which already swept the place
from the enemy's second line, and began reversing the slope of the in
trenchments and extending them. Others exhumed the struggling
garrison, such as were living, and carried back the prisoners to our
lines, where now ammunition carts and ambulances were hurrying to
and fro.
. The time spent in trying to intrench to protect a storming column,
enabled the enemy to get the range with fearful precision from the
commanding works, and a most terrific fire was poured in upon men
digging among the ruins of the fort. At length, after an anxious and
fatal delay, the Ninth Corps was re-formed, and, with Ledlie in the
centre, Potter on the right, and Wilcox on the left, under cover ofthe
fire of the two guns, began the charge. On they went with a will,
struggling over obstacles, Marshall's Brigade again leading, and Bart
lett's pressing on their heels. At every step the fire of the enemy from
front and either flank concentrated with greater fury on them, and,
from the thickly-studded defences of Cemetery Hill, from redoubt and
redan, salient and curtain, ploughed up their ranks with bloody slaugh
ter. The charge was checked on the side of the crest, there was a
halt, and finally, the whole line, wavering under terrible odds, recoiled
to the fort. ' >.
The colored division of Ferrero, left as a forlorn hope, was then sent
forward, but, after a gallant charge, recoiled, as the others had done, and
plunged headlong into the nearest fort for shelter behind the debris.
Upon this latter point was now concentrated a very feu d'enfer, disor
ganizing the shattered remains ofthe first three divisions ofthe Ninth,
many of whose most gallant officers and men were already stretched
on the plain. The influx of the Fourth Division, driven back in great

HISTOET OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 549
rout, redoubled the confusion, and to all minds it was evident that the
day was lost.
It was now only the question how best to save the troops. This
matter they were left to decide for themselves. The Fifth and the
Eighteenth Corps were under brisk fire, and had suffered considerable
loss. A division ofthe Eighteenth, with Turner's Division ofthe Tenth,
had demonstrated on the right (the latter even gaining the crater, and
the slope beyond), in useless attempts to distract the attention of the
enemy. He directed his fire straight upon the dismantled fort, now a
mere slaughter-pen, in which huddled the fragmentary brigades of the
Ninth Corps, hoping for relief from their comrades, who lay two hun
dred yards distant in their intrenchments. Now squads of men began
the work of retreating. But this was a perilous undertaking. The
enemy kept a deadly cross-fire on every rod of the space which inter
vened between the fort and our lines. In spite of this, the disorderly
movement was kept up. About noon, a general retreat was ordered
A considerable part of the survivors of the assault had crossed towards
the rear. And now the men in the fort, who had preferred the chances
of honorable death in repelling the enemy to those of the perilous re
treat, had discharged nearly all their ammunition. Left unsupported
by the rest of the army, a final charge of the enemy, about two o'clock,
captured them. Among the captured were General Bartlett and
most of his staff. By the middle ofthe afternoon the bloody day was
done. Our loss was in round numbers about four thousand men, of
whom the majority were wounded. The loss of the enemy was about
one thousand two hundred men, of whom a fifth were prisoners. It
is conjectured that nearly two hundred men were destroyed by the mine.
On Sunday, the 31st, a flag of truce was sent for permission to bury
the dead. This, on account of an informality, was not granted until
Monday, thirty-six hours after the close of the fight. Immediately on
the expiration of the time granted, the enemy again opened fiercely
with his guns.

CHAPTER LVL
Sigel's Movement in the Valley.— Hunter Supersedes Sigel, and Defeats the Rebels
near Staunton. — Occupation of Lexington. — Lynchburg. — Early sent to the Valley. —
Retreat of Hunter through Western Virginia. — Advance of Early down the Valley
and Invasion of Maryland. — Defeat of Wallace. — Washington Threatened. — Arrival
of Sixth Corps and Retreat of Early. — Various Encounters iu the Valley. — Hunter
Superseded by Sheridan.
That portion of the grand combined attack on Richmond, which
consisted of a movement up the Valley ofthe Shenandoah upon Lynch
burg, was confided to General Sigel. This movement, in connection
with that of Grant in front and that of Butler on the south, was
designed to close the door of retreat upon Lee, and shut him up in
Richmond with his communications severed. The enemy's force in
the valley was composed of the commands of Echols, Imboden, and

.550 HISTOET OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
Breckinridge, Imboden having the advance. In the early part of May
the latter general was driven up the valley by Sigel, towards New
market, where a concentration of the rebel troops took place. On May
15th, Sigel encountered their combined forces at Reed's Hill, near
Mount Jackson, and suffered a severe repulse, losing a number of guns
and prisoners. He retreated upon Strasburg, and soon after was re
lieved by General Hunter.
Travelling without pause from Washington to Cedar Creek,
General Hunter assumed command of the beaten army, which he
found demoralized to a degree that could scarcely be exceeded.
Nearly two thousand of its infantry were without shoes. About one
thousand had thrown away their arms in their flight, and had to be
rearmed. He received re-enforcements, and advanced upon Staun
ton, the enemy falling back before him, and on June 6th inflicted
a severe defeat upon the rebel General Jones, near Staunton, capj
turing fifteen hundred prisoners and three guns. On the 8th of June,
when Grant was about crossing the James, Hunter occupied Staunton,
where he was joined by Averill, who had been operating in South
western Virginia, on the line of the Lynchburg and East Tennessee
Railroad, and by General Crook, who had also been raiding upon the
railroads. A demonstration was made towards Waynesboro' by a
cavalry force, which was repulsed by Imboden. At Staunton several
millions worth of public property was destroyed, and on the 10th the
whole force, about sixteen thousand strong, advanced by two roads,
forming a junction several miles northeast of Lexington, and forty
miles from Lynchburg. Lexington was held by McCausland, with
special orders to make the defence good until re-enforcements arrived
from Richmond. He made the stand accordingly ; but, finding the
town directly under the guns of Hunter's infantry advance, and that
he was being flanked by Averill's Cavalry, who had forded the river
higher up, McCausland finally fell back.
Hunter advanced very slowly, throwing cavalry out to the right
and left, in demonstrations against the railroad connections of the
enemy. Upon reaching Lexington he awaited the expected co-operation
of Sheridan in the direction of Gordonsville, which, as has been pre
viously stated, came to naught. Not hearing from Sheridan, he then
pressed on to Lynchburg, destroying railroads and bridges by the
way ; but upon arriving before the city, he found it too strongly forti
fied to be assaulted with any prospect of success. An attempt on the
18th satisfied him ofthe impossibility of capturing the place with his
limited force. Lee now prepared to avail himself of his interior lines
to throw an overpowering force into the valley, crush Hunter, and
then demonstrate towards Maryland and Washington. His position
at Petersburg and Richmond was so well secured that he could easily
spare a whole corps for this object, and still from behind his. powerful
earthworks confront the Army of the Potomac.
Ewell's Corps was selected, and with Breckinridge's command and
two brigades from Hill's Corps, the whole commanded by Early, pro
ceeded about the middle of June towards the valley. The enemy had
signal officers upon every hill around, and knew. all Hunter's move-

HISTOET OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 551
ments, so that Ewell's Corps was not dispatched from Richmond until
its presence at Lynchburg was needed. The Union troops at this
time were fifteen days' march from regular bases of supplies, and were
subsisting upon the enemy's country, while the enemy, by means of
the railroad from Lynchburg to Richmond, had at any time the power
of concentrating against Hunter just as many troops as General Lee
could spare from the Army of Northern Virginia. Hunter was not
slow to perceive how critical was his position, and on the 19th com
menced his march down the valley. But scarcely had he started when
he found the enemy pressing him so hard that he was compelled to
leave the valley, abandon part of his trains and guns, and strike across
the mountains to the Kanawha, hoping to reach Long's Creek, whence
by steamboat down the Kanawha and up the Ohio to Parkersburg, and
thence by railroad, he could regain Martinsburg. This eccentric retreat
of Hunter was forced upon him by lack of all supplies, and by the fact
that the enemy had a railroad east of the Blue Ridge, from Lynchburg
to Rockfish Gap or Waynesboro , only twelve miles from Staunton, by
means of which the whole of Ewell's Corps, and as many other troops
as Lee might think necessary, could easily have been thrown from
sixty to eighty miles in Hunter's rear, while Breckinridge, with the
valley troops, held him in front. And as he had but little ammuni
tion, and was utterly out of supplies, while there would be no chance
to collect in presence of a superior force of the enemy, it appeared re
duced to a mathematical certainty that an attempt to return down the
Shenandoah would be equivalent to the annihilation or surrender of
our force. Retiring by the Kanawha Valley, he confidently expected
abundant supplies of commissary and quartermaster stores at Meadow's
Bluff, about five or six days' march from Lynchburg.' More than a
million rations, about five or six days previous, had been left there by
Generals Crook and Averill, under charge of two regiments of Ohio
militia. These stores the enemy had destroyed.
The enemy, in all about twenty-five thousand men, after driving
Hunter over the mountains, lost no time in advancing down the valley,
and on Saturday, July 2d, suddenly made his appearance at North
Mountain, eight miles north of Martinsburg, thus flanking Sigel, who
held command there. On the following morning Sigel was compelled
to fall back upon Harper's Ferry, where he united with General Stahl.
The small Union force then evacuated the town and held Maryland
Heights. It now became manifest that another invasion of Pennsyl
vania was at hand. The enemy's main line of advance was by way of
Martinsburg and North Mountain, across the Potomac to Hagerstown.
Refugees, farmers, and citizens soon passed east towards Baltimore,
and the roads were filled with pedestrians, with droves of cattle, and
with wagons of all species of construction, carrying such goods and
valuables as the frightened owners had dared to stay to pick up. The
terror of the fugitives was extreme, and their stories of what they had
seen and heard extravagant. The panic was wide-spread and univer
sal, and the region for miles became depopulated.
The enemy advanced steadily, and by the 4th of July the country
between Winchester and Williamsport was occupied by him. On

552 HISTOET OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
that day a part of Mosby's Cavalry crossed at Point of Rocks, while the
enemy occupied Harper's Ferry and the south bank of the Potomac,
Sigel holding Maryland Heights. On the 6th, the enemy's cavalry, under
McCausland, occupied Hagerstown. In view of the gravity ofthe sit
uation, requisitions for troops were made upon the States of New York,
Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts, and the Sixth Corps was ordered to
embark for Washington, which had been nearly stripped of its garri
son to re-enforce Grant, and against which the enemy was evidently
moving, hoping possibly to capture it by a coup de main. One of the
objects of Lee in planning this invasion was to induce Grant to retire
from before Richmond and cover the Federal capital ; and the fact
that the latter general thought it necessary to detach no more than a
single corps for that purpose, showed that he took the proper view of
the invasion, and was not to be enticed by his wily adversary from re
laxing the iron grip which he had fastened upon the approaches to the
rebel capital.
Meanwhile, General Lewis Wallace, commanding the Middle De
partment, had gathered together such troops as were available (Hun
ter not having yet returned from Western Virginia), and essayed to
retard the progress of the enemy. On Saturday, July 9th, having by
this time been joined by Ricketts's Division of the Sixth Corps, he
encountered the enemy, in superior force, on the Monocacy, near Fred
erick, and, after a severe fight, was pushed back with loss on the road
to Baltimore. The enemy immediately sent a column of troops down
the Washington and Frederick turnpike. It entered Rockville on Sun
day morning, and then moved on towards Washington. Five miles
from Georgetown and two miles beyond the fortifications, it drove in
the Federal pickets one mile on Sunday night. At daybreak on Mon
day morning, skirmishing commenced within rifle-shot of Fort Penn
sylvania, three miles from Georgetown.
Simultaneously with the appearance of this force another division
of troops appeared on the Seventh Street road, four miles from the
city, directly north, and immediately in front of Forts Stevens and De
Russey. Here they seemed in larger force. By Monday noon the
enemy had a strong skirmish line, and some sixty were killed and
wounded; but fortunately by this time the remainder ofthe Sixth
Corps, and a portion of the Nineteenth from New Orleans, began to
arrive in the Potomac, and at dusk the veteran troops advanced to
the front, where the fighting became severe. The enemy began to
use artillery, and Forts Slocum and De Russey opened in reply with
their heavy guns. Immense efforts were made to strengthen the Fed
eral lines, and a proclamation required every able-bodied man to turn
out as militia, and be mustered into service for sixty days. Citizens
were seen on every hand with guns on their shoulders, while employes
of Departments and Government workshops, who had been previously
organized and drilled, turned out several thousand strong. Three
thousand convalescent soldiers were also obtained from the hospitals,
in addition to the veteran forces, increasing hourly by fresh arrivals.
The telegraph lines and railroads having been cut, Washington was,
for the time being, isolated, and provisions began to rise in price. On

HISTOET OF THE GREAT EEBELLION. 553
Wednesday morning, however, the enemy had disappeared : cavalry
followed in pursuit, and found him retreatmg towards Frederick. A
small battery had remained near Bladensburg, firing at the railroad
train, long after the main line had retreated.
In the mean time, on the 10th, the enemy's cavalry approached
within sixteen miles of Baltimore, and raiding parties made their
appearance in various directions. One burned the dwelling of Go
vernor Bradford; another captured a train in which was Major-Gen
eral Franklin, who managed to make his escape. Other forces busied
themselves in collecting large stores of forage, grain, and army sup
plies of all sorts, and making forced contributions in money. The
affair at Monocacy was the only persistent effort to oppose the raid.
That ended in a defeat, and thenceforth the enemy for several days
had it all his own way, and was enabled, after his demonstration upon
Washington and Baltimore, to retire across the Potomac with large
spoils. The pursuit was commenced July 13th, by General Wright, with
the Sixth Corps and one division of Emory's Nineteenth Corps. He
crossed the Potomac at Edwards's Ferry and moved towards Leesburg,
where Ricketts overtook and joined him. The cavalry under Duffie,
of Crook's command, captured some of the rebel trains near Snicker's
Gap, on the 17th. The remainder of Crook's force then came up, but
the enemy commanded the stream they had crossed with two guns
and checked the pursuit. On the succeeding day, Duffie was repulsed
by Breckinridge, at Island Ford on the Shenandoah, with the loss of
three hundred men. The enemy proceeded towards Winchester and
Strasburg, followed closely by Averill, who, on the 20th, had a com
bat near Winchester with Ramseur's Division, which he defeated with
the loss of four hundred men and four guns. Crook then joined
Averill. On the 23d the enemy advanced in force and drove in the
Union Cavalry, and on the 24th precipitated himself with so much
force upon Crook as to push him back, with considerable loss, upon
Martinsburg, whence, on Tuesday, the 26th, he recrossed the Potomac.
Early now again held the right bank of the Potomac from Williams
port to Shepardstown. The enemy manoeuvred on the Potomac, effec
tively concealing their numbers and intentions, until the 30th, when
McCausland, with a cavahy force, advanced upon Chambersburg and
demanded a ransom of five hundred thousand dollars, which, not being
paid, he fired the town, inflicting a loss estimated at one million dol
lars. In the mean time, Averill, who had retreated from Hagerstown
towards Carlisle, turned upon McCausland, and on Sunday, August
9th, our cavalry again occupied Hagerstown. The same day, Averill
overtook the enemy at Moorfield and routed him, capturing all his
artillery, consisting of four pieces, and many of his wagons and small-
arms, and five hundred prisoners. Our loss was less than fifty men.
The pursuit was kept up for many miles. For this exploit Averill was
promoted to the rank of major-general.
On the 7th of August, Hunter was superseded by Sheridan, who
was assigned to the command of the forces in the Middle Military
Division, consisting of the Department of Washington, the Middle

554 HISTOET OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
Department, and the Departments of the Susquehanna and Southwest
Virginia, which it was now determined to unite under one commander.

CHAPTER LV1L
Dutch Gap Canal. — Movement North of the James. — Expedition of the Fifth Corps
to the Weldon Road.— Attack by Hill.— Severe Fighting near Reams's Station.—
Losses. — Repulse of the Enemy. — Subsequent Repulse of Hancock. — Renewal of
Movement North of the James and Capture of Fort Harrison. — Further Operations
on the Weldon Railroad.
Sheridan having, in the beginning of August, been detached from
the Army of the Potomac and sent to supersede Hunter, Gregg assumed
command of the cavalry. The monotony which had crept upon the
operations of 'either army was varied on the 5th of August by the
springing of a mine by the enemy in front of the Eighteenth Corps.
This had been intended to countermine what was supposed to be a
new work by the Federal troops. No charge followed, however. On
the 9th an ordnance boat at City Point accidentally exploded, involv
ing great destruction of life and property. There were seventy killed
and one hundred and thirty wounded.
The James River a short distance below Fort Darling makes a great
bend, forming a peninsula called Farrar's Island ; the neck of which
is only half a mile across, while the river winds six miles around the
bend. This part of the stream was filled with torpedoes and swept
by batteries. General Butler proposed to cut a canal across this neck,
and thus cause the enemy to prolong his works, while it would bring
the Federal troops in close proximity to Fort Darling. From the
very outset the work upon the canal was obstructed by the fire of the
enemy from Howlett House Battery, and, to relieve the working par
ties, it was determined to create a diversion. Accordingly, a fleet of
transports was collected at City Point, and on August 12th the Sec
ond Corps was embarked upon them, apparently to go down the river.
The Tenth Corps at the same time crossed the river on pontoons and
joined Foster's Division on the right. On Saturday night, August
13th, the Second Corps landed from the transports near Deep Bottom,
and moved into position along the Newmarket road on the east side
of Four Mile Creek, while the Tenth Corps was on the west side of that
stream. The gunboats at the same time engaged the enemy's works.
Early on Sunday, the 14th, Foster moved out upon Strawberry Plains
and encountered the enemy's skirmishers, who fell back beyond his
rifle-pits. The enemy had, however, re-enforced from his right, and
the Federal troops had before them D. H. Hill and Longstreet's Corps.
The cavalry of Gregg covered the right flank, where was the Second
Corps, with its left on Four Mile Creek, while the Tenth Corps, rest
ing with its right on the other bank of the creek, had its left on the
intrenched bluff at Deep Bottom. These dispositions consumed most
of the day, Generals Grant, Butler, Hancock, and Birney being pres-

HISTORT OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 555
ent, and it was not until towards evening that the whole line advanced.
The Tenth Corps drove in the picket line of the enemy and captured
four guns and a number of prisoners ; but the Second Corps, encoun
tering a very severe artillery fire, gained comparatively little ground.
On Monday, August 15th, amidst severe skirmishing, the line was
extended to the right, and Malvern Hill threatened. As the right
was extended, the enemy made' corresponding movements, and the
day was spent in manoeuvring. On the 16th, the cavalry of Gregg
moved on the Charles City road, where, being joined by Miles's Di
vision of the Second Corps, it encountered the enemy under Cham-
bliss, who, after a sharp fight, were routed, with the loss of their
leader. The column then pushed on to White's Tavern, in the imme
diate vicinity of Richmond, but, finding the enemy in strong force,
withdrew. Meanwhile, in the centre, the Tenth Corps carried a line
of works and captured two hundred prisoners, but, everywhere en
countering strongly-manned works, it also withdrew, and the recon
noissance ended. The attack was not intended to be serious at this
point, and it remained to be seen what effect it would have on opera
tions on the left.
At four o'clock on the morning of Thursday, the 18th, the Fifth
Corps started from its camp, with four days' rations, for the Weldon
Railroad. The column marched towards Reams's Station, driving in
easily the enemy's skirmishers, of whom a part were captured. The
first division, Griffin's, reached the railroad, and began to destroy it
five or six miles from Petersburg; while the second, Ayres's, the third,
Crawford's, and the fourth, Cutler's Marylanders, proceeded along the
road towards Petersburg At Yellow Tavern they encountered the
enemy's cavalry under Dearing, who fell back to Davis Farm, two and
a half miles from Petersburg. Here General A. P. Hill was encoun
tered, with the divisions of Mahone and Heth, Mahone, with his own
brigades and those of Clingman and Colquitt, being east of the rail
road, and Hill, with the brigades of Davis, Walker, and Archer, west
of it. The Federal line was halted in an open field. Crawford's Divi
sion, comprising the brigades of Lyle, Wheeler, and Hartshorn, were
east of the railroad, confronting Mahone, and Ayres on the west of the
road, opposite Heth, who came forward with great vehemence, driving
back Ayres about one mile upon his intrenchments, the first line of
which was lost, the enemy pouring in pell-mell with the retreating
troops. These, supported by Cutler's Division, gained the main line,
that had been greatly strengthened over night, and against which the
advancing tide of rebels beat in vain.
The Union troops, on Friday, August 19th, occupied an intrenched
line, the left being on the Boydtown plankroad, while across the rail
road the right held the Jerusalem road, which it was necessary to con
nect with the main line at Petersburg. The line was forme'd as fol
lows, from right to left : Wilcox's Division of the Ninth Corps, Craw
ford's, Ayres's, and Griffin's Divisions ofthe Fifth Corps. Between Ayres
and Crawford ran the railroad, and between the right of the Fifth
Corps and the Jerusalem road was a dangerous gap. At four o'clock
in the afternoon, in the midst of a heavy rain-storm, Hill burst upon

556 HISTOET OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
our lines with both divisions. Mahone attacked Bragg's Brigade of
Crawford's Division, on our right, with great fury, overwhelming the
Nineteenth Indiana, and pressing through the gap like a torrent, thus
separating Wilcox and Crawford. The latter was strongly intrenched
in a thick wood opposite Davis Farm. Mahone, therefore, while fierce
ly engaging him in front with his own troops and the brigade of Cling-
man, sent Colquitt's Georgians upon his flank, which was so effectually
turned that nearly a thousand of Crawford's Division were made pris
oners. Meanwhile, on the left, the impetuous advance of Heth had
carried the intrenchmeHts erected since the morning, besides driving
back the line, and enveloping the regular brigade of Hayes. But the
First and Second Divisions of the Ninth Corps now arrived to re-en
force the Federals, after an exhausting forced march. They formed quick
ly, and charged, capturing several hundred prisoners. This charge
enabled the hard-pressed troops of the Fifth Corps to rally ; and the
rebels, being in turn overlapped, were driven back with loss, and the
disaster of the earlier part of the day retrieved. The approach of night
stopped the conflict. The Federal loss was one thousand five hundred
killed and wounded, and about two thousand prisoners. The loss of the
enemy was probably equally severe in killed and wounded. The result
of this fight was to give the enemy possession of the Weldon road as
far as Yellow Tavern, while our forces still held the position first taken
by Warren.
On Sunday, the 21st, the Federal line held nearly the same position,
and at nine o'clock the enemy again attacked with his usual impetuos
ity, and, after a conflict of two hours, was repulsed with the loss of over
two thousand men, including Generals Saunders and Lamar killed, and
Barton, Finnegan, and Andrews wounded. During the night of Sun
day the cannonade was heavy in front of the Fifth Corps. But on
Monday it was discovered that the enemy had retired, and intrenched
himself three miles from Petersburg.
While these events took place, one division ofthe Second Corps had
been withdrawn from Deep Bottom and hurried across to Petersburg in
season to take, possession of the intrenchments vacated by the Fifth
Corps in their march to the Weldon Railroad. The other two divi
sions, Gregg's Cavalry and the Tenth Corps, commenced a similar move
ment on Saturday night, and soon Foster remained, as before, in sole
possession of Deep Bottom. In a single night, by a forced ma,rch, in
which the infantry outmarched the cavalry, the Second Corps crossed
the two rivers, and reached the lines of the Ninth Corps on Sunday
morning. On Monday, Barlow's Division (temporarily under Miles)
was occupied in tearing up the railroad track from the line ofthe Fifth
Corps down towards Reams's Station. On Monday night, Gibbon's
Division marched towards Reams', and on Tuesday continued the de
struction of the track in the region of that station. The weather con
tinued wet,- and the roads very bad.
On Tuesday, Warren again pushed his line towards Petersburg, and
busily intrenched, skirmishing going on between the pickets as on Mon
day. The Second Corps was equally busy in tearing up the track in
his rear. On Tuesday night and Wednesday night the heavy cannon-

HISTOET OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 557
ading was repeated by the enemy, the greater part being directed
against the Eighteenth Corps. On Wednesday the destruction of the
railroad was continued, so that by night it was complete from a point
four miles from Petersburg down to two miles below Reams's, towards
Weldon. Our line of battle in the Fifth Corps, meanwhile, extended
clear across the Weldon road, aud our skirmishers lay near the Vaughan
road, three and a half miles from Petersburg.
On Thursday morning, the 25th, Gibbon's Division of the Second
Corps moved down the railroad from Reams's Station, to prosecute the
destruction of the road. When about a mile below the station, the cav
alry advance, which had been skirmishing all the morning, was sudden
ly checked and driven back by the enemy's picket line. The old in
trenchments erected by the Sixth Corps still surrounded the station in
semicircular form, covering the railroad both above and below it.
Miles (now in command of Barlow's Division) had posted his men as
follows : Colonel Lynch's (First) Brigade on the right ; next, the Sec
ond and Third Brigades, under Major Byron ; next, the Fourth Brigade,
under Lieutenant-Colonel Brodie ; finally, on the left, Alcock's Fourth
New York heavy artillery regiment. The enemy appeared, soon after
noon, in front of Miles, and Hancock at once ordered Gibbon to fall
back and form junction with Miles's left, to cover and protect that flank.
The cavalry followed, and covered the left flank and rear. Gibbon dis
posed his troops so as to face down the railroad in a southerly and
southeasterly direction, his right joining Miles's left at the railroad, and
Miles facing west. Thus the line was somewhat in the form of a horse
shoe. In Gibbon's line, the Third Brigade was on the left, the First
in the centre, and the Second on the right, joining Miles. About two
o'clock the enemy's demonstrations culminated in a grand advance of
his skirmish line. •
The rebel column of attack, under General A. P. Hill, was composed
of three brigades, commanded by Heth and Connor, with Pegram's Artil
lery. At half-past three o'clock this column emerged from the woods
with fixed bayonets, and advanced at a rapid pace with loud cheers.
The column was smitten with a concentrated fire from four batteries and
musketry, but penetrated to within twenty paces of the line, when it
recoiled. The Federals had suffered severely from a musketry fire from
the enemy's right to cover this charge. The charge was repeated an
hour later, with similar results. The enemy then brought up his bat
teries, which soon opened a very severe concentric fire upon the circu
lar position ofthe Federals. The shot that passed the troops of Miles
did considerable execution upon those of Gibbon. This was sustained
for twenty minutes, when the fire suddenly ceased, and with loud yells
the enemy sprang forward to a fourth assault, charging furiously with
fixed bayonets, and without firing a shot. The distance he had to
pass over from the woods to the line was not great, and the efficiency of
our fire being destroyed by the previous cannonade, he gained "the
breastworks, and in a hand-to-hand fight broke the line, forcing Miles
back, and capturing several guns. To stop this irruption a portion of
Gibbon's men were hurried to support Miles across a distance of half
a mile, exposed to heavy fire. This had the effect of checking the

558 HISTOET OP THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
enemy for a short space, but the dismounted rebel cavalry, under
Wade Hampton, seized the moment to charge the defeated line of Gib
bon, and carried the works, and once more Gibbon was hurried back
to restore the fight in that direction ; but this time in vain. The ene
my crowded forward on all sides, inflicting severe losses on the over
powered Unionists. Some regiments were reduced to mere skeletons;
of the Massachusetts Twentieth, one of the best in the army, very few
remained. As the night approached, Hancock withdrew his troops,
leaving Reams's Station in possession of the enemy. The Federal loss
was very heavy, including two thousand five hundred prisoners, one
thousand killed and wounded, seven colors, and nine guns. That the
enemy did not accomplish this feat without receiving severe punishment,
is apparent from the following dispatches from General Meade : —
"Second Corps — 12.30 p. m. — August 26, 1864.
" A safeguard that was left on the battle-field remained there after daylight this morn
ing. " At that time the enemy had all disappeared, leaving their dead on the field unburied.
This shows how severely they were punished, and, doubtless hearing of the arrival of
re-enforcements, they feared the results to-day if they remained.
(Signed) " G. G. Meade, Major- General."
"Second Abmt Coeps, August 26, 1864 — 1 p: m.
" To Lieutenant-General Grant:
" Since sending my last dispatch, I have conversed with the safeguard referred to.
He did not leave the field until after sunrise. At that time nearly all the enemy had
left, moving towards Petersburg. He says they abandoned not only their dead, but
their wounded also. He conversed with an officer, who said their losses were greater
than ever before during the war.
" The safeguard says he was over the field, and it was covered with the enemy's
dead and wounded. He has seen a great many battle-fields, but never such a sight.
Nearly all the enemy's and all our wounded were brought off, but our dead were unburied.
I have instructed General Gregg to make an effort to send a party to the field and
bury our dead. G. G. Meade, Major-General."
The results of this battle put the enemy in possession of the Weldon
Railroad as far as Yellow Tavern. Reams is ten miles from Peters
burg. The Federal troops still held three or four miles of railroad.
On the same day, Butler's picket lines were driven in, with some loss,
but were soon restored.
The Army of the Potomac now maintained its position for several
weeks without attempting any important enterprise, although each
day was marked by some of those events which are unavoidable where
two armies are in such close proximity to each other. A persistent
shelling was kept up by General Grant. The operations in the valley
continued to attract attention, but the movements of Sherman in
Georgia were watched with the utmost anxiety. He had operated
against Johnston and Hood with more or less success, until, on the 4th
of September, the capture of Atlanta was announced to the Army of
the Potomac, and a salute of one hundred shotted guns was ordered,
to which the enemy briskly responded. On the 14th of September a
remarkable raid was successfully performed by the enemy. A herd of
two thousand five hundred head of cattle, destined for the consumption
of the Army of the Potomac, was grazing near Coggin's Point, on the

HISTOET OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 559
James River, guarded by two regiments of Kautz's Cavalry. Wade
Hampton, with W. F. H. Lee's Cavalry Division and Rosser's and
Dearing's Brigades, moved from Reams's Station entirely around our
extreme left, broke Kautz's picket line, overpowered the Union Caval
ry, and captured and carried off a number of prisoners and the whole
of the cattle. Gregg's and Kautz's Cavalry Divisions pursued, but
without effect.
In the last week of September preparations were made by General
Grant to renew the attack upon Richmond, and he seems to have
drawn inspiration from the success of Sherman, in obtaining possession
of Atlanta by strategy, where force was unavailing. To this end, a
simultaneous attack at both extremities of the line was organized.
That on the right, by the Eighteenth and Tenth Corps, with the cavalry
of Kautz, was undertaken in the hope of compelling the enemy to send
his troops from the defence of Petersburg to his left. The idea of
compelling the enemy to weaken one point for the defence of another,
seems, however, not to have been fruitful of success. The celerity
with which troops appeared at the assailed points indicated great facil
ities for their transportation and rare energy in their movements.
On the night of Wednesday, September 28th, the two corps of But
ler passed the James on muffled pontoons, the Tenth to Deep Bottom,
four miles from Dutch Gap, and the Eighteenth to Aiken's Landing,
which is half-way between Dutch Gap and Deep Bottom. The
Eighteenth Corps, General Ord, at daylight of the 29th, proceeded by
the Varina road towards its junction with the Newmarket road,
driving in the enemy's skirmishers, as it advanced towards Chapins
Farm, where a long line of intrenchments runs in a westerly direction
to the river, terminating in a strong work known as Battery Harrison.
These works did not form part of the defences proper of Richmond,
but were covered by the 'fire from works on the other side ofthe river,
and by that ofthe enemy's gunboats. The line of advance was formed
left to right of the brigades of Stannard, Burnharn, Roberts, and
Heckman. The line advanced under a terrible fire of artillery, and the
enemy precipitately fled to other works in the rear. The result was
the capture of sixteen guns and one hundred and fifty prisoners ; but
the fire from the enemy's guns was so intense that it was found im
possible to hold the works ; and General Weitzel abandoned them, con
centrating his troops' on the left.
Meanwhile the Tenth Corps, now commanded by Birney, proceeded
from Deep Bottom towards Newmarket, encountering the skirmishers
of the enemy, but no serious opposition until it reached the point where
the Kingsland road crosses the Newmarket road. Here a small force
held Newmarket Heights, which were readily carried, though with
some loss. The enemy, with the loss of some five hundred, then re
tired upon Laurel Hill, six miles from Richmond, at the junction of
the Varina and Newmarket roads, where was a line of strong earth
works, with a wide and deep ditch in front. The place was at once
assaulted, but proved too powerful to be carried with the limited force
at Birney's disposal, and at night he withdrew his troops to the in
trenchments in his rear, where he remained until two o'clock on the

560 HISTOET OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
,30th. The Union line was now formed of the Eighteenth and Tenth
Corps, and the enemy, having been re-enforced from Richmond under
Hoke, fell with great fury on the division of Stannard. Deploying in
three strong lines at the edge of the wood, he charged with great
promptitude, under cover of a hot shelling from his iron-clads in the
river, and an annoying enfilading fire from the batteries on the bank
A well-directed, rolling musketry fire sent the rebels reeling back to
the wood, before they could reach the intrenchments. Again and still
a third time they rallied, were re-formed, and made the charge. But,
though they got near the works, it was only to be repulsed with great
slaughter. Our men had been instructed to lower their pieces, and the
musketry fire was at once incessant and murderous. On the breaking
of the enemy, General Weitzel succeeded in cutting off over two hun
dred prisoners, including twenty officers. The enemy's total loss was
probably a thousand men, and ours probably less than five hundred.
Among the wounded officers was General Stannard, who lost an arm.
After this movement, little of importance took place until Friday,
October 7th. The Federal line was formed of the Eighteenth Corps,
on the left, the Tenth on the centre and right, and the cavalry on the
extreme right, on the Darbytown road. The left was intrenched at
Battery Harrison, about ten miles from Richmond, and the right "about
five miles from Richmond, in an air line on the Charles City road.
At early dawn on the 7th, Anderson, with Hoke's and Field's Divi
sions, advanced down the Darbytown and Charles City roads, and
attacked Kautz's Division with such suddenness and fury, that the
whole broke and fled. This disaster gave the enemy possession ofthe
Darbytown road, and pressing on in pursuit, they soon encountered
our right centre, the right of the Tenth Corps. Meanwhile, the cavahy
had gained in their flight Signal Hill and Newmarket Heights. Bir
ney held a strongly intrenched line, with the right flank refused. On
the right was Terry's First Division, lying along the refused flank, and
covering the Newmarket road. His troops were in rifle-pits, in heavy
Avoods. The ground on the left of the line was open, and here the
artillery was posted — four six-gun batteries — which swept not only
its own front, but shelled the ground by which the right could be
reached. Proper and skilful dispositions were briskly made on the stam
pede of the cavalry, and, before the enemy was on him, Terry was ready.
As the enemy approached, he was greeted with a heavy cross-fire of
artillery from our left, in answer to which he got two batteries into
position. These, however, were soon overmatched. Meanwhile,
Field's Division moved up in excellent order to the assault, dashing
over the open at double-quick, and succeeded in gaining the woods on
our right. Not only, however, was the open made dangerous by artil
lery, but the partially felled woods were difficult of penetration. Our
infantry remained quiet until the enemy was very close, when all foifr
brigades, rising from their half-ambush, poured into him a sudden and
destructive fire.
After a protracted engagement, the enemy, finding his efforts vain,
withdrew in great confusion along the central road, followed closely
by Terry. He finally retired upon the Charles City road, thus leaving

HISTOET OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 561
the central road again in our possession. The troops enjoyed an inter
val of repose until the 13th, when General Terry, temporarily in com
mand ofthe Tenth Corps, moved out before dawn upon the Darbytown
road to the scene of Kautz's defeat on the 7th. The enemy had, in
the interval, constructed many new works, one of which was ineffec
tually assaulted by Pond's Brigade. The enemy in turn made a charge
upon our lines. This was succeeded by the return of the Federal
troops to their intrenchments.

CHAPTER LVHI.
Operations in Tennessee. — Sherman's Raid through Mississippi. — Failure of Smith's
Co-operative Movement. — Invasion of Western Tennessee and Kentucky by For
rest. — Massacre at Fort Pillow.
Longstreet, after his retreat upon Rogersville, continued to remain
some time in Eastern Tennessee,, apparently threatening Knoxville.
His communications with Lee, temporarily interrupted by Averill, in
a daring raid into Southwestern Virginia, were soon restored, and
Lee had abundant opportunity, during the inactivity of the Army of
the Potomac in the winter of 1863-4, to re-enforce him, of which, how
ever, he did not take advantage. Longstreet accordingly contented
himself with merely threatening Knoxville, while Johnston, who had
succeeded Bragg, occupied Dalton, thirty-eight miles south of Chatta
nooga. Longstreet ultimately returned to the rebel army in Virginia,
and upon his departure the Ninth Corps was sent to re-enforce the Army
of the Potomac. During January, 1864, the enemy sent several expe
ditions into Tennessee. Johnson's Brigade, of Rhoddy's command,
crossed the Tennessee River at Bainbridge, three miles below Flor
ence, and at Newport Ferry, six miles from the same point, intending
to make a junction with a brigade of infantry which was expected to
cross the river at Lamb's and Brown's Ferry, and thence proceed to
Alton's, to capture the Union force there. They were engaged, fifteen
of them killed, and quite a number wounded and taken prisoners. Our
loss was ten wounded. The operations of the rebel General Forrest
were in no degree more successful. At the close of January, General
Rosecrans was assigned to the Department of Missouri, and General
Schofield resumed command of the Twenty-third Corps, constituting the
Army of the Ohio, and, with it, of the Department of Ohio.
A combined movement was now formed against the enemy in the
Southwest. General Sherman was to march east from Vicksburg on
the 3d of Februaiy into the interior of the Gulf States, and, in co-opera
tion with him, Generals Smith and Grierson, "at the head of a cavalry
force, were to move south from Memphis. In aid of these operations,
Schofield was directed to threaten Longstreet in the neighborhood of
Knoxville, and Thomas to press Johnston, while the navy attacked
Mobile, and General Banks was to operate against Shreveport, and
Kilpatrick conduct a raid on Richmond In accordance with this plan,
36

562 HISTOET OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
on February 3d, a strong column, composed of the Sixteenth and
Seventeenth Army Corps, under command of Sherman, took up an
easterly line of march from Vicksburg, following the line of the South
ern Mississippi Railroad. By following the prolongation of this line,
the column would strike Meridian (one hundred and forty miles),
Selma (two hundred and fifty miles), Montgomery (three hun
dred miles), and double railroad and double river communica
tions would be opened up with the Gulf. The Pearl, the Tom-
bigbee, and the Alabama — rivers leading into the heart of Mississippi
and Alabama — would thus be thrown open to our gunboats. In a
word, the great centre of productive forces would be seized. At the
same time that Sherman's force was pursuing the line indicated, another
very powerful cavalry column, twelve thousand strong, under Generals
Smith and Grierson, was to set out from Corinth and Holly Springs, to
follow the Mobile and Ohio Railroad southward. On February 5th,
the two corps, under Generals McPherson and Hurlbut, were across
the Big Black River, and advanced, driving the rebel General Polk
before them, and inflicting immense damage upon the enemy. At
Meridian, the great railway centre of the Southwest, which Sherman
reached about the middle of the month, he destroyed the arsenal filled
with valuable stores and machinery, burned a large number of Govern
ment warehouses filled with military stores and ammunition, and ren
dered useless a number of mills. At Meridian he also made, in his
own words, "the most complete destruction of railroads ever beheld."
Sixty miles of track, besides dep6ts, bridges, and rolling stock, were
thoroughly destroyed, and several towns burned or desolated. Hav
ing waited at Meridian a week without news of Smith, he retraced his
steps to the Mississippi, carrying with him over eight thousand liber
ated slaves, and an immense amount of spoils. The resistance offered
by the enemy was so trifling that the total Union loss was less than
two hundred.
Meantime weeks had been spent in gathering together and properly
organizing all the available cavalry in Western Tennessee and Northern
Mississippi. To supply troops for these movements, Corinth, and the
line of the Memphis and Charleston road as far east as General Logan's
outposts, had been abandoned, the fortifications blown up, and the
public property removed. Common report put the aggregate finally
collected at ten thousand horsemen. The number was so large that
General Smith felt warranted in writing as follows, to a friend in Buf
falo, under date of Colliersville, February 9th : " I expect to start
to-morrow or next day with  thousand cavalry, for the bowels of
Dixie. The rebels have about  thousand in Mississippi, which
they can, if they like, concentrate to oppose me." The force, it is safe
to say, was larger and better equipped than any before collected du
ring this war to execute a similar mission. As it was essential to the
complete achievement of General Sherman's plan of campaign that
this cavalry column should move forward promptly, every precaution
Was taken to make it irresistible ; and to render assurance doubly sure,
General Smith, General Grant's chief of cavalry, was detailed to super
vise operations. All these precautions, however, failed to accomplish

HISTOET OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 563
the desired end. The column, which was to have left Colliersville
February 3d — the same day that Sherman got away from Vicksburg —
was detained until February llth, in order to enable General Waring
^o bring up his brigade. This delay seems to have been sufficient to
enable Forrest, Rhoddy, and Chambers to concentrate their forces
against him ; it gave General Sherman a whole week the start, and
made a junction proportionately more difficult. After the expedition
had finally started, various circumstances conspired to delay and oppose
its progress. It was only after the force had been in the saddle seven
days that it reached Okalona, one hundred and thirty miles southeast of
Memphis, an average of but little more than fifteen miles per day from
Colliersville, the point of departure. On the 19th it marched to
Egypt, a station about seven miles south of Okalona. Here they de
stroyed a large quantity of rebel stores. The expedition was then
divided, one column, under Grierson, going through Aberdeen on the
east side of the railroad, the other on the west side, the two concen
trating at Prairie Station, about seventeen miles south of Okalona,
where large quantities of rebel stores were destroyed. Grierson met
with considerable opposition near Aberdeen. On the 20th, Forrest
was reported in force at West Point, and on the 21st our forces en
countered him at that place. Smith found Forrest, Lee, Rhoddy, and
Chambers combined against him, and after a heavy fight he was com
pelled to fall back, leaving three field-pieces, four-pounder steel guns,
on the field. They were spiked. All the ammunition was saved. In
his retreat Smith burnt every trestle on the Memphis and Ohio Rail
road, and destroyed miles of the track and large quantities of corn.
There was heavy fighting in the rear throughout the 22d. The rebels
moved on each flank with the evident design of reaching the Talla
hatchie in advance of our force, and forming a junction to prevent our
crossing, and capture the whole command ; but by forced marching
Smith passed both flanking columns, and, marching all night, crossed
safely at New Albany. Skirmishing was kept up all through the 23d
and the 24th. On the 25th the expedition arrived at Colliersville,
about twenty-five miles east of Memphis, where the greater portion of
the men remained.
The enemy were now becoming more active. Forrest, having suc
ceeded in defeating the expedition of Grierson and Smith, reoruited
his forces in Mississippi, and appeared suddenly, on March 22d, at
Bolivar, Tennessee, with a force between six "and seven thousand
strong. He advanced rapidly against Union City, which was gar
risoned by about four hundred men, under command of Colonel Har-
kins. The enemy made several ineffectual charges against the slight
earthworks which surrounded the town ; but, finding it impossible to
carry them by assault, Forrest demanded the surrender of the garrison,
threatening to bombard the town unless the demand was complied
with. Harkins, it is said, against the wishes of the garrison, surren
dered on the 24th, just in time to anticipate the arrival of a large
Union force from Cairo, under command of General Mason Brayman,
who was marching to his relief.
From Union City, Forrest marched northward across Kentucky, and

564 HISTOET OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
on the afternoon of March 25th made an attack on Paducah, having
first sent to demand the surrender of the fort. This was refused by Colo
nel Hicks, who was in command, and the attack was immediately
commenced. It lasted during the whole afternoon, the enemy making
four assaults, in each of which they were repulsed with considerable
loss. After the first assault had been foiled, Forrest again demanded
the surrender of the fort, troops, and public stores, promising that if
the demand were complied with, the troops should be treated as pris
oners of war, but if he were compelled to storm the fort they might
expect no quarters. Hicks declined, and the battle continued. Early
in the evening the rebels retired from the town, but reappeared the
next morning, when Forrest sent in a request for an exchange of pris
oners. This Hicks declined, and the rebels, without making any fur
ther demonstrations, retired in the direction of Columbus. Their loss
was three hundred killed and one thousand wounded. The latter
were taken to Mayfield by rail, and the former were left unburied
around the fort. The rebel Brigadier-General A. P. Thompson was
among the slain. The rebel General Buford appeared before Colum
bus early in April, and demanded the surrender of the place, but, upon
receiving a peremptory refusal, moved off without attempting an
attack. At this time occurred an event, unparalleled in the previous or sub
sequent history of the war, and which caused an almost unanimous
outbreak of horror and indignation throughout the loyal States.
Threats of raising the "black flag," of carrying on a war of extermi
nation, of giving no quarter in case of refusal to surrender, had fre
quently been made by rebel commanders, but it was reserved for For
rest, a man of unquestioned bravery and skill, but of relentless cruelty,
to show that such threats had a deeper significance than the angry,
thoughtless words of heated and exasperated combatants. Bad as the
rebel cause had before seemed to loyal men, it grew immeasurably
worse from the crime now associated with it, and which, like the re
bellion itself, had its origin in the demoralizing influences flowing from
the institution of slavery.
On the 12th of April, Forrest appeared before Fort Pillow, on the
Mississippi River, a work of moderate size, mounting six guns, and
garrisoned by about five hundred and fifty men, of whom two hun
dred and sixty were colored troops, the whole being commanded by
Major Bradford, of the Thirteenth Tennessee Cavalry. The fort was
situated on a high bluff which descended precipitately to the river's
edge, the ridge of the bluff on the river side being covered with trees,
bushes, and falling timber. Extending back from the river on either
side of the fort was a ravine or hollow, the one below the fort con
taining several private stores and some dwellings, and some Govern
ment buildings, containing commissary stores. The ravine above the
fort forward was known as Cold Bank Ravine, the ridge being covered
with trees and bushes. To the right or below and a little to the front
of the fort was a level piece of ground, not quite so elevated as the
fort itself, on which had been erected some log huts or shanties, which
were occupied by the white troops, and also used for hospital and other

HISTOET OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 565
purposes. Within the fort tents had been erected with board floors
for the use of the colored troops. At sunrise the Union pickets were
driven in, and from that time until two or three o'clock in the after
noon the rebels vainly endeavored to dislodge the garrison, who made
a gallant defence, in which they were aided by the gunboat New Era,
which, from her position in the river, shelled the enemy vigorously.
The rebels, having thus far failed in their attack, now resorted to
their customary flags of truce. The first flag of truce conveyed a
demand from Forrest for the unconditional surrender of the fort. To
this Major Bradford replied, asking to be allowed one hour with his
officers and the officers of the gunboat. In a short time the second
flag of truce appeared, with a communication from Forrest that he
would allow Major Bradford twenty minutes in which to move his
troops out of the fort, and if it was not done in that time an assault
would be ordered. To this Major Bradford replied that he would not
surrender. During the time occupied by the communication between
the fort and the attacking party, and while the flag of truce was flying,
the rebels, with a bad faith characteristic of their conduct on several
previous occasions during the same campaign, gradually crept up to a
position from which they could overwhelm the garrison by a sudden
assault. Captain Marshall, of the gunboat, saw them advancing into
the ravine above the fort, and could easily have checked their progress,
but refrained from firing, from a desire not to afford an excuse for
subsequent atrocities, should the fort be captured by the enemy.
What followed is best told in the report of the Congressional Com
mittee on the Conduct of the War, two of the members of which visited
Fort Pillow and took testimony regarding the circumstances of its
capture. Their account is as follows : —
"Immediately after the second flag of truce retired, the rebels made a rush from
the positions they had so treacherously gained, and obtainedl possession of the fort,
raising the cry of ' No quarter.' But little opportunity was allowed for resistance.
Our troops, black and white, threw down their arms and sought to escape by running
down the steep bluff near the fort, and secreting themselves behind trees and logs in
the bushes and under the brush ; some even jumping into the river, leaving only their
heads above the water as they crouched down under tho bank. Then followed a scene
of cruelty and murder without parallel in civilized warfare, which needed but the toma
hawk and scalping-knife to exceed the worst atrocities ever committed by savages.
The rebels commenced an indiscriminate slaughter, sparing neither age nor sex, white
nor black, soldier nor civilian. The officers and men seemed to vie with each other in
the devilish work. Men, women, and their children, wherever found, were deliberately
shot down, beaten, and hacked with sabres. Some of the children, not more than ten
years old, were forced to stand up and face their murderers while being shot The sick
and wounded were butchered without mercy, the rebels even entering the hospital
buildings and dragging them out to be shot, or killing them as they lay there unable
to offer the least resistance. All over the hillside the work of murder was going on.
Numbers of our men were collected together in lines or groups and deliberately shot.
Some were shot while in the river, while others on the bank were shot and their bodies
kicked into the water ; many of them still living, but unable to make exertions to save
themselves from drowning. Some of the rebels stood upon the top of the hill or a
short distance from its side and called out to our soldiers to come up to them, and as
they approached, shot them down in cold blood, and if their guns or pistols missed fire,
forcing them to stand there until they were again prepared to fire.
"All around were heard the cries of 'No quarter 1' 'No quarter!' 'Kill the damned
niggers 1' 'Shoot them downl' All who asked for mercy were answered by the most

566 HISTOET OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
cruel taunts and sneers. Some were spared for a time, only to be murdered under cir
cumstances of greater cruelty. No cruelty which the moat fiendish malignity could
devise was omitted by these murderers. One white soldier, who was wounded in the
leg so as to be unable to walk, was made to stand up while his tormentors shot him.
Others, who were wounded and unable to stand up, were held up and again shot. One
negro, who had been ordered by a rebel officer to hold his horse, was killed by him
¦when he remonstrated. Another, a mere child, whom an officer had taken up behind
him on his horse, was seen by Chalmers, who at once ordered him to put him down
and shoot him, which was done. The huts and tents in which many of the wounded
had sought shelter were set on fire, both that night and the next morning, while the
¦wounded were still in them, those only escaping who were able to get themselves out,
or who could prevail on others less injured to help them out, and even some of these
thus seeking to escape the flames were met by these ruffians and beastly shot down,
or had their brains beaten out. One man was deliberately fastened down to the floor
of a tent, face upward, by means of nails driven through his clothing and, into the
boards under him, so that he could not possibly escape, and then the tent was set on
fire. Another was nailed to the side of a building outside of the fort, and then the
building was set on fire and burned. The charred remains of five or six bodies were
afterwards found, all but one so much disfigured and consumed by the flames that they
could not be identified, and the identification of that one is not absolutely certain,
although there can hardly be a doubt it was the body of Lieutenant Albertson, quarter
master of the Thirteenth Tennessee Cavalry, and a native of Tennessee. Several wit
nesses who saw the remains, and who were personally acquainted with him while
living here, testified that it is their firm belief that it was his body that was thus
treated. "These deeds of murder and cruelty closed when night came on, only to be renewed
the next morning, when the demons carefully sought among the dead lying about in
all directions for any other wounded yet alive, and those they found were deliberately
shot. Scores of the dead and wounded were found there the day of the massacre by
the men from some of our gunboats, who were permitted to go on shore and collect the
wounded and bury the dead. Tlie rebels themselves had made a pretence of burying a
great number of their victims, but they had merely thrown them, without the least regard
to care or decency, into the trenches and ditches about the fort, or the little hollows
and ravines on the hillside, covering them but partially with earth. Portions of heads
and faces, hands and feet were found protruding through the earth in every direction,
and eveD when your committee visited the spot, two weeks afterwards, although par
ties of men had been sent on there from time to time to bury the bodies unburied and
rebury the others, and were even then engaged in the same work, we found the evi
dences of this murder and cruelty still most painfully apparent.
" We saw bodies still unburied at some distance from the fort, of some sick men who
had been met fleeing from the hospital, and beaten down and brutally murdered, and
their bodies left where they had fallen. We could see the faces and hands and feet
of men, white and black, protruding out of the ground, whose graves had not been
reached by those engaged in reinterring the victims of the massacre, and although a great
deal of rain had fallen within the preceding two weeks, the ground, more especially on
the side and at the foot ofthe bluff, where the most ofthe murders had been committed,
¦was still discolored by the blood of our brave but unfortunate men ; and the logs and
trees showed but too plainly the evidences of the atrocities perpetrated there.
" Many other instances of equally atrocious cruelty might be enumerated. But your
committee feel compelled to refrain from giving here more of the heart-sickening details,
and refer to the statements contained in the voluminous testimony herewith submitted.
Those statements were obtained by them from eye-witnesses and sufferers. Many of
them, as they were examined by your committee, were lying upon beds of pain and suf
fering, some so feeble that their. lips could with difficulty frame the words by which
they endeavored to convey some idea of the crueltieB which had been inflicted on them
and which they had seen inflicted on others.
" In reference to the fate of Major Bradford, who was in command ofthe fort when it
was captured, and who had up to that time received no injury, there seems to be no
doubt. The general understanding everywhere seemed to be that he had been brutally
murdered the day after he was taken prisoner.
'• How many of our troops thus fell victims to the malignity and barbarity of Forre3t

HISTOET OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 567
and his followers cannot be definitely ascertained. Two officers belonging to the gar
rison were absent at the time of the capture and massacre of the remaining officers ; but
two are known to be living, and they.are wounded and now in the hospital at Mound
City. One of them, Captain Porter, may even now be dead, as the surgeons, when
your committee were there, expressed no hope of his recovery. Ofthe men, from three
hundred to four hundred are known to have been killed at Fort Pillow, of whom at
least three hundred were murdered in cold blood after the fort was in possession
of the rebels and our men had thrown down their arms and ceased to offer resistance.
Of the surviving, except the wounded in the hospital at Mound City, and the few who
succeeded in making their escape unhurt, nothing definite is known, and it is to be
feared that many have been murdered after being taken away from the fort. When
your committee arrived at Memphis, Tennessee, they found and examined a man, Mr.
McLagan, who had been conscripted by some of Forrest's forces, but who, with other
conscripts, had succeeded in making his escape. He testifies that while two companies
of rebel troops, with Major Bradford and many other prisoners, were on their march
from Brownsville to Jackson, Tennessee, Major Bradford was taken by five rebels, ona
an officer, led about fifty yards from the line of march, and deliberately murdered in
view of all those assembled. He fell instantly killed by three musket-balls, even while
asking that his life might be spared, as ho had fought them manfully and was deserving
of a better fate. The motive for the murder of Major Bradford seems to have been
the simple fact that, although a native of the South, he remained loyal to his Govern
ment." The rebels admitted the wholesale slaughter at Fort Pillow, and, if
ashamed to justify it, at least excuse the occurrence by quoting his
torical instances where garrisons have been put to the sword ; forget
ting that such massacres have been committed, among civilized nations
at least, only where the besiegers have suffered heavy losses during a
long and trying investment, and are in consequence incited to an extraor
dinary degree of exasperation against the garrison. No such circum
stances attended the present case. Fortunately for the reputation of
the country and of American civilization, no similar massacre is to be
recorded in the subsequent history of the war.

CHAPTER LIX.
Co-operative Movement on Atlanta, — Size and Organization of the Union and Rebel
Armies. — Commencement of the Campaign by Sherman. — Evacuation of Dalton by
Johnston. — Battle of Resaca and Retreat of the Rebels. — Operations at Dallas and
Kenesaw. — Rebels Flanked and driven across the Chattahoochie.
In the middle of March, 1864, Grant, then recently appointed lieu
tenant-general and commander-in-chief, turned over to Sherman the
command of the Military Division of the Mississippi, comprising the
Departments of the Cumberland, the Tennessee, and the Ohio. The
latter general was succeeded by General McPherson in the command
of the Department of the Tennessee. The grand concerted plan 'of
the spring campaign was then matured, the part assigned to Sherman
being to push the enemy steadily back upon Atlanta, and if possible
sever his communications between the Atlantic and Gulf States, while
all the available strength in the East was to be brought to bear against
the main rebel army in Virginia, under Lee. All other movements
of the Union forces were to be held subsidiary to these. Sherman at

568 HISTOET OE THE GEEAT EEBELLIOIT.
once bent every energy to the perfecting and enlargement of the
communications between Nashville and Chattanooga, his primary and
secondary bases, and to the accumulation in the latter place of such
an amount of subsistence and military stores as would render him
independent of Nashville, should the railroad connections between the
two points be temporarily severed by rebel raiding forces. By the
end of April this work was successfully accomplished, and the great
Army of the West was prepared to move from Chattanooga at the
precise hour, if necessary, that the Army of the Potomac should cross
the Rapidan on its march towards Richmond. On April 27th, Grant
notified Sherman to be ready to move about May 5th.
The total force under General Sherman's command, for offensive
purposes, was as follows : —
ARMY OF THE CUMBERLAND, MAJOR-GENERAL THOMAS COMMANDING.
Infantry  54,568
Artillery  2,311
Cavahy  3,828
Total  60,773
Guns  130
ARMY OF THE TENNESSEE, MAJOR-GENERAL M'PHERSON COMMANDING.
Infantry  22,437
Artillery  1,404
' .Cavalry....  624
Total  24,465
Guns  96
ARMT OF THE OHIO, MAJOR-GENERAL SOHOFIELD COMMANDING.
Infantry.  11,183
Artillery.  679
Cavalry  3,679
Total  13,541
Guns  28
Making a grand aggregate of eighty-eight thousand one hundred and
eighty-eight infantry, four thousand four hundred and sixty artillery,
and six thousand one hundred and forty-nine cavalry, or ninety-eight
thousand seven hundred and ninety-seven men, and two hundred and
fifty-four guns. The Army of the Cumberland comprised the Fourth
Corps, General Howard, the Fourteenth Corps, General Palmer, and
the Twentieth Corps, General Hooker; the Army of the Tennessee,
the Fifteenth Corps, General Logan, the Sixteenth Corps, General
Dodge, and, later in the campaign, the Seventeenth Corps, General
Blair ; and the Army of the Ohio, the Twenty-third Corps, General
Schofield. These several armies in the beginning of May lay a few
miles south of Chattanooga, in supporting distance of each other.
The rebel army, comprising the corps of Hardee, Polk, and Hood,
and the cavalry division of Wheeler, was under the command of

HISTOET OP THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 569
Lieutenant-General J. E. Johnston, whose reputation as a commander
in the Confederacy was second only to that of Lee. It numbered
about fifty thousand infantry and artillery, and ten thousand cavalry,
of whom much the greater part were veteran troops, and lay in and
about Dalton, on the railroad connecting Chattanooga with Atlanta,
the advance being at Tunnel Hill, a station thirty miles south of
Chattanooga. Directly south of Tunnel Hill is a level valley, three
miles in length and about three-quarters of a mile wide, bounded at
its southern extremity by a rugged mountain range, known as Rocky
Faced Ridge, which dominates the valley, and is succeeded by a
narrow defile called Buzzard's Roost, still farther to the south, through
which passes the railroad. Immediately south of Buzzard's Roost
is Dalton. This defile had been rendered nearly impregnable to an
army advancing directly upon Dalton from the north, and the moun
tains so enveloped the latter place that to attack an enemy posted
there in any other direction than from the front, a wide detour was
necessary. A brief reconnoissance satisfied Sherman that Johnston
could only be dislodged by a flanking movement to the right. Thomas
was therefore directed to amuse the enemy in front of Buzzard's
Roost, while McPherson, with the Army of the Tennessee, moved
rapidly south through Snake Creek Gap and seized Resaca, a station
on the railroad, eighteen miles below Dalton. Should this manoeuvre
be successfully executed, the rebel army would be attacked in flank
and rear, and its retreat upon its base, Atlanta, effectually cut off.
The superior strength of Sherman gave him opportunities for move
ments of this nature, of which we shall see that he frequently availed
himself. On the 7th of May, Thomas occupied Tunnel Hill with little re
sistance, pushing the enemy's cavalry well into the defile below, and
on the succeeding day, demonstrated with great activity against John
ston's position, while McPherson, on the 8th, surprised the enemy at
Snake Creek Gap. On the 9th, Thomas renewed his demonstration
on Buzzard's Roost, and a portion of the Fourth Corps, Howard's,
carried Rocky Faced Ridge. These movements, though unavailable
to force the strong position of the enemy, occupied him in front and
enabled McPherson to march within a mile of Resaca, which he found
too strong to be carried by assault. Accordingly he fell back upon
Snake Creek Gap to await the arrival ofthe main army. On the 10th,
Thomas was ordered to send Hooker's Corps to Snake Creek Gap in
support of McPherson, and to follow with another corps, the Four
teenth, Palmer's, leaving Howard with the Fourth Corps to continue
to threaten Dalton in front, while the rest of the army moved rapidly
through Snake Creek Gap. On the same day, Schofield was ordered
to follow by the same route, and on the llth the whole army, except
ing Howard's Corps, and some cavalry left to watch Dalton, was in
motion on the west side of Rocky Faced Ridge for Snake Creek Gap
and Resaca. The next day the army moved against Resaca, McPher
son on the direct road, preceded by Kilpatrick's Cavalry; Thomas to
come up on his left, and Schofield on his. Kilpatriok, while moving
in the advance, was disabled by a wound received in a cavalry skir-

570 HISTOET OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
mish. McPherson drove in the enemy's pickets near Resaca on the
13th, and occupied a range of hills in front of the town, with his right
on the Oostanaula River. Thomas on his left faced Camp Creek, a
small affluent of the Oostanaula, and Schofield took a position on
Thomas's left. The enemy, under Johnston, meantime fell back from
Dalton, Howard pressing his rear, to a strong position behind Camp
Creek, and, on May 14th, occupied the defensive works at Resaca,
with his right on some high chestnut hills to the north of the town.
The enemy lay here behind a line of rifle-pits and earthworks,
which they had thrown across the peninsula formed by the Coosa-
wattie and Conasauga Rivers, which unite near Resaca to form the Oos
tanaula. Hardee held their right, Polk the left, and Hood the centre.
On the 14th of May, Sherman vainly operated to turn the fl^nk of the
enemy in order to prevent their retreat. A vigorous attempt by Palmer
on the left centre to carry the position in hia front resulted in a repulse,
with the loss of seven hundred and fifty-five men. A similar attack
on the left by a column composed of Judah's Division of Schofield's
Corps and Newton's Division of Howard's Corps, assisted finally by
Cox's Division of Schofield's Corps, resulted in driving the enemy from
an outer line of rifle-pits. The fire was kept up until the close of day,
when the enemy, having massed a strong column, fell suddenly upon
Stanley's Division of the Fourth Corps, driving it in confusion from
the hill where it had been posted. The division was saved from rout
by the arrival of Hooker's Corps, which had been ordered round from
the right centre to support the left wing. Meanwhile, McPherson
on the right, taking advantage of the enemy's occupation with this
movement, sent Logan's Corps across Camp Creek, where it carried
a line of rifle-pits in a position which afforded an enfilading fire upon
the rebel works. The approaching night put a stop to active opera
tions, and both parties proceeded to strengthen their positions.
On the morning of May 15th, heavy skirmishing began on our
centre and left centre, under cover of which our troops were formed
on the left for an attack upon the extreme right of the enemy's line,
where an attempt was to be made to secure possession of two fortified
hills which commanded each other, compelling a simultaneous attack
on both. Hooker directed Butterfield's Division to assault, supported
by the divisions of Geary and Williams. Forming under cover of a
ravine in the forest, our troops advanced, covered by heavy skirmish
ing along the whole line ofthe army, and a heavy artillery fire, taking
the enemy at first by surprise, and carrying every thing before them,
until, with the help of their supports, they secured a lodgment in
front of one of the enemy's strongest positions. Here they found
shelter from fire, while the right and left flanks of the work were
raked by our fire and their guns silenced. At about four p. m. an as
sault was made on our new position by Hood's Corps, which was
repulsed with heavy slaughter, and night closed with Hooker still in
possession of the heights he had carried. On the night of the 15th,
the enemy quietly abandoned his works and retreated towards Cal
houn, destroying the bridge across the Oostanaula. Our total loss
in this series of engagements was about eight hundred killed, and

572 HISTOET OP THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
something over four thousand wounded, of whom some two thousand
were so slightly injured that they were fit for duty in two or three
weeks. Our captures amounted to one thousand. Besides these,
eight guns were captured, four qf them fine twelve-pounders. The
rebel loss was about two thousand five hundred.
The army followed in pursuit, on the morning of the 16th, Thomas
by the direct road, McPherson by Lay's Ferry, and Schofield to the
left. The cavalry, under McCook and Stoneman, started in advance of
the infantry. Hooker crossed the river on pontoons near Resaca, and
Schofield in the same way near Pelton, farther to the left. The re
mainder of our army was afterwards thrown across, and on Wednesday,
the 18th, Sherman reached Kingston, twenty-five miles by rail beyond
Resaca. Meanwhile, Rome was occupied by Davis's Division of the
Fourteenth Corps. A large amount of provisions and seven fine iron
works and. machine-shops were secured at Rome, where every thing
appears to have been left undisturbed by the rebels. On Monday
evening, the 1 6th, there was some slight skirmishing with the rebel
rear-guard. On Tuesday, the 17th, our centre reached and passed
Calhoun — the capital of Gordon County, eighty miles northwest of
Atlanta, and sixty miles beyond Chattanooga. Three miles beyond
here, a brisk little fight occurred, the rebels having occupied with their
sharpshooters an octagon cement building, called the " Graves House."
After a fight of two hours, the skirmishers of Newton's Division of
Howard's Corps (Fourth), aided by artillery, succeeded in dislodging
the enemy. Early Wednesday morning (18th), the army was again
upon the march, the Fourth Corps leading the way, and before night
our troops occupied Kingston. The Twentieth and Twenty-third
Army Corps advanced on the left by way of Crossville, skirmishing
heavily by the way. The army here had a few days' rest, while sup
plies were accumulating for a new forward movement. The enemy,
meanwhile, on the 19th, crossed the Etowah, burning the road and
railroad bridges near Cartersville, and fell back upon Allatoona Pass,
in the Etowah Mountains, a position of vast natural strength, and almost
impregnable against a direct advance on Atlanta by railroad.
Sherman, who had previously ordered away the newspaper reporters,
now issued the following circular, which explains its own object, and
also the evil which the previous order had been intended to remedy : —
" Head-Quarters Military Division of the Mississippi, )
" Kingston, Ga., May 20, 1864. J -
"Inasmuch as an impression is afloat that the Commanding General has prohibited
the mails to and from the army, he takes this method of assuring all officers and men
that, on the contrary, he encourages them, by all his influence and authority, to keep
up the most unreserved correspondence with their families and friends. Wherever
they may be, army corps and division commanders should perfect the arrangements to
receive and transmit mails; and all chaplains, staff officers, and captains of companies
should assist the soldiers in communicating with their families.
" What the Commanding General does discourage, is the existence of that class of
men who wiU not take a musket and fight, but Who follow an army to pick up news for
Bale, speculating on a species of information which is dangerous to the army and to our
cause, and who are more used to bolster up idle and worthless officers than to notice
the hard-working and meritorious, whose modesty is generally equal to their courage,
and who scorn to seek the flattery of the press. "W. T. Sherman, Major- General"

HISTOET OP THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 573
Anticipating that the enemy would make a stand at Allatoona Pass
with every chance of success, Sherman resolved to turn it, and for that
purpose made full preparations for a flank movement to the right.
Accordingly, on May 23d, the army was put in motion in a direction
almost due south, Allatoona being more to the east. McPherson
crossed the Etowah at the mouth of Conasene Creek, near Kingston,
and moved for his position to the south of Dallas vid Van Wert.
Davis's Division moved directly from Rome for Dallas by Van Wert.
Thomas took the road vid Euharlee and Burnt Hickory, while Schofield
moved by other roads more to the east, aiming to come up on General
Thomas's left. Thomas's head of column skirmished with the enemy's
cavalry about Burnt Hickory, and captured a courier with a letter
written by Johnston, showing he had detected the move and was pre
paring to meet Sherman about Dallas.
On the 25th May, Thomas was moving from Burnt Hickory for
Dallas, his troops on three roads, Hooker having the advance. When
he approached the Pumpkin Vine Creek, on the main Dallas road, he
encountered the enemy's cavalry at a bridge to his left. He rapidly
pushed them across the creek, saving the bridge, and followed out
eastward about two miles, where he encountered the enemy's line of
battle, and his leading division, Geary's, had a severe combat. It was
near 4 o'clock p. m. before Hooker got his whole corps well in hand,
when he made a bold push to secure possession of a point known as
the '*New Hope" Church, where three roads meet from Acworth,
Marietta, and Dallas. Here he suffered a repulse, with a total loss of
six hundred. On the 26th the enemy was discovered well intrenched
in front of the road leading from Dallas to Marietta. Accordingly,
McPherson was moved up to Dallas, Thomas was deployed against
New Hope Church, and Schofield was directed towards our left, so as
to strike and turn the enemy's right. Garrard's Cavalry operated with
McPherson, and Stoneman with Schofield. McCook looked to our
rear. In consequence ofthe difficult nature ofthe ground, these move
ments required several days. On the 28th, the enemy, taking advan
tage of McPherson's closing on Thomas to his left, assaulted him with
great vigor, but the Federal troops, being behind breastworks, repulsed
him with ease and with comparatively little loss. That of the rebels
exceeded two thousand.
Johnston had selected a position of great natural strength near his
base of supplies — with a rail and three excellent wagon-roads for his
lines of supply — had recruited his army by all the available troops in
his department, and was evidently anxious that Sherman would risk a
general engagement, and in his present position he would have received
battle if it had been offered. A battle would have involved the whole
of both armies. It might have been successful on our part; but the
cost of life and limb would have been immense. Sherman might have
achieved a victory ; but he must in all probability have come out of
the conflict with a shattered, crippled, weakened army. He might be
unable for weeks to resume offensive operations. Then, again, the de
fensive line extending from Dallas northeast to Lost Mountain was not
only the best, but almost the only military position of any great natural

574 HISTOET OP THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
strength north of the Chattahoochee River. If dislodged from that,
Johnston would be compelled to fall back of that river, or fight upon
more equal ground. Such being the situation, General Sherman deter
mined not to attack Johnston in his intrenchments, and to force him
to abandon them.
' It being determined to change position so as to force Johnston into
the field, after a few days' delay, Sherman renewed orders to McPher
son to move to his left about five miles and occupy Thomas's position
in front of New Hope Church, and Thomas and Schofield were ordered
to move a corresponding distance to their left. This move was effected
with ease and safety on the 1st of June, and by pushing the left well
around, Sherman occupied all the roads leading back to Allatoona and
Acworth, after which he pushed Stoneman's Cavalry rapidly into Alla
toona, at the east end of the Pass, and Garrard's Cavalry around by
the rear to the west end of the Pass. Both of these commands reached
the points designated without trouble, and we thereby accomplished
the real purpose bf turning the Allatoona Pass. Our line was about
seven miles in length. The extreme right, held by the Army of the
Tennessee, was the longest relatively, and the weakest.
Contemporaneous with the withdrawal of the right wing, or imme
diately after its discovery, the rebels changed the position of their left,
Hardee's Corps being moved to the centre. About midnight of June
4th, General Logan received information that the enemy in his front
were evacuating their works and moving in some direction. The night
was rainy and very dark. Logan gave orders to advance his skirmish
ers so soon as it should be light enough to move. The line moved
about four, and found the works in the front of his corps entirely aban
doned and his whole force withdrawn, save a few pickets, who were
captured. Johnston was too shrewd to be cut off from his base, and
on the 4th, discovering the Union troops moving round his right flank,
he abandoned his position, and moved eastward to the railroad, to
cover Marietta.
On the 6th the Army of the Tennessee marched at daylight to Ac-
worth, on the railroad, some fifteen or sixteen miles northwest of
Marietta by rail, and two-thirds that distance on a straight line. Thus
Johnston was again obliged by General Sherman's strategy to abandon
a strong position, and move out of his carefully and thoroughly prepared
fortifications. Sherman, having examined Allatoona Pass, resolved to
make it a secondary base.
Here, on the 7th, was Sherman, in sight of the enemy's signal stations
at Lost Mountain — on the direct road from Dallas to Marietta, seven
miles from the latter place — and Kenesaw Mountain, ten miles from
Lost Mountain, a little east of north from it, on the railroad. These
two points were the right and left of the enemy's position, their army
stretching along the_ hills between the two. They are detached peaks,
overlooking the plain beyond, and connected by a ridge, or series of
low hills. Kenesaw Mountain, the larger of the two, rises to an eleva
tion of one thousand eight hundred and twenty-eight feet above the
sea-level, extending some nine hundred yards on its summit from north
east to southwest. It is situated two and one-half miles northwest of

HISTOET OP THE GEEAT EEBELLION.

575

Marietta, and directly upon the line of the railroad, which here makes
a bend to the east, to escape the mountain. Lost Mountain, whose
isolated situation explains its name, lies some miles west of southwest
of Marietta, directly north of the railroad running from that_ place to
Dallas. Between Kenesaw and Lost Mountain, and half a mile to the
north, is Pine Mountain, a lesser elevation, constituting the apex of a
triangle, of which the other two may be said toform the base. The
three hills and their connecting ridges were fortified, and afforded an
admirable defensive position against an attacking army.
On the 9th of June the army was once more put in motion for At
lanta. By means of the railroad, which was kept in good running
order from Chattanooga to the front, supplies of all kinds had come
forward in abundance, and on the 8th the Seventeenth Army Corps,
General Blair, reached Acworth, and was incorporated with the Army
of the Tennessee. It compensated for Union losses in battle and for
garrisons left at Rome, Kingston, and elsewhere, and Sherman was
enabled to renew the attack upon his wary adversary with as strong a
force as at the commencement ofthe campaign. The order, of advance
was now somewhat different from that previously observed during the
campaign, McPherson being shifted to the left wing and Schofield to
the right, while Thomas still held the centre. McPherson was ordered
to move towards Marietta, his right on the railroad, Thomas on Kene
saw and Pine Mountains, and Schofield off towards Lost Mountain ;
Garrard's Cavalry being on the left, Stoneman's on the right, while
McCook looked to our rear and communications. Our dep6t was at
Big Shanty.
By the llth of June our lines were close up, and dispositions were
made to break the line between Kenesaw and Pine Mountains. Hooker
was on its right and front, Howard on its left and front, and Palmer be
tween it and the railroad. During a sharp cannonading from Howard's
right or Hooker's left, the rebel general Polk * was killed on the 14th,
and on the morning ofthe 15th Pine Mountain was found abandoned by
the enemy. Thomas and Schofield advanced, and found him again
strongly intrenched along the line of rugged hills connecting Kenesaw
and Lost Mountain. At the same time McPherson advanced his line,
gaming substantial advantages on the left. Pushing our operations on
the centre as vigorously as the nature of the ground would permit, an
assault was ordered on the centre. On the 17th, the enemy abandoned
Lost Mountain and the long line of admirable breastworks connecting it

* Leonidas Polk was born in Raleigh, North
Carolina, in 1806, and graduated at West Point in
1827, but resigned his commission in the army in
the same year, in order to study for the ministry.
In 1S80 he was ordained a deacon of the Protestant
Episcopal Church; in 18S8 he was consecrated
Missionary Bishop of Arkansas and the Indian
Territory south of 86° 80', and In 1841 he became
Bishop of Louisiana, lie embraced with ardor
the doctrines of secession, was commissioned a
major-general in the rebel army, and until the
spring of 1862 held command in Tennessee and
Kentucky. He commanded a division at Shiloh,
and, during the siege of Corinth, participated in
Bragg's invasiAn of Kentucky in the autumn of
1862, and distinguished himself at the hard-fought

battle of Murfreesboro'. For alleged disobedience
of orders at the battle of Chickamauga, whereby,
according to General Bragg, the Union army was
oliine saved from annihilation, he was placed
under temporary arrest. In the early part of
1864 he regained his prestige by skilful disposi
tions to prevent the junction of Sherman and
Smith in Mississippi, and In consequence was
appointed to command a corps in Johnston's
army. He was killed by a cannon-shot while
reconnoitring on Pine Mountain. ' At the time
of his death" he held the rank of lieutenant-gen
eral in the rebel service. He never resigned his
diocese, and intended, at the close of the war, to
resume his episcopal functions.

576 HISTOET OP THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
with Kenesaw, to prevent being flanked by Schofield, who had wheeled
around Pine Knob, and was pressing along the Dallas and Marietta road.
An additional motive for this movement was found in the fact that while
our forces had been so successfully at work upon their centre and left,
McPherson on our left had put them in a dangerous position on their
right, pressing it on that flank beyond Big Shanty and Brush Moun
tain. Sherman continued to press at all points, skirmishing in dense
forests of timber and across most difficult ravines, until the enemy
was found again strongly posted and intrenched, with Kenesaw as his
salient, his right wing thrown back to cover Marietta, and his left behind
Nose's Creek, covering his railroad back to the Chattahoochee. This
enabled him to contract his lines and strengthen them accordingly.
Our right, meanwhile, forced its way across and two miles beyond
Nose's Creek, on the Dalton and Marietta road. This creek it had
been found impossible to cross before, because ofthe swollen condition
of the stream. The stream was to be crossed by a bridge, close beyond
which the rebels had a heavy line of skirmishers to repel any attempt
to cross. In the face of a raking fire of musketry, four regiments
charged over the bridge at a double-quick, driving the enemy before
them, and making way for our advance forces. No serious opposition
appears, however, to have been made to this advance, the rebel left
being already refused Their position in front of our right to the
northeast remained at this time unchanged, their troops resting there
behind strong works. Our centre had worked up the base of Kene
saw Mountain, and had carried some knobs west ofthe mountain,. thus
securing a position for an annoying enfilading fire upon the mountain.
These points, which had been lost by the enemy through negligence,
were held by our troops so firmly that all efforts to dislodge them
were in vain.
Kenesaw Mountain is made up of two elevations, joined almost at
their summits, one being about eight hundred feet high and the other
about one hundred feet higher. Looking at them from the north
side, they have the appearance of two immense mounds, surrounded
at the base by gentle irregularities of surface adapted to every depart
ment of agricultural labor. The outline of the mountain rises on the
east side rather gradually, describing almost a half circle, thence fall
ing upon the west, about two hundred feet. The other portion joins
the first and rises to a still greater height, and being a trifle more
irregular. On the west side it then loses itself somewhat abruptly in
a small valley beyond, by which the country is deprived of a moun
tainous character. The base of the Kenesaw is about four miles from
east to west, drawing a straight line, and in breadth is about one mile.
Its sides are covered with thick forests, brush, and rock and bowlders
of various dimensions. It Avould be impossible to take it in front.
The defences of the mountain consisted of a line of works on the
summit, upon which were erected several batteries. Upon the sides,
single guns were located at commanding, points. The flanks of the
mountain were held by heavy bodies of infantry and artillery, and its
rear was protected in a similar manner.
It was no longer possible for our wings to make a further advance

HISTOET OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 577
without cutting themselves loose from the centre, whose further prog
ress was stayed by the formidable defences of Kenesaw Mountain,
the enemy on which was watched by McPherson, working his left
forward, while Thomas was swinging as it were on a grand left wheel,
his left on Kenesaw, connecting with General McPherson, and General
Schofield was all the time working to the south and east along the old
Sandtown road.
On the 22d, as Hooker had advanced his line, with Schofield on his
right, the enemy, Hood's Corps, with detachments from the others,
suddenly sallied and attacked. The blow fell mostly on Williams's
Division of Hooker's Corps, and a brigade of Hascall's Division of
Schofield's army. The enemy was badly repulsed. This was the
affair of " Kulp's house." It was now that Sherman, smarting under
the imputation that he would not attack fortified lines, but depended
upon overwhelming numbers to outflank, determined to risk an attack.
Accordingly, on June 24th, he issued orders for an attack to take
place June 27th. The general point selected was the left centre ;
because, if a strong column could be pushed through at that point
boldly and rapidly two and one-half miles, it would reach the railroad
below Marietta, cut off the enemy's right and centre from its line of
retreat, and then either part could be overwhelmed and destroyed.
Accordingly at the appointed time the Seventeenth Corps (Blair's)
circled the eastern point of the mountain and threatened the enemy's
right. The Sixteenth Corps (Dodge's), next on the right, assaulted
the heights on the northern slope of the mountain ; the Fifteenth
(Logan's) the western slope of the mountain. On the centre, Davis's
Division of the Fourteenth Corps and Newton's of the Fourth consti
tuted the assaulting column, supported on the right by Geary and But
terfield of Hooker's Corps. On the extreme right of our line was
stationed Schofield, who moved forward his whole force, driving the
enemy from a line of light works. The position to be attempted
offered but a desperate chance of success. On the summit of the
rugged mouutain peak, covered with a dense growth of underbrush,
the enemy had stationed a battery of twelve guns, from which they
maintained a withering cross-fire on our troops engaged in forcing a
' passage up the steep sides of the mountain, and over the abatis and
rifle-pits behind which the enemy lay sheltered. The utmost efforts
of the men could not avoid a repulse. The Union loss, as reported by
Logan, was three thousand five hundred and twenty-one. Generals
Harker and McCook were among the slain.
General Sherman did not rest long under this failure, and Schofield
was ordered to press strongly on the left, while, on July lstrMcPher-
Bon, being relieved by Garrard's Cavalry in front of Kenesaw, moved
with his whole army by the right, threatening Nickajack Creek and
Turner's Ferry on the Chattahoochee. Stoneman was sent to the river
below Turner's. The result was the retreat of the enemy on; the- night
of July 2d. At half-past eight a. m., July 3d, Sherman entered Mari
etta. Logan's Corps of General McPherson's army, which- had not
moved far, was ordered back into Marietta by the main road, and Mc
Pherson and Schofield were instructed to cross Nickajack and attack
37

578 HISTOET OP THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
the enemy in flank and rear, and, if possible, to catch him in the con
fusion of crossing the Chattahoochee ; but Johnston had foreseen and
provided against all this, and had covered his movement well. He
had intrenched a strong tete de pont at the Chattahoochee, with an
advanced intrenched line across the road at Smyrna camp-meeting
ground, five miles from Marietta.
Here Thomas found him, his front covered by a good parapet, and
his flank behind the Nickajack and Rottenwood Creeks. Ordering a
garrison for Marietta, and Logan to join his own army near the mouth
of Nickajack, Sherman overtook Thomas at Smyrna. On the 4th of
July he pushed a strong skirmish line down the main road, capturing
the entire line of the enemy's pits, and made strong demonstrations
along Nickajack Creek and about Turner's Ferry. This had the de
sired effect, and the next morning the enemy was gone, and the army
moved to the Chattahoochee, Thomas's left flank resting on it near
Paice's Ferry, McPherson's right at the mouth of Nickajack, and Scho
field in reserve. The enemy lay behind a line of unusual strength, cov
ering the railroad and pontoon bridges, and beyond the Chattahoo
chee. The operations of General Sherman had been greatly harassed by
the movements of guerrillas, land on his arrival in the neighborhood
of Marietta he issued the following letter to the people of Tennessee and
Georgia, living within the limits of the Department of the Cumber'
land, for their information, as expressing the sentiments of the depart
ment commander : —
<* " Head-Quarters Military Division' op the )
" Mississippi, in the Field, Big Shanty, [¦
"Georgia, June 21, 1864. )
" General Burbridge, Commanding Division of Kentucky :
" General : — The recent raid of Morgan, and the concurrent acts of men styling
themselves Confederate partisans or guerrillas, calls for determined action on our part.
" Even on the Southern ' State Bights ' theory, Kentucky has not seceded. Her
people, by their vote and their actions, have adhered to their allegiance to the National
Government, and the South would now coerce her out of tho Union and into theirs by
the very dogma of 'coercion' upon which so much stress was laid at the outset of
the war, and which carried into rebellion the people of the Middle or Border Slave

"But politics aside, these acts of the so-called partisans or guerrillas are nothing but
simple murder, horse-stealing, arson, and other well-defined crimes, which do not
sound as well under their true names as more agreeable ones of warlike meaning.
" Now, before starting on this campaign, I foresaw it, and you remember, that this
very case would arise, and I asked Governor Bramlette to at once organize in each
county a small, trustworthy band, under the sheriff, and at one dash arrest every man
in the community who was dangerous to it ; and also every fellow hanging about the
towns, villages, and cross-roads who had no honest calling^ tho material out of which
guerrillas are made up ; but this sweeping exhibition of power doubtless seemed to
the Governor rather arbitrary.
" The fact is, in our country personalMberty has been so well secured that public safety
is lost sight of in our laws and institutions, and the fact is, we are thrown back one
hundred years in civilization, law, and every thing else, and will go right straight to
anarchy and the devil, if somebody dotft arrest our downward progress.
"We, the military, must do it, and we have right and' law on our side. All govern
ments and communities have a right to guard against real and even supposed danger.
The whole people of Kentucky must not be kept in a state of suspense and real dan
ger, lest a few innocent men should be wrongfully accused;

HISTOET OP THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 579
" 1. Tou may order all your post and district commanders that guerrillas are not
soldiers, but wild beasts, unknown to the' usages of war. To be recognized as sol
diers, they must be enlisted, enrolled, officered, uniformed, armed, and equipped, by
recognized belligerent power, and must, if detailed from a main army, be of sufficient
strength, with written orders from some army commander to do some military thing.
Of course we have recognized the Confederate Government as a belligerent power, but
deny their right to our lands, territories, rivers, coasts, and nationality — admitting the
right to rebel and move to some other country, where laws and customs are more in
accordance with their own ideas and prejudices.
" 2. The civil power being insufficient to protect life and property, ex necessitate rei, to
prevent anarchy, ' which nature abhors,' the military steps in, and is rightful, consti
tutional, and lawful. Under this law everybody can be made to ' stay at home and
mind his and her own business,' and, if they won't do that, can be sent away, where
they must keep their honest neighbors in fear of danger, robbery, and insult.
" Tour military commanders, provost-marshals, and other agents may arrest all males
and females who have encouraged or harbored guerrillas and robbers, and you may
cause them to be collected in Louisville, and when you have enough — say three or four
hundred — I will cause them to be sent down the Mississippi through their guerrilla
gauntlet, and by a sailing-ship send them to a land where they may take their negroes
and make a colony, with laws and a future ot their own. If they won't live in peace
in such a garden as Kentucky, why, we will send them to another if not a better land,
and surely this would be a kindness to them, and a God's blessing to Kentucky. ;
" I wish you to be careful that no personalities are mixed up in this, nor does a full
and generous ' love of country,' ' of the South,' of their State or country, form a
cause of banishment, but that devilish spirit which will not be satisfied, and that
makes war the pretext of murder, arson, theft in all its grades, perjury and all the
crimes of human nature.
" My own preference was, and is, that the civil authorities in Kentucky would and
could do this in that State; but, if they will not, or cannot, then we must, for it muse
be done- There must be an 'end to strife,' and the honest, industrious people of
Kentucky, and the whole world, will be benefited and rejoiced at the conclusion, how
ever arrived at.
"I use no concealment in saying that I do not object to men or women having what
they call 'Southern feeling,' if confined to love of country, and of peace, honor, and
security, and even a little family pride, but these become 'crimes' when enlarged to
mean love of murder, of war, desolation, famine, and all the horrid attendants of
anarchy. I am, with respect, your friend,
"W. T. Sherman, Major- General."

CHAPTER LX.
The New Position of the Enemy.— Johnston again Turned and Pushed Back upon
Atlanta.— Rousseau's Raid.— Hood Succeeds Johnston.— Investment of Atlanta.—
Battles of July 20th and 22d.— Death of McPherson.— Cavalry Raids of Stone
man and McCook.— Defeat and Capture of Stoneman.— Battle of July 28th.— Pro
longation of the Union Right "Wing.— Changes of Commanders in Sherman's Army.
The oft-recurring difficulty again presented itself to General Sher
man of the enemy holding a position too strong to be carried by
assault,_even_ with the superior force that the Union general main
tained in spite ofthe continued waste by battle and disease. The
position could only be turned by crossing the rapid and deep Chatta
hoochee on bridges. It was necessary to move promptly, and Scho
field was ordered to cross at Soap Creek, eight miles above the rail
road bridge. This movement was completed July 7th, and a gun and
some prisoners were captured. At the same time Garrard moved

580

HISTOET OP THE GEEAT EEBELLION'.

with his cavalry upon Roswell, still farther up the river, destroying
some cloth factories that displayed the French flag. He was ordered
to hold the ford at Roswell, but was soon relieved in that duty by a
division of Thomas, until McPherson's Corps was transferred from
the extreme right to the extreme left. By the 9th three good points
of passage had been secured over the Chattahoochee, above the rail
road bridge. Johnston thereupon abandoned his tSte de pont on the
night of the 9th, leaving Sherman master of the country north and
west of Atlanta, and eight miles distant from that place. The Fed
eral army had now been advanced from the line of the Tennessee to the
line of the Chattahoochee, and in view of the long marching and hard
fighting to which they had been subjected, the troops were permitted
to enjoy a few days' repose. Meantime a cavalry force under Rous
seau had been sent to cut the railroad at Opelika, Alabama, lead
ing from Georgia to Alabama and Mississippi. He started on the 10th
of July from Decatur, Alabama, and reached Marietta on the 23d,
having accomplished his mission with considerable success and trifling
loss. Meantime, the long retreat of Johnston having brought him to the
south side of the Chattahoochee, and within eight miles of Atlanta,
vehement demands were made at the South that he should be relieved
of his command. Accordingly, on July 17th, he was succeeded by
General Hood.* The impatience of the Southern people demanded
more vigorous operations than those which had been conducted by
Johnston, who, with a force considerably less than that of Sherman,
had opposed him step by step, as he advanced from Tunnel Hill to the
Chattahoochee, inflicting much loss, without himself sustaining any se
rious disaster. The arduous task imposed upon him was overlooked,
and the fact only was noticed that Sherman had been enabled to press
steadily on, until Atlanta, under the flanking process, was in danger.
A new offensive policy was to be adopted under General Hood, who,
however, was provided with no additional means to carry it out. The
fact that Johnston's army, after~sixty days' retreat, was still considered
available for the duty to be imposed upon it, is a sufficient proof of the
ability of that commander.'
On the 17th of July, Sherman, having rested and recruited his army,
resumed his forward movement. Thomas was ordered to cross at
Powers's and Paice's Ferry bridges, and to march by Buckhead. Scho-

* John B. Hood was born in Bath County, Ken
tucky, in 1S31, and graduated at West Point in
1S58. After seeing considerable service in the
West, he resigned his commission, in April, 1861,
and joiDed the rebel army. He was appointed
colonel of a Texas regiment, in September, and in
the succeeding spring a brigadier-general, and for
gallantry at the battle of Gaines's Mill -was pro
moted to be a major-general. lie commanded n
¦division in Longstreet's Corps in tho second Bull
Bun campaign and in the succeeding battles of
Antietam and Fredericksburg, and at the battle
.of Gettysburg waB severely wounded in the arm.
He accompanied Longstreet to tho West, in the
autumn or 1868, and lost a leg at the battle of
Chickamauga. He was now commissioned a lieu
tenant-general, and appointed to command one of

the threo corps of Johnston's army in Georgia.
In Jnly, 1864, he superseded that general, and on
the 20th, 22d, and 28th of the month had severe
encounters with Sherman in front of Atlanta, in
which he suffered prodigious losses. On Septem
ber 1st, being flanked by Sherman, he evacuated
Atlanta and retired upon McDonough. In Octo
ber he moved against Sherman's communications,
and, passing through Northern Alabama, invaded
Tennessee in the latter part of November. After
the hard-fought battle of Franklin, he moved upon
Nashvilh1, in front of which place he was disas
trously defeated, on December 15th and 16th, by
Thomas, in a series of battles, which broke the
rebel strength in the Southwest. He retreated
into Mississippi with tho remnant of his army, and
in January, 1S65, was relieved of his command.

HISTOET OP THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 581
field, already across at the mouth of Soap Creek, was ordered to march
by Cross Keys, and McPherson was to direct his course from Roswell
straight against the Augusta road at some point east of Decatur, near
Stone Mountain. Garrard's Cavalry acted with McPherson, and Stone
man and McCook watched the river and roads below the railroad. On
the 17th, the whole army advanced from their camps, and formed a gen
eral line along the Old Peach-tree road. McPherson reached the Au
gusta Railroad on the 18th. On Tuesday, July 19th, a reconnoissance
was pushed forward as far as Peach-tree Creek, an insignificant stream
rising five or six miles northwest of Atlanta, and flowing southwest
erly to the Chattahoochee, near the railroad bridge northwest of At
lanta. Behind this stream the rebels lay sheltered and awaiting our
approach. They sought by stratagem to take General Sherman at a
disadvantage. But a show of opposition was made to the passage of
Peach-tree Creek, and our whole army were soon across and in line of
battle, the Fourteenth Corps, Palmer's, and the Twentieth, Hooker's,
on the right ; Newton's Division' of the Fourth Corps, Howard's, on the
right centre ; the Tw.enty-third, Schofield's, on the centre ; the Six
teenth, Dodge's, on the left centre ; and in reserve, the Fifteenth, Lo
gan's, and the Seventeenth, Blair's, on the right. Our right was car
ried by Garrard's Cavalry Division.
On the 20th, all the armies had closed in, converging towards At
lanta ; but as a gap existed between Schofield and Thomas, two divi
sions of Howard's Corps of Thomas's Army were moved to the left to
connect with Schofield, leaving Newton's Division of the same corps
on the Buckhead road. Meantime, the main body of the enemy lay
concealed in the woods in front, prepared to assail our columns while
changing position and unprepared. They hoped by massing against
our weakened centre to break through there, dividing our army in
twain, and leaving both wings open to attack. It was a well-laid
scheme, and one that seems to have failed as much from fortuitous
circumstances as from preparation on our part. At four o'clock, their
columns emerged from the concealment of the woods, advancing with
out skirmishers against our lines.
The attack took Newton by surprise, but, being behind a line of
hastily-erected rail-piles, his men were almost instantly rallied, and
held the enemy in check, with the assistance of twelve guns which
they were fortunately able to get into position on the left, where the
rebels were pressing to cut off their retreat. Four guns were also now
in position on Newton's right, where they rendered important service.
Almost at the instant of the attack on Newton, the advance division
of Hooker, under Geary, was struck by the advancing columns of the
enemy and hurled back in confusion. But they, too, ultimately rallied
and recovered their former position, closing up the gap through which
the enemy had entered. On Newton's right, "Ward was advancing
with his division, when the enemy were discovered charging upon
him. With promptitude the order was given to meet the charge with
counter-charge, the two columns mingling in battle, and the enemy being
finally driven back. Farther to the right, next to Geary, Williams's
Division was engaged, and suffered more or less. By nine o'clock in

582 HISTOET OP THE GEEAT EEBELLIOK.
the evening, the enemy, thoroughly repulsed in every attack, had fallen
back to his intrenchments, leaving many of his dead and wounded
and a thousand prisoners in our hands. His total loss was estimated
by Sherman at five thousand. Our loss is summed up officially as fol
lows : Williams's Division, six hundred and twenty-seven ; Geary's
Division, four hundred and fifty-one ; Ward's Division, five hundred
and twenty-seven-^total, one thousand six hundred and five. Newton's
Division (official), one hundred and two ; Fourteenth Corps, two hun
dred — total loss, one thousand nine hundred and seven.
On the night ofthe 21st, the day succeeding the assault, the enemy's
line on Peach-tree Creek was drawn in and shortened, their forces
being massed for a second assault, this time on our left wing, our right
having defied their stubborn attempt to turn it. Though the noise of
their movement was heard in our lines, its full meaning was not dis
covered, the withdrawal of the enemy from their main line of fortifica
tions, one and a half miles nearer Atlanta, seeming to follow legiti
mately from the repulse they had received on our right. But it was
soon evident that Hood, determined on another assault, had sought,
by retiring, to drag us on farther, that he might again attack our lines
before they had opportunity to re-form in their new position nearer
Atlanta. The first impression of General Sherman, when the lines of the ene
my were found to be abandoned, on the morning of the 22d, was that
it was no longer the intention of Hood to defend Atlanta. Accordingly,
our advancing ranks swept across the strong and well-finished parapet .
of the enemy, and closed in upon Atlanta, until they occupied a line in
the form of a circle of about two miles radius, where the enemy was
again found, occupying in force a line of finished redoubts, which had
been prepared for more than a year, covering all the» roads leading
into Atlanta, and busy in connecting these redoubts with curtains
strengthened by rifle-trenches, abatis, and chevaux-de-frise. McPher
son, who had advanced from Decatur, continued to follow substantially
the railroad, with the Fifteenth Corps, Logan, the Seventeenth, Blair,
on its left, and the Sixteenth, Dodge, on its right ; but as the general
advance of all the armies contracted the circle, the Sixteenth Corps
was thrown out of line by the Fifteenth connecting on the right with
Schofield, who held the centre. Meantime, McPherson, on the night of
the 21st, had gained a high hill to the south and east of the railroad,
whence the Seventeenth Corps had, after a severe fight, driven the
enemy, which gave him a commanding position within easy view of
the very heart of the city. He had thrown out working parties to it,
and was making preparations to occupy it in strength with batteries.
The Sixteenth Corps, on the morning of the 22d, was ordered from
right to left to occupy this position and make it a strong general left
flank, and Dodge moved his men by a diagonal path or wagon track
leading from the Decatur road in the direction of Blair's left flank.
While this _ movement of Dodge was going on, the enemy, under
Hardee, had issued out of Atlanta, and, making a wide circuit to the
east, enveloped Blair's left flank, and struck Dodge's column in
motion. Blair's line was substantially along the old line of rebel

HISTOET OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.

583

trench, but it was fashioned to fight outward. A sppce of wooded
ground of near half a mile intervened betweeto the head of Dodge's
column and Blair's line, through which the enemy had poured, and to
fill which Wangelin's Brigade of the Fifteenth Corps was by General
McPherson ordered across from the railroad. It came across on the
double-quick and checked the enemy, though not in time to prevent
the capture of Murray's Battery of regular artillery, which was moving
past, unsuspicious of danger. While Hardee attacked in flank, Stew
art's Corps was to attack in front, directly out of the main works,
but fortunately these two attacks were not simultaneous. The enemy
swept across the hill which our men were then fortifying, and captured
the pioneer company, its tools, and almost the entire working party,
and bore down on our left until he encountered Giles A. Smith's Di
vision ofthe Seventeenth Corps, who was somewhat " in air," and forced
to fight first from one side of the old rifle parapet, and then from the
other, gradually withdrawing, regiment by regiment, so as to form a
flank to General Leggett's Division, which held the apex of the hill,
which was the only part that was deemed essential to hold. The line,
thus formed by the connection of Smith by his right with Leggett, was
enabled for four hours to meet and repulse all the enemy's attacks,
which were numerous and persistent. The obstinacy with which the
ground was held discouraged the enemy, and at four o'clock he gave
up the attempt. In the mean time, Wheeler's Cavalry fell upon Gen-<
eral Sprague at Decatur, where the trains of the Army of the Tennes
see were parked. Sprague succeeded in bringing them off, however,
with the exception of three wagons.
Meantime, McPherson,* who at ten o'clock in the morning was in
consultation with General Sherman at head-quarters, rode to the front
on hearing the firing, and having sent off his staff with various orders,

* James B. McPherson was born in Sandusky
County, Ohio, in November, 1S28, and graduated
at We8t Point in 1853, joining the Engineer Corps
as brevet seco d lieutenant. Until September,
1354, he was assistant instructor of practical en
gineering at the Military Academy. From that
time till August, 1S61, he was engaged, first on
tho defences of New York Harbor, next in facili
tating the navigation of the Hudson, next in con
structing: Fort Delaware, and finally in fortifying
Alcatraz Island, in San Francisco Bay. He be
came full second lieutenant in December, 1854,
and first lieutenant in December. 1858. In August,
1861, he was ordered from California to attend to
the defences of Boston Harbor. Soon after, he
got his captaincy, dating from August, 1861. In
November, 1861, he became aide-do-camp to Gen
eral Halleck, with the rank of lieutenant colonel,
and was chief engineer of the Army of the Ten
nessee, under Grant, in the reduction of Forts
Henry and Donelson, receiving for his service a
nomination as brevet major of engineers, to date
February 16th, 1862. He was a Shiloh, and for
services there rendered was nominated for a
brevet colonelcy of engineers, to date April 7th,
1362. He had, as colonel on Halleck's staff, the
chief engineering charge of the approaches to
Corinth, which ended in its evacuation. On tho
15th of May, 1862, he became brigadier-general of
volunteers, and, the next month, superintended
with great skill all the military railroads in Gen
eral Grant's department. He was at Iuka, and

again at Corinth in October, 1S62, acting with so
much gallantry as to be promoted to a major-
generalcy, to date from October 8d. From that
time till the close ofthe siege of Vicksburg, when
his engineering powers came into full play, his
career was a course of triumph. At the recom
mendation of General Grant, he was made a briga
dier-general ofthe regular army, with rankdating
from August 1st, 1862. Two months later he
conducted a column into Mississippi, and repulsed
the enemy at Canton. In February, 1864, he was
second In command to Sherman, in the latter'a
famous, movable column, which marched from
Vicksburg to Meridian. Finally, in the first At
lanta campaign, his command was the Department
of the Tennessee, including the Fifteenth, Six
teenth, and Seventeenth Corps, constituting the
flanking force which, moving rapidly on one or
the other wing, was employed to force tho enemy
back to Atlanta. In some respects, the burden
of the campaign, next under Sherman, fell on him.
He fought ntUesnca, and the battle near Dallas
was wholly his. At Allatoona and Culp Farm he
was again distinguished, was actively though not
hotly engaged at Kenesaw, and on the 17th he
cut the line between Lee and Johnston by occupy
ing Decatur on tho Augusta Railroad. Three days
later he fought a severe battle, from which he
came out only to fall, shot through the lungs,
early in the day of Friday, July 22a, at the early
age of thirty-six years.

584 HISTOET OP THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
the last of which was that to Wangelin, to fill the gap between Dodge
and Blair's line, turned into a narrow cross-road leading to the rear of
Smith's Division. He had not gone far when a volley from the enemy,
whose skirmish line -had crept up to this road, struck him from his
horse. He was shot through the lungs, and fell deadj General John
A. Logan, commanding the Fifteenth Corps, then temporarily assumed
command of the Army of the Tennessee.
At four p. m., a pause occurred in the battle, occasioned by Hood's
massing troops for an assault on the Fifteenth Corps, which held the
right ofthe Army of the Tennessee behind substantial breastworks.
At four p. m., while a feigned attack was maintained agamst the Union
left, a heavy force suddenly appeared in front of the left of the Fif
teenth Corps, driving before it a couple of regiments of skirmishers,
and capturing two guns. Pushing rapidly on, it forced Lightburn,
who held this part of the line, back in disorder, taking from him a
twenty-pounder Parrott and four guns, and separated Wood's and
Harrow's Divisipns of the Fifteenth Corps. Sherman, being present,
ordered some batteries of Schofield to a position that commanded a
flank fire upon the enemy. The Fifteenth Corps was then ordered to
regain the lost ground at any cost. This, after a desperate struggle,
was successful, and the enemy retired with heavy loss, carrying off
only the two guns originally captured. The battle terminated with a
Federal loss of three thousand seven hundred and twenty-two, killed,
wounded, and prisoners, and ten guns. The enemy's loss equalled,
ifitdidnot exceed, twelve thousand, including over three thousand
killed and three thousand prisoners. They also lost eighteen stands of
colors and five thousand stands of arms.
On the 23d, Garrard, who had been dispatched to Covington, on the
Augusta road, forty-two miles east of Atlanta, returned, having suc
ceeded in destroying the bridges at Ulcofauhatchee and Yellow Rivers,
besides burning a train of cars, a large quantity of cotton (two thou
sand bales), and the d6pots of stores at Covington and Conyer's Station.
Sherman now addressed himself to the task of reaching the Macon
road, over which of necessity came the stores and ammunition that alone
maintained the Confederate army in Atlanta. For this purpose a new
movement by the Army ofthe Tennessee was ordered. It was to pro
ceed by the right towards East Point, a station on the Atlanta and
Macon Railroad, southwest of Atlanta, while simultaneously the whole
ofthe cavalry was to strike a blow at the Macon road. The leaders
of this raid were Stoneman and McCook, of whom the former had a
force of five thousand men, comprising his own division and that of
Garrard, and the latter a force of four thousand, comprising his own
troopers and the cavalry of Rousseau, just returnedfrom Opelika. Stone
man was to move by the left around Atlanta to McDonough, and
McCook by the right on Fayetteville, and both were to meet on the
night of July 28th, on the Macon road, near Lovejoy's. It was sup
posed that this joint force would be equal to any thing that Wheeler
could bring against it.
Previous to starting, Stoneman asked permission to extend his raid
to Macon and Andersonville, with a view of releasing the Union pris-

HISTOET OP THE GEEAT EEBELLI05T. 585
oners confined there. After some hesitation, Sherman consented, on
the condition that Wheeler's Cavalry should first be put hors de combat,
and the railroad effectually destroyed. On the 27th the two expedi
tions started forth, but Stoneman almost immediately pushed for the
neighborhood of Macon, ninety miles distant, where he arrived on the
30th ; Garrard remaining at Flat Rock to cover the movement. The
enemy appear, however, to have been fully apprised of his design, and
had sent all the prisoners from Macon to Charleston. Meanwhile, the
rebel General Iverson, who had been on Stoneman's track since the
27th, overtook him on the 28th, at the junction of South and Yellow
Rivers, some sixty miles northwest of Macon. A spirited fight ensued.
Kelley's and Hume's rebel cavalry fought the command that Stoneman
detached for the purpose of delaying pursuit. Iverson suspected the
manoeuvre, and left Kelley and Hume to finish the fight, while he passed
around the party and continued the pursuit. Stoneman, when he
neared Macon, detached a party to operate on Milledgeville and Ea-
tonton. The country around was very unfavorable for cavalry opera
tions, and it was soon discovered that a brigade of rebel infantry had
wheeled from our flank and hail taken up position along the main route,
thus heading off Stoneman. The rebel Armstrong's Brigade of cavalry,
comprising the First and Second Kentucky, had come down on Stone
man's left flank at the same time, thus, with the troops in his rear, com
pletely surrounding him. Here it happened, by a strange coincidence,
that the First and Second Kentucky of Adams's Brigade were pitted
against their rebel namesakes.
Stonemam now discovered Iverson's command above Clinton, dis
puting his return. He quickly decided that he could not escape on
either flank, and determined to fight through the centre. His com
mand numbered nearly twenty-five hundred men, a portion of whom
were dismounted, and sent forward as skirmishers. The enemy con
tinued to press him more closely, and, after various fruitless attempts
to make head against them, orders were given to the commanders of
regiments to break through the opposing lines and escape in the
readiest manner possible. Stoneman himself, with several hundred
men and a section of artillery, remained to occupy the attention of the
enemy, but was finally overpowered and obliged to surrender. Of his
three brigades, one returned uninjured, one was somewhat scattered,
but eventually found its way back to the Union lines, and the third
was captured with him. Garrard's Division proceeded farther than
Covington on the Augusta Railroad. Stoneman's total loss probably
exceeded a thousand men, with three guns.
Meantime, McCook with his force reached the rendezvous at the ap
pointed time, after having burned five hundred wagons and gathered
up several hundred prisoners. The enemy collecting around him, how
ever, he moved to Newman upon the Atlanta and West Point road.
Here he was hemmed in, and was obliged to drop his captures and cut
his way out, with the loss of five hundred men. The whole expedition
must be considered a costly failure, as the enemy's communications were
only temporarily interrupted

586

HISTOET OP THE GEEAT EEBELLION.

'- On the 26th of July, General Howard * assumed command ofthe Army
of the Tennessee by order of the President, while General Logan re
turned to his own corps, the Fifteenth. About the same time Hooker
and Palmer were relieved, at their own request, of their commands, and
were succeeded, the former by General Slocum and the latter by Gen
eral Jefferson C. Davis. As Slocum was then in Vicksburg, his nlace
was temporarily filled by General H. S. Williams. General D. S. Stan
ley also succeeded Howard in command of the Fourth Corps.
Meanwhile the army had been making a movement en echelon from
left to right, by which the hne was prolonged due south, facing east.
The right was now held by the Army of the Tennessee, Thomas being
in the centre and Schofield on the left. To protect the Army ofthe Ten
nessee from any sudden attack in flank while this movement was in
progress, Davis's Division of the Fourteenth Corps was posted so as to
be within easy supporting distance of Howard. The enemy, observing
the movement, and perceiving that it was Sherman's intent to swing
around so as to hold the Macon Railroad, massed his troops on the 28th
in the same direction. About noon Stewart's Corps attacked Logan,
who had just got into position on the right, his corps having been the
first detached from its former position on the left. At first the enemy
was successful in his onset, his cavalry turning our flank and inflicting
considerable loss. But, by the middle of the afternoon, the fortune of
battle had changed, and our men, aided by hastily-built intrench
ments, repulsed every charge of the enemy. An advance was then
ordered, and the enemy was forced back to his own works, leaving the
field in our possession. The fighting was very severe till nightfall, al
though there was little artillery firing. Our loss was about six hun
dred, and the enemy's nearly five thousand. Had Davis's Division come
up on the Bell's Ferry road, as had been looked for, at any time before
four o'clock, what was simply a complete repulse would have been a
disastrous rout to the enemy.
Meanwhile there was a general advance along the line, biit our
forces were driven back, the enemy being strongly posted. The Fourth
and Fourteenth Corps were hotly engaged, and there was heavy artil
lery firing in their front all day and night, and on the day succeeding.
But night fell upon adivide'd field. Our right was at one time in dan
ger, but was handsomely rescued.

* Oliver Otis Howard was born in Leeds, Maine)
in 1S80, and graduated at Bowdoin College in 1S50,
and at West Point in 1854. He was appointed in
structor of mathematics at the Military Academy
in 1857, but resigned his commission in 1861 to
take command of a regiment of Maine volunteers.
Ho commanded a brigade at Bull Run, and for gal
lant conduct in that battle was commissioned a
brigadier-general of volunteers. He fought at
Williamsburg, lost an arm at Fair Oaks, and after
the battle of Antietam took Sedgwick's Division in
Sumner's Corps. Early in 1868 ne was assigned to
the command of theEleventh Corps. He was pres
ent at ChanceUorsviUe and Gettysburg, and in the
autumn accompanied bis corps to Chattanooga,

participating in the victory of November 25th in
front of that place. Soon afterwards he received
command of the Fourth Corps, and made the cam
paign from Chattanooga to Atlanta. He succeeded
McPherson as commander of the Army of the Ten
nessee, and in the expedition from Atlanta to Sa
vannah be commanded the right wing of Sherman's
army; He also commanded a wing in the march
northward from Savannah which terminated in the
surrender of General Joseph K. Johnston and all
the rebel forces under his command. Since the
conclusion of the war he has held the office of
Commissioner of Freedmen. Ho is a man of
deep religious principles, and has been called the
" Uaveluck. of America,"

HISTOET OP THE GEEAT EEBELLION". 587

CHAPTER LXI.
Siege of Atlanta.— Position ofthe City.— Topography.— The Enemy's Strength.— Sher
man moves to the Right. — Wheeler's Raid. — Kilpatriek's Raid. — Grand Plank
Movement of the Army on the Macon Railroad. — Defeat ofthe Enemy at Jonesboro'.—
Evacuation of Atlanta. — Congratulatory Order of General Sherman. — Truce. — De
population of Atlanta. — Correspondence between Sherman and Hood. — Results of
the Campaign.
With the affair which was described at the close of our last chapter,
the enemy ceased his efforts to prevent the extension of Sherman's right
flank ; but every forward step of the latter was resisted with great force
and skill. Sherman was now settled down to the siege of Atlanta, with
little hope, however, of either taking it by assault or reducing it while
its communications were intact. A description of the locality may not
be here misplaced : As seen from Stone Mountain, a vast elevation of
granite sixteen miles northeast, Atlanta appears situated upon a large
plain, but as the observer descends from this giddy height and travels
in the direction of either point of the compass, his progress is obstructed
by sharp " pitches " and narrow " ravines," through many of which
flow small rivulets. To such an extent is this the character of the sur
face, that scarcely an acre of level ground can be found in the limits of
the city. The soil, where there is any, is light and sandy, with a sub
stratum of red clay. Other portions are gravelly and sterile. The
most of the country is still covered with a heavy growth of timber.
This description holds good until within a few miles north of Marietta,
twenty-one miles north of Atlanta, including Dallas, lying a little north
west of Marietta.
The city is laid out in a circle, two miles in diameter, in the centre of
which was the passenger dep6t, since destroyed by fire, from which ra
diate railroads to every quarter of the South. On the north side of the
depot is a park. Opposite the three vacant sides were situated the
three principal hotels, and in the business portion of the city were many
fine blocks of buildings. Before the war these were mostly filled with
consignments of goods from the large cities of the North aud North
west for the supply of the cotton regions. But the city had become
one vast Government storehouse, containing the machine-shops of the
principal railroads, the most extensive rolling mill in the South, foun-
deries, pistol and tent factories, &c, &c. In addition there were works
for casting shot and shell, making gun-carriages, cartridges, caps, shoes,
clothing, &c, &c. Encircling the city was a line of rifle-pits, nine
miles in length and about thirty inches high, upon slight eminences.
At nearly regular intervals there were planted twelve or fourteen bat
teries. The fortifications were constructed as a defence from raids, and
for the year previous had been manned with a small force.
This line of works had now become very strong, and extended round
the city, within the lines General Sherman had drawn about it. Be
tween the two armies stretched a narrow belt of wooded and hilly
ground, which was the scene of a constant series of skirmishes. The

588 HISTOEY OP THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
enemy had a decided advantage in his fortifications, and the greater
facility of movement afforded by the interior position. The force at the
disposal of General Hood was not, however, large, and he was looking
earnestly for re-enforcements. The strength of his army was not known.
Johnston's veterans, by his official report, June 25th, 1864, numbered
forty-six thousand six hundred and twenty-eight effective men of all
arms, Wheeler's Cavalry included. After that time he received enough
veteran troops and Georgia militia to bring his force up to sixty-five or
seventy thousand men, from which were to be deducted the losses in
subsequent battles. Hood's line of battle extended from Decatur to below
East Point, a distance of fifteen miles. General Sherman had been re-
enforced by convalescents and some new troops, so that his preponder
ance remained about the same as at the commencement of the campaign.
Sherman now resorted to a further prolongation of his line to the
south ward, with a view of getting possessionof the Macon road. On the
1st of August, Schofield marched from the left to a position below
TJtoy Creek, where he joined on to Logan's right, and formed the right
wing of the army. The enemy made corresponding movements. This
process of extending by the right was contmued from the 2d to the 5th,
on which day Cox's Division of Schofield's Corps attacked the enemy's
line a mile below Utoy, and was repulsed with the loss of four hundred
men. On the next day Schofield advanced his whole line, in the hope
of gaining a foothold on either the West Point or Macon Railroad,
but did not succeed.
This movement convinced Sherman that the whole army would re
quire to be moved to reach the Macon road. On the 10th he shelled the
city with four-and-a-half-inch rifled guns as an experiment. On the 1 6th
orders were issued for a grand flank movement on the 18th to Fairbura,
on the West Point road, and thence across to the Macon road at Jones-
boro', twenty-two miles north of Atlanta. This march from Fair-
burn to Jonesboro' would traverse the base of a triangle of which
the east side is the Macon road and the west side the West Point Rail
road, both of which meet at East Point, whence they follow a common
track six miles to Atlanta. This manoeuvre would cut the only two
roads into Atlanta.^ The necessity of moving the whole army grew
out of the superiority of the enemy in cavalry, which was manifested
in the failure of the Union cavalry raids. At this juncture, however,
Hood detached Wheeler with a cavalry force to proceed east and
north and fall upon Thomas's communications at Dalton. Accordingly,
on the 14th of August, Wheeler appeared before Dalton, demanding
its surrender, which_ was refused. Some damage was done tothe lines,
but sufficient protection had been provided to preserve them from danger.
Upon ascertaining this movement, Sherman supposed that the detach
ment of Wheeler would deplete the enemy in cavalry so far as to give
the Union army the preponderance. Hence he suspended the general
movement he had contemplated, and ordered Kilpatriok, who had re
cently returned to duty, to proceed with five thousand cavalry on a raid
against the two railroads. He was partially successful, and returned to
camp on the 22d. _ The damage he had done, however, was nearly all
repaired by that time, and the original grand movement became neces-

HISTOET OP THE GEEAT EEBELLION. t 589
sary. General Sherman therefore renewed the order for a general move
ment on his right on the night of the 25th, when, all things being ready,
the Fourth Corps, Stanley, drew out of its lines on the extreme left,
and marched to a position below Proctor's Creek. The Twentieth
Corps, Williams, moved back to the Chattahoochee. During the night
ofthe 26th the Arrny of the Tennessee continued drawing out and mov
ing rapidly by a circuit well towards Sandtown and across Camp Creek,
the Army of the Cumberland below Utoy Creek, Schofield remaining
inposition. The third move brought the Army of the Tennessee on the
West Point Railroad, above Fairburn, the Army of the Cumberland
about Red Oak, while Schofield closed in near Digs and Mims.
Twelve and one-half miles of railroad were here destroyed, the ties
burned, and the iron rails twisted. The whole army moved, the 29th,
eastward by several roads : Howard on the right, towards Jonesboro' ;
Thomas in the centre, by Shoal Creek ; Church to Couch's, on the Decatur
and Fayetteville road ; and Schofield on the left, about Morrow's Mills.
The movement proceeded with signal success, and Howard, on the
evening of the 30th, passed Flint River and halted within half a mile
of Jonesboro'. Hood now began to understand the object of Sher
man's movement; but still ignorant, apparently, that nearly the whole
Union army was moving upon his communications, he contented him
self with sending Hardee's and Lee's Corps to Jonesboro', where they
intrenched, while he remained in Atlanta with Stewart's Corps and the
militia. On the morning of August 31st, Howard finding himself in
the presence of a heavy force of the enemy, he deployed the Fifteenth
Corps and disposed the Sixteenth and Seventeenth on its flanks. The
men covered their front with the usual parapet, and were soon pre
pared to act offensively or defensively, as the case called for. On the
morning ofthe 31st, Kilpatriok took a strong position on a hill in front
of the Fifteenth Corps, which the rebels had occupied with a picket
line and a few skirmishers. During the forenoon Kilpatriok ascertained
that the enemy were massing infantry and cavalry in his front and on
his left flank. To meet and check this movement, two regiments of
infantry were sent from Osterhaus's command, First Division, Fifteenth
Corps, and three regiments of infantry from the Third Division, Seven
teenth Corps, as supports ; and at the same time a brigade from the
Seventeenth Corps was ordered to take a position in the rear of the
Sixteenth Corps as reserves, in case of an attack from the enemy.
During the forenoon our artillery kept up a ceaseless cannonade upon
the rebel lines for'the purpose of provoking an assault. The enemy's
batteries responded, after a few hours' silence, most vigorously. At
three o'clock on the afternoon of the 31st, S. D. Lee's Corps assaulted
the Fifteenth Corps and a portion of the Sixteenth Corps, advancing
boldly up to our works in three columns, with colors flying- The first
line approached within twenty or thirty yards of Hazen's Second
Division, Fifteenth Corps ; but the deadly fire from our breastworks
caused it to waver badly, and in fifteen minutes it was broken and irrev
ocably lost for that moment. The second line of rebels came to the
rescue, and with yells dashed on to- destruction, for they, too, were
swept away before they reached the impenetrable abatis and deadly

590 HISTOET OP THE GEEAT REBELLION-.
palisades that strengthened our works and rendered a successful charge
an utter impossibility, unless attempted with vastly superior numbers.
The officers endeavored to re-form their lines, with the shattered frag
ments of the first and second lines, and a final desperate attempt was
made to oust the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Corps from their strong
position, but the last assault was the most abortive of all, and the most
disastrous. The enemy lost several general oflicers, including Major-General Ander
son, mortally wounded ; Colonel Williams and Major Barton, killed ;
five colonels, majors, &c, wounded or taken prisoners, besides rank
and file killed, wounded, and captured. Our' loss was slight, as we
fought behind our works. The brunt of the fight fell on Hazen's Di
vision, which captured two flags.
' While this battle was in progress, orders were sent to push the other
movements, and the success of Howard at Jonesboro was simulta
neous with the occupation of the railroad below Rough and Ready by
Schofield, and with the occupation of the road lower down by Stanley.
The whole army was then ordered to close down upon Jonesboro' on
September 1st. The Fourteenth Corps marched along the Macon line,
destroyed the track for several miles, and about four o'clock took up
position on the left of the Fourth Corps, which had now formed in line
of battle.
Orders having been given for the Fourteenth Corps to attack, the
First Division, Carlin commanding, in advance, soon came upon the
enemy's skirmishers, who were driven inside their main line of works.
Carlin's Division formed the left of the Fourteenth Corps, supported
by the Third Division, Baird's, while the Second Division, J. D. Mor
gan, also advanced across a small creek, a branch of Flint River.
While this movement was in progress, the enemy evidently divined
our intentions, and opened some twenty guns on Morgan's lines, scat
tering shells among his men at a terrible rate. Morgan now ordered
up the Fifth Wisconsin Battery, and very soon quite an artillery duel
was in progress, which lasted nearly half an hour ; the firing being
greatly augmented in its destructiveness by the guns of an Illinois bat
tery, which enfiladed almost the entire length of the rebel works. So
hot was the fire from these two batteries that in less than thirty minutes
the rebel artillerists, with their infantry support, were driven from their
guns in haste, but not until a number ofthe officers were either wounded
or killed. In the mean time the whole of the Fourteenth Corps was
posted in strong positions, with the Second Division on the right, First
Division on the left, with the left resting on the Macon Railroad, and the
Third Division in reserve. At half-past three o'clock p. m., Carlin at-
ta eked the enemy's works, situated on a rising knoll in the ed ge of a piece
of dense woods, but was repulsed. Major Edith, commanding a brigade
of regulars, was next ordered to attack, supported by Carlin's Division.
This brigade moved up to the rebel works in gallant style, eliciting
commendation from all ; but the enemy suddenly hurled a superior force
of fresh troops upon them, and they were obliged to retire or be cap
tured. At four o'clock the entire Fourteenth Corps attacked with great
impetuosity the rebel works in two lines. One brigade of the Third

HISTOET OP THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 591
Division went into the fight, while the balance of the division supported
the movement. Carlin, with the First Division, and the Third Brigade
of the Second Division, struck the enemy's works first, followed by
Morgan's troops, and with such impetuosity was the attack de
livered that a portion of the line was carried, and two batteries-
one Loomis's celebrated battery, taken from us at Chickamauga, of
five guns, and another of four guns — fell into our hands. Amongthe
prisoners captured was Brigadier-General Govan of Cleburne's Division,
with eight hundred and eighty commissioned and, non-commissioned
officers and privates. Upon the approach of nighC Hardee gathered
up the shattered remnants of his own and Lee's Corps,_ and fell back
seven miles to Lovejoy's, where he intrenched and awaited the arrival
of Hood, who, after the success of Sherman's movement was ascer
tained, could no longer hope to hold Atlanta.
At the break of day on September 2d, Sherman, finding the enemy
had retreated, put his whole army in motion and followed in pursuit,
his object being to get between Hood and Hardee, and thus cut off
either party. Thomas followed to the left of the railroad, Howard on
its right, and Schofield kept off about two miles to the east. The
enemy was overtaken again near Lovejoy's Station, in a strong in
trenched position, with his flanks well protected behind a branch of
Walnut Creek to the right, and a confluent of the Flint River to his
left. The position appeared to Sherman too strong to carry without
immense loss, and as the news now reached him that Hood had evac
uated Atlanta on the 1st, he desisted from further attack, and, on the
4th, moved the army by easy marches back to the neighborhood df its
former camping-grounds. The grand objective point ofthe campaign hav
ing been secured, he determined to give the troops a few weeks of rest.
Hood, at Atlanta, became aware of the result of the battle at Jones
boro' early on the morning of the 1st iustant, and at once gave the order
for evacuating the city, as his only remaining line of railroad commu
nication was severed, and he was in a precarious condition. Mean
time, Slocum, with the Twentieth Corps, which had remained to
guard the "bridge over the Chattahoochee, seven miles distant, heard
the explosion of ammunition in Atlanta, and rightly conceived the
cause. He gave orders for reconnoissances on the morning of the 2d,
and at five o'clock the advance was made by detachments from Ward's,
Geary's, and Williams's Divisions. They advanced to the city, which
they found evacuated, and entered about eleven o'clock on the morning
of the 1st of September. They were at. once met by a deputation,
comprising the mayor, high sheriff, and citizens, who made a formal
surrender of the town to General Ward, as follows : —
" Capitulation of Atlanta, Geoesia, September 2, 1864. I
" Brigadier-General Ward, Third Division, Twentieth Army Corps: •
" Sir:— The fortune of war has placed the city of Atlanta in your hands. As mayor
of this city, I ask protection for non-combatants and private property.
"James M. Calhoun; Mayor of Atlanta."
The required protection was freely granted. At the same time a
detachment from Wilder's Division, the Eleventh Pennsylvania and
Sixtieth New York, of General Geary's Division, which had entered

592' HISTOET OE THE GEEAT EEBELLlOff.
the town simultaneously with Ward's, hoisted the stars and stripes
upon the- court-house. General Slocum arrived 60on after, and, took
formal possession of the town. Much rebel government property, in
cluding four engines, and fourteen pieces of artillery, chiefly sixty-four-
pounders, which the enemy abandoned, was secured.
The news of the capture of Atlanta caused universal rejoicing, and
elicited from the President a special congratulatory order, and a recom
mendation that the llth of September should be observed as a
day of solemn thanksgiving for this signal success. The following is
General Sherman's address to his troops on the termination of their
arduous and brilliant campaign : —
" Head-Quarters Military Division of Mississippi, )
"In the Field, Atlanta, Ga., September 8, 1884. )
"special held orders, no. 68.
"The officers and soldiers of the Armies of the Cumberland, Ohio, and Tennessee
have already received the thanks of the nation, through its President and Commander-
in-Chief, and it now; remains only for him who has been with you from the beginning,
and who intends to stay all the time, to thank the officers and men for their intelligence,
fidelity, and courage displayed in the campaign of Atlanta.
"On the 1st of May our armies were lying in garrison, seemingly quiet, from
Knoxville to Huntsville, and our enemy lay behind his rocky-faced barrier at Dalton,
proud, defiant, and exulting. He had had time since Christmas to recover from his
discomfiture on the Mission Ridge, with his ranks filled, and a new commander-in-chief,
second to none in the Confederacy in reputation for skill, sagacity, and extreme popu
larity. All at once our armies assumed life and action, and appeared before Dalton;
threatening Rocky Face,, we threw ourselves upon Resaca, and the rebel army only
escaped by the rapidity of its retreat,, aided by the numerous roads with which he was
familiar, and which were strange to us. Again he took position in Allatoona, but we
gave him no rest, and by a circuit towards Dallas, and subsequent movement to Ac-
worth, we gained the Allatoona Pass. Then followed the eventful battles about Kene
saw, and the escape of the enemy across Chattahoochee River.
" The crossing of the Chattahoochee and breaking of the Augusta road was most
handsomely executed by us, and will be studied as an example in the art of war. At
this stage ofthe game our enemies became dissatisfied with their old and skilful com
mander, and selected one more bold and rash. New tactics were adopted. Hood first
boldly and rapidly, on the 20th of July, fell on our right at Peach-tree Creek, and lost.
Again, on the 22d, he struck our extreme left, and was severely punished; and finally,
again on the 28th, he repeated the attempt on our right, and that time must have been
satisfied ; for since that date he has remained on the defensive. We slowly and grad
ually drew our lines about Atlanta, feeling for the railroads which supplied the rebel
army and made Atlanta a place of importance. "We must concede to our enemy that
he met these efforts patiently and skilfully, but at last he made the mistake we had
waited for so long, and sent his cavalry to our rear, far beyond the reach of recall.
Instantly our cavalry was on his only remaining road, and we followed quickly with
our principal army, and Atlanta fell into our possession as the fruit of well-concerted
measures, backed by a brave ahd confident army. This completed the grand task
which had been assigned us by our Government, and your general again repeats his
personal and official thanks to all the officers and men composing this army, for the in
domitable courage and perseverance which alone could give success.
" We have beaten our enemy on every ground he has chosen, and have wrested
from him his own Gate City, where were located his founderies, arsenals, and work
shops, deemed secure on account of their distance from our base, and the seemingly
impregnable obstacles intervening. Nothing is impossible to an army like' this, deter
mined to vindicate a Government which has rights wherever our flag has once floated,
and is resolved to maintain them at any and- all costs.
"In our campaign many, yea, very many of our noble and gallant comrades have
preceded us to our common destination, the grave; but they have left the memory of
/

HISTOET OP THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 593
deeds on which a nation can build a proud history. McPherson, Harker, McCook, and
others dear to us all, are now the binding links in our minds that should attach more
closely together the living, who have to complete the task which still lays before us
in the dim future. I ask all to continue, as. they have so well begun, the cultivation of
thejoldierly virtues that have ennobled our own and other countries. Courage, patience,
obedience to the laws and constituted authorities of our Government ; fidelity to our
trusts and good feeling among each other, each trying to excel the other in the prac
tice of those high qualities, and it will then requirp no prophet to foretell that our
country will in time emerge from this war purified by the fires of war and worthy its
great founder — Washington. W. T. Sherman, Major-General Commanding."
Upon establishing himsel! in Atlanta, Sherman decided that the
exigencies of the service would require the place to be held for the
present exclusively as a military post, and orders were at once issued
for the departure of all civilians except those in the employment of the
Government. For the purpose of expediting the depopulation of the
city, without needless inconvenience or suffering to the inhabitants,
the number of whom had greatly diminished during the progress of
the siege, he proposed to Hood a truce of ten days. The reply of
Hood was as follows : — "Head-Quarters Army or the Tennessee, )
"Office Chief of Staff, Sept. 9, 1864. J
" Major-General Sherman, Commanding United States Forces in Georgia :
"General: — Your letter of yesterday's date, borne by James W. Ball and James
R. Crew, citizens of Atlanta, is received. Tou say therein, ' I deem it to be to the
interest ofthe United States that the citizens now residing in Atlanta should remove,'
&c. I do not consider that I have any alternative in the matter. I therefore accept
your proposition to declare a truce of ten days, or such time as may be necessary to
accomplish the purpose mentioned, and shall render all the assistance in my power to
expedite the transportation of citizens in this direction. I suggest that a staff-officer
be appointed by you to superintend the removal from the city to Rough and Ready,
while I appoint a like officer to control their removal farther south ; that a guard of
one hundred men be sent by either party, as you propose, to maintain order at that place,
and that the removal begin on Monday next.
" And now, sir, permit me to say, that the unprecedented measure you propose tran
scends, in studied and ingenious cruelty, all acts ever before brought to my attention
in the dark history of war.
. "In the name of God and humanity I protest, believing that you will find that you
are expelling from their homes and firesides the wives and children of a brave people.
"I am, General, very respectfully, your obedient servant, " J. B. Hood, General."
Accompanying this letter was the following from James M. Calhoun,
mayor of Atlanta : —
" Head-Quarters Army of the Tennessee, September 9, 1864.
"Hon. James M. Calhoun,, Mayor:
" Sir : — I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter touching the
removal of the citizens of Atlanta, as ordered by General Sherman. Please find en
closed my reply to General Sherman's letter. I shall do all in my power to mitigate
the terrible hardship and misery that must be brought upon your people by this ex
traordinary order ol the Federal commander. Transportation will be sent to Rough
and Ready to carry the people and their effects farther south.
" You have my deepest sympathy in this unlooked-for and unprecedented affliction.
"I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, "J. B. Hood, General."
The following is the characteristic reply of General Sherman :¦ —
"38

594 HISTOET OP THE GEEAT EEBELLION.'
" Head-Quarters Military Division of the Mississippi, )
"And in the Field, Atlanta, Ga., September 10, 1864. J
"General J. B. Hood, commanding Army ofthe Tennessee, Confederate Army:
" General : — I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of this date
at the hands of Messrs. Ball and Crew, consenting to the arrangements I had proposed
to facilitate the removal south of the people of Atlanta who prefer to' go in that direc
tion. I enclose you a copy of my orders, which will, I am satisfied, accomplish my
purpose perfectly. You style the measures proposed ' unprecedented,' and appeal to
the dark history of war for a parallel as an act of 'studied and ingenious cruelty.1 It
is not unprecedented, for General Johnston himself very wisely and properly removed
the families all the way from Dalton down, and I see no reason why Atlanta should be ex
cepted. Nor is it necessary to appeal to the dark history of war when recent and modern
examples are so handy. You yourself burned dwelling-houses along your parapet, and
I have seen to-day fifty houses that you have rendered uninhabitable because they
stood in the way of your forts and men. You defended Atlanta on a line so close to
the town that every cannon-shot and many musket-shots from our line of investments
that overshot their mark, went into the habitations of women and children. Genera]
Hardee did the same at Jonesboro', and General Johnston did the same last summer at
Jackson, Miss. I have not accused you of heartless cruelty, but merely instance
these cases of very recent occurrence, and could go on and enumerate hundreds of
others, and challenge any fair man to judge which of us has the heart of pity for the
families of a ' brave people.' I say it is a kindness to these families of Atlanta to re
move them now at once from scenes that women and children should not be exposed
to ; and the brave people should scorn to commit their wives and children to the rude
barbarians who thus, as you say, violate the laws of war, as illustrated in the pages of
its dark history. In the name of common sense, I ask you not ta appeal to a just God
in such a sacrilegious manner — you, who, in the midst of peace and prosperity, have
plunged a nation into civil war, 'dark and cruel war;' who dared and badgered us to ,
battle, insulted our flag, seized our arsenals and forts that were left in the honorable
custody of a peaceful ordnance sergeant; seized and made prisoners of war the very
garrisons sent to protect your people against negroes .and Indians, long before any
overt act was committed by the (to you) hateful Lincoln Government ; tried to force
Kentucky and Missouri into the rebellion in spite of ^themselves ; falsified the vote of
Louisiana, turned loose your privateers to plunder unarmed ships, expelled Union
families by the thousand, burned their houses, and declared by act' of your Congress
the confiscation of all debts due Northern men for goods had and received. Talk thus
to the marines, but not to me, who have seen these things, and who will this day
make as much sacrifice for the peace and honor of the South as the best-born South
erner among you. If we must be enemies, let us be' men, and fight it out as we pro
pose to-day, and not deal in such hypocritical appeals to God and humanity. God will
judge us in due time, and He will pronounce whether it be more humane to fight with
a town full of women and the' families of a 'brave people' at our back, or to remove
them in time to places of safety among their own friends and people.
"I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
„„^. . , (Signed) "W". T. Sherman, Major-General Commanding.
" Official copy : Signed, L. M. Dayton, A. D. C"
The campaign of Sherman against Atlanta had a result different
from that of Rosecrans against Chattanooga. But the relative condi
tions of the two armies were also entirely different. Bragg had been
promptly re-enforced, and when Rosecrans threatened to flank his
position at Chattanooga, he retired with his whole army concentrated.
Subsequently, when joined by Longstreet, he was much stronger. than
Rosecrans, who had not been supplied with either men or material in
proportion to his wants. He was therefore exposed to the blows of a
superior .enemy, and his defeat was only rendered nugatory through
the inaction of .Bragg. Sherman had the benefit of the recent con
scription, made with much vigor by^he Government, and under the

HISTOET OP THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 595
orders of the Lieutenant-General, of whose combination his movement
was a part. Johnston's army fell back before the weight of numbers,
until Hood, succeeding to the command, wasted his men in fruitless
attacks, and then, from his weakened force, detached Wheeler to the
North, where he was of no use whatever. Sherman was thus enabled
to leave the Twentieth Corps before Atlanta, and move the remainder
of his army, still superior to that of Hood, round to Jonesboro'. Here
he did not meet, as did Rosecrans at Chickamauga, the entire force of \
a superior army, but a portion of a divided inferior army, to which he "
delivered the final blow.
The campaign of Sherman commenced in the first week of May,
simultaneously with that of Grant. His force was, as we have seen,
in round numbers, one hundred thousand men and two hundred and
fifty-four guns. : The system of Johnston was the same as that of Lee ;
with an inferior force he resisted the advance of his enemy at every
point. Sherman reached the Chattahoochee on the 28th July. The
country through which he marched was much more open than the
scene of war in Virginia. Of this, and his great superiority in infan
try and artillery, Sherman most skilfully availed himself. He did not
make a flank march of his whole force, nor extend one end of his line
round Johnston's wing, as ordinary precedent would have bade ; but,
holding his enemy in check with a part of his army, detached one or
two of his corps by a distant line to seize and intrench themselves on
some point which should threaten the Confederate communications.
Not all Johnston's energy nor the exertions of Wheeler (whose
cavalry outnumbered that of the invaders) could prevent this manoeu
vre being repeated again and again; The Federal generals carried out
faithfully their commander's orders to keep to the use of field-works
and guns wherever practicable ; and Johnston continually found him
self with separate armies established in front and flank, and was thus
forced to a new retreat. As Sherman advanced the railroad was com
pletely repaired, and its use for the future systematically secured.
Intrenchments were thrown up at every station or bridge, and a small
garrison left with provisions, ammunition, and the means of repairing
any sudden damage to the adjacent parts of the line, while almost
equal care was used to cover the trains which supplied the flanks.
Such an elaborate system involved much delay; and Johnston was
enabled to detain the Federals seventy days on their approach to
Atlanta. The advance was none the less unbroken ; and when Sherman was
preparing elaborately for his passage of the Chattahoochee, he was re
lieved of great part of his difficulties by the removaFof the formidable
opponent whose personal ability he fully appreciated. Jefferson Davis,
who had since the days of Vicksburg been on but indifferent terms
with Johnston, had yielded to the clamor raised against the latter for
so repeatedly giving ground, and now superseded him in favor of
Hood, known hitherto as a gallant soldier and bold general of division^
but in. noway marked for the higher qualities of command. This
step, so fatal to the Confederate interests m that quarter, was the more
inexcusable, in that Johnston's policy of retreating when liable to be

.596 HISTOET OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION. i
thoroughly outflanked was just what Lee had used in Virginia, with
out a word of blame from any quarter.

CHAPTER LXH.
The Gulf Department. — Sabine Pass Expedition. — McPherson moves from Vicksburg.
— Expedition to the Rio Grande, and Occupation of Brownsville. — Banks's Red
River Expedition. — Capture of Fort DeRussey. — Occupation of Alexandria. — Battle
of Mansfield. — Retreat of the Army. — Repulse of the Enemy at Pleasant Hill. —
Operations of the Fleet. — The Dam at Alexandria. — Arrival of the Army and Fleet
in the Mississippi. — Co-operative Movement of Steele in Arkansas. — Causes of its
Failure. The Department of the Gulf remained for some time quiet after
the fall of Vicksburg and Port Hudson, in the summer of 1863, which
events left the Mississippi River nominally in the hands of the Federal
troops. General Banks returned to New Orleans, and the large army
with which General Grant operated in the rear of Vicksburg was dis
persed to various points. The Thirteenth and Eighteenth Corps, under
Generals Herron and Ord, went to New Orleans ; Ransom's command
occupied Natchez ; the force which Burnside sent out to aid Grant
mainly returned to him, and other smaller bodies were located at
various points engaged in keeping down guerrillas. The Mississippi
being now in possession of the Union forces, it was divided into dis
tricts, each under command of a division officer, with orders to prevent
the passage of the enemy's troops across the river.
Early in September, 1 863, the troops that had concentrated at New
Orleans were formed into an expedition of four thousand men, under
Major-General Franklin, to effect a landing at Sabine Pass for military
occupation, with the co-operation of the navy. Commodore Bell
assigned the command of the naval force to Lieutenant Crocker, com
manding the steamer Clifton, accompanied by the steamers Sachem,
Arizona, and Granite City. The defences at the Pass, it was estimated,
consisted of two thirty-two-pounders en barbette, and a battery of field-
pieces, and two bay boats converted into rams. It was concerted
with General Franklin that the squadron of four gunboats should make
the attack alone, assisted by about one hundred and eighty sharp
shooters from the army, divided among his vessels ; and after driving
the enemy from his defences and destroying or driving off the rams,
the transports were to advance and land their troops. The attack was
made on the 8th of September, at six a. m., when the Clifton stood in
the bay and opened fire on the fort, to which no reply was made. At
nine a. m. the Sachem, Arizona, and Granite City, followed by the
transports, stood over the bar, and with much difficulty (owing to the
shallowness of the water) reached anchorage two miles from the fort
at eleven a. m., the gunboats covering the transports.
At three-thirty p. m., the Sachem, followed by the Arizona, advanced
up the eastern channel to draw the fire of the forts, while the Clifton
advanced up the western channel ; the Granite City to cover the land-

HISTOET OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 597
ing of a division of troops under General Weitzel; no reply to the
fire of the gunboats being made until they were abreast of the forts,
when they opened with eight guns, three of which were rifled. Almost
at the same moment the Clifton and Sachem were struck in their
boilers, enveloping the vessels in steam. There not being room to pass
the Sachem, the Arizona was backed down the channel. Soon after, the
latter grounded by the stern ; the ebb-tide caught her bows and swung
her across the channel ; she was, with much difficulty, extricated from
this position — owing to the engine becoming heated by the collection
of mud in the boilers. The flags of the Clifton and Sachem were now
run down, and white flags were flying at the fore. As all the trans
ports were now moving out of the bay, the Arizona remained cover
ing their movements, until she grounded and remained until midnight,
when she was kedged off, as no assistance could be had from any of
the tugs of the expedition. The expedition therefore returned to
Brashear City. General Franklin held his head-quarters at New Iberia,
which was made the base of operations, being at the head of navigar
tion for ordinary steamers and fifty-two miles from Brashear City. The
Nineteenth Army Corps, under the immediate command, of General
Weitzel, had crossed and camped at Bewick. The Thirteenth Army
Corps followed, leaving sufficient force to hold the base at Brashear.
General McPherson, with the Seventeenth Corps, remained at Vicks
burg, and nothing of general interest occurred until early in October,
when a rebel force, consisting of about two thousand five hundred
mounted men, appeared on the east side of the Black River, at times
approaching quite near the Federal lines, and keeping up a continued
series of feints and demonstrations along our front. McPherson came
to the conclusion that they had been thrown forward as a curtain to
hide movements and operations going on farther back in the country.
He therefore organized a force composed of Logan's and Turtle's
Divisions, with other detached portions of the Seventeenth Corps,
which, leaving Vicksburg early on the morning of the 14th October,
marched sixteen miles and rendezvoused at Big Black River, where it
encamped for the night. By daylight on the 15 th, the cavalry advance
crossed the river at Messenger's Ferry, closely followed by Logan,
with Tuttle bringing up the rear, the crossing being effected on a
double truss bridge built by Sherman during his Jackson campaign.
At three p. m. they reached Brownsville, the place having been occu
pied by our advance cavalry at noon, and on the following day the
advance of Logan's Division met a portion of Wirt Adams's rebel
cavalry, supported by a battery of artillery, well posted in a piece of
timber to the right of the road. McPherson immediately sent forward
a portion of Logan's Division, consisting of Maltby's Brigade and two
pieces of artillery, to dislodge them, our cavalry having dismounted
and advanced through the woods, deployed as skirmishers. No sooner
did our battery open than they were replied to by the rebel artillery
with excellent effect.
While this was going on the remainder of Logan's Division advanced
by the Canton road, where they met another portion of the enemy,
consisting of Whitfield's Brigade of cavalry and artillery, composed

598 HISTOET OP THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
principally of Texans, occupying a strong position on the crest of a
hill completely commanding the road. The artillery was sent forward,
and amused them until Ford's Brigade came up, and formed in line of
battle on either side of the road, with two regiments in advance
deployed as skirmishers ; darkness coming on, the men rested in
their positions. Shortly after daylight the enemy again opened
on us with artillery, having been re-enforced during the night. The
force then returned to Vicksburg, where they arrived on the 20th.
There was little activity at New Orleans after the failure of the
4Sabine Pass expedition. The expiration of the term of the nine-
months men produced some changes, and until new troops arrived
but' little was done. There was, however, an immense contraband
trade between the Southern States and Mexico. The sealing up of
Charleston and the stricter watch at Wilmington — before the two
chief inlets of trade — caused Matamoras to become the great entrepdt
of contraband commerce. Not less than twenty-five or thirty blockade-
runners were sometimes there at one time. General Banks devised an
expedition to break up this trade. The enemy had then only a few
troops under Magruder scattered between Galveston and Sabine Pass.
The expedition was fitted out at New Orleans, under the command of
Major-General Dana, General Banks and staff accompanying it. After
a stormy passage, the troops were on the 4th of November safely
transferred from the transports, and landed on the Texan shore of the
Rio Grande. Upon seeing our troops landing, the enemy destroyed
the Government works at Fort Brown, and the town of Brownsville
was set on fire by their cavalry. The Union men in the town resisted
them, and a bloody street fight ensued between the two factions, while
the houses were burning around them. The Fifteenth Marine regiment
was ordered up to Brownsville to support the Unionists, and the
rebels were routed. The place was then occupied by the Federal
troops. Subsequently Corpus Christi and the coast of Texas to within
one hundred miles of Galveston were occupied
But little else was done in this department until the commencement
of 1864, when a new expedition was organized by General Banks, hav
ing for its object the possession of Western Louisiana and the' capture
of cotton. The enemy at this time had various forces in the field. Gen
eral Dick Taylor commanded in Louisiana, with about twenty thousand
men ; Magruder in Texas ; and Price resumed the command in Arkan
sas. It was proposed by Banks to ascend the Red River to Shreve-
port, aided by the fleet of Admiral Porter, while a force under Gen
eral Steele should descend from Little Rock, Arkansas, to form a junc
tion with the troops on the Red River. At the same time a demon
stration was to be made by the Federal force from Brownsville, on the
Rio Grande.
The expedition embarked at Vicksburg on the 10th of March, and
proceeded down the Mississippi to the mouth of the Red River, which
it ascended as far as the Old River, at which point it turned into the
Atchafalaya, which flows southward into Lake Chetimaches. On the
13th a landing was effected at Simmsport, whence our forces marched
to Bayou Glaoe, where a rebel force, estimated at about two thousand,

HISTOET OP THE GEEAT EEBELLION.

599

had been encamped in a strongly fortified position. On reaching this point
it was found deserted by the enemy, who had set fire to the bridge lead
ing across the river at "that point. The earthworks, still incomplete,
were laid out on an extensive plan, and indicated an intention on the
part of the rebels to use the Atchafalaya as their principal line of
defence, depending on the shallowness of the river during most of the
year to protect them against the attack of our gunboats. The unex
pected appearance of our formidable fleet, consisting of three monitors,
seven iron-clads, three rams and four lighter gunboats, caused them to
abandon the strong but unfinished works, and to hasten to the defence
of Fort De Russey.
Fort De Russey was a formidable quadrangular work, with bastions
and bomb-proofs, covered with railroad iron. Connected with the fort
was a strong water-battery, the casemates of which appeared to be
capable of resisting the heaviest shot and shell. The guns were admi
rably placed to command the river for a considerable distance up and
down. General Dick Taylor occupied it with a large force. General
Franklin* landed from transports early in March, a few miles below this
fort, to co-operate with the gunboats in an attack upon it. Taylor deter
mined to attack him before the rest of the Union force should come
up, and marched out of his works for that purpose. But he committed
the fatal mistake of attacking his foe in the rear. Franklin, quick to
avail himself of his enemy's blunder, abandoned his communications,
refused battle, and marched straight for the now vacant fort. Taylor
saw his error too late to retrieve it, and hastened after his antagonist
in vain. The Union army entered the fort, three hours in advance of
the rebels, unopposed, capturing, without a battle, three hundred and
twenty-five prisoners, ten guns, a lot of small-arms, and large stores of
ammunition. Thus, by a military blunder, the rebels lost the entire
advantage of their year's engineering labor. The fleet passed up the
river without opposition, and occupied Alexandria on the 15th of
March, the army entering it the day following. The rebel army fell
back farther up the river, and was soon increased by timely re-enforce
ments. Magruder joined it with two thousand five hundred Texans,
and Price with seven thousand infantry from Missouri and Arkansas.
The entire force was commanded by General Kirby Smith.
Alexandria, which is about one hundred and fifty miles above Fort

* William Buell Franklin was born in York,
Penn., in 1828, and graduated at West Point in
1848, first in his class. He was appointed to the
Topographical Engineers, served in the Mexican
war as aide to General Taylor, was assistant pro
fessor of natural and experimental philosophy at
West Point, 1848-53, and until the outbreak of
the rebellion was actively employed by the Gov
ernment in military engineering, the coast survey,
the inspection of light-houses, the construction of
?nbllc buildings, and similar duties. In May,
802, he was commissioned colonel of the Twelfth
Regiment of regular infantry, and soon after brig
adier-general of volunteers. He commanded a
brigade at Bull Run, was subsequently appointed
to a division of the Army of the Potomac, and in
tho Peninsular campaign commanded the Sixth
Provisional Army Corps, with the rank of major-
general lie participated with credit in the seven

days' fighting before Richmond, defeated the
enemy at Crampton's Gap, in South Mountain,
and sustained the advance of the Union right
wing at the succeeding battle of Antietam. In
November, 1862, he was placed in command of the
left grand division of the Army of the Potomac,
and in tho succeeding January was relieved from
duty. In the summer of 1S68 he assumed com
mand ofthe Nineteenth Corps, and subsequently
took part in the Sabine Pass expedition, and in
the Red River expedition of 1864. After the ter
mination of the latter he was relieved of his com
mand and returned to the North. On Jnly llth,
while travelling in a railroad train between Phil
adelphia and Baltimore, he was captured by a
rebel cavalry force, but a day or two afterwards
effected his escape. He subsequently officiated as
President of the Military Retiring Board.

600 HISTOET OP THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
De Russey, having surrendered, the army was pushed forward, over
land, against Shreveport, where the rebels, under command of General
Taylor, were concentrating. Several rebel gunboats, which had been
stationed at Alexandria, had steamed up the river to assist in the
defence of the former place. Shreveport is near the southwest boun
dary of Louisiana, and as the enemy inferred that it was the objective of
Banks's campaign, strong fortifications had been erected, formidable
obstructions placed in the river, and provision sufficient for a six
months' siege accumulated. After a delay of ten days at Alexandria,
in order to concentrate his forces and organize further movements,
Banks resumed his march. About thirty miles above Alexandria the
Federal advance met the rebels strongly posted at Cane River. Their
force was considerable, and their position advantageous ; but after a
short engagement with artillery and skirmishers, a general charge was
ordered, and the rebels beat a hasty retreat, with the loss of two hun
dred and fifty killed and wounded, and five hundred to six hundred
prisoners. This was on the 28th of March. The Union army pressed
rapidly forward. The rebels as rapidly retreated. Grand Ecore was
passed. Natchitoches, capital of the parish of that name, was occupied
without opposition ; and on the 6th of April the army continued its
advance towards Shreveport. At Grand Ecore the road leaves the
river-bank, and, passing through Natchitoches, four miles from Grand
Ecore, enters heavy pine woods. A single road conducts through this
uncleared forest, affording excellent opportunities for ambuscade.
The Union army no longer enjoyed the formidable protection ofthe
gunboats. The cavalry, five thousand strong, constituted the advance,
commanded by General Lee. They were followed by their wagon
train. Several miles in the rear was the nearest infantry force. This
was the Thirteenth Army Corps. The Nineteenth was still farther in
the rear. On the 1th the cavalry found its progress somewhat re
sisted by the increased strength of the enemy's skirmishers in front.
The enemy had skilfully drawn on General Ba,nks, who, with false
confidence, advanced with cavalry and artillery, without adequate in
fantry support, some eight miles. On the 8th of April he sent word
to hurry forward the infantry, and General Ransom, with two divisions,
was directed to go to his assistance. Nothing like a general engage-,
ment was expected or prepared for. Ransom, indeed, urged awaiting
the arrival of the rest of. the army, but he was overruled.
An order to charge upon the enemy was given, and the issue proved
the greatness of the mistake. The enemy, under cover of the trees,
had formed an ambuscade in the shape of an enormous V. The
devoted soldiers, entering the open wedge at its base, charged upon
the apex. The wings then closed upon them. They were mowed
down by a terrific fire both from front and either flank. The cavalry
was thrown into disorder, and began to retreat down the road filled
with infantry. The wounded and dying were trodden under the
horses' feet. The infantry, surprised by the murderous fire from a con
cealed foe, were thrown into confusion by the retreating cavalry, who
cantered in disorder through their lines. An attempt was made to
withdraw and meet re-enforcements from the Nineteenth Corps, farther

HISTOET OP THE GEEAT EEBELLION.

601

back ; but the single narrow road was effectually blockaded by the cav
alry wagon train. An orderly retreat was impossible. Soon all was
in the utmost confusion. "Let every man take care^ of himself !" be
came the universal cry. Ransom made the most heroic efforts to rally
his men, but in vain.
The wagon train was abandoned to the enemy, and twenty guns
fell into the rebels' hands. Among these captures was the Chicago
Mercantile Battery. The army was saved from demolition by the
timely arrival of re-enforcements from the Nineteenth Corps and the
darkness of approaching night. This engagement is known by the
name of the Battle of Mansfield. Banks's loss was estimated at two
thousand out of eight thousand men on the field. He was largely
outnumbered by the enemy. The army retreated during the night,
and at dawn of the 9th succeeded in gaining Pleasant Hill, where it
was concentrated. General A. J. Smith, with the Sixteenth Army
Corps, held the right ; Franklin, with the Nineteenth Corps, held the
left. The Thirteenth Corps, exhausted and almost destroyed by the pre
vious day's fighting, was unable to participate in the anticipated battle.
At four p. m. in the afternoon of the 9th, the enemy arrived in pur
suit, and immediately advanced in overwhelming numbers against the
division of General Emory of the Nineteenth Corps, which, after an
obstinate resistance, retreated slowly up a hill, on the slopes of which
it had been formed. Behind the crest of this hill the Sixteenth Corps
lay in reserve, and as the rebels rushed on with every expectation of
an easy victory, they were met by a withering fire of artillery and
musketry, from which they recoiled in confusion. At this moment the
Sixteenth Corps charged witfi fixed bayonets, driving, the enemy in
utter rout into the neighboring woods, and recapturing eight of the
guns lost on the previous day, besides five hundred prisoners. Early on
the 10th, Banks, leaving his dead unburied, continued his retreat to
Grand Ecore. By this timely victory the enemy suffered severely, and
were compelled to abate somewhat the ardor of their pursuit.
Meantime, the fleet under Porter,* comprising the Cricket, Eastport,
Mound City, Chillicothe, Carondelet, Pittsburg, Ozark, Neosho, Osage,
Lexington, Fort Hindman, and Louisville, aud a fleet of thirty trans
ports, ascended the river to Grand Ecore. On the 7th of April, the
river rising very slowly, the admiral sent up the Cricket, Fort Hind
man, Lexington, Osage, Neosho, and Chillicothe, with the hope of
getting the rest ofthe vessels along when the usual rise came. Twenty
transports were sent along filled with army stores, and with a portion
of General A. J. Smith's Division on board. It was intended that the
fleet should reach Springfield Landing on the third day, and then com-

* David D. Porter was born in Philadelphia
about 1815. He is the youngest son of Commodore
David Porter, distinguished as a naval officer in
the last war with England, and was appointed a
midshipman in 1829. In 1861 he was promoted to
be a commander, and put in command of the steam
sloop Powhattan.one ofthe Gulf Blockading Squad
ron. In the spring of 1862 he received command
of the mortar flotilla, which co-operated in the
reduction of the forts on the Lower Mississippi and
the capture of New Orleans. He subsequently

repaired with his fleet to tho James River, and in
October, 1862, was placed in command ofthe Mis
sissippi gunboat flotilla, which he retained for two
years, participating in the most important opera
tion occurring during that interval on the Western
waters. In October, 1 S64, having been previously
promoted to be a full rear-admiral, he was ap
pointed to command the North Atlantic Squadron,
in which capacity he conducted the two memo-
rable bombardments of Fort Fisher, N. C, in
December, 1864, and January, 1865.

602 HISTOET OP THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
municate with the army, a portion of which expected to be at Spring
field at that time.
At Springfield, serious obstacles were encountered in the river ; but
before they could be removed, news came to Porter that Banks was
defeated, and the army falling back to Pleasant Hill, sixty miles in the
rear of the fleet. The prompt return ofthe fleet was imperative, as the
high banks of the river swarmed with enemies, who could not be
reached by the guns ofthe fleet. On the 12th, a portion ofthe enemy
who had defeated Banks opened fire from the right bank on the Osage,
Lieutenant-Commander F. O. Selfridge (iron-clad), she being hard
aground at the time, with a transport (the Black Hawk) alongside of
her, towing her off. The rebels opened with two thousand muskets,
and soon drove every one out of the Black Hawk to the safe casemates
ofthe monitor. Lieutenant Bache had just come from his vessel (the
Lexington), and fortunately was enabled to pull up to her again, keep
ing close under the bank, while the Osage opened a destructive fire on
the enemy, whose efforts were vain against an iron vessel. Meantime,
some troops were sent up from Grand Ecore to clear the river from
guerrillas. The river now began to fall rapidly, and above the bar at
Alexandria the fleet was caught by the low water, and for a time con
siderably imperilled. It was rescued from this position by a series of
dams across the rocks at the falls, which raised the water high enough
to let the vessels pass over. These were designed and superintended
by Lieutenant-Colonel Bailey, acting engineer of the Nineteenth
Army Corps.
The work was commenced on May 1st by running out from the left
bank of the iver a tree dam, made ofthe bodies of very large trees,
brush, brick, and stone, cross-tied with other heavy timber, and
strengthened in every way which ingenuity could devise. This was
run out about three hundred feet into the river; four large coal-barges
were then filled with brick and sunk at the end of it. From the right
bank of the river cribs filled with stone were built out to meet the
barges. All of which was successfully accomplished, notwithstanding
there was a current running of nine miles-an hour, which threatened to
sweep every thing before it. The dam had nearly reached completion
in eight days' working time, and the water had risen sufficiently on the
upper falls to allow the Fort Hindman, Osage, and Neosho to get down
and be ready to pass the dam. Unfortunately, on the morning of the
9th, the pressure of water became so great that it swept away two
of the stone barges, which swung in below the dam on one side.
The Lexington, however, succeeded in getting over the upper falls
just in time — the water rapidly falling as she was passing over. She
then steered directly for the opening in the dam, through which the
water was rushing so furiously that it seemed as if nothing but de
struction awaited her. Thousands of beating hearts looked on anxious
for the result. The silence was so great as the Lexington approached
the dam that a pin might almost be heard to fall. She entered the gap
with a full head of steam on, pitched down the roaring torrent, made
two or three spasmodic rolls, hung for a moment on the rocks below,
was then swept into deep water by the current, and rounded to safely

HISTOET OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 603
into the bank. Thirty thousand voices rose in one deafening cheer,
and universal joy seemed to pervade the face of every man present.
The Neosho followed next, all her hatches battened down, and every
precaution taken against accident. She did not fare as well as the
Lexington, her pilot having become frightened as he approached the
abyss, and stopped her engine ; the result was that for a moment her
hull disappeared from sight under the water. Every one thought she
was lost. She rose, however, swept along over the rocks with the
current, and fortunately escaped with only one hole in her bottom,
which was stopped in the oourse of an hour. The Hindman and Osage
both came through beautifully, without touching a thing.
The damage done the dam was repaired, and the whole fleet brought
off. On the 14th of May the army retreated from Alexandria under
protection of the gunboats, and the city was consumed by fire. On
the 16th, the enemy, who escorted the army a long way, and harassed
its rear, attacked in force at Avoyelles Prairie, but, after a severe fight,
were driven off. On the 18th, under Polignac, they attacked again at
Yellow Bayou, but were repulsed with a loss of three hundred prison
ers, besides as many killed and wounded. This final check was admin
istered by General Mower, under the command of General A. J. Smith.
Yellow Bayou unites with the Bayou de la Glaise, and empties into
the Atchafalaya a short distance above Semmesport. On the 19th,
the army reached and pontooned the Atchafalaya. On the 20th, it
crossed at Semmesport, and moved towards the Mississippi. The next
evening it reached Morganzia.
While these operations were going on upon the Red River, a strong
auxiliary expedition, under General Steele, had set out from Little
Rock, Arkansas, with the design of uniting with Banks's column at
Shreveport. On approaching Camden, the enemy was encountered
behind a series of breastworks to dispute the passage of Tate's Ferry.
General Steele, however, moved his column forward, as if designing to
strike directly for Washington, and leave Camden on his left. Arriv
ing within ten miles of the ferry, still keeping the military road, he con
tinued a small body of troops on that road, while a detachment of
cavalry was hastened forward to seize and secure Elkin's Ferry, and
headed the main column to the southward, breaking off almost at right
angles with the former course.
This detachment encountered Marmaduke and Shelby in force, and
the latter attacked the rear ofthe army, under Brigadier-General Rice,
who repulsed him. On the 3d of April both banks of the Little Mis
souri were in our possession, and the army crossed at Elkin's Ferry,
McLean's Brigade in advance On the 4th, Marmaduke and Cabell,
with between four and five thousand men, made an attack upon
our column, but were repulsed after some further skirmishes. Steele's
army entered Camden on the 15th of April. The enemy, largely re-
enforced by Kirby Smith,* now began to swarm upon Steele, and on
* Edmund Kirby Smith was born In Florida, of i can war, was subsequently assistant professor of
Connecticnt parentage, about 1824, and graduated mathematics at West Point, and saw active ser-
at West Point in 1845. He was brevetted first vice in the Indian wars in the West. He resigned
lieutenant and captain for gallantry in the Moxi- J his commission at the commencement of the re-

604 HISTOET OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
the 18th a Union forage train was captured. On the 20th a supply
train arrived from Pine Bluff, and on the 2 2d the empty tram was sent
back, escorted by a brigade of infantry, four pieces of artillery, and a
proper proportion of cavalry. On the 25th news was received that the
train had been captured, and Lieutenant-Colonel Drake, of the Thirty-
sixth Iowa, who was in command, mortally wounded. The loss was
nearly two thousand prisoners, four guns, and two hundred and forty
wagons. The defeat of Banks enabled the enemy to strongly re-enforce Kirby
Smith. Information reached Steele that Kirby Smith in person, with
eight thousand re-enforcements, had made a junction with Price, and
that the combined armies were advancing to attack him. Hence retreat
was imperative. He, therefore, moved for Little Rock, his retreat
being greatly harassed by the enemy, and his main column compelled
to destroy trains and bridges. On the 30th of April, while crossing the
Saline River, he was attacked by a body of the enemy under General
Fagan ; but the assault was repulsed. A portion of the enemy's cav
alry, however, crossed the river above, and hurried on towards Little
Rock, hoping to take it by surprise while the Union forces were at a
distance ; the movement was, however, unsuccessful.

CHAPTER LXItt
War in Missouri. — Execution of Guerrillas. — Marmaduke's Movements. — Helena. —
Successful Campaign of General Steele in Arkansas. — Capture of Little Rock.—
. General Gantt. — Sacking of Lawrence by QuantrelL — Price's Last Invasion of Mis
souri. — His Disastrous Defeat and Retreat into Arkansas.
After the withdrawal of General Halleck from command in Missouri
in 1862, many operations of minor character took place, and the State
was greatly disturbed by guerrillas under Quantreli, Poindexter, Por
ter, Cobb, and other partisan leaders, aided by more regular organiza
tions. In September, 1862, the States of Missouri, Kansas, and Ar
kansas were erected into a military district under the command of
General Curtis, and General Schofield* assumed the command ofthe

bcllion, and was commissioned a colonel in the
rebel army. He was wounded at Bull Run, where
his timely arrival turned the scale against the
national troops, and soon afterwards was appointed
a brigadier-general. In February, 1S62, he was
promoted to be a major-general, and sent to take
command in East Tennessee. He participated
in Bragg's Invasion of Kentucky in the same year,
fought at Murfreesboro'1, and early in 1863 was
appointed to command the Department west of
the Mississippi, which he retained until the close
of the war. He conducted the military operations
in Louisiana in the campaigns of 1868 and 1864,
and had the credit of defeating Banks's costly and
unfortunate Bed Elver Expedition, He was the
last of the rebel generals holding important com
mands to surrender to the United States author
ities. At that time he held the rank of lieutenant

tauqne County, New Tork, in 1831, and graduated
at West Point in 1858. He served for five years
as instructor, in natural philosophy at West Point,
and at the outbreak ofthe rebellion was filling the
chair of moral philosophy at Washington Univer
sity, St. Louis. He was employed in organizing
troops in the West in the early part of 1861, was
subsequently General Lyon's chief of staff, and in
November, 1S61, was commissioned a brigadier-
general of volunteers. In June, 1862, he was ap
pointed to the military district of Missouri, and a
few months later received command ofthe Army
of the Frontier, with which he drove the rebel in
vading force under Hindman into Arkansas. He
retained this command until the early part of 1864,
when he was sent to East Tennessee to relieve
General Foster. As commander of the Twenty-
third Corps, constituting the Army of the Ohio, he

general, participated in Sherman's campaign from Chatta-
* John McAllister Schofield was born In Cha- ) nooga to Atlanta, after which he was dispatched

HISTOET OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.

605

" Army of the Frontier " in Southern Missouri. In September a party
of guerrillas under Colonel Porter made a raid upon Palmyra, and cap
tured among other persons au old and respected citizen named. Andrew
Allsman, who had been of great service to scouting parties sent out to
arrest disloyal persons. As he was not again heard of, the belief gained
ground that he had been murdered, particularly as the guerrillas had
been recently guilty of several similar acts. Accordingly, General
McNeil gave public notice that, unless Allsman should be surrendered
within a given time, ten rebel prisoners should be shot. The ten days
having elapsed without tidings of Allsman, ten prisoners were shot in
literal conformity with McNeil's notice.
Early in 1863, the rebel General Marmaduke, with a force of six thou
sand men, proceeded down the Arkansas River to Spadry's Bluff, near
Clarksville, Arkansas, and thence marched rapidly north towards Spring
field, Missouri, with the intention of seizing the large amount of Federal
commissary stores accumulated there. The design of Marmaduke in pro
ceeding so far eastward before making a movement northward into
Missouri was to avoid all chance of collision or interference with his
plans by Generals Blunt and Herron. He hoped to reach Springfield
and accomplish his purpose before they could obtain intelligence of his
approach, and this once accomplished, these generals and their army,
deprived of all supplies, would, almost of necessity, be compelled
either to surrender to General Hindman or fly from Northwestern
Arkansas. As Marmaduke approached Springfield, Generals Brown and Holland,
who were in command there, collected a force of about twelve hundred
men, sent the stores north towards Bolivar, and succeeded in repulsing
the enemy, who retreated with the loss of forty-one killed and one hun
dred and sixty wounded. Meantime, General Porter, who had been
detached by Marmaduke with three thousand men to capture Harts-
ville, reached that point on the 9th of January, 1863, and moved to
wards Marshfield. General Fitz-Henry "Warren, in command of that
Federal military district, sent from Houston, on the 9th of January,
Colonel Merrill, with eight hundred and fifty men, to Springfield, to re-
enforce the Federal garrison there. They reached Hartsville on Satur
day, the 10th, and learned that Porter had been there the day previous.
Leaving Hartsville at three p. m., they marched to Wood's Forks, on
the road towards Springfield, by nightfall, and encamped in line of
battle. The next morning (January llth), at daybreak, they encoun
tered Marmaduke's forces marching from Springfield, and inflicted a
defeat upon him. Marmaduke, however, formed a junction with Por
ter, and marched for Hartsville. Colonel Merrill reached the place in
time to put himself in defence. The Confederate attack was repulsed,
and the rebels fell back upon Houston, and thence to Little Rock,
where Marmaduke remained some two months. On the 17th of April,

to Tennessee, under the orders of Thomas, to op
pose the invasion of Hood. He checked the ad
vance of the latter at the hard-fought battle of
Franklin, November 80th, 1864, and in the suc
ceeding month participated in the series of
brilliant victories in front of Nashville, Early in

1865 he accompanied his corps to North Carolina,
and co-operated with Sherman in the final over
throw of Johnston. At the close of the war he
received command of the Department of North
Carolina.

606 HISTOET OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
the Confederate General Cabell left Ozark, Arkansas, with a force of
two thousand men, to attack Fayetteville, Arkansas, then garrisoned
by two regiments of Federal troops (the First Arkansas Infantry and
the First Arkansas Cavalry), under the command of Colonel M. La
Rue Harrison. The attack was made on the 18th about sunrise, and
resulted in the retreat of the enemy upon Ozark.
In April, General Price, in connection with Marmaduke, collected a
force, mostly Texans, with the view of capturing General Grant's
depot of stores at Cape Girardeau, on the Mississippi. This force,
numbering ten thousand men, under Marmaduke, left Little Rock about
the middle of April, and on the 20th had crossed the State line, and
following the course of the St. Francis River, reached Fredericktown,
Missouri, about the 22d. From this point they marched upon Cape
Girardeau, and came before the town on the 25th. The garrison there
was under the command of General John McNeil, and consisted of one
thousand seven hundred men, mostly militia. McNeil had reached
Cape Girardeau on the night of the 23d, and had taken immediate
measures for the removal of the Government stores into Illinois, and'
had sent to St. Louis for re-enforcements. The attack was made April
26th and was repulsed, the enemy retreating into Arkansas on May 2d.
Many minor engagements took place. In July, General Blunt crossed the
Arkansas River near Henry Springs, in that Territory, and after, on the
16th, defeating a force of Confederates under General Cooper, descended
the Arkansas River, and on the 1st of September occupied Fort Smith,
Arkansas. The Army of the Frontier having been greatly depleted to
furnish re-enforcements to Grant, while he was engaged in the siege
of Vicksburg, Price and Marmaduke made an attempt on Helena,
Arkansas, held by General Prentiss with four thousand troops. The
rebels were disastrously defeated, with the loss of eleven hundred
prisoners and many killed and wounded.
After the fall of Vicksburg, the preparations for which had drawn
troops out of Arkansas, General Steele was sent, in August, to join
General Davidson, who was moving south from Missouri, at Helena,
with orders to drive the enemy south of Arkansas River. Having
effected this junction and established his depot and hospitals at DuvalPs
Bluff, on the White River, Steele, on the 1st of August, advanced
against the Confederate army, which fell back towards Little Rock.
After several successful skirmishes, he reached the Arkansas River,
and threw part of his force on the south side, to threaten the Confed
erate communications with Arkadelphia, their dep6t of supplies, and
flank their position at Little Rock. Marmaduke was sent out with a
cavalry force to beat the Federals back, but was completely routed.
Seeing what must be the inevitable result of this movement of Steele,
the Confederate General Holmes destroyed what property he could,
and, after a slight resistance, retreated with his army in great disorder,
pursued by the Federal cavalry, and on the 10th of Sentember, Steele
entered the capital of Arkansas. His entire losses in killed, wounded,
and missing, ui this whole movement, did not exceed one hundred.
He captured one thousand prisoners, and such public property as the
Confederates had not time to destroy. The Federal cavalry continued

HISTOET OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 607
to press the retreating Confederates southward; but a small force,
which had eluded pursuit, and moved eastward, attacked the Federal
garrison at Pine Bluff, on the Arkansas, south of Little Rock, hoping to
recapture it and thus cripple the Federals, by breaking their commu
nications. The attempt, which was made on the 28th of October, was
repulsed with decided loss on the part of the Confederates. The same
day the Federal cavalry occupied Arkadelphia, the Confederates retreat
ing towards the Red River. This operation completely restored Ar
kansas to the Federal authority, except a small district in the extreme
southwest, and the region of Northwest Arkansas, over which the guer
rilla and other irregular troops of the Confederates continued to roam.
At this time the rebel cause experienced the first defection of a
prominent man, in the person of the Hon. E. W. Gantt, a well-known
citizen of Arkansas, who had held positions of influence in the Con
federacy, having served with their armies in the field as a general and
been twice taken prisoner by our forces. He issued an address to the
people of his State, in which he presented with great force the reasons
for his abandonment of his comrades. The chief of these was the
thorough conviction to which he had been brought by the stern logic
of events that the rebels were fairly beaten and might as well end the
contest at once. " Our armies," he said, " are melting, and ruin ap
proaches us. The last man is in the field, half our territory overrun, our
cities gone to wreck — peopled alone by the aged, the lame and halt, and
women and children ; while deserted towns, and smoking ruins, and
plantations abandoned and laid waste, meet.iis on all sides, and anarchy
and ruin, disappointment and discontent lower over all the land." He
accordingly advised submission, on the ground that the sooner the
South laid down their arms and quitted the struggle, the sooner would
the days of prosperity return.
The most atrocious outrage of the war up to this time was the attack
of the guerrilla chief Quantrell upon the town of Lawrence, Kansas,
on August 21st. The citizens, taken wholly by surprise, were shot
down in the streets in cold blood, and even women were fired at. Two
hundred and five persons were killed and many wounded. Numerous
houses and churches were burned, and property valued at two million
dollars was destroyed. A hastily organized force followed in pursuit of
the guerrillas, and suoceeded in killing about forty of them, but the
greater part of the band escaped with their booty.
Late in September, the Confederate General Cabell' collected a force
of some eight thousand men, crossed the Arkansas River east of Fort
Smith, and on the 1st of October, a detachment of his troops, under
General Shelby, joined Coffey at Crooked Prairie, Missouri, intending
to make a raid into Southwestern Missouri. . This combined force, num
bering two thousand or two thousand five hundred men, penetrated as
far as the Missouri River, at Booneville, where the Missouri State Militia
and the Enrolled Missouri Militia met him, October 1 2th, under the com
mand of General Brown. Shelby was here routed, his artillery taken
from him, his forces scattered. After Brown gave up the chase, it
was taken up by General Ewing, the commanding general of the
Missouri Border, who-followed him to the old battle-fielcl of Pea Ridge,

608 HISTOET OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
where he abandoned the chase, and General John McNeil, commanding
the District of Southwest Missouri, took it up and ran him across the
Boston Mountain in Arkansas. General Blunt, commanding the Dis
trict of the Frontier, having been relieved by General McNeil, he at
once started to assume the command of Blunt' s army. "With these
last convulsive throes, the active existence of the Confederate authority
in Arkansas died out. On the 12th of November, a meeting was held
at Little Rock, to consult on measures for the restoration of the State
to the Union, and was succeeded hy others in different parts of the
State. General Rosecrans succeeded General Schofield in the command in
Missouri. Early in 1864, he found it prudent to concentrate his forces
in the vicinity of St. Louis, and the country south of the Maramec
River was a prey to anarchy. The towns in that vicinity had suffered
great injury, and some of them been burnt, the crops destroyed, and
the inhabitants conscripted or driven from their homes. Small guerrilla
forces, under Shelby and others, committed great depredations. In
May, 1864, a company of Missouri cavalry, escorting a train, were de
feated and the train burned near Rolla. Vague rumors and threats of
a new invasion of Missouri by. Price began now to spread with grow
ing strength, and about the 21st of September information was re
ceived at head-quarters that Price, crossing the Arkansas with two
divisions of cavalry and three batteries of artillery, had joined Shelby
near Batesville, sixty miles south of the State line, to invade Missouri
with about fourteen thousand veteran mounted men.
The Federal force there consisted of six thousand five hundred
mounted men for field duty in the department, scattered over a country
four hundred miles long and three hundred broad, which, with the par
tially organized new infantry regiments and dismounted men, constituted
the entire force to cover our great dep6ts at St. Louis, Jefferson City, St.
Joseph, Macon, 'Springfield, Rolla, and Pilot Knob, guard railroad
bridges agamst invasion, and protect, as far as possible, the lives and
property of citizens from the guerrillas who swarmed over the whole
country bordering on the Missouri River.
After the defeat of Banks's expedition, General A. J. Smith, with
the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Army Corps, returned to Vicksburg,
where they were destined to rejoin the Army of the Cumberland under
Sherman, of which force they really constituted a part. Meantime,
however, Marmaduke, with a force of about six thousand infantry and
cavalry and three batteries, occupied Lake Village, whence he inter
rupted the traffic of the Missouri River. General Smith therefore pro
ceeded in quest of Marmaduke. On the 5th of June, Smith's force,
comprising General Mower's Division ofthe Sixteenth Corps and one
brigade of the Seventeenth Corps, disembarked at Sunny Side. After
a march of thirty miles they encountered Marmaduke, and defeated
him. On the 1th, Smith's forces re-embarked for Memphis.
No sooner had Price commenced his march than Steele followed, re-
enforced by Mower's Infantry and Winslow's Cavalry, sent from Mem
phis, and A. J. Smith's troops, passing Cairo towards Nashville, at the
earnest solicitations of the general commanding, were ordered to halt

HISTOET OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 609
and return to oppose Price, who was aiming for Jefferson.City, the
State capital. Crossing the White River at Salina, Arkansas, on the^
14th of September, with a force estimated at eight or ten thousand,
and several pieces of artillery, Price entered Missouri from the south
east. On the 23d, his advance, under Shelby, occupied Bloomfield,
Stoddard County, which place was evacuated by bur forces on the
night of the 21st. On Monday, the 26th of September, Price ad
vanced against Pilot Knob, St. Francois County, which had fortunately
been occupied on Sunday by Ewing, with a brigade of the Sixteenth
Army Corps, General A. J. Smith. With this force, strengthened by the
garrisons of Pilot Knob and outlying posts, Ewirig was able to repulse.
the rebels, who, without delay, undertook to carry the place by assault.
Our forces occupied a fort in the neighborhood of Ironton, which was
commanded, however, by adjacent hills. Confident of their ability to
capture the place by a direct assault, the enemy advanced against it,,
but were driven back with severe loss by a well-directed fire of artillery
and musketry at easy range. The fort was a strong one, mounting four
twenty-four-pounders, four thirty-twos, and four six-pound Parrotts,
besides two six-pound Parrotts mounted outside ; but the occupation
by the enemy of Shepherd Mountain, a hill commanding the place, com
pelled Ewing to evacuate. After blowing up his magazine, he fell back
to Harrison Station on the Southwest Branch Railroad, where he made
a stand, behind breastworks left by a party of militia who had pre
viously occupied the town. The enemy followed him sharply, and cut
the railroad on both sides of him, severing communication both with
St. Louis and Rolla. Ewing reached Rolla with the main body of his
troops. Meantime, Springfield having been placed in a state of defence,
General Sanborn moved with all his available cavalry to re-enforce
General McNeil at Rolla ; while the infantry of Smith, aided by the
militia and citizens, put St. Louis in a state of defence, where General
Pleasonton had relieved General Frank Blair. The militia were
placed by Rosecrans under the direction of Senator B. Gratz Brown.
Brown concentrated at Jefferson City the troops of the Central
District, and, re-enforced by General Fisk with all available troops
north of the Missouri, prepared for the defence1 of the capital of the
State, the citizens of which vied with the military in their enthusiastic
exertions to repel the invasion. The enemy,, after awaiting at Rich-
wood's for a day or two, and threatening St. Louis, started for the
State capital. McNeil and Sanborn, moving . with all their available
cavalry, by forced marches reached the point of danger a few miles
in advance of him, and, uniting with Fisk and Brown, saved Jefferson
City. Price then retreated upon Booneville, and Pleasonton, having
assumed command at Jefferson City, sent a mounted force, under Sari-,
born, in pursuit. This force, on the 19th of October, united with the
brigade of Winslow, which had been dispatched by General Mower
to follow the enemy from Arkansas. The united force, now six thou
sand five hundred strong, under Pleasonton, pursued the enemy to In
dependence, where the rebel rear-guard was overtaken and routed.
Curtis, who held Westport, was driven out by Shelby, who in his turn
39

610 HISTOET OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
was defeated by Pleasonton. The retreat and pursuit were kept up
with vigof, and, Curtis having united with Pleasonton, the enemy were
overtaken at Little Osage Crossing, where two advanced brigades,
under Beriteen and Phillips, charged two rebel divisions, routed them,
captured eight pieces of artillery, and near one thousand prisoners, in
cluding Generals Marmaduke and Cabell. * Sanborn's Brigade again led
in pursuit, overtook the rebels, and made two more brilliant charges, driv
ing every thing before them across the Marmiton, whence the enemy fled,
under cover of night, towards the Arkansas. After thus marching two
hundred and four miles in six days, and beating the enemy, his .flying
columns were pursued towards the Arkansas by the Kansas troops
and Benteen's Brigade, while Sanborn, following, marched one hun
dred and four miles in thirty-six hours, and on the 28th reached New-
tonia, where the enemy made his last stand, in time to turn the tide
of battle, which was going against General Blunt, again routing the
enemy. The gains claimed by Price in this invasion were far more
than neutralized by his losses. These amounted to ten pieces of artil
lery, a large number of small-arms, nearly all his trains and plunder,
and, besides his killed, wounded, and deserters, upward of two thousand
prisoners. The total Union loss was less than a thousand. With this
abortive attempt to rival the early successes of the rebellion in this
quarter, ended the rebel attempts to conquer Missouri. Price retired
with a depleted and demoralized army into Southern Arkansas, and
thenceforth Missouri enjoyed a greater degree of tranquillity than she
had known since the outbreak of the war.

CHAPTER LXIV.
Mobile. — Its Defences. — Concentration of Troops. — Combined Operations. — Landing on
Dauphine Island. — Order of Battle. — Tecumseh blown up.^Tennessee Attacks. —
Desperate Battle. — Mode of Attack. — -Fort Powell blown up. — Fort Gaines Surren-
, ders. — Siege of Fort Morgan. — Surrender. — Minor Expeditions.
As, a part of the concerted plan of campaign, an attack upon Mobile
was projected by Grant, with the object of weakening Johnston in
Georgia, by inducing him to send troops for the defence of that city.
After the return of Banks's army from the Red River, and the ap
pointment of General Canby to the command of the West Mississippi
Military Division, an expedition against Mobile began to be organized.
The land defences of Mobile consisted of three lines of strong earth
works, extending five or six miles to the rear of the city. Along the
east coast of Mobile Bay were Pintow's Battery, Batteries Choctaw,
Cedar Plain, Grand Spell, and Light-house Battery, each of which con
sisted of thirty-two-pound rifled cannon mounted in earthworks. The
land is, however, level and low, and presents no natural advantages
for a defence. Forts Morgan and Gaines, commanding the entrance
to Mobile Bay, are the first obstacles that a fleet encounters in attempt
ing to enter from the Gulf. The former is situated on the southwest-

HISTOET OF THE GEEAT EEBELLIOlf.

611

ern extremity of a long spur of land, that, separates Bon Socour Bay
from the Mexican Gulf, and commanded the two easterly channels
of entrance, while the western one, and Grant's Pass, are immediately
Tinder the guns of Fort Gaines, a casemated fortification. Between the
forts and the city, the channels were obstructed by lines of stout piles
driven in the mud, and a sloop loaded with stone was stationed imme
diately in the centre of the channel that runs through Dog River Bar,
ready to be sunk on the passage of the forts. In the , Mobile River, :
considerably above the city, an iron-clad ram, the Tennessee, and four
wooden gunboats, were afloat. The harbor of Mobile is generally
shallow, and it was customary forheavy shipping to anchor just inside
of Dauphine's Island, near the entrance to the bay, and some twenty-
eight miles from the city. Steamers, however, being more easily
managed, were admitted under the guidance of skilful pilots, and even
sailing vessels of six or seven hundred tons could approach the city.
Preparatory- to an expedition for the capture of Mobile, the Federal
troops in Louisiana were concentrated in New Orleans.
In July, the fleet of Admiral Farragut, accompanied by a land force
under Generals Canby and Granger, arrived off Mobile Bay. A con
sultation was held between Generals Granger and Ganby with the Ad
miral, on July 8th, when it was determined that Fort Gaines should
be first invested. The fleet was to cover the landing of a force on
Dauphine's Island for that purpose, and the 4th of August was, after

wsr

612 HKTOET OE THE GEEAT EEBELLIOK
some unavoidable delays, fixed upon as the time for landing. Mean
while, the enemy, under General Page, were busy throwing troops and
supplies into Fort Gaines, which was commanded by Colonel Ander^
son, ofthe Twenty-first Alabama.
Early on the 4th of August, the Federal fleet, twenty-six sail, in
cluding two double and one single turreted monitor and an iron-clad
double-endef , commenced closing in their line southeast of Fort Mor
gan, as with a view to concentrate their efforts on Fort Gaines, having
during the preceding nights landed a force of from three to five thou
sand men under General Granger, on Dauphine Island. During the
early part ofthe day they kept up an irregular and desultory fire on the
fort, as if designing to make against that point a combined attack by
land and sea.
The real intention of the admiral, however, was to effect the pas
sage of the forts with his fleet, and the vessels outside the bar which
were designed to participate in the engagement were all under way
by forty minutes past five in the morning of August 5th, in the follow
ing order, two abreast and lashed together : —
Brooklyn, Captain James Alden, with the Octorara, Lieutenant-
Commander C. H. Green, on the port side; Hartford', Captain Peroi-
val Drayton, with the Metacomet, Lieutenant-Commander J. E. Jouett;
Richmond, Captain T. A. Jenkins, with the Port Royal, Lieutenant-
Commander B. Gherardi; Lackawanna, Captain J. B. Marchand,
with the Seminole, Commander E. Donaldson; Monongahela, Com
mander- J. H. Strong, with the Kennebec, Lieutenant-Commander W.
P. McCann; Ossipeej Commander W. E. Le Roy, with the Itasca, lieu
tenant-Commander George Brown ; Oneida, Commander J. R. .M.
Mullany, with the Galena, Lieutenant-Commander C. H. Wells.
The iron-clads Tecumseh, Commander T. A. M. Craven, the Man
hattan, Commander J. W. A. Nicholson, the Winnebago, Commander
T. H. Stevens, and the Chickasaw, Lieutenant-Commander T. H. Per
kins, were already ahead inside the bar, and had been ordered to take
up their positions on the starboard side ofthe wooden' ships, or between
them and Fort Morgan, for the double purpose of keeping down the
fire from the water-battery and the parapet guns of the fort, as well as
to attack the ram Tennessee as soon as the fort was passed.
The attacking fleet steamed steadily up the main ship channel, the
Tecumseh firing the first shot at forty-seven minutes past six. At six
minutes past seven the fort opened upon the fleet, and was replied to by
a gun from the Brooklyn, and, immediately after, the action became gen
eral. The guns of the fort played with effect "upon the Brooklyn and
Hartford, and soon after the firing became hot. The Tecumseh careened
suddenly, and sank, destroyed by a torpedo, nearly all hands being
lost. The Hartford, flag-ship, then took the lead, and the fleet, pushing
steadily forward, and maintaining a constant fire, passed the forts
shortly before eight o'clock. As the Hartford passed up she was at
tacked by the Tennessee, but without effect. The rebel gunboats Mor>
gan, Gaines, and Selma, which had kept up an annoying fire, were
then attacked. The Selma was captured by the Metacomet, while the
Morgan and Gaines drew off under the guns of Fort Morgan. The

HETOBT OE THE GEEAT EEBELLIOH". 613
former escaped to Mobile, and the latter was run ashore and destroyed.
The Tennessee then stood down for the flag-ship. The monitors were
immediately ordered to attack her. The Monongahela, Commander
Strong, was the first vessel that struck her, arid in doing so carried
away his own iron prow, together with the cut- water, without appar
ently doing his adversary much injury. The Lkckawanna, Captain
Marchand, was the next vessel to strike her, which she did at full
speed ; but though her stern was cut and crushed to the plank ends for
the distance of three feet above the water's edge to five feet below, the
only perceptible effect on the ram was to give her a heavy lift. The
Hartford was the third vessel which struck her, but as the Tennessee
quickly shifted her helm, the blow was a glancing, one, and as she
rasped along the side ofthe Hartford, that vessel poured her whole port
broadside of nine-inch solid shot within ten feet of her casemate. The
monitors worked slowly, but delivered their fire as opportunity offered.
The Chickasaw succeeded in getting under her stern, and a fifteens-inch
shot from the Manhattan broke through her iron plating and heavy
wooden backing, though the missile itself did not enter the vessel.
The Hartford again bore down upon the ram at full speed, when,
unfortunately, the Lackawanna ran into the Hartford just forward of
the mizzenmast, cutting her down to within two feet of the waters
edge. They soon got clear again, however, and again bore down for
the enemy. The Tennessee was now in a desperate strait. The Chick
asaw was pounding away at her stern, the Ossipee was approaching
her at full speed, and the Monongahela, Lackawanna, and Hartford
were bearing down upon her, determined upon her destruction. Her
smoke-stack had been shot away, her steering chains were gone, com
pelling a resort to her relieving tackles, and several of the port-shut
ters were jammed. Indeed, from the time the Hartford struck her until
her surrender, she never fired a gun. As the Ossipee, Commander Le
roy, was about to strike her, she hoisted the White flag, and that ves
sel immediately stopped her engine, though not in time to avoid a
glancing blow. During the contest with the rebel gunboats and the
ram Tennessee, and which terminated by her surrender at ten o'clock,
the fleet lost many more men than from the fire of the batteries of
Fort Morgan. Admiral Buchanan, commanding the Tennessee, was
wounded in the leg, two or three of his men were killed, and five or
six wounded. Commander Johnston, formerly of the United States
Navy, came on board the flag-ship to surrender his sword and that
of Admiral Buchanan.
Thus ended one of the fiercest naval combats on record, in which
the defence made by the Tennessee illustrated the power of that class
of vessels. After all the terrible attacks to which she was exposed,
her hull was but little injured. Her commander was in charge of the
Merrimac during her famous attack upon the Federal fleet in Hamp
ton Roads. It had been imagined that as the ship channel led so very
close to the powerful Fort Morgan, no ships would dare attempt the
passage ; or, if the attempt were made, none would succeed. But in
Farragut's hands this peculiarity of the channel became an advantage
to the attaoking, and a weakness to the defending side. The novel

614 HISTOET OF THE GEEAT EEBELLIOK".
and ingenious expedient of lashing his Teasels together,, two and two,
showed how thoroughly the , rear-admiral had considered the dan
gers in his way, and how successfully he met them. 1st. If the ex
posed half of his fleet had been disabled, the other half would still
have gone; in, with but little injury. 2d. His battle line was not liable
to disorganization, by any vessel dropping out, and perhaps fouling
another ; the Oneida was disabled, but her consort pulled her through,
and the Oneida's men did noteven leave their guns. 3d. Jf any ves
sel had been sunk, her consort would have surely and quickly save4
the crew. 4th. His battle line was shortened by half, and the passage
of course robbed of half its risks to the fleet. Tnese were the chief
points gained by Farragut's admirable and novel disposition of, his force.
On the night of the 1th of August, Fort Powell having surren
dered, the commander of Fort Gaines, Colonel Anderson, intimated a
desire to surrender ; and for that purpose went on board the fleet and
made terms. General Page, having some intimation of what was
going on, telegraphed , repeatedly to Anderson to hold on to his post.
The fort, however, was surrendered, and by this means the western
channel was now under the control of the Federal fleet. The sur
render of Fort Morgan, could not after this be long delayed. Ac
cordingly, after some days spent in preparations, on August 21st, Gen
eral Granger notified Admiral Farragut that he would be ready to
open the siege next morning at daylight. That night the admiral
with his fleet took position in line of battle, and Monday morning, the
22d, at five o'clock, opened upon Morgan with thirty guns of various
cahbre, and sixteen eight. and ten inch mortars. In a short time three.
monitors and several wooden vessels opened, the former with eleven
and fifteen inch shells, and the latter with rifled thirty-two-pounders.
The firing continued with great vigor and extraordinary accuracy
until dark, when, the fleet withdrew, and the firing was continued
only at intervals by the shore batteries. During the shelling the cita
del of the fort took fire, and the enemy, after vain efforts to extin
guish the flames, flooded the magazine and threw a large quantity of
powder into the wells. No sooner was this light discovered than
General Bailey ordered all our batteries to commence firing, in order
to prevent the extinguishment of the flames.
At, twenty minutes to seven o'clock on Tuesday morning, the
23d, Captain Taylor, bearing a white flag, and accompanied by
about forty men, carrying a small sail-boat, marched out at the main
sallyport, facing Fort Gaines, with the intention of pushing off to the
flag-ship, three or four miles distant, with a note from General Page,
proposing to surrender the fort, and asking what terms would be
granted. General Granger now arrived at the wharf, in front of Fort
Morgan, and the note pf General Page was handed to him. Granger
replied that he would communicate the contents of the note to the
admiral, and when his answer, was received the terms of surrender
would be dictated. . In a short time thereafter Granger sent General
Arnold, chief of artillery, Captain Drayton, of the Hartford, and
another officer, with a demand for the immediate and, unconditional
surrender of Fort Morgan, with its garrison and all public property,

HISTOET OE THE GEEAT EEBELLIOM". . 615
to the army and navy of the United States. With these terms Page
was fain to comply, though he disgraced himself by destroying, and
injuring the property surrendered after he had accepted the terms.
With Forts Morgan and Gaines eighty-six guns and fifteen hundred
men fell into the possession of the Union troops, and Mobile was per
manently sealed against blockade-runners.
On the return of the troops to New Orleans, after leaving sufficient
garrisons in the Mobile forts, a number of expeditions were under
taken by General Canby's troops, of which the most important was
one into West Florida, under command of General Asboth, which
reached Marianna on the afternoon of the 27th of September, captur
ing that place after a stubborn resistance of several hours. The result
was the capture of eighty-one prisoners of war (among them a briga
dier-general and a Colonel), ninety-five stand of arms, and large quan
tities of quartermaster's and cornmissary stores. Our loss in killed
and wounded amounted to thirty-two, including General Asboth him
self, who had his left cheek-bone broken and his left arm fractured in
two places.
An expedition, sent by General Dana from Rodney, Mississippi,
reached Fayette on the 2d of October, encountering no enemy. They
captured some cattle, horses, mules, and several prisoners. Another
expedition sent by General Dana attacked the enemy at Woodville at
seven o'clock on October 7th, capturing three guns, one captain, one
lieutenant, fifty-four enlisted men, and killing forty of the enerhy.
(A cavalry expedition, under General A. L. Lee, reached Clinton
October 7th, at seven o'clock, capturing forty-seven prisoners^ the
mails, telegraph office, &c, and a considerable quantity of stores and
ammunition. Among the prisoners captured was Lieutenant-Colonel
Pinckney, provost-marshal-general ofthe district (installed in his office
a few hours before the arrival of our troops), one captain and two
• lieutenants. From there the expedition moved to Greensburg, and,
finding no eneiriy^ destroyed a tannery and some stores, and returned
with a number of blacks.

CHAPTER LXV.
¦7.
Expedition to Florida. — Occupation of Jacksonville. — Advance of General Seymour.—
Battle of Olustee, and Eetreat of the Union . Army.— Demonstration against New
born.— Capture of Plymouth.— The Albemarle.— Her Fight with Union Gunboats.
— Her Destruction. — Rebel Privateers. — Combat between the Kearsarge and Ala
bama. — Capture of the Florida and Georgia.
The early part of 1864 witnessed a series of disasters to the Union
arms along the Atlantic coast, which, though involving the loss of no
essential points, and having no direct influence upon 'the issue of the
war, were yet, in the aggregate, so considerable as to cause a wide-
spread uneasiness. The great aggressive campaigns of Grant and
Sherman had not then commenced, and these temporary successes of
the rebels, taken in connection with the practical failure of the joint

616 HISTOET OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
expedition into Southern Mississippi, with the Fort Pillow massacre
and the unfortunate termination of the Red River expedition, perplexed
and irritated the public mind, while they infused no little heart into
the rebel cause.
In December, 1863, in accordance with his request, authority was
given to General Gillmore, commanding the Department of the South,
to undertake such operations, within his department, as he might deem
best, on consultation with Admiral Dahlgren, then in command of the
South Atlantic blockading squadrop. He accordingly intimated to the
War Department that in February, 1,864, he proposed to occupy the
west bank of the St. John*s River, and establish small dep6ts there,
preparatory to an advance at an early day. Under date of June 13th,
1864,, the President wrote to Gillmore that, understanding that certain
persons were endeavoring to construct a legal government in Florida,
which formed part of the Department of the South, and that Gillmore
might possibly be there in person, he had dispatched Mr. Hay, one of
his private secretaries, to aid in the proposed construction. "It is de
sirable," he said, " for all to co-operate ; but if irreconcilable differences
of opinion shall arise, you are master. I wish the thing done in the
most speedy way possible,, so that when done it be within the range
of the .late proclamation on the subject. The detail labor will of course
have to be done by others, but I shall be greatly obliged if you will
give it such general supervision as you can find consistent with your
more strictly military duties." By the close of January, Gillmore's
plans seem to have been perfected, and in a letter to General Halleck,
the general4n-chief, he stated that the objects to be attained by his
proposed operations were : —
1. To procure an outlet for cotton, lumber, timber, &c.
2. To cut off one of the enemy's sources of commissary supplies,
&c.
3. To obtain recruits for any colored regiments.
i. To inaugurate measures for the speody restoration of Florida to
her allegiance, in accordance with instructions received from the
President by the hands of Major John H. Hay, assistant adjutant-
general. Orders were issued by Gillmore to General Truman Seymour, on
February 5th, to proceed with a force of six thousand men to Jackson
ville, and, after effecting a landing, to push on to Baldwin, twenty
miles further, with his mounted troops. The command of Seymour,
convoyed by the gunboat Norwich, Captain Merriam, ascended the St.
John's River on the 7th, and landed at Jacksonville on the afternoon
of the same day. The advance, under Colonel Guy V. Henry, pushed
forward into the interior on the night of the 8th, passed by the enemy,
drawn up in line of battle at Camp Vinegar, seven miles from Jackson
ville, surprised and captured a battery three miles in the rear of the
camp about midnight, and reached Baldwin about sunrise. At the
approach of the Union troops, the enemy fled, sunk the steamer St.
Mary's, and burned two hundred and seventy bales of cotton, a few
miles above Jacksonville. Our forces captured, without the loss of a
man, about one hundred prisoners, eight pieces of artillery in service-

HISTOET OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION". 617
able condition, and a large amount of other valuable property. On
the 9th, Gillmore reached Baldwin. At that time, the enemy had no
force in East Florida, except the scattered fragments of General Fin-
negan's command ; we had taken all his artillery. On the 10th, a por
tion of our force was sent towards Sanderson, and Gillmore returned
to Jacksonville. Telegraphic communication was established between
Baldwin and Jacksonville on the llth, and Seymour was directed by
Gillmore not to risk a repulse by advancing on Lake City, but to hold
Sanderson, unless there were reasons for falling back ; and also, in case
his advance met with any serious opposition, to concentrate at Sander
son and the south fork of the St. Mary's, and, if necessary, to bring
back Colonel Henry to the latter place. Having subsequently directed
Seymour to make no further advance, without instructions, but to put
Jacksonville in a complete state of defence, Gillmore returned on the
16th to Hilton Head.
On Thursday, February 18th, Seymour left his camp at Jacksonville,
with ten days' rations, for the purpose of destroying the railroad near
the Suwannee River, one hundred miles distant from Jacksonville. He
had received no directions from Gillmore to undertake this movement,
and the latter immediately sent positive orders to him to remain where
he was ; but these, unfortunately, arrived too late to avert the disaster
which subsequently occurred. On the 19th, the column, numbering
about five thousand men, reached Barber's Station, on the Florida
Central Railroad, about thirty miles from Jacksonville. Here it was
the intention of Seymour to remain several days ; but during the night
of the 19th, he received information of the enemy's whereabouts and
plans, which led him to believe that by pushing rapidly forward his
column, he would be able to defeat the enemy's designs, and secure
important military advantages. At seven a.m. on the 20th, the march
was resumed along the line of the railroad, in the direction of Lake
City, and at noon the troops passed through Sanderson. At this place
they did not halt, but pushed forward towards Olustee, nine miles dis
tant, the point at which Seymour believed he should meet the enemy.
But instead of coming in contact with the enemy at Olustee, the meet
ing took place three mjles east of that place, and six miles west of
Sanderson, so that the troops were not so well prepared for battle as
they would have been if Olustee had been the battle-field. The column
moved forward in regular order, the cavalry in the advance, and the
artillery distributed along the line of infantry; but with singular
negligence, considering the march was through an enemy's country,
no flanking parties had been thrown out. \
At two p. m., as the head of the column reached a point where a
country road crosses the railroad, the enemy's skirmishers were en
countered. After some brisk firing, the rebels fell back on a second
line of skirmishers, and ultimately upon their main forces, which were
strongly posted between swamps, about six miles beyond Sanderson.
The rebel position was admirably chosen. On the right, their line
rested upon a low and rather slight earthwork, protected by rifle-pits,
their centre was defended by an impassable swamp, while on the left
their cavalry was drawn up on a small elevation behind the shelter of

618 HISTOET OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
a grove of pines. Their camp was intersected by the railroad, on
which was placed a battery capable of operating against our left- or
our centre, while a rifled gun, mounted on a truck, commanded the
road.: In order to attack this strong position, our troops were com
pelled to take a stand between two swamps, one in the front, the other
in the rear. The artillery was posted within one hundred yards ofthe
enemy's line of battle, a position in which they were exposed to the
deadly fire of the rebel sharpshooters.
The Seventh New Hampshire Regiment, in connection with the Sev
enth Connecticut, was sent forward to the right, to break through the
enemy's line: This movement brought on hot firing, and it was evi
dent that an engagement was near at hand. At this time, the Union
force on the field consisted of the Seventh New Hampshire, the Sev
enth Connecticut, the Independent Battalion of Massachusetts Cavalry,
the Fortieth Massachusetts Mounted Infantry, the Eighth United
States Colored, Elder's Battery of four and Hamilton's of six pieces.
The remainder of the column was halted on the road. While the
movement on the right was in progress, Colonel Henry, in person,
went over to the left to reconnoitre, and discovered that the enemy's
right lapped on our left. This was reported to General Seymour, who
immediately gave orders for the advance troops and batteries to come
into position. The fact that the enemy had a force far superior in
point of numbers to our own was now beyond all dispute ; but to re
treat at that time was impossible, as the road was filled with troops
coming up, and the woods on either side would not admit of passage
on the flank. Soon Langdon, on the extreme left, and Hamilton on
the right, succeeded in getting their batteries at work, but the guns
being within one hundred yards of the enemy's front, the loss of life
among the artillerists was too great to enable them to maintain an
efficient fire. In twenty minutes' time, Hamilton lost forty-four men
and forty horses. The Eighth Colored Regiment, which formed his
support, also suffered considerably, and, after the death of the com
mander, Colonel Fribley, retired in disorder.' Nevertheless, Hamilton
kept his pieces at work until it was evident it would be sure loss to
fire another round, and then gave orders to withdraw them. Horses
were attached to only four pieces — the horses to the other two had been
shot ; consequently two guns fell into possession of the enemy. On the
right of Hamilton, the Seventh Connecticut and the Seventh New
Hampshire were doing fearful execution. The Seventh Connecticut
especially were standing their ground with marked valor, and every
volley from their guns told on the rebel line. But the rebels outnum
bered them five to one, and, after losing one-fourth of their number,
the two regiments were compelled to retire to the rear. At the same
moment, Colonel Barton's Brigade, the Forty-seventh, Forty-eighth,
and One Hundred and Fifteenth New Tork regiments, took the field,
coming up in line en echelon. They fought with great resolution, but,
like the other troops, could not make head agamst the overwhelming
force opposed to them.
Theunequal contest was sustained until it became evident that the
numerical superiority of the enemy was too great to be successfully

HISTOET OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 619
opposed. Our line was gradually drawn back, leaving the dead and
many of the seriously wounded in the hands of the enemy. This
movement was covered by Colonel Montgomery's Brigade, the Fifty-
fourth Massachusetts and the First North Carolina. When Barton's
Brigade began to waver, in consequence of their ammunition running
low, the First North Carolina was sent into line in front, and succeeded
in holding the enemy in check. As our troops retired, the rebels at
tempted to flank us on both sideR, a movement which was checked by
the judicious dispositions of Colonel Henry. The centre held its
ground under a heavy fire from front and flank, until the formation of
a new position about a hundred yards to the rear. Soon after the
changes of line, the enemy, made a desperate charge on the centre, but
were driven back bv Elder's Battery.
At sunset the firing slackened on both sides, and the Union troops,
though exhausted by a fatiguing march and three hours' severe fighting,
retired, without confusion, from the field. Seymour was by this time
satisfied that the odds against him were too great to risk a repetition
of the day's fighting. He was moreover out of ammunition, and was
fifty miles distant from his base. Every consideration prompted him
to match his shattered force back to Jacksonville before the enemy
should encompass it. The order to retreat was given, and, with hardly
a, pause, the troops commenced to retrace their weary route to Barber's,
The retreat was conducted with perfect order, Colonel Henry, with
his cavalry, bringing up the rear. At three o'clock, Sunday morning,
the troops were at Barber's. The enemy followed closely, but did not
press. A few of their cavalry only kept well up to the rear of Henry's
column. At Barber's, the column rested until nine a. m., and then
took up the line of retreat, reaching Baldwin at about three p. m.
They halted here a short time, and then went on towards Jacksonville,
arriving at the camping-ground, six miles out, Monday afternoon,
the22d. The Union loss in this battle was not far from twelve hundred, or
about a fourth part of the force engaged. Five guns were also aban
doned upon the field, two of Hamilton's and three of Langdori's Battery,
from want of horses to drag them away. The enemy's loss must have
been quite as severe, as he was inferior in artillery, and the Union bat
teries were for the most part fired at very short range. That he was
considerably crippled was evident from the fact that he made no effort
at vigorous pursuit. When finally he approached the neighborhood
of Jackson, he found the Union army protected by strong works,,
with gunboats to support it in case of need. No further attempt was
made to penetrate into Florida, and no movement was initiated for re
organizing the State. The troops on both sides were a few months
later called away for more important work in Virginia.
For two years subsequent to the landing of Burnside on the North
Carolina coast, the Union troops had retained uninterrupted possession
of those places on the inland waters which were then occupied and
fortified, and of which the most important were Plymouth, on the south
bank ofthe Roanoke River, near its entrance into Albemarle Sound;
Washington, on the Pamlico River, and Newbern, on the Neuse.

620 HISTOET OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION,
Rebel demonstrations against these towns in the spring of 1863 had
proved abortive, and public interest was soon absorbed by the great
campaigns in Virginia and the Valley of the Mississippi. But previous
to the renewal of active operations between the main contending
armies, the rebel authorities determined, in the early part of 1864, to
make another attempt to expel the Union troops from North Carolina,
To harass the Federal Government, and to divert its attention from
more important objects, was undoubtedly one of their motives. Another
was to give greater security to the lines of railroad traversing North
Carolina, which might become of vital importance to the Confederacy
iri the event of the success of Sherman's campaign against Atlanta, and
which were always more or less endangered by the proximity of Union
garrisons on the coast. In aid of the projected movement, a large and
powerful armored ram, called the Albemarle, which had been a long
time building up the Roanoke River, was rapidly pushed to com
pletion. The first demonstration was against Newbern, and was evidently -in
tended as a feint. On February 1st, the rebel General Picket, with
the brigades of Hoke, Corse, and Clingman, carried by assault a small
Union outpost within eight miles of the town, capturing two guns and
a few prisoners ; but satisfied, apparently, by a nearer reconnoissance,
that the defences of Newbern were too strong to be attacked with
any prospect of success, he withdrew his troops to Kinston on the
succeeding day.
The next movement was of 'a more serious character, and was di
rected agamst Plyinouth, which had been strongly fortified, and com
manded the entrance to the Roanoke River. The main defences com
prised a breastwork with strong forts at different points along the line.
A mile further up the river was another strong work, called Fort Gray,
opposite to which a triple row of piles had been driven, with torpedoes
attached, to serve as a protection to the Union war, vessels anchored
in front of the town. Still farther up was another row of piles with
torpedoes, near which a picket boat was stationed to give warning of
the approach of the Albermarle. In the middle of April the garrison
consisted of about two thousand five hundred men, under command of
General Wessells, and the gunboats Southfield, Miami, Bombshell,
Whitehead, and Ceres were at anchor in the river. On Sunday, April
17th; Hoke, with a force estimated at from ten to fifteen thousand men,
and a heavy artillery train, appeared, before the town, and, late in the
afternoon, Fort Gray was attacked from a battery, of six pieces planted
on a sand-bank on Pope's Island, a thousand yards up the river. Two
desperate charges were made on the fort at early dawn of Monday,
and both gallantly repulsed with severe slaughter to the enemy, The
Bombshell, a small gunboat, steaming up to the aid of the fort, was sunk
by the battery. At sunset the enemy desperately assaulted Forts Wil
liams and Wessells, forming part of the main line of defences, and were
repulsed three times, the gunboats aiding the forts by hurling shell
among the rebel columns.
At three a. m. of Tuesday, the 19th, the much-dreaded Albermarle, pass
ing through the obstructions unharmed, silently ran down the river, elu-

HISTOET OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 621
ding our battery, and* obliquely crossing, struck her prow into the star
board bow of the Southfield^ which sank in ten minutes. The Southfield
was formerly a ferry-boat plying between New York and Staten Island,
side-wheel, eleven hundred and sixty-five tons and seven guns. , Some
of her -officers and crew were picked up by the Miami, some cap
tured, and a few lost. Both the Southfield and Miami had been
lashed together to oppose a joint resistance to the ram, but the shock
of the collision separated them. The Miami, and the Southfield as
long as she could keep above water, maintained a brisk fire upon the
Albemarle, which proved utterly ineffective. In firing on the ram, Lieu-
tenant-Commader Flusser, commanding the Miami, a gallant and skilful
sailor, was instantly killed, by the rebound of a shell from the impenetra
ble sides of the enemy. His death was especially disastrous at that time,
when, most of all, his skill and courage were needed. The ram, having
driven off the gunboats, began to shell the town and forts, briskly
aided by the rebel batteries. The attack was violently conducted on
Tuesday, the rebel lines drawing nearer, and our force evacuating Fort
Wessells, after a brave defence. At nine a. m., on Wednesday, Fort Wil
liams was assaulted and the enemy handsomely repulsed in several
distinct charges, with great slaughter. At half-past ten a. m. General
Wessells capitulated, and pulled the flag down from Forts Williams
and Comfort. The garrison at Fort Gray persisted in holding out
somewhat longer, but finally surrendered. > The enemy took about two
thousand five hundred prisoners, thirty pieces of artillery, several
hundred horses, a large amount of proiAsions and stores, and the gar
rison outfit. The non-combatants of the town and some negroes had
been prudently removed, before the main attack, to Roanoke Island.
Our loss in killed and wounded was about one hundred and fifty — the
enemy's probably upward of a thousand. The enemy seemed satisfied
with this success, and made, no further attempt upon Newbern or
Washington. Warned, however, of the danger of leaving isolated gar
risons to be overpowered after the fashion of Plymouth, Government
ordered the evacuation of Washington in the latter part of April, so
that by the 1st of May the only place on the mainland of being the
North Carolina sounds occupied by the Union forces was Newbern,
which from its great strength might well defy attack. Operations by
land forces ended, however, with the capture of Plymouth, and the
troops on both sides were soon after, for the most part, sent North, to
participate in the campaign against Richmond.
As thepresence of the Albemarle in the North Carolina waters
threatened to destroy the uninterrupted supremacy which the Federal
fleets had maintained there, the squadron was increased, and Captain
Melancthon Smith, an experienced officer, placed in command. On May
5th, the Union fleet being collected near the mouth of the Roanoke
River, the Albemarle sallied forth, accompanied by the Bombshell as a
tender, and at half-past four p. m., proceeded to attack the gunboats.
The latter were mostly small craft, built expressly to navigate the shal
low waters of the sounds and the rivers flowing into them, but man
fully accepted the unequal battle. Soon after five o'clock the Sassacus,
a "double-ender" (that is, a vessel capable of sailing equally well in

622 HISTOET OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
either direction), watching her opportunity, struck the ram fairly abaft
her starboard beam, causing her to careen until the water washed over
her deck and casemates; In this position the two vessels remained for
about ten minutes, the crew of the Sassacus vainly endeavoring to
throw hand-grenades down the hatch ofthe Albemarle, and to get
powder into her smok-estack. At length they separated, and at the
moment of parting the ram sent a hundred-pound shot clean through
the starboard boiler of her antagonist, filling her with steam and caus
ing her to retire for a while from the fight. No further casualty oc
curred to the Union fleet, and about half-past seven the ram retired up
the Roanoke River. Her tender, the Bombshell, was captured early
in the action. From reports of refugees, it appeared that the Albe-
inarle had suffered considerably in the encounter. None of the gun
boats were much injured except the Sassacus, and the battle, consider
ing the relative strength of the contending parties, was justly claimed
to have been- creditable to the courage and skill of American seamen.
The Albemarle did not venture outside ofthe river again, but, under
the apprehension that she might at any time make her appearance,
various plans were devised for her destruction. Of these, the only
successful one was that suggested and undertaken by Lieutenant W. B.
Cushing, a young officer who had gained an enviable reputation for
coolness and intrepidity in hazardous enterprises. On the night of
October 27th he started up the Roanoke in a steam-launch equipped as
a torpedo-boat, having onboard a crew of thirteen oflicers and men.
The distance from the mouth of the river to where the ram lay was
about eight miles, and the banks, which are about two hundred yards
apart, were lined with rebel pickets. ' About a mile below: the town
was the wreck of the Southfield, surrounded by some river craft. The
result of the attempt is thus related by Lieutenant Cushing : —
" Our boat succeeded in passing the picket, and even the Southfield, within twenty
yards, without discovery, and we were not hailed until by the lookouts on the ram.
The cutter was then cast off and ordered below, while we made for our enemy under a
full head of steam. The rebels sprung their rattles, rang the bell, and commenced
firing, at the same time repeating their hail, and seeming much confused. The light of
a fire ashore showed me the iron-clad, made fast to tjie wharf, with a pen of logs around
Her about thirty feet from her side. Passing her closely, we made a complete circle,
so as to strike her fairly, and went into her bows on. By this time the enemy's fire
was very severe, but a dose of canister, at short range, served to moderate their zeal
and disturb their aim. Paymaster Swan, of the Otsego, was wounded near me, but
how many more I know not. Three bullets struck my clothing, and the air seemed
full of -them. In a moment we had struck the logs, just abreast of the quarter-port,
breasting them in some feet, and our bows resting on them. Tho torpedo-boom was
then lowered, and, by a vigorqus pull, I succeeded in driving the torpedo under the
overhang, and exploded it at the same time that the Albemarle's gun was fired. A
shot seemed to go crashing through myboat, and a dense mass of water rushed jn.
from the torpedo, filling the launch and completely disabling her. \ The enemy then
continued his fire at fifteen feet range, and demanded our surrender, which I twice
refused, ordering the men to save themselves, and removing my own coat and shoes.
Springing into the river, I swam, with others, into the middle of the stream, the
rebels failing to hit us. The most of our party were captured, some drowned, and
only one escaped besides myself, and he in a different direction. Acting Master's
Mate 'Woodman, of the Commodore Hull, I met in the water half a mile below the
town, and assisted him as best I could, but failed to get him ashore. Completely

HISTOET OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 623
exhausted, I managed to reach the shore, but was too weak to crawl out of the water
until just at daylight, when I managed to creep into the swamp, close to the fort.
While hiding a few feet from the path, two of the Albemarle's oflicers passed, and
I judged from their conversation that the ship was destroyed. Some hours' travelling
in the swamp served to bring me out well below the town, when I sent a negro
in to gain information, and found that the ram was truly sunk. Proceeding through
another swamp, I came to a creek and captured' a skiff belonging to a picket of the
enemy, and with this, by eleven o'clock the next night, had made my way out to the
Valley City."
Only one other of the party succeeded in escaping, the rest being
either killed, captured, or drowned. A detachment of naval vessels
occupied Plymouth a few days . later, and found the Albemarle lying
near her wharf, completely submerged. In the succeeding year, how
ever, she was raised arid converted into a useful war vessel.' With
this event military operations were practically ended in the inland
waters of North Carolina.
During the year 1864, the three English-built, equipped, and manned
cruisers, the Alabama, Georgia, and Florida, whose depredations upon
unarmed merchantmen had almost paralyzed the American carrying
trade, terminated their piratical career. Early in June, the Alabama,
Captain Raphael Semmes, after an unusually prosperous career in the
Southern Atlantic and Indian Oceans, arrived in the harbor of Cher
bourg. At that time the United States corvette Kearsarge, Captain
John A. Winslow, was lying at Flushing, and her commander, upon
hearing of the return of the Alabama to Northern waters, at once re
paired to Cherbourg to watch her movements. Semmes, ashamed pos
sibly of his inglorious career against defenceless vessels, and desirous
to show that he was not afraid to meet an antagonist of equal strength
with his own ship, immediately sent word to Captain Winslow that he
was desirous of meeting him in combat outside the harbor of Cher
bourg, and would feel obliged if the Union commander would wait
until the Alabama was put in fighting trim. This proposition was
willingly accepted by Captain Winslow, and the Kearsarge was held
in readiness for the expected fight. The two vessels thus about to
measure their strength were as nearly equally matched as any ocean
combatants could be, their relative proportions being as follows : —
Alabama. Kearsarge.
Length over all  220 feet. 214J feet.
Length on water-line  210 " 198£ "
Beam  32 " 33 "
Depth   .  17 " 16 "
Horse-poWer, two engines of.  ;.'..'  300 each. 400 h. p.
Tonnage  1  1,150 1,031
The Alabama was a bark-rigged screw propeller, and the heaviness
of her fig, and, above all, the greater size and height of her masts,
fave her the appearance of a much larger vessel than her antagonist.
he masts of the latter were disproportionately low and small ; she
never carried more than topsail yards, and depended for her speed upon
her machinery alone. Ships of war, however, whatever may be their
tonnage, are nothing more than platforms for carrying artillery. The
only mode by which to judge of the strength of two vessels is in com-

624" HISTOET OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
paring their' armaments ; and herein we find the equality ofthe antago
nists as fully exemplified as in the respective proportions of their hulls
and steam power. The armaments of the Alabama and Kearsarge
were as follows : —
Armament of the Alabama. — One 7-inch Blakely rifle ; one 8-ineh
smooth-bqfe 68-pbunder ; six 32-pounders.
Armament ofthe Kearsarge. — Two 11-inch smooth-bore guns; one
30-pounder rifle ; four 32-pounders.
It will, therefore, be seen that the Alabama had the advantage of
the Kearsarge— at all events, in the number of her guns — while the
weight of the latter's broadside was only some twenty per cent, greater
than her own.
To protect the boilers of the Kearsarge, Captain Winslow had
adopted the simple expedient of hanging her spare anchor cable over
the midship section on either side. This had first been adopted byr
Farragut, in running with his fleet past Forts Jackson and St. Philip,
on the Mississippi. The operation tpok just three days, without other
assistance than the crew could afford, and in order to make the addi
tion less unsightly, the chains were boxed over with inch deal boards,
forming a case or box, which stood out at right angles with the vessel's
sides. This was the Whole foundation for the absurd stories circulated
by rebel sympathizers, and which Semmes himself gave publicity to,
that the Kearsarge was a formidable iron-clad, and consequently of
vastly greater strength than her opponent. This method of employ
ing the anchor cable was perfectly well known to the rebel com
mander. He, however, preferred to protect his own boilers by taking
on board one hundred and fifty tons of coal, which, in addition to two
hundred tons already in his bunkers, brought his vessel pretty low in
the water, while the Kearsarge, on the contrary, was deficient in coal,
having taken on board barely sufficient for her immediate wants.
Five, days sufficed to complete Semmes's preparations, and on Sunday
morning, June 19th, the Alabama, in "prime condition," according to his
own statement, sallied forth to meet the Union cruiser. So much pub
licity had been given to the announcement that the Union and rebel
war steamers were about to contend in sight of the French coast, that
the appointed day found the shores thronged with spectators,, to whom-
a genuine sea-fight was a thing rather of the. past than the present day.
Fifty years had elapsed since the navies of England and France had
contended, in the same waters. Special excursion trains brought thou
sands of persons from Paris, and mariy had even come over from Eng
land. The efficiency of modern ordnance was now about to be tested
by skilful hands, and the gunners of the Alabama, who had mostly
been trained on the British practice-ship Excellent, were expected to
show the superiority of the Blakely guns Over those carried by the
Kearsarge. The latter depended principally upon her eleVen-inch
Dahlgrens, and her gunners, taken mostly from the merchantmen,
were without other instruction than that acquired during the year or
two they had been in the National service. Singularly enough, too,
although the greater part of European ships of war were steam pro
pelled, no single combat between vessels of this class, similar to those

HISTOET OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. s 625
so often recorded in naval history, had ever taken place in European
waters, and curiosity was greatly excited as to the probable result of
such a contest. The day was clear and beautiful, just enough of a
breeze prevailing to ruffle the surface of the water, and as the Alabama
weighed and stood out of Cherbourg harbor on her mission of death
and destruction, the church bells on either coast were summoning
worshippers to the house of God.
Shortly after ten o'clock the oflicers of the Kearsarge descried their
antagonist coming out of the western entrance of the harbor, accom
panied by the French iron-clad frigate Couronne, which had been
ordered to convoy her outside the limits of French waters. No sooner
was the limit of jurisdiction reached than the Couronne put down her
helm, and steamed back into port. Immediately preceding the Alabama
was a three-masted steam yacht, the Deerhound, belonging to a Mr.
Lancaster, an Englishman, who was on board with his family, ostensibly
to witness the contest, but really, as it afterwards proved, to act the
part of a tender to the rebel steamer. For the purpose of avoiding
any infraction of French jurisdiction, and also of drawing the Alabama
so far off from shore that, if disabled, she could not return to port,
Captain Winslow put out to sea, and at once cleared for action. Hav
ing reached a point seven miles from shore, he turned the head of his
ship short around, and steered for the Alabama, intending to run her
down, or, if that were not practicable, to close in with her. The
following is his graphic account of the action which followed : —
" Hardly had the Kearsarge come round before the Alabama sheered, presented her
starboard battery, and slowed her engines. On approaching her at long range of about
a mile, she opened her full broadside, the shot cutting some of our rigging, and going
over and alongside of us. Immediately I ordered more speed ; but in two minutes the
Alabama had loaded and again fired another broadside, and followed it with a third, with
out damaging us except in rigging. We had now arrived within about nine hundred yards
of her, and I was apprehensive that another broadside — nearly raking as it was — would
prove disastrous. Accordingly I ordered the Kearsarge sheered, and opened qn the
Alabama. The position of the vessels was now broadside and broadside ; but it was
soon apparent that Captain Semmes did not seek close action. I became then fearful
lest, after some fighting, that he would again make for the shore. To defeat this, I
determined to keep full speed on, and with a port helm to run under the stern of the
Alabama and rake her, if he did hot prevent it by sheering and keeping his broadside
to us. He adopted this mode as a preventive, and as a consequence the Alabama was
forced, with a, full head of steam, into a circular track during the engagement. The
effect of this manoeuvre was such that, at the last of the action, when the Alabama
would have made off, she was near five miles from the shore ; and, had the action con
tinued from the first in parallel lines, with her head in shore, the line of jurisdiction
would no doubt have been reached. The firing of the Alabama from the first was
rapid and wild ; towards the close of the action her firing became better. Our men, who
had been cautioned against rapid flring without direct aim, were much more deliberate ;
and the instructions given to point the heavy guns below rather than above the water-
line, and clear the deck with the lighter ones, was fully observed.
" I had endeavored, with a port helm, to close in with the Alabama but it was not
until just before the close of the action that we were in position to use grape. This was
avoided, however, by her surrender. The effect of the training of our men was evident;
nearly every shot from our guns was telling fearfully on the Alabama, and on the
seventh rotation on the circular track she winded, setting foretrysail and two jibs, with
head in shore. Her speed was now retarded, and by winding, her port broadside was
presented to us, with only two guns bearing, not having been able, as I learned after
wards, to shift over but one. I saw now that she was at our mercy, and a few more
40

626 HISTOET OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
guns, well directed, brought down her flag. I was unable to ascertain whether it had
been hauled down or shot away; but a white flag having been displayed over the stern,
our fire was reserved. Two minutes had not more than elapsed before she again opened
on us with two guns on the port side. This drew our fire again, and the Kearsarge
was immediately steamed ahead, and laid across her bows for raking. The white flag
was still flying, and our fire was again reserved. Shortly after this her boats were
seen to be lowering, and an officer in one of them came alongside, and informed us the
ship had surrendered, and was fast sinking. In twenty minutes from this time the
Alabama went down, her mainmast, which had been shot, breaking near the head as
she sank, and her bow rising high out of the water as her stern rapidly settled."
In allusion to what occurred -after the surrender of the Alabama,
Captain Winslow reports as follows: —
" It was seen shortly afterwards that the Alabama was lowering her boats, and an
officer came alongside in one of them, to say that they had surrendered, and were fast
sinking, and begging that boats would be dispatched immediately for saving of life.
The two boats not disabled were at once lowered, and, as it was apparent the Alabama
was settling, this officer was permitted to leave in his boat to afford assistance. An
English yacht, the Deerhound, had approached near the Kearsarge at this time, when
I hailed and begged the commander to run down to the Alabama, as she was fast sink
ing, and we had but two boats, and assist in picking up the men. He answered
affirmatively, and steamed towards the Alabama, but the latter sank almost immediately.
The Deerhound. however, sent her boats, and was actively engaged, aided by several
others, which had come from shore. These boats were busy in bringing the wounded
and others to the Kearsarge, whom we were trying to make as comfortable as possible,
when it was reported to me that the Deerhound was moving off. I could not believe
that the commander of that vessel could be guilty of so disgraceful an act as taking
pur prisoners off, and therefore took no means to prevent it, but continued to keep our
boats at work rescuing the men in the water. I am sorry to say that I was mistaken ;
the Deerhound made off with Captain Semmes and others, and also the very officer
Who had come on board to surrender. I learnt subsequently that the Deerhound was a
consort of the Alabama, and that she received on board all the valuable personal
effects of Captain Semmes the night before the engagement."
The Alabama, which fought seven guns to the Kearsarge's five, is
reported to have discharged three hundred and seventy or more shot
and shell in this engagement, but inflicted no serious damage on the
Kearsarge. Thirteen or fourteen took effect in and about the hull of
the latter, and sixteen or seventeen about the masts and rigging. The
Kearsarge fired one hundred and seventy-three projectiles, of which
one alone killed and wounded eighteen of the crew of the Alabama,
and disabled one of her guns. Three persons were wounded on the
Kearsarge. The number of killed and wounded on the Alabama is
unknown. Seventeen of the wounded, two of them in a dying condi
tion, were brought on board the Kearsarge. One hundred and fifteen
officers and men of the Alabama's crew reached the shores of England
and France, of whom six officers and sixty-four men were taken on
board the Kearsarge. The Deerhound carried off fifteen officers,
including Semmes, who was slightly wounded, and twenty-seven men.
The total ship's company of the Alabama, so far as can be ascertained,
amounted to about one hundred and fifty, the majority being British
subjects, of whom probably more than thirty were killed or drowned.
The officers and crew of the Kearsarge numbered one hundred and
sixty-three. The conduct of Semmes in throwing overboard his sword
after surrendering, and allowing himself to be conveyed to England,

HISTOET OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 627
fras severely commented upon, and it was directed by the United
States Government that he should be considered a prisoner of war
until properly exchanged.
The Florida originally sailed from England under the name of Oreto,
and under that name she was, on reaching Nassau, brought before the
court through the efforts of the American consul, who was satisfied
that she was in the rebel interest and intended as a rebel cruiser. The
neutral authorities decided in favor ofthe vessel, which was permitted
to proceed. Leaving Nassau, she went to Green Cay, where she re
ceived on board the armament sent out for her from England, ran into
Mobile, changed her name to Florida, and subsequently fleeing from all
naval vessels, carried on predatory war on American commerce, cap
turing and destroying unarmed merchantmen, without ever sending in
a vessel for adjudication. In February, 1864, availing herself of a,
dark night, she escaped from Brest, eluding the Kearsarge, which was,
off that port. In June she visited the neutral port of St. George's,
Bermuda, and remained there nine days, receiving all the coal and sup
plies necessary for a long piratical cruise. Leaving St. George's on the;
27th of that month^she remained outside, but in sight, for three or
four days, boarding all vessels that approached the island. On the
10th of July she captured the Electric Spark, near our coast, while
several vessels were cruising for her, but she escaped, and was next
heard from at Teneriffe, on the 4th of August. ¦ Subsequently, enter-.
ing the bay of San Salvador, Brazil, she encountered the steamer
Wachusett, commanded by Commander Collins, who, taking advan
tage of the absence of Captain Morris and about half the crew of the
Florida on shore, quietly raised anchor and drove his ship straight into
the rebel, who at once surrendered. A hawser was then attached to
the captured vessel, and the Wachusett steamed out of the harbor at
full speed, having her prize in tow. The harbor fortifications opened
upon her as she passed out, and she was followed by two Brazilian
men-of-war, -which, however, failed to overtake her. The Florida was
finally brought in a leaky and dilapidated condition to Hampton Roads.
Here, while at anchor, and pending the settlement of the questions of
international law which her capture in a neutral port involved, an
army transport came in collision with the shattered vessel, which sank
a few days after, near the wreck of the Cumberland.
The Georgia, another English-built naval vessel which cruised under
the rebel flag, repaired to Cherbourg in February, 1864, and thence
proceeded to the Mersey, where she changed owners. Her armament
was removed from her, and she left Liverpool for Lisbon. On the 15th
of August, Commodore T. T. Craven, of the Niagara, fell in with her
in latitude 39° 16' north, longitude 9° 39' west, sailing under the Eng
lish flag. Commodore Craven took possession of the vessel as a law
ful prize, and, putting a prize crew on board of her, he sent her to the
United States.

628 HISTOET OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.

CHAPTER LXVI.
Depopulation of Atlanta. — Correspondence between General Sherman and Mayor Cal
houn. — Flank Movement by Hood. — Attack on Allatoona. — Hood Severs Sherman's
Communications. — Marches into Alabama and Enters Tennessee. — Sherman's New
Plan of Campaign. — Invasion of Tennessee. — Battle of Franklin. — Affair at Mur
freesboro7. — Battles of December 15th and 16th before Nashville. — Betreat of Hood
into Alabama. — Close of the Campaign.
The order for the depopulation of Atlanta which General Sherman,
for military reasons, deemed it proper to issue and enforce, met with
no little opposition from the small remnant of the inhabitants of that
once flourishing place who had remained there during all the rigors
of the siege. We have seen how Sherman replied to Hood's remon
strance. The following correspondence between him and the mayor
of. Atlanta conveys in as clear and forcible terms, perhaps, as were ever
employed for the purpose, the hardships which the people ofthe rebel
lious States brought upon themselves in attempting to sever their rela
tions with the Union, and plunge the country in the horrors of civil
war: — LETTER OF MATOE CALHOTJN.
"Atlakta, Georgia, September \\, 1864.
"Major-General W. T. Sherman :
"Sm: — The undersigned, Mayor and two members of Council for the city of Atlanta,
for the time being the only legal organ of the people of the said city to express their
wants and wishes, ask leave most earnestly, but respectfully, to petition you to recon
sider the order requiring them to leave Atlanta. At "first view, it struck us that the
measure would involve extraordinary hardship ar.d loss ; but since we have seen the
practical execution of it, bo far as it has progressed, and the individual condition of
many of the people, and heard the statements as to the inconveniences, loss, and suf
fering attending it, we are satisfied that the amount of it will involve ha the aggregate
consequences appalling and heart-rending.
"Many poor women are in the advanced state of pregnancy; others having young
children, whose husbands, for the greater part, are either in the army, prisoners, or
dead. Some say: 'I have such a one sick at my house; who will wait on them when
I am gone V Others say : ' "What are we to do? we have no houses to go to, and no
means to buy, build, or rent any; no parents, relatives, or friends, to go to.' Another
says : 'I will try and take this or that article of property; but such and such things I
must leave behind, though I need them much.' We reply to them : ' General Sherman
will carry your property to Bough and Beady, and then General Hood will take it
thence on.' And they will reply to that: 'But I want to leave the railroad at such a
place, and cannot get conveyance from thence on.'
"We only refer to a few facts to illustrate in part how this measure will operate in
practice. As you advanced, the people north of us fell back, and before your arrival
here a large portion of the people here had retired south ; so that the country south
of this is already crowded, and without sufficient houses to accommodate the people,
and we are informed that many are now staying in churches and other outbuildings.
This being so, how is it possible for the people still here (mostly women and children)
to find shelter, and how can they live through the winter in the woods — no shelter or
subsistence — in the midst of strangers, who know them not, and without the power to
assist them much, if they were willing to do so ?
"This is but a feeble picture of the consequences of this measure. Tou know the
woe, the horror, and the suffering cannot be described by words. Imagination can only
conceive of it; and we ask you to take these things into consideration. We knovr

"1
4 J

HISTOET OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 629
your mind and time are continually occupied with the duties of your command, which
almost deters us from asking your attention to the matter; but thought it might be
that you had not considered the subject in all of its awful consequences, and that, on
reflection, you, we hope, would not make this people an exception to all mankind ;
for we know of no such instance ever having occurred — surely not in the United
States. And what has this helpless people , done, that they should be driven from
their homes, to wander as strangers, outcasts, and exiles, and to subsist on charity?
"We do not know as yet the number of people still here. Of those who are here,
a respectable number, if allowed to remain at home, could subsist for several months
without assistance; and a respectable number for a much longer time, and who might
not need assistance at any time. <
" In conclusion, we most earnestly and soleinnly petition you to reconsider this order,
or modify it, and suffer this unfortunate peopte to remain at home and enjoy what little
means they have. Bespectfully submitted. " James M. Calhoun, Mayor.
" E E. Rawson, ) /f„„„,.,7,„„, >,
"S.C. Wells, ,\°<mm:amen- GENERAL SHERMAN'S REPLY.
"Head-Quartebs Military Division of the Mississippi,
"In the Field,
"Atlanta, Georgia, September 12, 1864.
"James M. Calhoun, Mayor, E. E. Rawson and S. C. Wells, representing City Coun
cil of Atlanta:
"Gentlemen: — I have your letter of the llth, in the nature of a petition to revoke
my orders removing all the inhabitants from A tlanta. I have read it carefully, and
give full credit to your statements of the distress that will be occasioned by it, and yet
shall not revoke my order, simply because my orders are not designed to meet the
humanities of the case, but to prepare for the future struggles, in which millions, yea,
hundreds of millions of good people outside of Atlanta, have a deep interest. We
must have peace, not only at Atlanta, but in all America. To secure this, we must,
stop the war that now desolates our once happy and favored country. To stop war,
we must defeat the rebel armies that are arrayed against the laws and Constitution,
which all must respect and obey. To defeat these armies, we must prepare the way
to reach them in their recesses, provided with the arms and instruments which enable
us to accomplish our purpose.
" Now, I know the vindictive nature of our enemy, and that we may have many
years of military operations from this quarter, and therefore deem it wise and prudent
to prepare in time. The use of Atlanta for warlike purposes is inconsistent with its
character as a home for families. There will be no manufactures, commerce, or agri
culture here for the maintenance of families, and sooner or later want will compel the
inhabitants to go. Why not go now, when all the arrangements are completed for the
transfer, instead of waiting till tho plunging shot of contending armies will renew the
scene of the past month ? Of course, I do not apprehend any such thing at this mo
ment; but you do not suppose that this army will be here till the war is over. I can
not discuss this subject with you fairly, because I cannot impart to you what I propose
to do ; but I assert that my military plans make it necessary for the inhabitants to go
away, and I can only renew my offer of services to make their exodus in any direction
as easy and comfortable as possible. You cannot qualify war in harsher terms than I
will. War is cruelty, and you cannot define it ; and those who brought war on our
country deserve all the curses and maledictions a people, can pour out. I know I had
no hand in making this war, and I know I will make more sacrifices to-day than any
of you to secure peace. But you cannot have peace and a division of our country. If
the United States submits to a division now, it will not stop, but will go on till we
reap the fate of Mexico, which is eternal war. The United States does and must assert
its authority wherever it has power ; if it relaxes one bit to pressure, it is gone, and I
know that such is not the national feeling. This feeling assumes various shapes, but
always comes back to that of Union. Once admit the Union, once more acknowledge
the authority of the National Government, and instead of devoting your houses and
streets and roads to the dread uses of war, I and this army become at once your prq^

630 HISTORY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
tectors and supporters, shielding you from danger, let it come from what quarter
it may. I know that a rew individuals cannot resist a torrent of error and passion,
such as has swept the South into rebellion; but you can point out, so that we may
know those who desire a Government, and those who insist upon war and its desolation.
" You might as well appeal against the thunder-storm as against these terrible hard
ships of war. They are inevitable ; and the only way the people of Atlanta can hope
once more to live in peace and quiet at home, is to stop this war — which can alone be
done by admitting that it began in error, and is perpetuated in pride. We don't want
your negroes, or your horses, or your houses, or your land, or any thing you have ; but
we do want and will have a just obedience to the laws of the United States. That we
will have ; and if it involves the destruction of your improvements, we cannot help it.
You have heretofore read public sentiment in your newspapers, that live by falsehood
and excitement, and the quicker you seek for truth in other quarters, the better for you.
" I repeat, then, that, by the original compact of government, the United States had
certain rights in Georgia, which have never been relinquished, and never will be; that
the South began war by seizingforts, arsenals, mints, custom-houses, &c, ic, longbefore
Mr. Lincoln was installed, and before the South had one jot or tittle of provocation. I
myself have seen in Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, and part of Mississippi, hundreds
and thousands of women and children fleeing from your armies and desperadoes, hungry
and with bleeding feet. In Memphis, Vicksburg, and Mississippi, we fed thousands
upon thousands of the families of rebel soldiers left on our hands, and whom we could
not see starve. Now that war comes home to you, you feel very different; you depre
cate its horrors, but did not feel them when you sent car-loads of soldiers and ammuni
tion, and moulded shell and shot, to carry war into Kentucky and Tennessee, and deso
late the homes of hundreds and thousands of good people, who only ask to live in peace
at their old homes, and under the Government of their inheritance. But these compari
sons are idle. I want peace, and believe it can only be reached through Union and war,
and I will ever conduct war purely with a view to perfect and early success.
"But, my dear sirs, when that peace does come, you may call on me for anything.
Then I will share with you the last cracker, and watch with you to shield your homes
and families against danger from every quarter. Now, you must go, and take with yon
the old and feeble ; feed and nurse them, and build for them in more quiet places proper
habitations, to shield them against the weather, until the mad passions of men cool
down, and allow the Union and peace once more to settle on your old homes at Atlanta.
"Yours, in haste, W. T. Sherman, Major- General."
From the date ofthe surrender of Atlanta, up to the 22d of Septem
ber, an armistice remained in force between the forces under Sherman
and the army of Hood. This period of time on the part of Sherman
was occupied in recruiting, refitting, and reorganizing. The railroad
was employed in transporting stores, and in bringing new men to fill
up the wasted ranks of the army, the trains returning with soldiers,
going home to enjoy for a brief season their well-earned furloughs.
Bakeries were established in all the camps to furnish the men with
fresh bread, and they were supplied as rapidly as possible with new
clothing and equipments. Meanwhile, the main body of Hood's army
reposed near Jonesboro', twenty miles south of Atlanta, while his cav
alry, under Forrest and other leaders, were raiding upon Sherman's
communications in Northern Alabama and Georgia and Southern Ten
nessee. To meet these movements, General Thomas was ordered to
Nashville to direct operations in that section, a small force being sent
at the same time by General Sherman to Chattanooga. On the 20th
September the cavalry of Forrest crossed the Tennessee, and having
destroyed the railroad between Decatur and Athens, appeared before
the latter place, which was garrisoned by a small body of colored
troops under Colonel Campbell These surrendered, together with

HISTOET OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 631
portions of the Nineteenth Michigan and One Hundred and Second
Ohio, which had come to the succor of the garrison. Forrest then
moved upon Sulphur Branch Trestle, and, having captured the garrison,
attacked, on the 27th, the garrison of Pulaski, where General Rous
seau commanded. On the 29th he cut the Nashville Railroad near
Tullahoma, but was soon driven off by Rousseau. At the same time
General Steedman collected a force of five thousand men to keep open
the rail communication with Chattanooga. On the 26th, Newton's
Division of the Fourth Corps, Army of the Cumberland, and Mor
gan's of the Fifteenth, were ordered from Atlanta to Chattanooga to
replace Steedman. 'General Thomas, by order of Sherman, accom
panied this ¦ force to take charge of affairs in Tennessee, and reached
Nashville October 3d. General Granger, commanding the Northern
District of Alabama, was ordered to occupy Athens when Forrest's
troops withdrew, and moved off with his command in two columns
towards Columbia. Morgan's Division occupied Athens October 2d,
and had orders to move upon Bainbridge with a view to intercept the
enemy, while Rousseau, with four thousand cavalry, was to press his
rear through Mount Pleasant. At the same time, as General Wash
burn, with four thousand five hundred men, was moving up the Ten
nessee in pursuit of Forrest, orders were sent to him to unite his cav
alry with those of Rousseau at Clifton. The enemy, however, escaped
across the Tennessee, and Morgan returned to Athens.
Hood, meanwhile, had kept his forces in the neighborhood of Jones
boro', and was sufficiently occupied for the time being in simply watch
ing the movements of his adversary in Atlanta. To allow their prin
cipal Southern army to remain inactive was, however, no part of the
programme of the rebel leaders, and in an intemperate and passionate
speech delivered at Macon, on September 23d, Jefferson Davis an
nounced that Sherman should find Atlanta but another Moscow, and
that his retreat to the North would prove even more disastrous and
ignominious than that of Napoleon from his barren Russian conquests.
These remarks foreshadowed a new military policy in the South, of
which the principal feature was to be the commencement of an ag
gressive campaign upon Sherman's communications by the whole rebel
army under Hood, very much after the fashion of Sherman's final and
successful movement against Atlanta. In aid of this movement, For
rest, by far the ablest cavalry officer in the rebel army, was already
operating against the communications between Chattanooga and Nash
ville, and it was supposed that if the railroad between Chattanooga
and Atlanta could be well broken up by Hood, Sherman, cut off from
his primary and secondary bases, would be compelled to retreat into
Tennessee. The plan had the merit of boldness, and, had it been in
trusted to abler hands than those of Hood, or devised against a less
skilful general than Sherman, might have proved successful. It will
be seen that Sherman was in this emergency master of the situation,
and completely outwitted his brave, but rash and incapable, antagonist.
By the 2d of October, Hood's army was across the Chattahoochee,
and moving upon Dallas, whence it could threaten Chattanooga and
the railroad, and, if hard pushed, retreat into Southwestern Alabama.

632 HISTOET OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
On the 4th, the rebels reached the railroad north of Marietta, and
destroyed the track between Big Shanty and Acworth, and on the
morning of the 5th a detachment of seven thousand men, under Gen
eral French, approached the fort at Allatoona Pass, and demanded its
surrender. By this time, Sherman's troops, with the exception of the
Twentieth Corps left to garrison Atlanta, were also across the Chatta
hoochee, and moving rapidly upon Hood. The latter, however, had
the start by at least two days, and sought to avail himself of that
advantage to overwhelm the small garrison at Allatoona, the capture
of which place would have given him immense stores and an almost
impregnable position. Sherman was also aware of the importance of
Allatoona, and with wise foresight had on the previous day thrown
into the place a re-enforcement of nine hundred men under General
Corse, drawn from the garrison of Rome. To French's demand for a
surrender, " in order to save the unnecessary effusion of blood," Corse
returned the curt reply, "I shall not surrender, and you can commence
the unnecessary effusion of blood whenever you please." The attack
opened at eight a. m., and was maintained with great pertinacity until
two p. m., when the enemy, wearied and completely baffled, retired,
with a loss of over a thousand men. During the heat of the contest,
Sherman arrived on the summit of Kenesaw Mountain and opened
telegraphic communication with the garrison, directing them to hold
out resolutely, as succor was fast approaching. The fresh courage
which this assurance gave to the beleaguered troops enabled them,
doubtless, to maintain their heroic resistance.
The rebels now marched northward along the railroad. North of
Resaca they recommenced to destroy the track, and continued the
work as far as Tunnel Hill, a distance of twenty miles, capturing on
the 14th the colored garrison at Dalton. Sherman was a compara
tively quiet but vigilant spectator of these operations, and, to those
ignorant of his plans, seemed to have relaxed from the energy of
movement which had previously characterized him,. When finaEy, on
the 15th, he marched from Resaca against Hood, compelling the latter
to retire in a southwesterly direction towards Lafayette, his move
ments were unaccountably slow. The rebel army, without, apparently,
any unusual effort, escaped into Northern Alabama, whence on the 1st
of November it marched for Warrenton, on the Tennessee River,
Sherman being then at Gaylesville, Alabama, near the Georgia line.
The object of Sherman's strategy was now apparent. Hood had been
pushed far away from the Chattahoochee into Northern Alabama, and
tempted into another invasion of Tennessee. His raid on the railroad
between Chattanooga and Atlanta had been of so little detriment that
by the 28th of October it was again in running order, and Sherman,
having got rid of a troublesome enemy in his front, was now prepared
to penetrate with a large force into the heart of Georgia, and march
for the coast, with the almost positive certainty that no enemy of im
portance could oppose him. It was necessary, however, to provide
first for the safety of Tennessee, thus threatened by a rebel army, and
for that reason Thomas had been detached to Nashville. The Fourth
Corps, Stanley, and the Twenty-third, Schofield, were sent to his sup--

HISTOET OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 633
port, giving him, with the troops already in Tennessee, and the command
of A. J. Smith, then on the march thither from Missouri, an ample
force to withstand Hood ; and he was directed to continue to entice
Hood northward and fight him in the neighborhood of Nashville, if
possible. But if the rebel general should take the alarm and follow
Sherman, then Thomas was to follow Hood, who, placed between two
large armies, would be in no enviable position. The new campaign
projected by Sherman will be hereafter related ; at present we have to
do exclusively with events in Tennessee.
Upon its arrival at the Tennessee, the army of Hood was re-enforced
by twelve thousand mounted troops under Forrest, who, on his way
thither from Corinth, had captured two Union transports and a small
gunboat at Johnsville, an important dep6t of supplies. With needless
precipitancy the garrison destroyed public property estimated to be
worth several millions of dollars. Hood remained for some time on
the south side of the river, sending over only Lee's Corps with some
cavalry, and it was not until the 17th of November that he moved
his remaining troops across, timing his advance with that of Breckin
ridge, who was operating in Eastern Tennessee. On the 19 th he com
menced his march northward from Florence on parallel roads, and on
the 23d a portion of his force took possession of Pulaski. Thomas
and Schofield, who were directly in Ihe way of Hood's march, covering
the approaches to Nashville, retreated slowly in the direction of that
place. The whole Union force was not yet concentrated, and Thomas
wisely determined to fight the decisive battle of the campaign with all
the troops his department could furnish, and as near as possible to his
base. On the 26th, the enemy occupied Columbia, Schofield, who com
manded the Union rear-guard, retiring across Duck Rivertowards Frank
lin, twenty miles south of Nashville, where he arrived on the 30th. Here
he formed his line of battle on the southern edge of the town, to await
the coming of the enemy, and, in the mean while, hastened the crossing
of the trains to the north side of Harpeth River.
The enemy meantime pressed closely upon Schofield's rear-guard. At
noon of November 30th, the main body of our army, consisting of the
Fourth and Twenty-third Corps, and the detachments which had been
collected from various points, was concentrated at Franklin. At that
hour several bodies of Forrest's Cavalry were discovered hovering on
the flanks, and reconnoitring the position which Schofield had taken
close to the town. Between three and four p. m., Hood approached
rapidly, and, forming his column with the quickness for which he was
famous, hurled them at once against the centre of the line, which was
held by portions of the two corps of Stanley and Schofield. The
assaulting columns consisted of divisions belonging to the corps com
manded by Generals Cheatham and Stewart, and the impetuosity of
the charge carried these troops over the breastworks and into the heart
of Schofield's position. The first blow fell upon the centre of the line,
breaking it and driving the defenders back in disorder. Through the
gap thus made the Confederates swarmed fiercely, and for upwards of
an hour the fight raged with terrible fury. Hood's troops pressed
vigorously against the lines of Generals Wagner, Huyer, and Cox, and,

634 HISTOET OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
driving the command of the former back from their breastworks,
threw the other lines into wild.'but, fortunately, temporary confusion.
By the first charge the Confederates obtained possession of the first
line of defences, and shortly after four o'clock they advanced against
the second. By this time some of the reserves were brought to the
front, which enabled Cox and Wagner to reform their broken lines.
As the Confederates moved against the second line of breastworks,
they were met and checked by the reserves and such of the other
troops as had been rallied. Again they essayed to charge, but were
again checked by Cox, Wagner, and Opdyke, the latter commanding
a reserve brigade of Stanley's Corps. When order was fully restored
at the second line and the troops rallied to the front, a charge was
ordered to expel the Confederates from the line which they had
captured. In the mean time, however, Hood made several successive
attempts to follow up the advantage gained by the first assault, but
without success.
About five p. m. the greatest struggle took place. When Cox and
Stanley attempted to drive back the enemy they met the most stubborn
resistance. The men on both sides were within arms' length of each
other, fighting like demons with the bayonet and with clubbed
muskets. At the same time batteries were pouring storms of shot
and shell into the enemy's ranks, but this was almost unheeded.
Finally, when it was too dark to continue the battle, and when Hood
found that it was impossible to obtain all that he desired, he retired
from the line captured at the opening of the action.
The Federal loss was about fifteen hundred. The loss of the enemy
amounted to six thousand two hundred and fifty, viz. : buried upon the
field, one thousand seven hundred and fifty; disabled and placed in
hospital at Franklin, three thousand eight hundred, and seven hundred
prisoners. Among their casualties were six general oflicers killed, six
wounded, and one captured. This repulse of the enemy gave Schofield
time to remove his troops and trains to Nashville, where on the
same day arrived the advance of A. J. Smith's army from St. Louis by
transports, and also General Steedman, with a command numbering
five thousand men, composed of detachments belonging to Sherman's
column, left behind at Chattanooga, and also a brigade of colored
troops. Hood followed closely upon the retiring troops of Schofield, and by
noon of the 1st of December the Union line of battle was formed on
the heights immediately surrounding Nashville, with A. J. Smith's
command occupying the right, his right resting on the Cumberland
River, below the city ; the Fourth Corps (Brigadier-General Wood
temporarily in command) in the centre; and General Schofield's
troops (Twenty-third Army Corps) on the left, extending to the Nolens-
ville pike. The cavalry under General Wilson was directed to take
post on the left of General Schofield, which would make secure the in
terval between his left and the river above the city. Steedman's troops
took up. a position about a mile in advance of the left centre of the
main line, and on the left of the Nolensville pike. This position, being
regarded as too much exposed, was changed qn the 3d, Avhen, the cavalry

HISTOET OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 635
having been directed to take post on the north side of the river at
Edgefield, General Steedman occupied the space on the left of the line
vacated by its withdrawal.
On the 4th the enemy established his line with his salient on the
summit of Montgomery Hill, within six hundred yards of our centre,
his main line occupying the high ground on the southeast side of
Brown's Creek, and extending from the Nolensville pike— his extreme
right — across the Franklin and Granny White's pikes in a westerly
direction to the hills south and southwest of Richland Creek, and down
that creek to the Hillsboro' pike, with cavalry extending from both
his flanks to the river. Artillery was opened on him from several
points on the line, without eliciting any response.
Hood seems to have learned nothing from his mistake at Atlanta,
whence he sent Wheeler's Cavalry to operate upon Sherman's rear, at
the very moment he most wanted them to protect his own flanks, thus
enabling Sherman to surprise his lines at Jonesboro'. This same mis
take he now repeated. At the moment Thomas was preparing to
move against him, and was only waiting a remount of cavalry, Hood
sent Forrest and Bates to support a column of Cleburne's old troops,
in an attack upon Murfreesboro', held by Rousseau, who was prepared
for them. The block-house, five miles north of Murfreesboro', was
attacked by Bates's Division of Cheatham's Corps on the 4th, but held
out until three regiments of infantry, four companies of the Thirteenth
Indiana Cavalry, and a section of artillery, under command of General
Milroy, came up from Murfreesboro', attacked the enemy, and drove
him off. During the 5th, 6th, and 7th, Bates's Division, re-enforced
by a division from Lee's Corps, and two thousand five hundred of For
rest's Cavalry, demonstrated heavily against Fortress Rosecrans, at
Murfreesboro', garrisoned by a considerable force, under command of
General Rousseau. The enemy showing an unwillingness to make a
direct assault, Milroy, with seven regiments of infantry, was sent out
on the 8th to engage him. He was found a short distance from the
place on the Wilkerson pike, posted behind rail breastworks, was at
tacked and routed, our troops capturing two hundred and seven pris
oners and two guns, with a loss of thirty killed and one hundred and
seventy-five wounded. On the same day Buford's Cavalry entered the
town of Murfreesboro', after having shelled it vigorously, but he was
speedily driven out by a regiment of infantry and a section of artillery.
On retiring from before Murfreesboro' the enemy's cavalry moved
northward to Lebanon and along the bank of the Cumberland in that
vicinity, threatening to cross to the north side of the river and inter
rupt our railroad communication with Louisville, at that time our only
source of supplies, the enemy having blockaded the river below Nash
ville by batteries along the shore. The Navy Department was
requested to patrol the Cumberland above and below Nashville with
the gunboats then in the river, to prevent the enemy from cross
ing, which was cordially and effectually complied with by Lieutenant-
Commanding Le Roy Fitch, commanding Eleventh Division Mississippi
squadron. At the same time General Wilson sent a cavalry force to
Gallatin to guard the country in that vicinity.

636 HISTOET OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
Meantime, Hood's main army occupied the position before Nashville,
with little change up to the 15th, both armies having been ice-bound
for the last week of that time. Thomas employed the interval in re
mounting his cavalry and accumulating transportation. Being pre
pared at length to move, he called a meeting of the corps commanders
on the afternoon of December 14th, and, having discussed the plan of
attack until it was thoroughly understood, he is*sued the following
special field order : —
" As soon as the state of the weather will admit of offensive operations, the troops
will move against the enemy's position in the following order : —
" Major-General A. J. Smith, commanding detachment of the Army of the Tennes
see, after forming his troops on and near the Harding pike, in front of his present
position, will make a vigorous assault on the enemy's left.
" Major-General Wilson, commanding the cavalry corps, Military Division of Missis
sippi, with three divisions, will move on and support General Smith's right, assisting
as far as possible in carrying the left of the enemy's position, and be in readiness to
throw his force upon the enemy the moment » favorable opportunity occurs. Major-
General Wilson will also send one division on the Charlottee pike to clear that road
of the enemy, and observe in the direction of Bell's Landing to protect our right rear
until the enemy's position is fairly turned, when it will rejoiu the main force.
" Brigadier-General T. J. Wood, commanding Fourth Army Corps, after leaving a
strong skirmish line in his works from Lauren's Hill to his extreme right, will form
the remainder of the Fourth Corps on the Hillsboro' pike to support General Smith's
left, and operate on the left and rear of the enemy's advanced position on the Mont
gomery HilL
" Major-General Schofield, commanding Twenty-third Army Corps, will replace
Brigadier-General Kimball's Division of the Fourth Corps with his troops, and occupy
the trenches from Fort Negley to Lauren's Hill with a strong skirmish line. He will
move with the remainder of his force in front of the works and co-operate with Gen
eral Wood, protecting the latter's left flank against an attack by the enemy.
" Major-General Steedman, commanding District of the Etowah, will occupy the in
terior line in rear of his present position, stretching from the Reservoir on the Cum
berland River to Fort Negley, with a strong skirmish line, and mass the remainder of
his force in its present position, to act according to the exigencies which may arise
during these operations.
" Brigadier-General Miller, with his troops forming the garrison of Nashville, will
occupy the exterior line from the battery on hill 210 to the extreme right, including
the enclosed work on the Hyde's Ferry road.
" The quartermaster's troops, under command of Brigadier-General Donaldson, will,
if necessary, be posted on the interior line from Fort Morton to the battery on hill 210.
" The troops occupying the interior line will be under the direction of Major-General
Steedman, who is charged with the immediate defence of Nashville during the opera
tions around the city.
" Should the weather permit, the troops will be formed to commence operations at
6 A. M. on the 15th, or as soon thereafter as practicable."
The enemy's line was formed with Cheatham on the left, Stewart in
the centre, and S. D. Lee on the right. His most advanced position,
from which he annoyed our lines, was a commanding eminence on the
Granny White pike. On the crest of this stood the house of a Mrs.
Montgomery. On the morning of the 15th December, the weather
being favorable, the Union army was formed and ready at an early
hour to carry out the plan of battle. The formation of the troops was
partially concealed from the enemy by the broken nature of the
ground, as also by a dense fog, which only lifted towards noon. The

HISTOET OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 637
enemy was apparently totally unaware of any intention on our part to
attack his position, and more especially did he seem not to expect any
movement against his left flank. To divert his attention still further
from our real intentions, Steedman had orders to demonstrate on the
enemy's right. As soon as the enemy's attention was attracted in
that direction, Smith and Wilson moved out on the Harding pike,
and, wheeling to the left, advanced against his position across the Har
ding and Hillsboro' pikes. Johnson's Division of Cavalry at the same
time was sent eight miles below Nashville to attack a battery of the
enemy at Bell's Landing. The remainder of Wilson's command,
Hatch's Division leading, and Knipe in reserve, moving on the right
of A. J. Smith's troops, first struck the enemy along Richmond Creek,
near Harding's house, and drove him back rapidly, capturing a num
ber of prisoners, wagons, &c, and, continuing to advance, while slightly
swinging to the left, came upon a redoubt containing four guns, which
was splendidly carried by assault at 1 p. m. by a portion of Hatch's
Division, dismounted, and the captured guns turned upon the enemy.
A second redoubt, stronger than the first, was next assailed and car
ried by the same troops that captured the first position, taking four
more guns and about three hundred prisoners.
General Thomas, finding that Smith had not taken sufficient distance
to the right, directed Schofield to move his command (the Twenty-
third Corps) from the position in reserve to which it had been assigned
over to the right of Smith, enabling the cavalry thereby to operate
more freely in the enemy's rear. The Fourth Corps, Wood command
ing, formed on the left of Smith's command, and as soon as the latter
had struck the enemy's flank, moved against Montgomery Hill, Hood's
most advanced position, at 1 p. m. The attack was gallantly made,
and, after a brief resistance, the rebels abandoned their works, leaving
the crest of the hill in the hands of the Union troops.
Connecting with Garrard's Division, which formed the left of Smith's
troops, the Fourth Corps continued to advance. The First and Second
Brigades of Beatty's Division occupied the left, formed in single line,
while Kimball's and Elliot's Divisions were formed into column by bri
gade. The advance of this long line of battle was very fine. In their
front lay a long slope of open country bounded by belts of wood. An
increasing slope ran to the woods now occupied by the rebels. Over
this the line moved in one steady, imposing column. The crest of the
hill in front partly sheltered it from the enemy's artillery. A dense
volume of smoke rose from the valley, shrouding the hills and rebel
lines in our front. The roar of the rebel artillery was becoming fainter,
while the sound of our guns rang- nearer and nearer. The Fourth
Corps for a moment halted and lay down to enable Smith to connect,
when suddenly the enemy could be seen breaking pell-mell from then-
works, while infantry, cavalry, and artillery were sweeping across the
plain. A wild cheer rang from our lines, and the batteries redoubled
their iron storm. Soon a column was seen emerging from the woods
on the rebel flanks, the stars and stripes floating proudly in their front.
This was our right, which had swung around their flank. The air re
sounded with cheers as the Fourth Corps jumped to their feet and

638 HISTOET OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
pressed forward after the flying enemy, until the shades of night put an
end to the combat.
At the close of the day the enemy had been driven out of his
original hne of works, and forced back to a new position along the
base of Harpeth Hills, still holding his line of retreat to Franklin hy
the main pike through Brentwood and by the Granny White pike. Our
line at nightfall was readjusted, running parallel to and east of the
Hillsboro' pike — Schofield.s command on the right, Smith's in the
centre, and Wood's on the left, with the cavalry on the right of Scho
field ; Steedman holding the position he had gained early in the morn
ing. The total result of the day's operations was the capture of sixteen
pieces of artillery and twelve hundred prisoners, besides several hun
dred stands of small-arms, and about forty wagons. The enemy had
been forced back at all points with heavy loss, and our casualties were
unusually light. The whole command bivouacked in line of battle
during the night on the ground occupied at dark, while preparations
were made to renew the battle at an early hour on the morrow.
Between the Granny White and Franklin pikes is a kind of plateau,
sloping towards the range of bluffs which seem to be bounded hy
Little Harper and Mill Creeks. Fine residences- and well-cultivated
plantations cover the landscape back to Nashville. Here the city was
shut out from view by the hills, crowned with forts and batteries, their
sides' dotted over with white tents, and the dark forms of citizens
crowding to see the battle, or at least hear its din. Behind these rose
the houses and steeples of the city. The cupola of the capitol was
crowded with anxious spectators.
At six a. m., on the 16th, Wood's Corps pressed back the enemy's
skirmishers across the Franklin pike to the eastward of it, and then,
swinging slightly to the right, advanced due south from Nashville,
driving the enemy before him until he came upon his new main hne of
works, constructed during the night, on what is called Overton's Hill,
about five miles south of the city, and east of the Franklin pike. .Steed
man moved out from Nashville by the Nolensville pike, and formed his
command on the left of Wood,# effectually securing the latter's left
flank, and made preparations to co-operate in the operations ofthe
day.' Smith's command moved on the right of the Fourth Corps
(Wood's,) and establishing connection with Wood's right, completed
the new line of battle. Schofield's troops remained in the position
taken up by them at dark on the day previous, facing eastward and
towards the enemy's left flank, the line of the corps running perpen
dicular to Smith's troops. Wilson's Cavalry, which had rested for the
night at the six-mile post on the Hillsboro' pike, was dismounted and
formed on the right of Schofield's command, and by noon of the 16th
had succeeded in gaining the enemy's rear, and stretched across the
Granny White pike, one of his two outlets towards Franklin.
As soon as the above dispositions were completed, Thomas, having
visited the different commands, gave directions that the movement
against the enemy's left flank should be continued. Our entire line
approached to within six hundred yards of the enemy's at all points.
His centre, was weak as compared with either his right, at Overton's

HISTOET OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 639
Hill, or his left, on the hills bordering the Granny White pike ; still
there were hopes of gaining his rear and cutting off his retreat from
Franklin. In front of the rebel lines, commanding the Franklin pike, was a
strong fort, occupying the crest of the hill, with strongly intrenched
works all round, and slashed trees in front. This hill is the first im
portant one of the Overton range — the extreme western spur of the
Cumberland range of mountains, and is about one mile in front of
Thompson's house, where S. D. Lee had his head-quarters, and about
five miles from Nashville. From this position the rebels not only
checked the advance of Beatty's Division, but also commanded a
salient fire on our advancing columns.
About three p. m., Post's Brigade of Wood's Corps, supported by
Streight's Brigade of the same command, was ordered by General
Wood to assault that position. This intention was communicated to
Steedman, who ordered the brigade of colored troops, commanded by
Colonel Morgan, to co-operate in the movement. The ground on
which the two assaulting columns formed being open and exposed to
the enemy's view, he, readily perceiving our intention, drew re-en
forcements from his left and centre to the threatened point. This
movement of troops on the part of the enemy was communicated along
the line from left to right. At this time a gentle rain was falling ; not
a breeze was stirring, and the calm was ominous. As the troops
began to move, our batteries opened. As they rose the slope the ene
my received them with a tremendous fire of grape, canister, and mus
ketry, our men moving steadily onward up the hill until near the crest,
when the reserves of the enemy rose and poured into the assaulting
column a most destructive fire.
Unfortunately, at this moment the lines that were joined below lap
ped, and the negro troops became mingled with the left of Post's
Brigade, creating disorder. The slaughter of our troops here was
awful. Post, far ahead of the line, was waving his sword and calling
his men to follow, when a discharge of grape and canister from the
rebel battery mortally wounded him. Our line was at this time within
twenty steps ofthe works. The rebels rose from their works andpoured
in another terrific volley that seriously staggered the line, causing the
men first to waver and then to fall back, leaving their dead and wounded
— black and white indiscriminately mingled — lying amid the abatis.
General Wood readily re-formed his command in the position it had
previously occupied, preparatory to a renewal of the assault.
Meanwhile, at four p. m., Schofield and Smith scaled the bald hill
in their front, where were captured eight guns, and the enemy's line
was broken. Schofield, who had kept Cox's Division of his corps up
to this hour rather in reserve, now swung him rapidly around at a
charge. Two batteries were encountered, but the enemy, finding his
line broken to his right, only opened one to cover the retreat of the
other. As though the obstacle were one of no consequence at all, Cox
pushed vigorously forward, captured the battery playing on him, and
followed rapidly in pursuit of the other, captured it also, and with it
several hundred prisoners. Simultaneous with the advance of Cox,

640 HISTOET OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
Wilson's Cavalry dismounted and attacked the enemy, striking him in
reverse, getting firm possession ofthe Granny White pike, and cutting
off his retreat by that route. On the ridge he met with very stubborn
resistance, but drove the enemy at every point. East of the ridge the
enemy fought with little energy, but allowed their left to be enveloped
with comparative ease.
Wood's and Steedman's troops, hearing the shouts of victory coming
from the right, now renewed the assault upon Overton Hill with great
impetuosity, and in face of a terrible fire carried the position, capturing
nine pieces of artillery and many prisoners. The enemy retired through
the Brentwood Pass. The cavalry and a portion of the Fourth Corps
overtook the rebel rear-guard posted across the road behind barricades
near Chalmers. This was defeated, and the rebel General Rucker cap
tured. The captures during the two days embraced four thousand
four hundred and sixty-two prisoners, including two hundred and eighty-
seven officers, fifty-three pieces of artillery, and many small-arms, and
the enemy also lost three thousand killed and wounded. The total
Union loss did not exceed three thousand.
At daylight on the 17th, the Fourth Corps continued the pursuit
towards Franklin by the directtroute, while the cavalry moved on the
Granny White pike and its intersection with the Franklin pike, and
took the lead. The enemy fell back to the Harpeth River. His rear
guard posted at Hollow Tree Gap, four miles north of Franklin, was de
feated with the loss of four hundred and twenty prisoners. An attempt
of the enemy to defend the crossing ofthe Harpeth River at Franklin was
defeated by Johnson's Division, which had been sent by Wilson on
the Hillsboro' pike direct to Harpeth River. Wilson now pressed the
pursuit to Columbia, the enemy retiring before him slowly to a point
five miles south of Franklin. There an attempt to make a stand was
defeated, and the retreat was continued. On the night ofthe 19th,
the enemy crossed the Duck River and removed the bridge. The
swollen stream caused a delay of a day. General Thomas in his report
states: "The pontoon train coming up to Rutherford's Creek about
noon ofthe 21st, a bridge was laid during the afternoon, and General
Smith's troops were enabled to cross. The weather had changed from
dismal rain to bitter cold, very materially retarding the work in laying
the bridge, as the regiment of colored troops, to whom the duty was
intrusted, seemed unmanned by the cold, and totally unequal to the
occasion." Wilson's Cavalry and Wood's Infantry pressed the pursuit.
Forrest's Cavalry, which Hood bad so foolishly detached from his main
army while he was besieging Nashville, rejoined him at Columbia, and
a strong rear-guard was formed, which did good service in covering
the retreat. On the 24th, Wilson overtook the enemy at Buford Sta
tion, inflicting some punishment ; and on the 25th the enemy evacuated
Pulaski. At Lamb's Ferry he made a stand, and as the pursuing force
under Colonel Harrison came up, charged, drove him back, and cap
tured a gun. The Fourth Corps was within six miles of Pulaski, De
cember 26th, and reached Lexington on the 28th. The enemy being
now across the Tennessee, General Thomas ceased the pursuit.
On the 30th December, the end of the campaign was announced to

HISTORT OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 641
the army, and the following disposition was made of the command :
Smith's Corps to take post at Eastport, Mississippi; Wood's Corps to
be concentrated at Huntsville and Athens, Alabama ; Schofield's Corps
to proceed to Dalton, Georgia ; and Wilson's Cavalry, after sending one
division to Eastport, Mississippi, to concentrate the balance at or near
Huntsville. On reaching the several positions assigned to them, the
different commands were to go into winter-quarters and recuperate for
the spring campaign. These dispositions not meeting the views of the
general-in-chief, orders were issued on the 31st of December for Generals
Schofield, Smith, and Wilson to concentrate their commands at Eastport,
Mississippi, and that of General Wood at Huntsville, Alabama, pre
paratory to a renewal of the campaign against the enemy in Mississippi
and Alabama.
A number of minor operations by cavalry occurred in the pursuit of
Hood's army. The results of the operations under Thomas were :
thirteen thousand one hundred and eighty-nine prisoners of war, in
cluding general officers and nearly one thousand other officers of all
grades, and seventy-two pieces of serviceable artillery. During the
same period over two thousand deserters from the enemy were re
ceived, and to whom the oath was administered. Our own losses did
not exceed ten thousand in killed, wounded, and missing.
Thus ended the career of Hood as an active commander in the field.
Receiving from Johnston a compact and unbroken army, which had
made a good fight against the superior forces of Sherman, he wasted
its numbers in three foolhardy attempts to defeat his wary opponent
in a pitched battle, and finally, in consequence of sending away his
cavalry, the only arm in which he was superior to Sherman, he enabled
the latter to completely flank him and drive him out of Atlanta. Dis
patched by Davis on a hazardous attempt to drive Sherman out of
Georgia and regain Tennessee, he permitted himself to be enticed by
Thomas into the neighborhood of Nashville, when that general, abun
dantly re-enforced and supplied, sallied forth at his leisure and dealt the
rebel army such a blow as drove it, a beaten and demoralized mass of
fugitives, into Northern Alabama, and rendered it powerless for further
offensive purposes.

CHAPTER LXVH.
Sheridan in Command of the Middle Military Division. — Manoeuvring in the Valley. —
Object of the Movements. — Battles of Opequan Creek and Fisher's Hill. — Rout and
Retreat ofthe Rebels. — Their new Position at Brown's Gap. — Movements of Sheridan,
On August 7th, General Sheridan assumed command of the Middle
Military Division, comprising the Middle Department, and the Depart
ments of Washington, the Susquehanna, and West Virginia. On the
same day he fixed his head-quarters at Harper's Ferry, and at once
commenced to concentrate his troops along the Potomac in the vicinity
of the Shenandoah Valley. Sheridan's troops consisted now chiefly of
the Sixth, Eighth, and Nineteenth Corps of Infantry, and the infantry
41

642 HISTOET OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
of the old Army of the Kanawha, under Crook. A part of the Nine
teenth Corps, however, was still in Louisiana. His cavalry comprised
Torbert's First Division of Potomac Cavalry, Averill's Division, Kelly's
command, and Lowell's Brigade. Wilson's Second Cavalry Division
arrived on the 13th from City Point. Against this strong and compact
army, General Early was now able to muster about eighteen thousand
men. His army consisted, first, of two infantry corps, under Rhodes
and Breckinridge. Rhodes had his own old division and Ramseur's,
and various reserves in the Valley, the whole estimated at about seven
thousand men. Ramseur's Division comprised the brigades of Lillie
(formerly of Pegram), Evans, and Johnson. Breckinridge had the
divisions of Wharton and Gordon, four thousand five hundred or five
thousand strong, the former having two brigades, and the latter (like
Rhodes's old division) consisting of four. Ransom's Cavalry consisted
of about five thousand five hundred troops, divided into four brigades,
under Imboden, McCausland, Jackson, and Vaughan. The artillery,
under Long, consisted of three battalions, and not far from fifty guns.
The men were, to a considerable extent, employed threshing wheat
in the valley and sending it to Richmond.
At sunrise on Wednesday morning, the 10th of August, Sheridan
began to move out his forces from Halltown, for the repossession of
the Valley. The force reached Charlestown in two hours, where the
Nineteenth Corps struck off to the left for Berry ville, preceded by the
cavalry brigades of Custer and. Gibbs. Still farther to the left marched
Crook's Infantry, with mounted men in advance. Finally, on the right,
the Sixth Corps, preceded by the brigades of Devin and Lowell, kept
on the Winchester road a few miles, and then turned oft' towards
Smithsfield, and towards the Nineteenth. The army advanced, skir
mishing occasionally with the enemy, who retired up the Valley, along
the Strasburg road. At Front Royal a rebel force, consisting of
Jones's Tennessee Brigade of mounted infantry, with three field-pieces,
held a strong position. This was assailed by Cesnola's Fourth New
York cavalry, which was repulsed. The Fourth, Sixth, and Ninth
New York and Seventeenth Pennsylvania then advanced, dismounted,
supported, by Pierce's Battery. The fight lasted from eleven till two,
with no decisive result, though the enemy detained the pursuit some
hours and inflicted loss on the Federal troops.
The enemy then drew off in the direction of Newtown, where he made
a further stand, covering the passage of his trains, and repulsingan
attack by the Union cavalry. The advance now passed beyond Win
chester and Millwood, which were evacuated by the enemy, and
camped, on the night of the llth, six miles to the southeast of the
former place. Early, thinking it was the design of Sheridan to flank
him, had begun his withdrawal from Winchester to Newtown on the
10th, and continued it till the llth. About ten o'clock of the latter
day, Lowell's Cavalry charged through the town, but effected nothing,
for the rear-guard had already moved out at the other end. The fight
ing ofthe day was entirely conducted by Early's rear-guard. On the
12th, the enemy having again fallen back, the column resumed the ad
vance, and on the following day reached Cedar Creek, three miles

HISTOET OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 643
north of Strasburg. , Here they remained during the 13th and 14th
inactive. Sheridan's head-quarters were now at the spot that had been
used for the same purpose successively by Fremont, Sigel, and Hunter.
On the 15th the enemy withdrew his skirmishers from Strasburg, but
held Fisher's Hill beyond, which commanded the town.
The enemy now suddenly resumed the offensive. Sheridan, in this
advance to Strasburg, had passed on his left flank several gaps in the
mountains, which had so often given passage to the enemy in previous
campaigns. The most important of these are Snicker's Gap and Island
Ford. None of these gaps were guarded. Mosby, with his light
troops, was too vigilant to allow such an opportunity to pass, and on
the 13th he rode through Snicker's Gap and pounced upon the supply
train .at Berryville. The train was guarded by Kenley's Brigade of
one-hundred-days men. At Mosby's charge, a part of the guard were
panic-stricken. A few brave men fought as long as possible, while the
rest took to their heels. The teams were unhitched, the wagons fired,
and all the property taken off to the Ferry. The chief loss was in the
cavalry baggage. Mosby captured and destroyed seventy-five wagons,
secured over two hundred prisoners, five or six hundred horses
and mules, two hundred beef cattle, and some stores. His loss was
two killed and three wounded.
This disaster, greatly exaggerated by reports, caused the whole army
to retrograde. On the same day the enemy captured a signal party,
with their apparatus. On the night of Monday, the 15th, the Nineteenth
Army Corps began to retreat on Winchester, followed by the Eighth
Corps, while the Sixth brought up the rear. On the 16th, a force of
the enemy, composed of Lomax and Wickham's Brigades, with a part
of Kershaw's Division, which had come by rail from Malvern Hill after
taking part in the actions there, proceeded down the Winchester and
Front Royal pike to cross the Shenandoah and attack the Federal
troops in flank. These encountered at Crooked Run the brigades of
Custer and Devin, under General Merritt, and were repulsed. The
retreat was prosecuted with vigor, and orders were given for the de
struction of every thing that could afford sustenance to the enemy.
That these were strictly executed may be seen from the following ex
tract from a Richmond paper : —
"The enemy, as they retired from Strasburg, literally destroyed every thing in the
way of food for man or beast. With their immense cavalry, they extended their lines
from Front Royal, in Warren County, to the North Mountains, west of Strasburg, and
burned every bushel of wheat, in stack, barn, or mill, in Frederick, Warren, and Clark,
as well as oats and hay; they have really left absolutely nothing in these three coun
ties. They drove before them every horse, cow, sheep, hog, calf, and living animal
from the country."
The enemy followed close on Sheridan's heels, and occupied Win
chester on the night of Wednesday, the 17th, capturing three hundred
men of Penrose's infantry brigade, which had been left to cover the
Union rear, and had been abandoned by its cavahy supports.
During the retreat, Mosby's gang had followed the army, treacher
ously killing or capturing where the opportunity offered. In retalia
tion, General Custer ordered the Fifth Michigan to destroy the houses

644 HISTOET OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
of some of these half-guerrillas, half-farmers, who had committed
gross outrages near Snicker's Gap. While thus engaged, the Union
cavalrymen were attacked by a superior force of Mosby's men, and
brutally murdered after surrendering. Many neighboring houses were
destroyed in retaliation for this butchery. On the 21st, the army oc
cupied a position about two miles out from Charlestown, near Summit
Point, from the Smithfield to the Berryville pike, with the Sixth Corps
on the right, the Eighth in the centre, and the Nineteenth on the left,
the latter overlapping the Berryville pike. About eight o'clock, Early
came up, on his road to Martinsburg, and, with a part of his columns,
attacked our advanced cavalry skirmishers, on the right and left, easily
driving them in. His main body moved off across our right; but
with a small force he drove back Wilson's cavalry division from its
position on Summit Point, with very great loss. He then attacked
the Sixth Corps, and the combat lasted, without material advantage to
either side, from ten a. m. until nightfall, when the corps fell back to
Bolivar Heights. Sheridan then posted his army on the first of the
ranges called Bolivar Heights, near Harper's Ferry, the right on the
Potomac, and the left on the Shenandoah. Head-quarters were at
Halltown. The cavalry was sent up to. the neighborhood of Charles^
town early on Monday, the 22d, and had sharp skirmishing with the
enemy until nine a. m., and at intervals during the day. The cavalry
of the enemy then scoured the country in all directions. Several recon
noissances took place on the 24th and 25th, in which the First and
Third Divisions of cavalry were badly handled.
The two armies remained confronting each other for some days, at
the end of which time Early again fell back up the valley. This fact
being ascertained, Sheridan issued orders on the evening of the 27th
for the army to move at daylight. About seven o'clock of the 28th, the
entire force got into motion, moving out from behind their formidable
breastworks in columns of brigades by the right flank, each corps pre
serving its relative position in the, line of battle, and moving in the
direction of Charlestown. The cavalry, which had proceeded in the
direction of Shepherdstown, moved to the front and led the advance.
By ten o'clock, the Nineteenth Corps reached Charlestown, and the
army pushed on until they reached their old line of battle during the
recent engagement a week before. The Sixth Corps, General Wright,
held the right, the Nineteenth Corps, General Emory, the centre, and
General Crook's command the left. The army was then formed in line
of battle, and awaited the result ofthe cavalry advance. At dusk, orders
were issued for an advance at daylight on the 29th. On the following
morning, the enemy were found near Smithfield, by General Merritt, who
attacked the rebel cavalry vigorously, driving them through the town
and beyond Opequan Creek, where he came in contact with infantry.
Custer s Cavalry, with Ransom's Battery, were moved across the creek,
for the purpose of making a reconnoissance towards Bunker Hill. But
after an encounter with the enemy's skirmish line, they retired across
the stream, followed by infantry, who attempted to outflank them.
Our cavalry accordingly fell back upon Smithsfield, in season to escape
the movement. Here they were met by Ricketts's Division of Infantry,

HISTOET OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 645
before whose advance the enemy found it prudent rapidly to withdraw.
Our loss in this affair was less than one hundred. The troops then
fell back upon CharlestowA, where they remained quiet for several
; days. On the morning of September 3d, the whole army was again put in
motion in a southerly direction, Crook's command occupying the left,
the Nineteenth Corps the centre, and the Sixth the right. At noon,
Crook reached the vicinity of Berryville, where, a few hours later, he
was fiercely attacked by a heavy rebel force approaching from the
direction of Winchester, which lies directly west. The enemy were
handsomely repulsed; and during the succeeding night the whole
army was engaged in throwing up substantial breastworks, as if for
the purpose of making their position a permanent one. Thus affairs
remained for nearly two weeks, Early being, according to reports, at
Bunker Hill in force, and Sheridan showing no disposition to leave
his intrenched lines near Berryville. The cavalry on both sides were
active in reconnoissances.
The campaign in the Shenandoah, since the appointment of Sheridan
to the command of the Middle Division, had hitherto been one of
manoeuvres rather than of decisive fighting, and the marchings and
counter-marchings, advances and retreats of the Union general were to
the public mind a source of no little perplexity. To comprehend his
motives, it must be remembered that the possession of Lynchburg
was indispensable to Lee if he wished to remain in Richmond, and
that the large force detached under Early, to drive away Hunter and
demonstrate against Washington, was still in the valley. Under these
circumstances, Grant placed Sheridan at the mouth of the valley — first,
to detach a force from Lee ; second, to employ that force in the valley,
so that no portion of it might be sent to Hood at Atlanta ; third, to
guard Washington and the border from the attacks of this force. For
about five or six weeks, Sheridan's incessant moving backward and
forward kept Early so busy that Hood could not get a man from Lee,
and was forced to suffer defeat at Jonesboro', and to evacuate Atlanta
for lack of re-enforcements. Meantime, Early and Sheridan were living
off the valley farms, and together destroying much food and forage
precious to Lee, and all this time Early did no essential damage to
Sheridan. Wi^ the fall of Atlanta, one of the prime motives for pursuing this
Fabian policy was removed, and to a general of so energetic and im
petuous a temperament as Sheridan, the opportunity now afforded to
fight a pitched battle with the enemy for the possession of the valley
was seized with avidity. About the middle of September the lieuten
ant-general paid a hasty visit to the Upper Potomac, and, after learn
ing from Sheridan that the enemy was still in force in the valley,
released him from the irksome task of manoeuvring, and bade him
strike when he found the opportunity. Reconnoissances undertaken
on the 13th and 16th rendered it evident that the main body of the
enemy had advanced to the vicinity of Bunker Hill and Stephenson's
Dep6t,_ and General Sheridan resolved to take advantage of this op
portunity, and by a rapid movement fall on Early's rear from th#

646 HISTOET OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
direction of Berryville towards Winchester. Accordingly, on Monday,
the 19th, pursuant to orders, the Sixth and Nineteenth Corps were
ordered to march at three o'clock, and the Army of Western Virginia,
under Crook, at five o'clock. The Sixth Corps was directed to move
out on the Winchester and Berryville Pike, marching in parallel
columns on each side of the road, with the artillery, ammunition, and
supply trains on the road — the Nineteenth Corps to follow on the
same road in similar order. Crook was ordered to move from his
position in the vicinity of Summit Point across the country in a south
westerly direction? and form a junction at the crossing ofthe Opequan,
on the Berryville and Winchester pike. The cavalry, under Torbert
and Averill, were meanwhile to divert the enemy's attention by heavy
demonstrations on his left. Shortly after daylight, Wilson's Division
of cavnlry crossed the Opequan, and skirmished with the enemy, who
were discovered in force on the west bank of the Opequan. Early
immediately recalled his forces from Bunker Hill, and when the Sixth
and Nineteenth Corps advanced across the Opequan, they were met
and repulsed by a fire from the enemy's guns. Being re-enforced hy
our batteries, they again advanced and retook the position. At three
o'clock, Crook's First Division came into position on the right, the
Second Division, in the rear, supporting a division of the Nineteenth
Corps. At about the same time, General Torbert arrived on the ex
treme right with Averill's and Merritt's Divisions of cavalry. With
his forces thus consolidated, General Sheridan ordered an advance
along the entire line. Our infantry were soon hotly engaged with the
enemy, who stubbornly maintained their ground until our cavalry
joined in the charge, when they gave way in utter confusion, never
pausing in their flight until they reached Fisher's Hill, thirty miles
south of Winchester, where they took refuge behind some previously
erected earthworks. The following is Sheridan's dispatch announcing
his success : —
"We fought Early from daylight till between six and seven p. M. We drove him
from Opequan Creek through Winchester and beyond the town. We captured two
thousand five hundred to three thousand prisoners, five pieces of artillery, nine bat
tle-flags, aud all the rebel wounded and dead.
" Their wounded in Winchester amount to some three thousand. We lost in killed
General David Russell, commanding a division of the Sixth Army Corps, and wounded
Generals Chapman, Mcintosh, and Upton. The rebels lost in killed the following gen
eral officers :
" General Rhodes, General Wharton, General Gordon, and General Ramseur.
"We have just sent them whirling through Winchester, and we are after them to
morrow. This army behaved splendidly. I am sending forward all the medical sup
plies, subsistence stores, and ambulances."
Sheridan lost no time in following the retreating rebels, and the 21st
found his army confronting their new position. The enemy was posted
with his right on the North Fork of the Shenandoah, and his left on
the North Mountain. His line, running westerly, extended across the
Strasburg Valley. There was considerable manoeuvring for position
till after mid-day. Crook's command was on our right, Wright's Sixth
Corps in the centre, and Emory's Nineteenth on the left. While

HISTOET OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 64?
Emory demonstrated on the left, Ricketts's Division of the Sixth Corps
advanced directly in front, and Averill drove in the enemy's skirmish
ers. Under cover of these demonstrations, Crook moved out to the
extreme right, and, after an arduous march, swept about, and flanked
the enemy's left.
At four or five o'clock in the evening, a successful charge was made
by Crook, who carried the enemy before him. At the same time,
Wright attacked in the centre, Emory on the left, and Averill skirted
along the base of the South Mountain. With great rapidity, the Sixth
Corps broke in the enemy's centre, separating his two wings, when he
retreated towards Woodstock in great confusion. Artillery, horses,
wagons, rifles, knapsacks, and canteens were abandoned in the flight,
and eleven hundred prisoners and sixteen pieces of artillery captured.
In the battles of the 19th and 21st the rebels lost, in killed, wounded,
prisoners, and missing, not less than ten thousand men.
Sheridan continued the pursuit on the night after the battle to
Woodstock, and there halted next morning, for rest and rations.
Averill, pushing on in advance, drove the enemy to Mount Jackson,
twenty-five miles south of Strasburg, where he halted and made a
stand, checking our advance with infantry and artillery. From Wood
stock Sheridan moved rapidly up the Valley to Mount Jackson.
About a mile from the town the "North Fork" of the Shenandoah
crosses the pike. A good wooden bridge still spanned the stream.
After some sharp skirmishing on our left, Devin's Cavalry drove the
enemy before him, whereupon our batteries, posted near the bridge,
opened on the opposite crest, over which the enemy finally retired.
Skirmish lines were immediately moved across the stream, and, cover
ing the fronts of their respective corps, pushed forward. In the ad
vance, the Nineteenth Corps marched in column on the right of the
pike, and the Sixth in like formation on the left, ready at any moment
to form line. The batteries had the pike. The cavalry was thrown
forward in advance of the infantry skirmish line. At every favorable
position the enemy would halt and contest our advance ; but the bat
teries, being brought forward, would, after a few rounds, cause them
to resume their march in retreat. No stop was made at Newmarket,
the scene of Sigel's fight and defeat in May.
On Sunday, September 25th, Sheridan's head-quarters were in Har
risonburg, and on Monday morning, Torbert, with his troopers, pushed
out to Staunton, twenty-five miles away. Meantime, Early retired
upon Brown's Gap, in the Blue Ridge, eight miles southeast of Port
Republic, twenty miles east of Staunton, and fifteen northeast of
Waynesboro'. Sheridan pursued to Port Republic, destroying sev
enty-five wagons and four caissons. From Harrisonburg, Torbert,
with Wilson's cavalry division and one brigade of Merritt's, marched
to Staunton, which he entered at eight a. m. of Monday, the 26th, and
there destroyed a large quantity of the enemy's property of various
kinds. Thence he marched southeasterly to Waynesboro', threw the
iron bridge over the South River at that point into the river, and
destroyed the bridge over Christiana Creek, and the railroad, from
Saunton to Waynesboro'. At Waynesboro' other Government prop-

648 HISTOET OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
erty was destroyed. But finding the tunnel defended by troops,
Torbert retired to Harrisonburg. by way of Staunton.
On the 27th, offensive demonstrations were resumed. But before
they were fairly opened, the enemy suddenly burst upon Powell's flank
with great force, and was with difficulty repulsed. The effect of this
engagement was to cause our cavalry to fall back from Port Republic
to Cross Keys. Brown's Gap remained in the enemy's possession.
The position of Early at Brown's Gap was a very strong one. It
had the advantage of covering Gordonsville and Charlottesville, and of
threatening Sheridan's flank and rear should he attempt to move from
Lynchburg. It possessed also unusual facilities for defence. North
of it are Swift's Run and Semon's Gaps ; south of it, Rockfish Gap and
Jaman's Gaps. All of these are so near together that Early easily
held them under his control, posting his main force at Brown's Gap,
and throwing his flanks out as far as Rockfish Gap and Swift Run
Gap- These are the gateways to Gordonsville and Charlottesville
from Staunton and Harrisonburg. He held them firmly, and was
disposed not to surrender them without a decisive battle. One or
two assaults had resulted in such stout resistance from Early's troops
that it was very evident that the enemy had recovered his equilibrium,
and was disposed to contest every rod of the way. It was also dis
covered that Early was too strongly posted in the Gap to be assaulted.
Two courses, therefore, remained for Sheridan : either to prosecute his
advance towards Lynchburg, or to retire down the valley. To reach
Lynchburg had been a prime object with Sigel and Hunter, as it was
now with Sheridan. But to move with Early upon his flank and rear
would have been hazardous in the extreme. There remained, then,
nothing but to fall back. Mosby also was on Sheridan's flank, and the
army supplies on the way up the valley were in danger, as before,
when Mosby captured the train.
On the 6th October, Sheridan retreated to Woodstock, whence he
sent the following dispatch :— "Woodstock, Virginia, October 1, 1864—9 p. m.
"Lieutenant-General TJ. S. Grant:
" I have the honor to report my command at this point to-night. I commenced mov
ing back from Port Republic, Mount Crawford, Bridgewater, and Harrisonburg yes
terday morning. The. grain and forage in advance of these points had previously been
destroyed. In moving back to this point the whole country from the Blue Ridge to
the North Mountain has been made entirely untenable for a rebel army. I have
destroyed over two thousand barns filled witli wheat and hay and farming implements,
over seventy mills filled with flour and wheat ; have driven in front of the army over
four thousand head of stock, and have killed and issued to the troops not less than
three thousand sheep. This destruction embraces the Luray Valley and Little Fort
Valley, as well as the main valley. A largo number of horses have been obtained, a
proper estimate of which I cannot now make. Lieutenant John R. Meigs, my engineer
officer, was murdered beyond Harrisonburg, near Dayton. For this atrocious act all
the houses within an area of five miles were burned. Since I came into the valley from
Harper's Ferry, every train, every small party, and every straggler has been bush
whacked by the people, many of whom have protection-passes from commanders who
have been hitherto in that valley The people here are getting sick of the war.
Heretofore they have had no reason to complain, because they have been living in
great abundance. I have not been followed by the enemy to this point, with the ex
ception of a small force of the rebel cavalry that showed themselves some distance

HISTOET OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 649
behind my rear-guard to-day. A party of one hundred of the Eighth Ohio Cavalry,-
which I had stationed at the bridge over the North Shenandoah, near Mount Jackson,
was attacked by McNeil with seventeen men, while they were asleep, and the whole
party dispersed or captured. I think they will all turn up. I learn that fifty-six of
them had reached Winchester. McNeil was mortally wounded, and fell into our hands.
This was fortunate, as he was the most daring and dangerous of all the bushwhackers
in this section of the country.
(Signed) "P. H. Sheridan, Major-General."
During his pursuit of Early, and on his retreat down the valley,
Sheridan effected an immense destruction of public property, and in ac
cordance with orders from Government, destroyed all the grain, hay,
and forage to be found, except what was necessary for his own army.
• The valley had been the great store-house and granary of the rebel
armies in Virginia, and in order to cripple Lee it was deemed indis
pensable to carry out this harsh but necessary policy. It had also har
bored perhaps the worst class of guerrillas to be found in the country —
men who were farmers by day and robbers by night; who, under the
guise of loyalty, entrapped and murdered unsuspecting Union soldiers,
and had, from the outset of the war, been systematic and successful
spies over the movements of the Union armies. To strike terror into
this class of men and those who sympathized with or harbored them,
and put a stop to their excesses, was the prime object of the Govern
ment, and a wholesale system of devastation was inaugurated by
Sheridan, which, while it sometimes struck friend as well as foe, un
doubtedly had on the whole a beneficial influence in restraining the
operations of the guerrillas and bushwhackers, and driving them to
parts of the country where it would be less dangerous for the in
habitants to harbor them. This duty was efficiently performed by
Torbert's Cavalry. On the 8th of October the rebel General Rosser,
while harassing Sheridan's rear, was suddenly encountered by the
Union cavalry and soundly beaten, losing three hundred prisoners,
eleven pieces of artillery, and a number of caissons and wagons. He
was then pursued a distance of twenty-six miles.

CHAPTER LXVIH.
Position of Armies. — Early Advances. — Battle of Cedar Creek. — Opportune Arrival of
Sheridan. — Disastrous Defeat of the Enemy. — Sheridan's Troops leave for the
Potomac. — Devastation. ,
Early promptly renewed his advance movement on the retirement
of Sheridan to Cedar Creek. The losses inflicted upon him were soon
made up by re-enforcements, and a few days of repose in the fastnesses
of Brown's Gap enabled him to recuperate his forces, and to take the
field with twenty-eight thousand men, comprising the five divisions of
infantry under Ramseur, Gordon, Pegram, Wharton, and Kershaw.
While Early was advancing, the Federal commander had quietly oc
cupied the north bank of Cedar Creek. The Army of Western Vir
ginia, General Crook, held the left, its right resting on the pike ; the

650 HISTOET OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
Nineteenth Corps, General Emory the centre, its left resting on the
pike ; and the Sixth Corps, General Wright, the right, connecting
with the Nineteenth Corps. The First and Second Cavalry Divisions
were on the extreme right, Custer being in advance in front of the
Sixth Corps, and Merritt in rear of Custer, his left flank just overlap
ping the right of the SixthNCorps. Thus the Sixth Corps was rendered
partially a reserve. The line was formed from right to left across the
entire valley, thus: Custer, Merritt, Wright, Emory, Crook, Powell.
The cavalry of the latter picketed the whole North Fork to Front
Royal. Crook and Emory had artillery in position to command the rising
ground on the opposite bank of Cedar Creek. Just in the rear of Crook,
on the left, what was called the Provisional Division, under Colonel
Kitchin, was encamped. Sheridan s head-quarters were fixed at a stone
house about half a mile in rear of the centre. Sheridan himself had
been absent on a journey to Washington since Sunday, October
16th. On Tuesday night he slept at Winchester on his return. Wright,
therefore, commanded the army on the morning of the 19th, Ricketts
being in command of the Sixth Corps. Against this strong position,
which was considered by the Union generals almost impregnable,
Early, with a boldness commendable in one who had recently suffered
two severe defeats, determined to make a night attack, and, if pos
sible, retrieve his reputation and drive Sheridan from the valley. He
was prompted to undertake the movement from a belief that the Sixth
Corps had been withdrawn, and from a report that Sheridan was
absent from the army. How nearly he succeeded, and how oppor
tunely he was frustrated, are among the most remarkable facts of the
war. Just before daybreak on the morning of the 19th, Early began his
movement to surprise the Union army. An impenetrable fog enveloped
the whole region, favoring his designs. The three divisions with which
he began his assault were massed at Fisher's Hill, and the troops were dis
encumbered of every accoutrement except their arms and ammunition.
They were not even permitted to carry their canteens, lest their clank
ing should advise Sheridan of their approach. Just as the first gleam of
day began to mingle with the dim moonlight, the sharp rattle of
musketry on the extreme right gave notice of what was an unim
portant and feint attack. As this attack began, the sentinels of the
enemy along the whole line fired signal muskets from right to left.
Immediately afterwards the three divisions, under Pegram, Ramseur,
and Gordon, advanced in solid columns down the turnpike from
Strasburg, without skirmishers, and assaulted Crook's position in
front and flank. The Surprise was complete, and the rebels, advancing
by column of regiments, and firing rapid and terrific volleys of mus
ketry, swept over the works almost without opposition. Crook's
whole line gradually giving way, of seven guns in the breastworks,
six were captured, but one being saved. The enemy pressed on with
fierce shouts, keeping up a deadly fire of musketry, which prevented
Crook's men from rallying in the thick fog which bewildered both
men and officers. The smoke, the fog, the wild shouts, and the deadly
fire from an unseen foe, who poured into the encampments, capturing

HISTOET OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 651
camp equipage and barely aroused soldiers, were powerful agents in
promoting confusion. General Crook and his division commanders
did their best, under the circumstances, to meet the shock, and con
stantly opposed a half-organized front against the enemy. The latter,
pushing up beyond and around our left, entered the encampments of
the provisional division under Colonel Kitchin, routing it also, and
driving those and Crook's troops on towards the pike.
Manwhile, Kershaw's Division, which had left Early's position in a
southeasterly direction, and had turned north and crossed the North
Fork before dawn of Wednesday, was now closing on the intrench
ments of the Eighth Corps, capturing prisoners in large numbers and
seizing the batteries. The left division of Crook's Corps and Kitchin's
Division were now thoroughly broken up. At the same time Early,
with his remaining division, had moved on up the pike towards our cen
tre, bringing artillery, and opening with it on the lines of the Nine
teenth Corps. Their opening fire was vigorous, and was followed up
by an advance of their infantry across the creek, joining in the assault
made by their comrades ' on the left, and directing itself against the
lines of the Nineteenth Corps. Emory's left flank was wholly exposed
by the retreat of Crook, and the attack upon it was, therefore, over
whelming. ColonelMcAuley,commandingthe Third Brigade of Grover's
Division on the lelt, was ordered to swing out of his position in front
and meet the flank fire ofthe rebels. He did so, making a gallant but
ineffectual opposition ; and he had scarcely left the breastworks to per
form the movement, when the enemy swept up into them against the
unavailing fire of Grover's Division, forcing the whole division back,
with the loss of eleven guns captured and left upon the field.
It was now daylight, and the enemy, having rolled up the left ofthe
line and captured eighteen guns, which were turned on our retreating
columns, was now driving in the centre. Nearly all of his force was
over the creek, and his flanking column, leaving the pursuit of the
Eighth Corps, was closing in on Emory's left, who, being flanked
in his turn, gave way to the rear. The Sixth Corps, which was in line
on the right of the Nineteenth Corps (the cavalry being in front of its
right), partially in reserve, was ordered to change front, swing round —
what had been its left before being the pivot — meet the advance of the
enemy in the centre, and check it. Another order was sent to the cav-
aly on the extreme right, under Torbert, to move rapidly across in rear,
from right to left, and check the advance of the enemy in the direction
of the pike towards Middletown. The Sixth Corps, moving by the left
flank, came up a short distance in rear of what had been General Sheri
dan's head-quarters, opened the right of its lineto permit the stragglers
from the left of the Nineteenth Corps to pass through, and then, in
conjunction with the remainder of the Nineteenth Corps, which finally
rallied and formed on its right, repulsed a tremendous charge of the
enemy and held them at bay.
This served to cover the general retreat which was ordered. The
enemy were steadily gaining ground on the pike towards Middletown.
Great efforts were made to get away the trains of the two left corps, and
most of those of the Nineteenth were saved. Most of the ambulance

652 HISTOET OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
train of the Eighth Corps was captured during the first hour of the
engagement. In the retreat, and in the effort to cover our trains, our
troops suffered severely from the fire of the enemy, who pursued closely
and with great vigor. The Sixth Corps was steadily covering the re
treat, however, and, by resisting the enemy's advance, gave opportunity
to re-form the Eighth and Nineteenth Corps, with the Nineteenth on
the right, the Sixth in the centre, and the Eighth on the left. During
the retreat, General Ricketts, commandingthe Sixth Corps, was severely
wounded in the breast. The enemy now increased both his artillery
and musketry fire to its utmost capacity, till the roar and carnage be
came terrific. He still pressed our left flank, as if determined to drive
us away from the turnpike, that he might seize our trainsand insert
himself between us and Winchester. His projects were aided some
what by the necessity forced upon us to spend much time in manoeu
vring to re-form theline, while he employed himself only in advancing and
pouring in his destructive fire. As he pressed our left so much more
hotly than the right, the cavalry divisions of Merritt and Custer were
sent across thither from the right, and now a severe contest took place
near Middletown, in the thickly wooded and rough country in which
our left had found itself.
It was now about nine o'clock, and our troops, having got into line
of battle again, were for the first time making desperate efforts to check
the enemy. The Eighth Corps, on the left, and the Sixth, in the centre,
were receiving the brunt of the fierce onset. Merritt and Custer had
also taken part in the thick of the battle. Both sides were using artil
lery as well as musketry, but the enemy brought to bear the greater
weight of metal, having re-enforced their own batteries with our cap
tured pieces. As the enemy's troops closed in on our own, it was clear
that the momentum he had acquired was swinging him again past our
flank. The flanking column of the enemy pressed severely upon Thor-
burn's Division and other parts of Crook's Corps, and once more forced
it back. The Sixth Corps held its ground well, but the whole line was
giving way, and the enemy gained Middletown. ¦ He continued to
press us back towards Stephensburg or Newtown, which lies next
below Middletown, on the turnpike, and about five miles distant there
from. His artillery was served with great accuracy from the heights
north of Middletown, which we had just vacated. Our principal aim
henceforth was to successfully cover our trains and to draw away the
army with as little loss as possible to Newtown, when another stand
might be made.
Where all this time was Sheridan ? He had arrived, as has been
mentioned, at Winchester, twenty miles from his camp, on the night
of the 18th, intending to proceed to Cedar Creek on the next morning.
Unsuspicious of danger ahead, he started at about eight a. m. on the
19th with his escort at a leisurely pace. But soon the distant thunder
of artillery in the direction of Middletown caused him to quicken his
pace. Thinking that Early had possibly ventured to attackthe position
at Cedar Creek, he was desirous of witnessing the punishment which
the rebel general, by all the chances of war, should receive for his
temerity. Gradually the sound of the artillery swelled into a continu-

HISTOET OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 653
ous roar, and seemed to roll towards him, until the conviction became
too strong for doubt that a heavy battle was raging in the front, and
that the defeated party were being rapidly pushed northward. He put
spurs to his horse and rode at full speed towards the firinsr, fearing, yet
unwilling to believe, that any disaster could have overtaken the army
which he had twice led to signal victory. But soon the first group of
fugitives and camp-followers streaming northward told him that his
army was beaten and in full retreat. Galloping along far ahead of his'
escort, he dashed up to the front soon after ten o'clock, his charger
reeking with foam, and by his voice and presence infused confidence
and new courage into the disheartened troops. Even wounded men by
the roadside greeted him with cheers. At once he directed every
effort to stopping the retreat and re-forming the men. This was favored
by a pause in the pursuit on the part of the enemy, which enabled the
army to fall back out of range. The provost-marshals of the several
corps succeeded in forming a line of guards in the rear, which was
gradually effective in preventing desertion. In a short time the strag
glers were partially organized and moving towards the front. . The
Army of Western Virginia, which had been so completely broken up
and scattered in the morning, was thus re-formed in a measure and put
in position. Sheridan ordered all retreat to be stopped at once, and at
one p. m. had got his army established in line of battle, as follows :
the Sixth Corps in the centre, Nineteenth Corps on the right, Crook's
command on the left, Custer's cavalry division on the extreme right,
and Merritt's cavalry division on the extreme left.
The enemy meantime had moved up his guns in range of the new
position, and having again got his troops in hand, once more came on
to the charge, but was severely repulsed by the Nineteenth Corps.
General Bidwell was killed and Grover wounded during this attack.
It now became evident that Early had relinquished offensive movements
for the day. The enemy began throwing up breastworks. Their wag
ons and ambulances were brought across Cedar Run, and every thing
indicated their intention to retain the position during the night. Hav
ing now become somewhat prepared to take the offensive, Sheridan, at
three p. ar., ordered an attack with a view of regaining the position at
Cedar Creek. The Sixth Corps was drawn up in the centre, along the
pike, with Getty's Second Division in advance, and the other divisions
supporting. Between three and four o'clock Getty dashed forward on
the charge, and- the remainder of the line followed. A tremendous fire
of artillery and musketry greeted our troops as they burst out of the
woods. For a time it seemed impossible to withstand it. Our lines
pnce fell back, broken, but were again re-formed, and while such of our
own batteries as remained answered the enemy with vigor and effect,
the troops again pressed on. Despite determined and bloody resist
ance, they carried the town, and drove the discomfited enemy through
it. This was the crisis of the day, and from that moment victory was
ours. On through Middletown, and beyond, the enemy hurried, and
the Army of the Shenandoah pursued. Custer and Merritt, charging
in on right and left, doubled up the flanks of the foe, taking prisoners,

654 HISTOET OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
slashing, killing, driving as they went. The march of the infantry,
though more slow, was more effective.
The retreat of the enemy was continued back to Fisher's Hill. At
Cedar Creek he attempted" to hold us in check, and planted his bat
teries on the opposite brinks, to hold the bridge and fords. But our
forces pressed on, carried the fords and bridge, and drove him from,
the creek through Strasburg to Fisher's Hill. A part of our infantry
reached Strasburg, but the main army bivouacked in the old camp
"along Cedar Creek. The cavalry dashed through Strasburg to Fish
er's Hill, and there the victorious march terminated. The enemy sub
sequently retired upon Newmarket, abandoning almost every thing
in their flight. The total losses, exclusive of recaptures, were as fol
lows : Early's loss in killed, wounded, and prisoners was stated by
the enemy to be less than twelve hundred, but was in reality far
greater. He lost in prisoners alone over sixteen hundred men. He,
also lost twenty-three cannon, besides all those captured by him in
the morning, and a few caissons. The other losses, wagons, &c, ex
clusive of recaptures, were small. A part ofthe medical stores of each
side was captured by the other. Our losses were about six thousand
five hundred men, including over fifteen hundred prisoners. The offi
cial statement of losses in the Sixth and Nineteenth Corps made them.
about five thousand five hundred in all. The official estimates of those
in the Eighth Corps put them at about eight hundred and fifty.
Among the rebel dead was General Ramseur.
Early having retired upon Newmarket and intrenched there, began
to recuperate with that energy for which he was conspicuous. His
cavalry began at once to scour the Luray Valley, under Loinax, whence
Sheridan's Cavalry failed to draw him. By the 20th of October he
again showed signs of an advance, by throwing forward a strong
cavalry force, while Breckinridge, having relieved Echols in South
western Virginia, was reorganizing a force there with a view to sup
port Early. Sheridan was also drilling, clothing, and organizing his
men, while Mosby and Imboden's troopers were so busy on his flanks
that it required a strong force along the lines to protect the communi
cations. In the first week of November the enemy's demonstrations were
more marked, and his cavalry under Rosser threatened Sheridan's
communications north of Winchester. On the morning of the 7th,
Sheridan broke up his camp and fell back to Newtown, four and one-
half miles d'istant on the turnpike, and about nine miles south of Win
chester. The Nineteenth Corps was on the right of the pike in ad
vance, the Sixth on the left, and the wagon trains between them on
the road. The artillery followed, and the Eighth Corps brought up
the rear. The cavalry covered the flanks and rear. The retrograde
movement continued next day along the pike from Newtown to
Kearnstown, four miles south of Winchester. On the afternoon of
Friday^the 1 1th, Lomax's Cavalry, who had been following us, pressed
severely against the cavalry divisions of Custer and Merritt, in re
connoitring, and drove them in. Our army was then in line at
Kearnstown. After a sharp skirmish the enemy was forced to retire.

HISTOET OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 655
Next morning, the 12th, Lomax again attacked our cavalry, driving
in our pickets. On reaching our main force, he was repulsed after a
protracted engagement. Powell's Division then pursued him to Front
Royal, and captured two guns and one hundred and fifty men. The
fighting was spirited, and our losses were considerable. Early sub
sequently advanced his army and again occupied Fisher's Hill with
about fifteen thousand men. On the 21st of November he occupied
Mount Jackson and Newmarket with his infantry, with his cavalry
thrown forward from his right. In the first week in December the
Sixth Corps left the valley to re-enforce Grant, as did also a consider
able portion of Sheridan's infantry. In the same way Lee was re-en
forced by Kershaw and other troops from Early, leaving but a few
thousand men at Newmarket. Both armies thenceforth remained
quiet for some months.
During the first week in December, Merritt's (First) Cavalry Divi
sion crossed the Blue Ridge, and made a grand raid through the upper
parts of Loudon and Fauquier Counties, which were the chief haunts
of Mosby and his men. Every thing was laid waste — barns, houses,
farms, and mills ; many cattle were captured, and others slaughtered
and burned. Unfortunately,, not a few Union citizens suffered the
loss of every thing in the general destruction. The raid was in ac
cordance with the policy initiated by Grant and Sheridan, and its
results, officially reported, are as follows : —
PROPERTY CAPTURED.
First Second Keserve
Brigade. Brigade. Brigade;. Total.
Horses  147 235 86 .388
Mules  4 4  8
Cattle  2,563 2,483 474 5,520
Sheep  3,607 2,130 100 5,837
Swine  1,033 110  1,141
PROPERTY DESTROYED.
Barns  474 464 230 1,168
Mills  19 22 8 49
Factories  2  2
Distilleries  1 4 1 6
Tons of Hay  17,620 10,000 27,620
Bushels of Wheat  26,500 25,000 51,500
Bushels of Corn  6,400 57,500  62,900
Bushels of Oats  2,000  2,000
Haystacks  990 131  1,121
Wheatstacks  57 .... 57
Tanneries  1 ... .... 1
Stacks of Grain  104   104
Estimated value of property destroyed and captured by the First
Brigade, Colonel Stagg.  $857,716
Second Brigade, General Devin  1,239,520
Eeserve Brigade  411,520
Total  $2,508,756
Perhaps the statement of a rebel commissioner of the revenue in

656 HISTOET OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
Shenandoah County, made about the same time, will give a clearer"
idea of Sheridan's previous cavalry operations in that county alone.
He says : —
"I will now try and give you some idea of the damage done in part of this county by
the Tankees in the way of burning of barns, mills, &c. I have been over nearly the
¦whole of my district, comprising all the upper end of the county, from Narrow Passage
Creek to Rockingham County line, and I find there have. been burned by Sheridan's
army two hundred and fifteen barns, eighteen dwellings, eleven grist mills, nine water
saw mills, two steam saw mills, one furnace, two forges, one fulling mill, one carding
machine, besides a number of smaller buildings, such as stables, Ac. The quantity of
grain destroyed is immense. I cannot give you any idea of the amount of grain, hay,
fodder, &c, destroyed, but the quantity is very large."

CHAPTER LXIX.
Political Parties. — Elections of 1862.— Organization and Strength of the Peace Party.—
Banishment of Tallandigham. — Ohio Election. — Political Reaction in favor of the
Administration. — Thirty-eighth Congress. — President's Plan of Reconstruction. —
Amendment to the Constitution. — Presidential Canvass of 1864. — Conventions at
Baltimore and Chicago. — Nomination of Lincoln and McClellan. — Result of the Elec
tion. — Peace Negotiations. — Colonel Jaques. — The Niagara Falls Correspondence.
The failure ofthe Peninsular campaign of 186.2, followed by the de
feat of Pope in the second Bull Run campaign, the invasion of Mary
land by Lee, and the indecisive battle of Antietam, together with the
aggressive strength exhibited by the rebels in the West by the invasion
of Kentucky under Bragg, all conspired to bring the Administration
into temporary disfavor ; and in the fall elections of 1862 several ofthe
States, including New York, which had given large majorities for Lin
coln two years previous, were carried by the opposition. The gains of
Congressmen made by the latter in these elections threatened to neu
tralize, and perhaps considerably overcome, the Administration majority
in Congress. Incapacity, wastefulness, corruption, and imbecility were
freely charged upon the President and his constitutional advisers ; but
the most serious objection urged against the Administration was its
alleged unconstitutional method of conducting the war. Confiscation,
arbitrary arrests, conscription, the emancipation of slaves belonging to
rebels, and similar forcible measures initiated by Government, for which
it was insisted there was no warrant afforded in the Constitution, were
alike condemned by the opposition, who contended that the war could
be carried to a successful completion without resort to so radical a
policy, and that in point of fact it had better be terminated at once than
conducted unconstitutionally. The political contest of 1862 may, there
fore, be considered to have shown in some degree a public dissatisfaction
with the course ofthe Administration during the year, though it cannot
be doubted also that military reverses had much to do in causing that
dissatisfaction. With those who claimed to be superior to such acci
dental influences as success or defeat, the emancipation proclamation of
September was a sufficient reason for trying to overthrow the Adminis
tration in Congress, and at the close of the year it looked as if their

HISTOET OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 657
efforts might be rewarded with success. It is worthy of note, however,
that in those States in which the soldiers were allowed to vote, the Re
publican supremacy was easily maintained. This was notably the case
in Iowa, where the soldiers' vote enabled the Eepublicans to return
their full delegation to Congress.
The year 1863 opened with no favorable prospects for the National
cause, and the repulses before Fredericksburg and Charleston, and the
defeat at ChanceUorsville, followed by the second invasion of Maryland,
seemed to presage further losses for the Administration. The opposi
tion had meanwhile been busy in other ways. Undeterred by the as
sertions of Government that its action in arresting suspected persons,
at a time when the country swarmed with spies and secret traitors, was
utterly disinterested, and by its efforts to release all prisoners against
whom no evidence of treasonable intent could be brought ; regardless
also of the act of Congress sanctioning the aetion of the President in
suspending the writ of liabeas corpus, and clothing him with full au
thority to check andpunish all attempts to defeat the efforts of the
Government in the prosecution of the war, the leaders of the opposition
busied themselves with promoting public dissatisfaction and demand
ing that the war should-be brought to a close. While many were sin
cere in believing that the evils which sprang from a vigorous prosecution
of the war were worse than secession itself, it cannot be doubted that
many were also influenced by a factious, partisan spirit, which prompted
them to rejoice in the humiliation of their country, provided the over
throw of their political opponents could be thereby secured. The lat
ter branch of the opposition formed the nucleus around which rallied a
party whose watchword was " Peace on any Terms," and whose num
bers were swelled by the whole disloyal element in the North, and by
various secret organizations formed to promote the independence of
the " Southern Confederacy," of which the K. G. C.'s, or " Knights of
the Golden Circle," were the most conspicuous. One of the most act
ive advocates of peace with the rebel Confederacy was Clement L. Val-
landigham, a Democratic member of Congress from Ohio, who, after the
adjournment of the Thirty-seventh Congress, made public speeches in
his congressional district, denouncing and counselling resistance to the
draft which was about to be enforced. He charged the Government
at Washington with aiming, under the pretext of restoring the Umem,
to crush out liberty and establish a despotism, and with deliberately
rejecting propositions by which the Southern States could have been
brought back to the Union. He also denounced Order No. 38, issued
by General Burnside^ then commanding the Department of the Ohio,
forbidding certain disloyal practices, and announced his intention to
disobey it, at the same time calling upon the people who heard hirm to
resist and defeat its execution. For this conduct he was tried before a
court-martial in May, 1863, and sentenced to be placed in close confine
ment within some fortress ofthe United States. The President modi
fied this sentence by directing that, instead of bein g imprison ed, Vallan-
digham should be sent within the rebel lines, arid should not return to
the United States until after the termination of the war. This sentence
was at once carried into execution.
42

658 HISTOET OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
Vallandigham, after passing some time in Richmond, escaped in a
blockade-runner to British America, where he remained some time,
finding abundant sympathy from the rebel refugees in Canada. His
trial and banishment caused no little excitement throughout the country,
and by his party he was regarded as a martyr. Meetings were held to
protest againt the action of the Government, and the Democratic State
Convention of Ohio finally capped the climax by nominating him as
its candidate for Governor in the ensuing State election. The Repub
lican or Union party, as it was now called, nominated for the same
office John Brough, a former Democrat, but a man pledged in the
most emphatic manner to support the Government in its efforts to
suppress the rebellion. Thus the issue was joined between the op
ponents of the Administration and those who, believing that its
measures were proper and effective, lent it their hearty support, and, in
consequence, the Ohio election was watched with absorbing interest
by the whole country. By a special law of the State its citizens,
absent in the military service of the country, were permitted to vote
for State officers, and the soldiers' vote, it was claimed, would be cast
almost unanimously for Brough.
Meanwhile, with the commencement of July occurred another turn
in the tide of the war. The battle of Gettysburg aud the ignominious
ending of Lee's invasion of the North, and the capture of Vicksburg
and Port Hudson, followed by the opening of the Mississippi to com*
merce, restored the prestige of the Union arms, and the prospect of
subduing the Confederacy seemed more hopeful than ever before.
With this happy change in military prospects, the friends of the Ad
ministration, and all those persons in favor of a vigorous prosecution
of the war, shook off their despondency, and began to gather energy
'for the. political contest of the year. The riotous proceedings in New
York, Boston, and elsewhere, against the enforcement of the draft, by
revealing the existence of a powerful secession element at work to op
pose the Government," strengthened the Administration party, and the
fall elections of 1863 witnessed a complete reversal of the popular verdict
declared a year previous. Vallandigham was defeated in Ohio by the
unprecedented majority of one hundred thousand in favor of Brough,
the soldiers' vote being almost unanimous for the latter, and the great
States of New York and Pennsylvania elected the Union candidates for
office by large majorities. Such was the reaction in favor of the Adminis
tration that it secured enough of the remaining members of Congress to
be elected to give it a majority of about twenty in the next House of
Representatives. The result of the canvass was that every State, except
New Jersey, voted to sustain the Administration. The ground taken
by its friends was that held by the President from the beginning — that
the rebellion must be suppressed, and the Union preserved at whatever
cost — that this could only be done by force, and that it was both the
right and the duty of the Government to use all the means at its com
mand, which were commonly exercised in time of war, to aocom-
plishe this object. The result was, therefore, justly claimed as a de
cided verdict in favor of the Administration, and thenceforth the
determination of the vast majority of the people to prosecute the war

HISTOET OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 659
to a successful completion remained unshaken, in spite of reverses
which caused temporary depression, of conscriptions which drew
fearfully upon the able-bodied, industrial population of the country,
and of taxation which surpassed the wildest predictions made by
alarmists at the commencement of the struggle.
The Thirty-eighth Congress convened at Washington, December,
1863, and was organized by the election of Schuyler Colfax, a Repub
lican member from Indiana, as Speaker of the House of Representa
tives. In his annual message, President Lincoln proposed a plan of
reconstruction for the revolted States, which is fully set forth in the
following proclamation : — PROCLAMATION.
"Whereas, In and by the Constitution of the United States, it is provided that the
President shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offences against the
United States, except in cases of impeachment — and, whereas, a rebellion now exists,
whereby the loyal State Governments of several States have for a long time been sub
verted, and many persons have committed and are now guilty of treason against the
United States; and
" Whereas, With reference to said rebellion and treason, laws have been enacted by
Congress, declaring forfeitures and confiscation of property and liberation of slaves, all
upon terms and conditions therein stated, and also declaring that the President was
thereby authorized at any time thereafter, by proclamation, to extend to persons who
may have participated in the existing rebellion in any State or part thereof, pardon and
amnesty, with such exceptions and at such times and on such conditions as he may
deem expedient for the public welfare ; and
' " Whereas, The Congressional declaration for limited and conditional pardon accords
with the well-established judicial exposition of the pardoning power ; and
" Whereas, With reference to the said rebellion, the President of the United States;
has issued several proclamations with provisions in regard to the liberation of slaves ;
and " Whereas, It is now desired by some persons heretofore engaged in said rebellion to
resume their allegiance to the United States, and to reinaugurate loyal State Govern
ments within and for their respective States : therefore,
" I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, do proclaim, declare, and make
known to all persons who have directly or by implication participated in the existing
rebellion, except as hereinafter excepted, that a full pardon is" hereby granted to them
and each of them, with restoration of all rights of property, except as to slaves, and in
property cases where rights of third parties shall have intervened, and upon condition
that every such person shall take and subscribe an oath and thenceforward keep and
maintain said oath inviolate, an oath which shall be registered for permanent preserva
tion, and shall be of the tenor and effect following, to wit:
"'I,  :, do solemnly swear, in presence of Almighty God, that I will
henceforth faithfully support, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States,
and the Union of the States thereunder; and that in like manner I will abide by and
faithfully support all acts of Congress passed during the existing rebellion with refer
ence to slaves, so long and so far as not repealed, modified, or held void by Congress or
by decision of the Supreme Court ; and that I will in like manner abide by and faith
fully support all proclamations of the President made during the existing rebellion hav
ing reference to slaves, so long and so far as not modified or declared void by decision
of the Supreme Court. So help me God.'
"The persons excepted from the benefits of the foregoing provisions are: all who
are, or shall have been civil or diplomatic officers or agents of the so-called Confederate
Government; all who have left judicial stations under the United States to aid the
rebellion; all who are, or shall have been military or naval officers of said so-called
Confederate Government^ above the rank of colonel in the army, or of lieutenant in

660 HISTOET OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
the navy; all who left seats in the United States Congress to aid the rebellion; all who
resigned commissions in the army or navy of the United States, and afterwards aided
the rebellion; and all who have engaged in any way in treating colored personSj or
white persons in charge of such, otherwise than lawfully as prisoners of war, and
which persons may have been found in the United States service as soldiers, seamen,
or any other capacity ; and I do further proclaim, declare, and make known that, when
ever, in any of the States of Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee,
Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, and North Carolina, a number of persons
not less than one-tenth in number of the votes cast in such States at the Presidential
election of the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty, each having
taken the oath aforesaid, and not having since violated it, and being a qualified voter
by the election law of the State existing immediately beforeKhe so-called act of seces
sion, and excluding all others, shall re-establish a State Government which shall be
republican, and in nowise contravening said oath, such shall be recognized as the
true government of the State, and the State shall receive thereunder the benefits of the
constitutional provision which declares that
" ' The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a republican form
of government, and shall protect each of them against invasion, and on application of
the Legislature, or the Executive, when the Legislature cannot be convened, against
domestic violence.'
" And I do further proclaim and make known that any provision which may be
adopted by such State Government in relation to the freed people of such State,
which shall recognize and declare their permanent freedom, provide for their education,
and which may yet be consistent, as a temporary arrangement, with their present con
dition as a laboring, landless, and homeless class, will not be objected to by the
National Executive.
" And it is suggested as not improper that, in constructing a loyal State Government
in any State, the name of the State, the boundary, the subdivisions, the Constitution,
and the general code of laws, as before the rebellion, be maintained, subject only to the
modifications made necessary by the conditions herein before stated, and such others, if
any, not contravening said conditions, and which may be deemed expedient by those
framing the new State Government. To avoid misunderstanding, it may be proper to
' say that this proclamation, so far as it relates to State Governments, has no reference to
States wherein loyal State Governments have all the while been maintained; and for
the same reason it may be proper to further say, that whether members sent to Con
gress from any State shall be admitted to seats, constitutionally rests exclusively with
the respective Houses, and not to any extent with the Executive. And still further,
that this proclamation is intended to present the people of the States wherein the
national authority has been suspended, and loyal State Governments have been sub
verted, a mode in and by which the national authority and loyal State Governments
may be re-established within said States, or in any of them. And, while the mode
presented is the best the Executive can suggest with his present impressions, it must
not be understood that no other possible mode would be acceptable.
"Given under my hand at the City of Washington, the eighth day of December, A. D.
one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the independence of the United
States of America the eighty-eighth.
"By the President: Abraham Lincoln
" Wm. H. Seward, Secretary of State."
In two States only, Louisiana and Arkansas, was the experiment of
reconstruction on the basis here proposed tested, and in neither of them
can it be said to have had entire success. The project prwed distaste
ful to radical members of the Administration party, and circumstances
prevented its being applied in more instances than those cited. Just
before the adjournment of Congress in July, a bill was passed to
" guarantee to certain States whose governments have been usurped
or overthrown, a republican form of government." This bill provided
for the appointment of a provisional governor in each State, and, as

HISTOET OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 661
soon as military resistance had ceased and the people returned to
obedience, an enrolment to be made of all white male citizens,
designating those who take and those who refuse the oath of allegiance.
If those who take the oath are a majority, the governor shall invite the
people to elect a convention to re-establish their State Government
in conformity with the Constitution of the United States. The bill
provided the mode of electing and assembling such conventions,
and enacted the following restrictions upon their action: "That
the convention shall declare, on behalf of the people of the State,
their submission to the Constitution and laws of the United States,
and shall adopt the following provisions, hereby prescribed by the
United States in the execution of the constitutional duty to guar
antee a republican form of government to every State, and incorporate
them in the constitution of the State, that is to say : First — No person
who has held or exercised any office, civil or military, except offices
merely ministerial, and military offices below the grade of colonel,
State or Confederate, under the usurping power, shall vote for or be a
member of the legislature, or governor. Second — Involuntary servi
tude is forever prohibited, and the freedom of all persons is guaran
teed in said State. Third — No debt, State or Confederate, created by
or under the sanction of the usurping power, shall be recognized or
paid by the State." Constitutions made or amended by these conven
tions were to be submitted to th"e people, " and if a majority of the
votes cast shall be for the constitution and form of government, he
shall certify the same, with a copy thereof, to the President of the
United States, who, after obtaining the assent of Congress, shall, by
proclamation, recognize the government so established, and none other,
as the constitutional government of the State, and from the date of
such recognition, and not before, Senators and Representatives, and
electors for President and Vice-President, maybe elected in such State,
according to the laws of the State and the United States." In case
the conventions refused to establish governments in accordance with this
act, the governors were to dissolve them and order new elections. It
was also enacted that until the United States shall have recognized a
republican form of State Government, the provisional governor in each
of said States shall see that this act, and the laws of the United States,
and the laws of the State in force when the State Government was
overthrown by the rebellion, are faithfully executed within the State ;
but no law or usage whereby any person was heretofore held in -in
voluntary servitude shall be recognized or enforced by any court or
officer in such State, and the laws for the trial and punishment of white
persons shall extend to all persons, and jurors shall have the qualifications
of voters under this law for delegates to the convention. That until
the recognition of a State Government the provisional government
shall cause to be assessed, levied, and collected, for the year 1864, and
every year thereafter, the taxes provided by the laws of such State, to
be levied during the fiscal year preceding the overthrow of the State Gov
ernment. That all persons held to involuntary servitude or labor in
the States aforesaid are hereby emancipated and discharged therefrom,
and they and their posterity shall be forever free. And if any such

662 HISTOET OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
persons or their posterity shall be restrained of liberty, under pretence
of any claim to such service or labor, the courts of the United States
shall, on habeas corpus, discharge them. That if any person declared
free by this act, or any law of the United States, or any proclamation
of the President, be restrained of liberty, with intent to be held in
or reduced to involuntary servitude or labor, the person convicted be
fore a court of competent jurisdiction of such act shall be punished by
fine of not less than fifteen hundred dollars, and be imprisoned not less
than five nor more than twenty years. That every person who shall
hereafter hold or exercise any office, civil or military, except offices
merely ministerial, and military offices below the grade of colonel, in
the rebel service, State or Confederate, is hereby declared not to be a
citizen of the United States.
This act the President did not sign, but gave it publication by a
proclamation, in which he said : " That while I am (as I was in De
cember last, when by proclamation I propounded a plan for restora
tion) unprepared, by a formal approval of this bill, to be inflexibly com
mitted to any single plan of restoration ; and, while I am also unpre
pared to declare that the free State constitutions and governments
already adopted and installed in Arkansas and Louisiana shall be set
aside and held for naught, thereby repelling and discouraging the
loyal citizens who have set up the same as to further effort, or to de
clare a constitutional competency in Congress to abolish slavery in
States, but am at the same time sincerely hoping and expecting that a
constitutional amendment, abolishing slavery throughout the nation,
may be adopted, nevertheless I am fully satisfied with the system for
restoration contained in the bill as one very proper plan for the loyal
people of any State chosing to adopt it, and that I am and at all times
shall be, prepared to give the Executive aid and assistance to any such
people, so soon as the military resistance to the United States shall
have been suppressed in any such State, and the people thereof shall
have sufficiently returned to their obedience to the Constitution and
laws of the United States, in which cases military governors will be
appointed, with directions to proceed according to the bill."
The enrolment and conscription bill was amended by this Congress
in several particulars, and that clause in the original bill which per
mitted drafted persons to be exempted from service by the payment
of three hundred dollars into the national treasury was repealed.
Negro soldiers, of whom one hundred thousand were enlisted in 1864,
were placed on an equal footing with white soldiers in respect to pay
and other matters, and a Bureau of Freedmen's Affairs was established,
which should determine all questions relating to persons of African
descent, and make regulations for their employment and proper
treatment on abandoned plantations. Finally, to silence the cavillings
of those persons who denounced the President's emancipation procla
mation as unconstitutional, a resolution was adopted to submit to the
action ofthe several States an amendment to the Constitution of the
United States, prohibiting the existence of slavery within the States
and Territories of the Union forever. This met with much opposition
from members ofthe border Slave States, who declared it was a palpable

HISTOET OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 663
violation of State rights for ihe people thus to interfere with any thing
which State laws declare to be property. But the objection was met
by Senator Reverdy Johnson, of Maryland, who argued that when the
Constitution was originally framed this prohibition might have been
embodied in it, and that it was competent for the States to do now
whatever they might have done -then. To secure an amendment to
the Constitution, it is necessary, after it has been adopted by a two-
thirds vote in both houses of Congress, that it should be ratified by the
legislatures of two-thirds of the States ; and the question was seriously
agitated whether two-thirds of the loyal States would not be sufficient
in the present instance. In order, however, to be within the strict
letter of the law, it was determined to follow the constitutional pro
vision literally. So far as the amendment has been acted upon, every
Free State except New Jersey has ratified it ; but enough States haye
not yet voted for ratification to make up the requisite two-thirds.
The spring of 1864, which witnessed the commencement and prog
ress of the momentous campaigns of Grant and Sherman, was
destined also to witness a political struggle of more than usual
acerbity. The peace party had now become fully organized, and,
despite its overwhelming defeat in the previous autumn, hoped through
the apparent failure of the military plans of the year, and the undoubt
ed and wide-spread desire for peace, to insure the election of their
candidate for the Presidency. It was deemed peculiarly unfortunate
that the country should be involved at such a crisis in the excitement
and confusion ordinarily attending a Presidental election, and the
opinion prevailed among a large portion ofthe people, that the canvass,
which had usually commenced after the nomination of candidates in
May or Jiine,.should be postponed until the autumn. Strong efforts were
made to have the Republican nominating convention adjourned to Sep
tember or October; but popular impatience could not endure so long a
delay, and on June 7th the convention met at Baltimore. On the first
ballot Abraham Lincoln was unanimously renominated for President,
amid unmistakable demonstrations of enthusiasm, and subsequently
Andrew Johnson, of Tennessee, formerly a United States Senator from
that State, and since 1 862 its military governor, was nominated for Vice-
President. The following is the platform adopted by the convention :: —
"Resolved, That it is the highest duty of every American citizen to maintain against
all their enemies the integrity of the Union, and the paramount authority of the Con
stitution and laws of the United States, and that, laying aside all differences and polit
ical opinions, we pledge ourselves as Union men, animated by a common sentiment,
and aiming at a common object, to do every thing in our power to aid the Government
in quelling by force of arms the rebellion now raging against its authority, and in
bringing to the punishment due to their crimes the rebels and traitors arrayed against
it [Prolonged applause.]
"Resolved, That we approve the determination of the Government of the United
States not to compromise with rebels, or to offer any terms of peace except such as
maybe based upon an "unconditional surrender" of their hostility and a return to
their just allegiance to the Constitution and laws ofthe United States; and that we
call upon the Government to maintain this position, and to prosecute the war with the
utmost possible vigor to the complete suppression of the rebellion, in full reliance
npon the self-sacrifices, the patriotism, the heroic valor, and the undying devotion of
the American people to their country and its free institutions. [Applause.]

664 HISTOET OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
"Resolved, That as Slavery was the cause, and now constitutes the strength, of this
rebellion, and as it must be always and everywhere hostile to the principles of repub
lican government, justice and the national safety demand its utter and complete extir
pation from the soil of the republic [applause] ; and that we uphold and maintain the
acts and proclamations by which the Government, in its own defence, has aimed a
death-blow at this gigantic evil. We are in favor, furthermore, of such an amendment
to the Constitution,' to be made by the people in conformity with its provisions, as
shall terminate and forever prohibit the existence of Slavery -within the limits cr the
jurisdiction of the United States. [Applause.]
"Resolved, That the thanks of the American people are due to the soldiers and sailors
of the army and the navy [applause], who have perilled their lives in defence of their
country, and in vindication of the honor of the flag ; that the nation owes to them some
permanent recognition of their patriotism and their valor, and ample and permanent
provision for those of their survivors who have received disabling and honorable
wounds in the service of the country ; and that the memories of those who have fallen
in its defence shall be held in grateful and everlasting remembrance. [Loud applause.]
"Resolved, That we approve and applaud the practical wisdom, the unselfish patriot
ism, and unswerving fidelity to the Constitution and the principles of American liberty,
with which Abraham Lincoln has discharged, under circumstances of unparalleled
difficulty, the great duties and responsibilities of the Presidential office ; that we
approve and indorse,, as demanded by the emergency and essential to the preservation
of the nation, and as within the Constitution, the measures and acts which he has
adopted to defend the nation against its open and secret foes; that we approve especial
ly the proclamation of emancipation and the employment as Union soldiers of men
heretofore held in slavery [applause] ; and that we have full confidence in his deter
mination to carry these and all other constitutional measures essential to the salvation
of the country into full and complete effect.
"Resolved, That we deem it essential to the general welfare that harmony should
prevail in the national councils; and we regard as worthy of public confidence and
official trust those only who cordially indorse the principles proclaimed in these
resolutions, and which should characterize the administration of the Government.
[Applause.] "Resolved, That the Government owes to all men employed in its armies, without
regard to distinction of color, the full protection of the laws of war [applause], and
that any violations of these laws, or of the usages of civilized nations in the time of
War, by the rebels, now in arms, should be made the subject of full and prompt redress.
[Prolonged applause.]
"Resolved, That the foreign immigration which in the past has added so much to the
wealth and development df resources and increase of power to this nation — the asylum
of the oppressed of all nations — should be fostered and encouraged by a liberal and
just policy.
"'Resolved, That we are in favor of the speedy construction of the railroad to the
Pacific. "Resolved, That, the national faith pledged for the redemption of the public debt
must be kept inviolate, and that for this purpose we recommend economy and rigid
responsibility in the public expenditures, and a vigorous and just system of taxation;
that it is the duty of every loyal State to sustain the credit and promote the use of
the national currency. [Applause.]
"Resolved, That we approve the position taken by the Government, that the people
of the United States can never regard with indifference the attempt of any European
Bower to overthrow by force, or to supplant by fraud, the institutions of any repub
lican government on the Western Continent [prolonged applause] ; and that they will
view with extreme jealousy, as menacing to the peace and independence of this oiu>
country, the efforts of any SUch Power to obtain new footholds for monarchical govern
ments, sustained by a foreign military force in near promixity to the United States.
[Long-continued applause]."
The nominations were generally reeeived with satisfaction by the
Republican party, though a radical section of it had expressed a pref
erence for Secretary Chase as a candidate for the Presidency. The

HISTOET OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 665
name of Mr. Johnson, who was of Southern birth, but had been from
the commencement of the war thoroughly identified with the Union
cause, was considered to give great strength to the ticket.
The opposition, with a view of adding to the strength of their party,
postponed their convention to the 29th of August. In the interval
between the meeting of the Republican Convention and that date,
many events, they supposed, might occur to increase the public craving
for peace and compromise, and to bring into discredit the acts and
policy of the Administration. The move was a sagacious one, for up
to the 29th of August the progress of the National arms had not been
in accordance with public expectation, considering the enormous scale
on which preparations were made, and many of that numerous class
who invariably side with the successful party were beginning to grow
lukewarm or to waver in their support of Mr. Lincoln. So powerful,
in such a crisis as the country was then passing through, is the influ
ence of military success to sustain a party, be its cause ever so just a one,
that if a long train of reverses had followed the commencement ofthe
autumn, it is not improbable that the contest between the Republican
and opposition candidates for the Presidency might have been close and
exciting. But September brought the fall of Atlanta and the victories
of Sheridan in the valley, and- it was seen that Grant, while apparently
making slight progress, was in reality holding Lee by an iron grip
within his intrenchments at Petersburg, and preventing him from send
ing a single man to re-enforce the rebel armies in the West. As, this
conviction dawned upon the public mind, confidence was restored, the
faint-hearted plucked up courage, and the crisis was past. This change
of opinion, however, could not be foreseen by the leaders of the oppo
sition, and therefore their postponement of their convention was on
the whole a clever stroke of policy, the failure of which was through
no fault of its advisers.
For months before the meeting of the convention, which took place
in Chicago, but one prominent name was in the mouths of Demo
cratic politicians in connection with the Presidency, and that was Gen
eral McClellan's. We have stated how he was taken up by these men
in the first flush of his mihtary reputation, and how the political ideas
which he then imbibed, by arraying him in opposition to the Adminis
tration, and prompting him to go beyond the line of his proper duty,
impaired his usefulness as a soldier. Since his removal from the com
mand of the Army of the Potomac, in November, 1862, he had relin
quished no one of those political views, and his long retirement from
active duty was regarded by his friends as a species of martyrdom,
prompted by the fears and hatred of the Government. The popularity
which he had once possessed, both in and out of the army, it was be
lieved, had experienced no diminution. A man of undoubted ability,
of many accomplishments, having the appearance and address of a
polished gentleman, and of unblemished private character, he formed
in some respects a marked contrast to the Republican candidate, and
Was decided to combine in himself more elements of success than any
other man in the ranks of the opposition. Under these circumstances
his nomination was a foregone conclusion, and was secured-on the first

66Q HISTOET OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
ballot, the only competitor against him having any show of strength
being Governor Seymour, of New York. This result was, neverthe
less, unpalatable to that wing of the Democratic party of which men
like Vallandigham were the exponents, because McClellan was pro
fessedly in favor of prosecuting the war against the rebellion ; and for
the purpose of securing their support, George H. Pendleton, a mem
ber of the Thirty-seventh Congress, from Ohio, and one of their ablest
men, was nominated for the Vice-Presidency. The ticket thus com
prised a candidate for President in favor of war, and a candidate for
Vice-President pledged in the strongest terms to oppose it. The fol
lowing platform, adopted by the convention, expressed, it will be seen,
the views of the peace men : —
' Resolved, That in the future, as in the past, we will adhere with unswerving fidelity
to the Union under the Constitution, as the only solid foundation of our strength, se
curity, and happiness as * people, and as a framework of government equally condu
cive to the welfare and prosperity of all the States, both Northern and Southern.
"Resolved, That this convention does explicitly declare, as the sense of the
American people, that after four years of failure to restore the Union by the experi
ment of war, during which, under the pretence of a military necessity, or war power
higher than the Constitution, the Constitution itself has been disregarded in every part,
and public liberty and private right alike trodden down, and the material prosperity of
the country essentially impaired, justice, humanity, liberty, and the public welfare de
mand that immediate efforts be made for the cessation of hostilities with a view to an
ultimate convention of all the States, or other peaceable means, to the end that at the
earliest practicable moment peace may be restored on the basis of the Federal Union
of the States.
"Resolved, That the direct interference of the military authority of the United
States m the recent elections held in Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, and Delaware, -was
a shameful violation of the Constitution, and a repetition of such acts in the approaching
election will be held as revolutionary, and resisted with all the means and power under
our control.
" Resolved, That the aim and object of the Democratic party is to preserve the
Federal Union and the rights of the States unimpaired, and they hereby declare
that they consider the administrative usurpation of extraordinary and dangerous power
not granted by the Constitution, the subversion of the civil by military law in
States not in .insurrection, the arbitrary military arrest, imprisonment, trial, and sentence
of American citizens in States where civil law exists in full force, the suppression of
freedom of speech and of the press, the denial of the right of asylum, the open and
avowed disregard of State rights, the employment of unusual test oaths, and the in
terference with and the denial of the right of the people to bear arms, as calculated to
prevent a restoration of the Union and the perpetuation of a Government deriving its
just powers from the consent of the governed.
" Resolved, That the shameful disregard .of the Administration of its duty m respect to
our fellow-citizens, who now and long have been prisoners of war in a suffering condition,
deserves the severest reprobation, on the score alike of public, and common humanity.
Resolved, That tho sympathy of the Democratic party i3 heartily and earnestly
extended to the soldiery of our army, who are and have been in the field under'the flag
of pur country, and in the event of our attaining power they will receive all the care,
protection, regard, and kindness that the brave soldiers of the republic have so nobly
earned." When these resolutions were made public, many earnest and patri
otic men, who were sincerely in favor of the war, and who continued
to support McClellan because they believed him to be equally sincere,
predicted that he would decline the nomination, if such a platform was
to guide his public acts in the event of his election. Alt doubt as to

HISTOET OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 667
the course which the Democratic candidate would pursue was, how
ever, soon dispelled by the following letter of acceptance : —
"Orange, N. J., September 8, 1864.
" Gentlemen : — I have tho honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter, informing
me of my nomination by the Democratic National Convention, recently assembled at
Chicago, as their candidate, at the next election, for President of the United States.
" It is unnecessary for me to say to you .that this nomination comes to me unsought.
" I am happy to know that when the nomination was made, the record of my public
life was kept in view. j
" The effect of long and varied service in the army, during war and peace, has been to
gtreagthen and make indelible in my mind and heart, the love aud reverence for the
Union, Constitution, laws, and flag of our country, impressed upon me in early youth.
'! These feelings have thus far guided the course of. my life, and must continue to do
so to its end.
"The existence of more than one Government over the region which once owned
our flag is incompatible with the peace, the power, and the happiness of the people.
" The preservation of our Union was the sole avowed object for which the war was
commenced. It should have been conducted for that object only, and in accordance
with those principles which I took occasion to declare when in active service.
" Thus conducted, the work of reconciliation would have been easy, and we might
have reaped the benefits of our many victories on land and sea.
"The Union was originally formed by the exercise of a spirit of conciliation and
compromise. To restore and preserve it, the same spirit must prevail in our councils,
and in the hearts of the pepple. , .
" The re-establishment of the Union in all its integrity is, and must continue to be,
the indispensable condition in any settlement. So soon as it is clear, or even probable,
that our present adversaries are ready for peace, upon the basis of the Union, we
should exhaust all the resources of statesmanship practisedby civilized nations, and
taught by the traditions of the American people, consistent with tho honor and inter
ests of the country, to secure such peace, re-establish the Union, and guarantee for the
future the constitutional rights of every State. The Union is the one condition of
peace — we ask no more.
" Let me add what I doubt not was, although unexpressed, the sentiment of the
Convention, as it is of the people they represent, that when any one State is willing to
return to the Union, it should be received at once, with a full guarantee of all its
constitutional rights.
"If a frank, earnest, and persistent effort to obtain those objects should fail, the re
sponsibility for ulterior consequences will fall upon those who remain in arms against
the Union. But the Union must be preserved at all hazards.
" I could not look in the face my gallant comrades of the army and navy, who have
survived so many bloody battles, and tell them that their labors and the sacrifices of so
many of our slain and wounded brethren had been in vain ; that we had abandoned
that Union for which, we have so often perilled our lives.
" A vast majority of our people, whether in the army and navy or at home, would,
as I would, hail with unbounded joy the permanent restoration of peace, on the basis
of the Union under the Constitution, without the effusion of another drop of blood.
But no peace can be permanent without Union.
" As to the other subjects presented in the resolutions pf the convention, I need only
say that, I should seek, in the Constitution of the United States, and the laws framed
in accordance therewith, the rule' of my duty, -and the limitations of executive power;
endeavor to restore economy in public expenditure, re-establish tho supremacy of law,
and, by the operation of a more vigorous nationality, resume our commanding position
among the nations of the earth.
"The condition of our finances, the depreciation of the paper money, and the bur
dens thereby imposed on labor and, capital, show the necessity of a return to a sound
financial system; while the rights of citizens and the rights of States, and the binding
.authority of law over President, army, and people, are subjects of not less vital im
portance in war than in peace.
" Believing that the views here expressed are those of the convention and the people
you represent, I accept the nomination.

668 HISTOET OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
" I realize the weight of the responsibility to be borne should the people ratify your
choice. " Conscious of my own weakness, I can only seek fervently the guidance of the
Euler ofthe universe, and, relying on His all-powerful aid, do my best to restore unipn
and peace to a suffering people, and to establish and guard their liberties and rights.
"I am, gentlemen, very respectfully, your obedient servant, "Geo. B. McClellan.
"Hon. Horatio Seymour, and others, Committee."
From about the middle of September, when the canvass commenced
to be actively conducted, there could be little doubt of the result, and
the only question seemed finally to be respecting the majority which
Mr. Lincoln would receive. The election took place on November 8th,
and resulted in the choice of the Republican candidates, by the follow?
ing vote : — STATES. Union. Democratic Union Democratic
Lincoln, McCleUan. Majorities Majorities.
Alabama 
Arkansas  
California  62,134 43,841 18,293
Connecticut  44,691 42,285 2,406
Delaware  8,155 8,767 612
Florida 
Georgia 
Illinois  189,496 158,730 30,766
Indiana  150,422 130,233 20,189
Iowa.  89,075 49,596 39,479
Kansas  16,441 3,691 12,750
Kentucky  27,786 64,301 36,515
Louisiana.  .*i
Maine  68,114 46,992 21,122
Maryland  40,153 32,739 7,414
Massachusetts  126,742 48,745 77,997
Michigan  91,521 74,604 16,917
Minnesota  25,060 17,375 7,685
Mississippi 
Missouri  72,750 31,678 41,072
Nevada   9,826 6,594 3,232
New Hampshire  36,400 32,871 3,529
New Jersey  60,723 68,024 7,301
New Tork  368,735 361,986 6,749
North Carolina 
Ohio  265,154 205,568 59,586
Oregon.  9,888 8,457 1,431
Pennsylvania  296,391 276,316 20,075
Ehode Island  14,349 8,718 5,631
South Carolina  ..
Tennessee 
Texas  .'
Vermont  42,419 13,321 29,098
Virginia...... 
West Virginia  23,152 10,438 12,714
Wisconsin  83,458 65,884 17,574
Total  2,223,035 1,811,754 455,709 44,428
Net majority for Lincoln  411,281
The year 1864 was marked by two indirect attempts to commence
negotiations for peace, which resulted in nothing. In the middle of

HISTOET OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 669
July, Colonel James F. Jaques, of the Seventy-third Illinois Volun
teers, accompanied by Mr. Edward Kirke, was permitted to enter the
rebel lines in front of Petersburg, and proceed to Richmond, where he
obtained an interview with Jefferson Davis. Though clothed with no
authority to speak for either President Lincoln or the Government, and
much less to act for them, he was nevertheless received with cordiality
by Davis, to whom he explained the basis on which, in ail probability,
the United States Government would consent to treat for peace.
Davis having intimated very decidedly that no peace could be contem
plated by him or his Government, without the recognition of the inde
pendence ofthe "Southern Confederacy "by the United States, Colonel
Jaques and his companion took their departure, no wiser than when
they reached Richmond.
The next attempt at peace negotiations was conducted through more
practised hands, but resulted none the more favorably for the peace
party. Early in July, Mr. Horace Greeley, editor of the New York
Tribune, received from W. Cornell Jewett, a political adventurer of
some notoriety, information that certain prominent rebel refugees in
Canada were desirous of holding an interview with him at Niagara
Falls. The following letter from Mr. Greeley to the President in ref
erence to this matter formed the prelude to the attempted negotia
tions :— " New Tork, July 7, 1864.
"My Dear Sir: — I venture to enclose you a letter and telegraphic dispatch that I
received yesterday from our irrepressible friend* Colorado Jewett, at Niagara Falls. I
think they deserve attention. Of course I do not indorse Je wett's positive averment
that his friends at the Falls have 'full powers' fromJ. »., though I do not doubt that
he thinks they have. I let that statement stand as simply evidencing the anxiety of
the Confederates everywhere for peace. So much is beyond doubt
"And therefore I venture to remind you that our bleeding, bankrupt, almost dying
country also longs for peace — shudders at the prospect of fresh conscriptions, of fur
ther wholesale devastations, and of new rivers of human blood ; and a wide-spread
conviction that the Government and its prominent supporters are not anxious for peace,
and do not improve proffered opportunities to achieve it, is doing great harm now, and
is morally certain, unless removed, to do far greater in the approaching elections.
" It is not enough that we anxiously desire a true and lasting peace. "We ought to
demonstrate and establish the truth beyond cavil. The fact that A. H. Stephens was
not permitted a year ago to visit and confer with the authorities at Washington has
done harm, which the tone of the late National Convention at Baltimore is not calcu
lated to counteract.
" I entreat you, in your own time and manner, to submit overtures for pacification
to the Southern insurgents, which the impartial must pronounce frank and generous.
" If only with a view to the momentous election soon to occur in North Carolina,
and of the draft to be enforced in the Free States, this should be done at once. I would
give the safe-conduct required by the rebel envoys at Niagara, upon their parole to
avoid observation, and to refrain from all communication with their sympathizers in
the loyal States ; but you may see reasons for declining it. But whether through
them or otherwise, do not, I entreat you, fail to make the Southern people comprehend
that you, and all of us, are anxious for peace, and prepared to grant liberal terms. I
venture to suggest the following "PLAN OF ADJUSTMENT.
" 1". The Union is restored, and declared perpetual.
" 2. Slavery is utterly and forever abolished throughout the same.
" 3. A complete amnesty for all political offences, with a restoration of all the inhab
itants of each State to all the privileges of citizens of the United States.

670 • HprOET OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
.'' 4. Thg Union to pay four hundred million dollars ($400,000,000), in five per cent.
United -ijtates stock, to the late Slave States, loyal and secession alike, to be apportidned
pro rata, According to their slave population respectively, by the census of 1860, in
compensation for the losses of their loyal citizens by the abolition of slavery. Each
State to be entitled to its quota upon the ratification by its legislature of this adjust
ment. The bonds to be at the absolute disposal ofthe legislature aforesaid.
" 5. The said Slave States to be, entitled henceforth to representation in the House
on the basis of their total, instead of their Federal population, the whole now being
free. " 6. A national convention'to be assembled as soon as may be, to ratify this adjust
ment, and "make such changes in the Constitution as may be deemed advisable.
" Mr. President, I fear you do not realize how intently the people desire any peace
consistent with the national integrity and honor, and how joyously they would hail
its achievement, and bless its authors. With United States stock worth but forty
cents in gold per dollar, and drafting about to commence on the third million of Union
Bbldiers, can this be wondered at?
"I do not say that a just peace is now attainable, though I believe it to be so. But
I do say that a frank offer by you to the insurgents of terms which the impartial say
ought to be accepted, will, at the worst, prove an immense and sorely needed advan
tage to the national cause. It may save us from a Northern insurrection.
" Tours truly, Horace Greeley.
" Hon. A. Lincoln, President, Washington, D. C.
" P. S. — Even though it should be deemed unadvisable to make an offer of terms to
the rebels, I insist that in any possible case it is desirable that any offer they may he
disposed to make should be received, and either accepted or rejected. I beg you to
invite those now at Niagara to exhibit their credentials and submit their ultimatum. ¦" H. G."
A few days later, Mr. Greeley was informed by George N. San
ders, a noted rebel agenfcin Canada, that Clement C. Clay, of Alabama,
Professor J. P. Holcombe, of Virginia, and himself, were willing to go
at once to Washington, provided they could be assured of their per
sonal safety. To this Mr. Greeley replied as follows : —
"Niagara Falls, N. T., July 17, 1864.
"Gentlemen: — I am informed that you are duly accredited from Richmond as the
bearers of propositions looking to the establishment of peace, that you desire to visit
Washington in the fulfilment of your mission, and that you further desire that Mr.
George N. Sanders shall accompany you. If my information be thus far substantially
correct, I am authorized by the President of the United States to tender you his safei
conduct on the journey proposed, and to accompany you at the earliest time that will
be agreeable to you.
" I have the honor to be, gentlemen, yours, Horace Greeley.
" To Messrs. Clement C. Clay, Jacob Thompson, James P. Holoombe,
Clifton House, C. W."
Clay and Holcombe replied on the succeeding day tnat tne safe-
conduct of the President had been tendered to them under some mis
apprehensions of facts, since they had not been accredited to him from
Richmond as the bearers of propositions looking to the establishment
of peace. ' " We are, however," they- added, " in the confidential em
ployment of our Government, and are entirely familiar Avith. its wishes
and opinions on that subject ; and we feel authorized to declare that,
if the circumstances disclosed in this correspondence were communi
cated to Richmond, we would be at once invested- with the authority
to which your letter refers ; or othej gentlemen, clothed with full

HISTOET OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. • 671
powers, would be immediately sent to Washington, with a view of
hastening a consummation so much to be desired, and terminating at
the earliest possible moment the calamities ofthe war." Under these
circumstances, Mr. Greeley telegraphed to Washington . for further
instructions, and received on the same day the following memoran
dum : — " Executive Mansion, Washington, July 18, 1864.
" To whom it may concern :
" Any proposition which embraces the restoration of peace, the integrity of the
whole Union, and the abandonment of slavery, and which comes by and with an au
thority that can control the armies now at war against the United States, will be
received and considered by the Executive Government of the United States, and will
be met by liberal terms, on substantial and collateral points, and the bearer or bearers
thereof shall have safe-conduct both ways
(Signed) " Abraham- Lincoln."
This, in view of the temper and pretensions of the South, was prac
tically a bar to further proceedings, and was so considered by the
rebel agents. In their final reply to Mr. Greeley, after quoting the
President's memorandum, they proceed as follows : —
" The application to which we refer was elicited by your letter of the 17th instant,
in which you inform Mr. Jacob Thompson and ourselves that you were authorized by
the President of the United States to tender us his safe-conduct on the hypothesis that
we were ' duly accredited from Eichmond as bearers of propositions looking to the
establishment of peace,' and desired a visit to Washington in the fulfilment of this
mission. This assertion, to which we then gave, and still do, entire credence, was ac
cepted by us as the evidence of an unexpected but most gratifying change in the
policy of the President, a change which we felt authorized to hope might terminate in
the conclusion of a peace mutually just, honorable, and advantageous to the North and
to the South, exacting no condition but that we should be ' duly accredited from
Eichmond as bearers of propositions looking to the establishment of peace.' Thus
proffering a basis for conference as comprehensive as we could desire, it seemed to us
that the President opened a door which had previously been closed against the Confed
erate, States for a full interchange of sentiments, free discussion of conflicting opinions,
and untrammelled effort to remove all causes of controversy by liberal negotiations.
We, indeed, could not claim the benefit of a safe-conduct which had been extended to
us in a character we had no right to assume, and had never affected to possess; but
tiie uniform declarations of our Executive and Congress, and their thrice repeated, and
as often repulsed, attempts to open negotiations, furnish a sufficient pledge to assure
us that this conciliatory manifestation on the part of the President of the United
States would be met by them in a temper of equal magnanimity. Wo had, therefore,
no hesitation in declaring that if this correspondence was communicated to the Presi
dent of the Confederate States, he would promptly embrace the opportunity presented
for seeking a peaceful solution of this unhappy strife. We feel confident that you
must share our profound regret that the spirit which dictated the first step towards
peace had not continued to animate the counsels of your President. Had the repre
sentatives of the two Governments met to consider this question, tho most momentous
ever submitted to human statesmanship, in a temper of becoming moderation and
equity, followed as their deliberations would have been by the prayers and benedic
tions of every patriot and Christian on the habitable globe, who is there so bold as to
pronounce that the frightful waste of individual happiness and public prosperity which
is daily saddening the universal heart, might not have been terminated ; or if the deso
lation and carnage of war must still be endured through weary years of blood and suf
fering, that there might not at least have been infused into its conduct something more
of the spirit which softens and partially redeems its brutalities ? Instead of the safe-
conduct which we solicited, and which. your first letter gave us every reason to sup-

672 HISTOET OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
pose would be extended for the purpose of initiating a negotiation in which neither
Government would compromise its rights or its dignity, a document has been presented
which provokes as much indignation as surprise. It bears no feature of resemblance
to that which was originally offered, and is unlike any paper which ever before ema
nated from the constitutional Executive of a free people. Addressed ' to whom it
may concern.' it precludes negotiation, and prescribes in advance the terms and con
ditions of peace. It returns to the original policy of 'No bargaining, no negotiations,
no truces with rebels except to bury their dead, until every man shall have laid down
his arms, submitted to the Government, and sued for mercy.' What may be the ex
planation of this sudden and entire change in the views of the President, of this rude
withdrawal of a courteous overture for negotiation at the moment it was likely to bo
accepted, of this emphatic recall of words of peace just uttered, and fresh blasts of war
to the bitter end, we leave for the speculation of those who have the means or inclina
tion to penetrate the mysteries of his Cabinet, or fathom the caprice of his imperial
will. It is enough for us to say that we have no use whatever for the paper which
has been placed in our hands. We could not transmit it to the President of the Con
federate States without offering him an indignity, dishonoring ourselves, and incurring
the well-merited scorn of our countrymen.
" While an ardent desire for peace pervades the people of the Confederate States,
we rejoice to believe that there are few, if any, among them, who would purchase it at
the expense of liberty, honor, and self-respect. If it can be secured only by their sub
mission to terms of conquest, the generation is yet unborn which will witness its resti
tution. If there be any military autocrat in the North who is entitled to proffer the
conditions of this manifesto, there is none in the South authorized to entertain them.
Those who control our armies are the servants of the people, not their masters ; and
they have no more inclination than they have right to subvert the social institutions
of the sovereign States to overthrow their established Constitutions, and to barter
away their priceless heritage of self-government. This correspondence will not, how
ever, we trust, prove wholly barren of good results.
" If there is any citizen of the Confederate States who has clung to a hope that
peace was possible with this Administration of the Federal Government, it will strip
from his eyes the last film of such a delusion. Or, if there be any whose hearts have
grown faint under the suffering and agony of this bloody struggle, it will inspire
them with fresh energy to endure and brave whatever may yet be requisite to pre
serve to themselves and their children all that gives dignity and value to life, or hope
and consolation to death. And if there be any patriots or Christians in your land,
who shrink appalled from the illimitable vista of private misery and public calamity
which stretches before them, we pray that in their bosoms a resolution may be quick
ened to recall the abused authority and vindicate the outraged civilization of their
country. For the solicitude you have manifested to inaugurate a movement which
contemplates results the most noble and humane, we return our sincere thanks, and
are, most respectfully and truly, your obedient servants,
- • "C. C. Clay, Jr.
" James P. Holcombe."

CHAPTER LXX.
Finances of 1863. — Revenue. — Sales of Bonds. — Effect of Paper Money. — Policy of Mr.
Chase. — Gold Law, and its Effects. — Upi Chase Resigns. — Finances of 1864.— ,
Sales of Bonds in Europe. — Statement of Debt. — National Banks. — Prices of Gold.
The financial resources of the Government were developed with the
most extraordinary power and effect as the war proceeded. The
immense pressure of continual paper issues upon the markets, in dis
charge of the vast claims upon Government, could have no other effect
than a continual depreciation of the value of that paper. In a previous
chapter the finances of the Government were brought down to the close

HISTOET OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 673
of the fiscal year 1863, at which time the debt had accumulated to
$1,098,793,181. The receipts of the fiscal year, ending June 30, 1863,
comprised $69,059,642 from customs, and $42,340,124 from taxes, mak
ing together $111,399,766 from revenue. There was borrowed in that
year $776,682,361, making together $888,082,128, to meet an expendi
ture of $895,796,630. The fiscal year 1864 opened with $411,190,065
legal tender money outstanding, and gold at a premium of 150. The
internal revenue and customs taxes were so modified as, it was hoped,
to increase the revenue of the year at least fifty per cent. The depre
ciation of paper had, however, greatly increased the expenses of the
Government, by enhancing the cost of most articles of which the Gov
ernment was the purchaser, and making it requisite to increase the pay
of the troops, as well as to swell the sum of the bounties offered. It
was very clear that, no matter how near to the estimates the receipts
from taxes might come, the increased expense caused by the de
preciation of paper would more than absorb the sum of the taxes,
and that the dependence of the Government must be upon borrowing.
In pursuing this course, the Government varied the form of the bonds
offered in the market. Up to the close of May, 1 863, the gold bonds
of the Government had not met with much sale, because of their high
price as compared with the value of other commodities upon the mar
ket. The property of the people had been locked up in goods and
merchandise that were not readily salable when the war broke out.
It was not until the issue of Government paper, in exchange for com
modities at very high prices, had transmuted goods into Government
paper, that the people had money or paper to invest in the bonds of
the Government. In the spring of 1863 very active sales of goods had
taken place for paper, which had depreciated to forty-two cents per
dollar. High prices had been obtained in this paper for merchandise,
and when gold began to decline in May, the desire to convert the paper
money into the gold bonds enabled the Government to negotiate a con
siderable amount of the 5-20 bonds. In the first quarter of tho
fiscal year, 1864, $109,631,250 of those bonds were sold. In addition,
$15,000,000 more legal-tender notes were issued. The sales of the.5-20
bonds continued up to the middle of January, 1864, the rate of gold re
maining at about 152. The Secretary ofthe Treasury was then induced to
stop the sale of the gold bonds, and to issue anew form of legal-tender
notes, bearing interest, to the extent of $150,000,000. The effect of
this was to send the price of gold up a little, and this tendency was
enhanced by the attempts of Congress to check the rise, by interfering
with the freedom of individual action.' The issues of legal tender then
became necessary, because the sales of the Government bonds were
less free.
Meantime the customs revenues were very large, exceeding the esti
mates to a considerable extent. The law guaranteeing that the public
interest should be paid in gold, had required that the customs receipts
should be applied, first, to the payment of interest on the public debt,
and secondly, to the purchase annually of one per cent, of the entire
public debt, as a sinking fund. In March, 1 864, gold was at a premium of
160, and a bill was brought into Congress to alio w the Secretary to sell in
43

674

HISTOET OF THE GREAT EEBELLION.

the open market the gold not required for the interest. This was refused ;
nevertheless, the Secretary caused to be issued the following notice : —
-¦TJnitkd States Treasury, New Tork, March 23, 1864.
" By direction of the Secretary of the Treasury, notice is hereby given that until
further orders I will issue to importers, for payment of duties on goods imported by
them, certificates of deposit pf gold coin, to the credit of the collector of any port as
desired in exchange for notes, at a quarter of one per centum below the current market
value of gold.
" These certificates are not assignable, but will be receivable by the collector from
the party to whom they are issued. "J. J. Cisco,
"Assistant Treasurer of the United States.

»No. 
" I certify that ¦
lector of the Port of New Tork $-

United States Treasury, New Tork, ¦

1864.

¦ has this day deposited to the creJit of the Col-
¦ in gold coin. This certificate is receivable

only for duties on imports from the party to whom it is issued, and upon his indorse
ment. ¦  , Assistant Treasurer.
The gold certificates thus sold were used for the payment of customs,
in the view of checking the demand for gold. A considerable quantity
of gold was also sent to London, and exchange drawn against it was
sold for paper in the same manner. Congress now passed a resolution
increasing the duty on imported goods fifty per cent, for sixty days,
to take effect on April 29th. The effect of this was to cause very
large entries of goods for duties in April, and consequently to draw
gold into the Treasury, and a further rise in gold resulted. Congress
now took measures to stop dealing in gold,* by passing a law which

* [public — NO. 104]
AN ACT TO PROHIBIT CERTAIN BALES OF GOLD AND
FOREIGN EXCIIANGE.
13e it *n acted by the Senate and House of Rep
resentatives of the United States of America %n
Congress assembled. That it shall be unlawful tu
make any contract for the purchase or s-ale and de
livery of any gold coin or bullion, to be delivered
on any day subsequent to the day of making such
contract, or for the payment of any sum. either
fixed or contingent, in default ofthe delivery of
any gold coin or bullion, or to make such
contract upon any other terms than the actual de
livery of such gold coin or bullion, and the pay
ment in full of the agreed price thereof, on the day
on which such contract is made, in United States
notes or national currt-ncy, and not otherwise; or
to make any contract for the purchase or sale and
delivery of any foreign exchange to be delivered at
any time beyond ten days subsequent to the mak
ing of such contract; or for tho payment of any
sum, either fixed or contingent, in default of the
delivery of any foreign exchange, or upon any
other terms than the actual deli wry of such
foreign exchange within ten days from tho mak
ing of such contract, and tho immediate payment
in full ofthe agreed price thereof on the day of de
livery in United States notes or national currency;
or to make any contract whatever for the sale and
delivery of any gold coin or bullion of which the
person making such contract shall not, at the time
of making tho same, be in actual possession. And
it shall be unlawful to make any loan of money or
currency not being in coin to be repaid in coin or
bullion/or to make any loan of coin or bullion to
be repaid in money or currency other than coin.
Sec 2. And be it further Enacted, That it 6hnll
be further unlawful for any banker, broker, or
other person, to make any purchase or sale of any

gold coin or bullion, or of any foreign exchange*
or any contract for any such purchase or sale, at
any other place than the ordinary place of busi
ness of either the seller or purchaser, owned or
hired and occupied by him individually, or by a
partnership of which he is a member.
Sec. S. And b% it further enacted. That all
contracts made in violation of this act shall bo ab
solutely void.
Sec. 4. And oe it further enacted. That any
person who shall violate any provisions of this
act shall be held guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on
conviction thereof, be fined in any sum not less*
than one thousand dollars, nor more than ten
thousand dollars, or be imprisoned for a period
not less than three months nor hmsfr than ono
year, or both, at the discretion of the court, and
shall likewise be subject to a penalty of one thou
sand dollars for each offence.
|>i:c. 5. And be it further enacted. That the
penalties imposed by the fourth section of this
act may be recovered in an action at law in any
court of record of the United Slates, or any court
of competent jurisdiction, which action may ho
brought in tho 'name of the United Sutus by any
person who will sue for said penalty, one half For
the use of the United States, and the other half
for tho use of the person bringing such action.
And tho recovery and satisfaction of a judgment
in any such action shall bo a bar lo the imposition
of any fine for the samo offence in any prosecution
instituted subsequent to the recovery of snoli
Judgment, but shall not be a bar to the infliction
of punishment by imprisonment, as provided hy
said fourth section.
Sec. C. And be it further enacted. That nil
acts and parts of acts inconsistent with the provi
sions of this act arc hereby repealed.
Approved Juno 17, 1SW,

HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 675
forbade sales of exchange for specie at more than ten days' time, at
any place except the individual office of the banker, and in point of
feet greatly embarrassed the business operations of bankers, since they
could not tell in how far they might be exposed, not simply to the
danger of infringing on the law, but to the complaints of informers,
called into being by the enactment, which bestowed upon them half
the fine. The law also, by limiting the time within which a contract
for exchange might run, cut off a large amount of ordinary shipping
business done in New York for Western account, and which, in the
usual course of business, required at least fifteen days to perfect ar
rangements between. Chicago and New York. These difficulties, of
course, caused a rise in both exchange and gold. The latter rose to
285 and 290 on July 1st.
The bill had, as we have stated, caused a dead-lock in the foreign
exchange business, on account of the provisions above referred to. It
is well known that a very large proportion of the ordinary business
payments of the people of this country, and of every civilized commer
cial community, are, in modern times, settled by certified checks, and
similar financial expedients. To forbid the use of these certified checks,
in any important department of legitimate business, would be attended
with the most disastrous results, both to the enterprise of private indi
viduals and to the credit of the public Treasury. The construction
given to the bill on this point, by the Treasury Department, will be
found in the following communication from the Secretary : —
"Treasury Department, "Washington, )
"June 27, 1864. J
"John J. Cisco, Assistant Treasurer, New York:
" I transmit an opinion of the Solicitor of the Treasury upon certain questions under
the gold act, and concur m his opinion. "S. P. Chase, Secretary of the Treasury."
" Treasury Department, Solicitor's Office, )
"June 21, 1864. j"
" Sm_: — I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter dated to-day,
submitting to me the following questions; —
"The act to prohibit certain sales of gold and foreign exchange, approved June 13th,
1864, requires payment in full of the agreed price of gold or bullion purchased on the
day on which the contract is made in United States notes or national currency, and
not otherwise. Can such payment be made by check for the amount of the purchase
money in United States or national currency ; or can it be made only by manual de
livery of the notes or currency by buyer to tho seller?
" Second. The same act prohibits contracts for the purchase or sale and delivery of
foreign exchange except on conditions of immediate payment in full of the agreed price
thereof on the day of delivery in United States notes or national currency. Would a
payment for such exchange in gold coin ofthe United States be valid or otherwise?
" In reply to the first inquiry, I have to say that I have no doubt that the delivery
of a bond fide check for the amount of the purchase money, in United States notes or
currency, drawn against such notes or currency, actually at the present credit of tho
drawer, and which if presented immediately would be so paid, is a payment within
the meaning ' of the act. In regard to the second question, my opinion is that a pay
ment for exchange in gold coin ofthe United States is a legal and valid payment.
" I have the hdnor to be, with high respect,
"Edward Jordan, Solicitor of the Treasury.
"To Hon. S. P. Chase, Secretary qftlie Treasury."

676 HISTOET OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
On the strength of this opinion, the bankers, who had before refused
to engage in any transaction liable to objection under the gold act,
ventured cautiously forward, and thus aided in quieting the public ex
citement. The gold bill was finally repealed by a vote of twenty-four
to thirteen in the Senate, and eighty-eight to twenty-nine in the House,
June 30. The same day Mr. Chase resigned.
The results of the financial operations for the fiscal year ending June
80, 1864, were as follows : —

Customs  $102,316,153 Civil, ka  $10,273,530
Lands  688,333 War  690,791,843
Taxes  110,216,783 Navy  85,733,293
Miscellaneous  47,511,488 Interest.  53,685,421

Total  $260,632,757 $865,234,087
Thus the expenses had exceeded the revenue by six hundred and
four million six hundred and one thousand three hundred and seventy-
one dollars, which was borrowed, on —
Five-twenty bonds, act Feb. 25, 1 862  $321,567,283 31
Fractional currency, exceeding amount redeemed  2,702,421 25
Six per cent, bonds, act July 17, 1861  30,565,87545
Ten-forty bonds, act March 3, 1864.,  73,337,600 00
Twenty years six per cents., act March 3, 1863  42,141,77105
United States notes, act February 25, 1862  43,859,82146
One year five per cent, notes, act March 3, 1863  44,520,900 00
Two year five per cent, notes, act March 3, 1863  152,864,800 00
Three year six per cent, compound-interest notes  15,000,000 00
Certificates of indebtedness exceeding amount redeemed  4,098,758 35
Whole amount  $730,642,41 0.97
Of which amount there was applied to repayment of public debt  112,527,526.05
"Which left applicable to expenditures  $618,114,884.92
There remained on hand fourteen million dollars at the close of theyear.
The miscellaneous receipts were composed mostly of the premium on
gold sold, and the commutation money of conscripts under the first
conscription act. The receipts of gold for duties, and the interest paid,
were as follows : —
Receipts from Customs  .$102,316,163
Interest paid in Coin  ;. 53,685,421
Excess of receipts   $48,630,732
This amount under the law was to be applied towards the establish
ment of a sinking fund. Instead of that, however, the gold was sold,
and the premium obtained, $19,298,89>0, was' carried to the receipts
under the miscellaneous head.
An important revolution had been effected in the banking system
of the country by the introduction of Mr. Chase's National Banking
scheme, which authorized the establishment of three hundred million dol
lars of bank capital, to issue three hundred million dollars of bank-notes

•HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 6Y7
not convertible into specie, but redeemable in legal-tender notes ; the
bank-notes to be a legal tender for all Government dues except customs,
and secured upon United States bonds. The advantages held out by
this law were not at first appreciated, but in 1864, national banks
began to be rapidly organized, and by the close of the first Administra
tion of Mr. Lincoln the whole amount of capital authorized was nearly
engaged, and one hundred and eleven million dollars of the notes issued.
A law taxing State bank-notes ten per cent, was intended to induce State
banks to convert ihemselves into National banks, and thus simplify and
consolidate the whole banking system of the country. The tendency
has accordingly been in that direction.
Mr. Chase was succeeded by Mr. William Pitt Fessenden, Senator
from Maine, and chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. The
Government paper was worth thirty-five cents per dollar, and the
revenues were not large from taxes ; but the revised law coming then
into operation promised to increase the amount. There was also a
five per cent, extra income' tax levied in October on the incomes of
1863. The customs had begun to decline, but the low price of the
Federal six per cent, bonds, selling then in London at thirty-five cents
per dollar, and therefore giving seventeen per cent, interest on the in
vestment, was beginning to attract the attention of capitalists in
Europe, and sales became large, thereby checking the drain for gold
in the payment of goods imported.
By the laws in force on the day Mr. Fessenden assumed office, he
had authority to borrow on the credit of the United States the amounts
following, to wit: —
First. Under the act of March 3d, 1863, so much of $75,000,000
advertised previously to June 30th, 1864, as had not been awarded to
bidders, $32,459,700.
Second. Under the act of March 3d, ,1864, so much as had not been
subscribed for and paid into the treasury, viz.: $127,603,520.
Third. Under the act of June 30th, 1864, $400,000,000.
Fourth. Amount of Treasury notes issued under former acts which
had been redeemed and cancelled, and which the Secretary was author
ized to replace by notes issued under the act of June 30th, 1864,
662,191,400. Total available resources under laws authorizing loans, $622,284,625.
To this may be added the actual balance in the treasury, July 1st,
1864, $18,842,588 71. Total, $641,127,213 71. Thus provided with
funds, he did not attempt any change from the course pursued by Mr.
Chase. The policy of the department was, as far as practicable, to avoid the
issues of legal tender by substituting for them bonds. The sales 'of the
latter abroad facilitated this movement. Mr. Fessenden retained
power to the close of March, 1865, in which term the debt had in
creased from $1,733,810,119 to $2,423,437,001, or $689,626,882, being
at the rate of $2,500,000 per day. Of this increase, $74,000,000 was
legal tender, $260,000,000 gold bonds, $64,000,000 arrears to creditors,
and the remainder paper interest bonds. The whole progress of the
debt was as follows : —

UNITED STATES DEBT.

OS-^ 00

Act

Interest Payable.

June 80, 1861.

June 30, 1S62.

June 30, 1863,

Sept, 1808.

June, 1364

Sept 80, 1864.

March 81, 1801.

Old Debt,
" Tr. Note,
Feb., 1861,
Mar., 1S61,
July, 1861,
July, 1S61,
Feb., 1862,
Mar., 1864,

5 and 6
5 and 12 6 18S0
6 1881
6 1881
T.8 1864
6 5-20
6 10-40

$61,802,048 22.464,76116,415,000 807,900

$51,915,164 2.849,111
18.415,000
• 89S,600
50.000,000
122.886,550 9,907,850

$49,342,489 18,415,000 1,708,050
50,028.500
189,970.500 168,880,250

$49,281,840 18,415,000 1,523,900
50,820,000
189,679,000 278,511,500

$47,514,591 18,415,000 1,016,000
76,408,200
113,591,150610.756,900 72,005,450

$48,586,591 18,415,000 1,016,000
288,459,450 25,410,400
550,756,900 81,630,600

$28,529,000 18,822,592 1,016,000
282,661,400 615.280
596,545,900 172,770,100

$92,089,709

$256,882,275

$428,484,789

$587,415,740

$B89,717,291

$968,085,941

$1,100,361,242

July, 1803,
July, 1862,
July, 1862,
Mar., 1882,
June, 1664,
Mar., 1868,
Mar,, 1868,
Mar., 1868,
Mar., 1868,
Mar., 1664,

4 40 -lays,
5 40 days,
6 40 (hi j-8,
6 1 year,
7.8 8 years, convertible,
6 1 year, local tender.
5 2 years, legal tender,
5 2 yoars, legal coupon,
0 8 years, legal compound,
6 8 years, logal compound.

57,746,117
40,881,979

85,881,101 67,002,974
156,784,242

85,500,000 09,484,102
156,018,487

662,475
9.895.458
64,959,582
156,681,000 44,520,000 16,480,000
101,091,950 2,500,000

543,224 )
1,125,600 V
47,676,514 )
229,946,000 55.897,000
44.520,000 )
10,480,000 V
65,802,850 )
15,000,000 1
87,829,080 j

62,452,828
171,790,000800,812,800 69,522,850
156,477,650

$107,027,084
$259,108,827
$281,862,530
$396,140,400
$564,665,874
$751,055,128
July 17. 1MB,
Feb.. 1S62,
July, 1868,
Gold notes.
Legal tender,
Legal tender, fractions,
Arrear requisitions,
Debt, Interest ceased,
58.040,00096,620,000
3,351.020
887,646,589 20,192,456
2,022,173
402,787,051 17,766,050
795,643
425,777,897 21,817,15349,192,000 870,170
815,662
433,160,569 24,502,41234,641,304 850,070
488,160,469 24,254,097
114,266,543 856,910
-
Total, no Interest,
Total, paper debt,
$149,660,000 $514,211,872
$411,190,065
$1,093,798,181
$482,526,280
$1,222,118,569
$497,952,388
$1,783,810,119
$499,277,277
$2,026,949,092
$572,020,631
$92,089,709
$2,428,487,001
w
IHO
I
HISTOKT OF THE GBEAT EEBELLION. 619
The course of the gold premium from the first issues 6f the legal
tender to March, 1865, was monthly as follows: —
PRICE OF GOLD IN LEGAL TENDER.
1862. 1863. 1864. 1865.
Highest Lowest Highest Lowest Highest Lowest Highest Lowest
January  105 ...101  160 ...133$  159$. ..151$  234$. ..197$
February  104f. . .102*. . . . .172$. . .152$  160$. . .157$  216J. . .1961
March  102$. ..101$  .171 ...139$  170 .. 159$  201 ...154$
April  102$@101$  159$ — 146  189 —164
May  103$@102$  156 —143$  195 —167$ .
June  109$@103$  149$ — 140$  252 @ 167
July  v  120$ @ 109$  145$ — 133$  290 @ 229
August  115$@ 112$  128$@ 1,22$  261 @ 231
September  124$ @ 116$  142$ @ 127$  .254$® 185
October   136$@ 122$  156$@ 142$  222$@ 189
November  133$ @ 129$  1 54$ @ 143$  260 @ 209£
December  133f@130$  153 @ 146$  243f@ 211

CHAPTER LXXL
Sherman Prepares to Cross Georgia. — Composition of Army. — Marching Orders. — Com
bat at Griswoldville. — Appeal to the People of Georgia. — Milledgeville Reached. —
Army at Louisville. — Combat with Wheeler.— March to Savannah. — Communicates
with the Fleet. — Fort McAllister. — Evacuation of Savannah. — Sherman's Dispatches.
— Wilmington Expedition. — Fort Fisher. — Powder Ship.— Bombardment. — Failure. —
Return to Hampton Roads. — Co-operation from Plymouth.
When Sherman paused in his pursuit of Hood, he remained several
days at Gaylesville, in Northern Alabama, and then with the Four
teenth, Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and Seventeenth Corps,, the Fourth and
Twenty-third having been sent to Tennessee, returned to Atlanta,
to commence preparations for a march through Georgia to the sea-
coast. Hood had made the mistake of going north into Tennessee,
without any very definite object, and there was no force south of
Atlanta to present any opposition to the proposed march of Sher
man. Beauregard was indeed at Corinth, but with little prospect of
being able to make head against the well-appointed army under the
control of the Union leader. The^army with which Sherman left
Atlanta was composed of four corps of infantry, one division of caval
ry, four brigades of artillery, and two horse^batteries. The infantry
consisted . of the Fourteenth Corps, General Jeff. C. Davis; the Fif
teenth, General Osterhaus (Logan being absent) ; the Seventeenth,
General Blair ; and the Twentieth, General Slocum. The cavalry was
commanded by Kilpatriok. Finally, there was a full brigade of artil
lery for each corps, and one battery of horse artillery for the cavalry,
numbering in all about sixty-five thousand men. The two divisions
of the Sixteenth Corps were divided between the Fifteenth and
Seventeenth. The corps were quite full, many had new regiments
added, and the men, under the recent calls for troops, had come in to
restore the old regiments to their maximum.. The artillery arm was

680

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLIOK.

organized into an independent brigade for each corps, commanded by
a field officer, with his own adjutant-general, quartermaster, commis
sary, ordnance officer, &c. Sherman, in his special field order No.
120,* announced the division of his forces, for the purpose of military
operations, into two wings: "The right wing, Major-General 0. 0.
Howard commanding, the Fifteenth, and Seventeenth Corps ; the left
wing, Major-General H. W. Slocum commanding, the Fourteenth and
Twentieth Corps." Each wing had its due proportion of infantry,
cavalry, and artillery. The men on commencing the march had in
haversacks two days5 rations salt meat, two days' hard bread, ten
days' coffee and salt, and live days' sugar. Each infantry soldier
carried sixty rounds of ammunition on his person.
Thus prepared, between the 12th and-15th of November, the troops
began to concentrate around Atlanta. From Rome and Kingston
southward the railroad was thoroughly broken up, and no property or
buildings that could aid the enemy were spared. A general conflagra
tion in Atlanta consumed over two million dollars of property, and the

IE |
4.)

SPECIAL FIELD ORDERS— No. 120.(
Head-Quarters Military Division op the
Mies., in the Field,
Kingston, Ga., Nod. 9, 1864.
I. For the purpose of military operations this
army is divided into two wings* viz.: the right
wintr, Major-General 0. O. Howard commanding,
tho Fifteenth and Seventeenth Corps; the left
tving, Major-General II. \V. Slocum commanding,
the Fourteenth and Twentieth Corps.
II. The habitual prder of inarch will he, when
ever practicable, by four roads, as nearly parallel
as possible, and converging at points hereafter to
be indicated in orders. The cavalry, Brigadier-
General KUpatrick commanding, will receive
special orders from the commander-in-chief.
III. There will be no general trains of supplies,
but each corps will have its ammunition and pro
vision train, distributed habitually as follows:
Behind each regiment should follow one wagon
undone ambulance; behind each brigade should
follow a duo proportion 'of ammunition wagons,
Srovision wagons, and ambulances. In case of
anger, each army corps should change this order
pf march by having his advance and rear brigade
-Unencumbered by wheels. The separate columns
will start habitually at seven a. m., and make
about fifteen miles per day, unless otherwise fixed
in Orders.
' IV. The army will forage Wbemlly on the
country during the march. To this end, each
brigade commander will organize a good and suffi
cient foraging party, under the command of one
or more discreet officers, who will gather near the
route travelled corn or forage of any kind, meat
of any kind, vegetables, corn-meal, or whatever is
needed by the command; aiming at all times to
keep in tho wagon trains at least ten days'1 pro-
vistnnsfar the command, and three day f? forage.
Soldiers must not enter the drcellmgs of the in
habitants, or commit any trespass during tho
bait or a camp, they may be permitted to gather
turnips, potatoes, and other vegetables, and drive
in stock in front of their camps. To regular fbrag-
ing parties must be intrusted the gathering of
provisions and forage at any distance from the
road travelled.
V. To army corps commanders is intrusted the
power to destroy mills, houses, cotton-gins, <fec,

and for them this general principle is laid down :
In districts and neighborhoods where the army is
unmolested* no destruction of such property
should be permitted; but should guerrillas or
bushwhackers molest our march, or should the
inhabitants burn bridges, obstruct roads, or other
wise manifest local hostility, then army corps
commanders should order and enforce a devas
tation more or less relentless, according to the
measure of such hostility.
VI. As for horses, mules, wagons, &c, belong
ing to the inhabitants, the cavalry and artillery,
may appropriate freely and without limit, discrim
inating, however, between the rich, who are
usually hostile, and the poor or industrious,
usually neutral or friendly. Foraging parties
may also take mules or horses to'replace the
jaded animals of their trains, or to serve as pack
mules for the regiments or brigades. In all forag
ing, of whatever kind, the parties engaged will
refrain from abusive or threatening language, and
may, when the officer in command thinks proper,
give written certificates of the facts, but no
receipts; and they will endeavor to leave with
each family a reasonable portion for their mainte
nance. VII. Negroes who are able bodied, and can be
of service to the several cokmins, may be taken
along; but each army commander will bear in
mind that the question of supplies is a very im
portant one, and that his first duty is to sue to
those who bear arms.
VIII. The organization at once of a good pionetf
battalion for each corps, composed, if possible, of
negroes, should be attended to. This battalion
should follow the advance-guard, should repair
roads, and double them it possible, so that ihe
columns will not be delayed after reaching bad
places. Also, army commanders should study
the habit of giving the artillery and wagons the
road, and marching their troops on one side; and
also instruct their troops to assist wagons at steep
hills or bad crossings of Btresms.
IX. Captain O. M. Poe, Chief Engineer, will
assign to each wing of the army a pontoon train,
fully equipped and organized, and the command
ers thereof will see to its being properly protected
at all times.
By order of Major-General W. T. Sherman.
L. M. Dayton, Aide-de-Oamp.

HISTORY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION. 681
defensive works were levelled to tEe ground. On November 16th the
great march commenced, and the army, thus cut loose from its base,
moved in four columns on two general lines. The right wing, under
Howard, marched through East Paint, and, driving before it the enemy's
mounted troops under Iverson, arrived at Jonesboro' on the 16th.
Leaving Jonesboro', it moved west, through McDonough and Jackson,
to Monticello and Hillsboro', after crossing the Ocmulgee River, at
Planter's Factory, on the 19th ult. On the 21st and 22d, the column
struck the Georgia Central, east of Macon and between Gordon and
Griswoldville, and immediately began to destroy the track.
On the 20th, a body of Kilpatrick's Cavalry made a demonstration
in the neighborhood of Macon, to deceive the enemy, and on the 23d
Walcott's Brigade, on the extreme right of the column, had a sharp
encounter at Griswoldville, with a body of Georgia troops, under Gen
eral Phillips, whom they defeated with the loss of a thousand or up
wards. On the 23d, the column reached the Oconee River, having
destroyed the railroad to that point. The opposite bank was protected
by Generals Wheeler and Wayne with a cavalry force, and Howard's
Cavalry made several ineffectual attempts to cross. But by a march
down the river, our forces flanked the enemy, crossed, and dispersed
all opposition. Oa Friday, the 25th, a part of our cavalry entered
Sandersville, a towii twenty-two miles east of Milledgeville and of the
Oconee, and five miles north of the Central Railroad. This flanking
move forced the abandonment of the Oconee River, and compelled
Wayne to retire to Davisboro'.
Meanwhile, the enemy had used the utmost exertions to rouse the
people to the defence of the soil, and a series of appeals were made
by different commanders and authorities. General Beauregard, at
Corinth, issued the following : — "Corinth, November 18, )
» " Vid Selma,, November 18. j
"TO THE PEOPLE OP GEORGIA.
" Arise for the defence of your native soil ! Rally around your patriotic governor and
gallant soldiers. Obstruct and destroy all the roads in Sherman's front, flank, and rear,
and his army will soon starve in your midst. Be confident. Be resolute. Trust in an
overruling Providence, and success will soon crown your efforts. I hasten to join you
in the defence of your homes and firesides. (Signed) G. T. Beauregard."
This seems to have fallen upon indifferent ears, and the same fate
attended the following from the Georgia delegation in the rebel Con
gress : — " Eichmond, November 19.
"TO THE PEOPLE OF GEORGIA.
" We have had a special conference with President Davis and the Secretary of "War,
and are able to assure you that they have done, and are still doing all that can be done
to meet the emergency that presses upon you. Let every man fly to arms. Remove
your negroes, horses, cattle, and provisions from Sherman's army, and burn what you
cannot carry. Burn all bridges, and block up the roads in his route. Assail the in
vader in front, flank, and rear, by night and by day. Let him have no rest.
"Julian Hartridge,
" Mark Blairford,
"J. A. Reynolds,
" General N. Lester,
"John S. Shewmakeb,

682 HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
Still another appeal was made by Senator Hill, which was published
in the Augusta papers : — "Richmond, November 18.
"TO THE PEOPLE OF GEORGIA.
" Tou have now the best opportunity ever yet presented to you to destroy the enemy.
Put every thing at the disposal of our generals, remove all provisions from the path of
the invaders, and put all the obstructions you can in his way.
" Every citizen with his gun, and every negro with his spade and axe, can do the
work of a good soldier. Tou can destroy the enemy by retarding Ms march. Geor
gians, be firm I Act promptly, and fear not 1 B. H. Hill."
"I most cordially approve of the above. James A. Seddon, Secretary of War."
These appeals came too late to produce any appreciable effect. Not
an arm was raised to oppose the march of the Federal troops, except
by the organized force under Wheeler and a few under Hartridge.
Meanwhile, Slocum's column, passing along the Augusta Railroad,
and destroying it as far as Madison, moved thence in a southerly direc
tion upon Milledgeville, the capital of the State, which place it reached
on the 21st and 22d. The Georgia Legislature and Governor Brown
decamped at its approach in unseemly haste. On the 26th, Slocum was
at Sandersville, east of the Oconee, and on the 27th and 28th both
wings of the expeditionary army were temporarily encamped between
Sandersville and Irwin's' Cross Roads, in the neighborhood of the
Georgia Central Railroad. Four large rivers lay originally in the line
of Sherman's march, all tending southeasterly — the Ocmulgee, Oconee,
Ogeechee, and Savannah. The former is the most westerly, and unites
lower down with the Oconee, to form the Altamaha. Macon is on the
Ocmulgee, Milledgeville on the Oconee, Millen on the Ogeechee, and
Augusta on the Savannah. There were also many less considerable
streams to cross, and much marshy country, especially between the
Ogeechee and the Savannah. The Oconee had been' passed by the,
right wing below the OcOnee Bridge, and by the left at Milledgeville.
The Ogeechee was passed by our troops at Fen's Bridge in the march
from Sandersville, and the next main stopping-place was Louisville,
fifteen miles from Fen's Bridge, in the centre of Jefferson County,
which was reached by^the Fourteenth Corps on the 29th. Thence the
cavalry pushed out northeasterly in force to Waynesboro', a station on
the Augusta and Savannah road, thirty-two miles south of Augusta.
The main army remained around Louisville until December 1st. The
time was employed in foraging and capturing. mules and horses, and
thoroughly breaking up the railroad. On .the 2d the Seventeenth
Corps reached Millen, eighty miles from Savannah and fifty-three from
Augusta. The route from Millen to Savannah was well defended by
natural obstacles on both flanks. On the night of Saturday, the 3d, a
combat occurred, near Waynesboro', between the cavalry of Kilpatrick
and Wheeler, the latter being the attacking party, and being decidedly
repulsed. The next morning, Sunday, our cavalry and a portion of the
Fourteenth Corps attacked Wheeler in his breastworks, and drove him
out of his works, capturing them and forcing him to retreat.
^ From Millen the army pursued the direct route to Savannah, the

HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT REBELLION. , 683
Fifteenth Corps keeping on the west side of the Ogeechee, and the
others on the east side. The march was almost entirely unobstructed,
and on the llth, Captain Duncan, dispatched by Sherman, after a
hazardous voyage down the Ogeechee, entered Ossabaw Sound, and
reached the flag-ship of Admiral Dahlgren, thus opening up communi
cation between Sherman's army and the fleet before Savannah. When,
on the 10th, Sherman reached Bloomingdale, fifteen miles north of
Savannah, his line stretched across the peninsula formed by the Ogee
chee and Savannah Rivers. The next day, the left, under Slocum,
moved down to where the Charleston Railroad crosses the Savannah
River, ten miles from the city, and then pressed forward five miles
nearer Savannah. The right, under Howard, meanwhile also marched
towards the- city, and passed to the west of it, skirting Rockingham,
a station on the Savannah, Albany, and Gulf Railroad, on the ] 2th.
The same evening the army had reached the neighborhood of Fort
McAllister, and made a careful reconnoissance of it, before nightfall.
This is a very strong earthwork on the Ogeechee River, about six
miles from Ossabaw Sound. It completely protected the rear of
Savannah from the attack of our gunboats on the Ogeechee. Two
severe engagements between the fort and our monitor fleet, one on the
27th of January, 1863, the other on the 3d of March, 1863, had left it
uninjured and defiant. It mounted about ten heavy guns, but had
only about two hundred and fifty men in garrison.
As the possession of this work was essential in order to open com
munication with the fleet, Sherman ordered Hazen's Division of the
Tifteenth Corps, to carry it by assault. At half-past four o'clock on
the afternoon of the 13th, the division went forward to the attack. The
abatis and ditch were passed under a heavy fire from the fort, the
parapets, ten feet high, scaled by our troops, and the fort carried by a
regular assault. At five o'clock it was ours. We gained the strong
fort, its garrison of over two hundred men, and its stores of ordnance
and subsistence, with all its guns. We gained also the navigation of
the Ogeechee and communication with the fleet. No sooner was the
fort taken than General Sheridan embarked in a row-boat on the
Ogeechee, and a few hours later was taken on board the steam-tug Dan
delion, from the deck of which he indited the following dispatch to the
Secretary of War : —
"On board Dandelion, Ossabaw Sound, December 13 — 11.50 p. m.
" To-day, at 5 p. M., General Hazen's Division of the Fifteenth Corps carried Fort
McAllister by assault, capturing its entire garrison and stores. This opened to us the
Ossabaw Sound, and I pushed down to this gunboat to communicate with the fleet.
Before opening communication, we had completely destroyed all the railroads leading
into Savannah, and invested the city. . The left is on the-Savannah River, three miles
above the city, and the right on the Ogeechee at King's Bridge. The army is in splen
did order, and equal to any thing. The weather has been fine, and . supplies were
abundant. Our march was most agreeable, and we were not at all molested by
guerrillas. " We reached Savannah three days ago, but, owing to Fort McAllister, could not
communicate; but now we have McAllister, we can go ahead. We have already
captured two boats on the Savannah River, and prevented their gunboats from coming
down. .'
" I 'estimate the population of Savannah at twenty-five thousand, and the garrison at
fifteen thousand. General Hardee commands.

684 HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
"We have not lost a wagon on the trip, but have gathered in a large supply of
negroes, mules, horses, &c, and our teams are in far better condition than when we
started. "My first duty will be to clear the army of surplus negroes, mules, and horses. We
have utterly destroyed over two hundred miles pf rails, and consumed stores and
provisions that were essential to Lee's and Hood's armies. The quick work made
with McAllister, and the opening of communication with our fleet, and the consequent
independence for supplies, dissipate all their boasted threats to head me off and starve
the army.
"I regard Savannah as already gained.
"Tours truly, W. T. Sherman, Major- General."
On the fall of Fort McAllister, Sherman turned his attention to the
reduction of Savannah, which was held by General Hardee. The
north, "west, and south sides were invested, but on the east side of the
city the enemy had command of the river, which was so obstructed
with piles and sunken vessels that the fleet could not reach within sup
porting distance. The forts, Jackson, Lee, and Bartow, also swept the
east side, which was the more unapproachable by reason of a wide
stretch of swamps and rice-fields, which, being flooded, doubly in
creased the difficulties of approach. On the 16th, General Sherman
sent a formal demand for the surrender of the city, to which Hardee
replied, that, as his communications were yet open, and as he was
fully supplied with subsistence stores, he was able to withstand a long
siege, and was determined to hold the city to the last.
Sherman proceeded vigorously with the siege. By the 19th, his base
at Kingsbridge, twenty-eight miles from Ossabaw Sound, on the
right, was well established, and supplies came up freely from the fleet
over a substantial corduroy road, built rapidly through the almost im
passable swamp which intervened. Heavy siege-guns were thus trans
ported and fixed on the lines, and the whole city was soon in great
danger. The line was said to be, by practicable roads, thirty miles
long. Slocum's column held the left, as always, on the Savannah, and
Howard the right, on the Ogeechee. The Twentieth Corps was on the
extreme left, with the Fourteenth on its right. The Fifteenth Corps
was on the extreme right, with the Seventeenth on its left. Between
the Seventeenth and Fourteenth was a wide gap of swamps, and
flooded rice-fields extended along a portion of our front. In the Savan
nah River, the upper part of Hutchinson's Island had instantly been
seized by Slocum on our reaching the city. But a canal divided its
upper from its lower half, and the latter the enemy held. Below the
island was the Union Causeway, running towards Charleston.
The heavy guns taken from Fort McAllister were now in position,
and our lines were closing in on the left. On the afternoon of the
20th, the enemy's iron-clads moved up the river and opened a furious
fire on our left, supported by many of his batteries. Under cover of
their fire, continued all night, Hardee crossed his troops by steam
boats, smaller boats, and rafts to Union Causeway. The Navy Yard
had been previously partially burned, and such stores as he could not
take with him destroyed. The two formidable rams, Georgia and
Savannah, were blown up at night. Early next morning, the 21st,

HISTOBT OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 685
Sherman entered the city, and received its surrender from the mayor.
It was uninjured, the cannon never having been opened upon it.
More than a thousand prisoners were taken from the enemy, many
having been left on the lines till too late. The captures included one
hundred and fifty guns, thirteen locomotives in good order, one hun
dred and ninety cars, a large supply of ammunition and materials of
war, three steamers, and thirty-three thousand bales of cotton safely
stored in warehouses. All these valuable fruits of an almost bloodless
victory had been, like Atlanta, "fairly won." On the 21st, General
Foster^ commanding the Department pf the South, opened communi
cations with the city with his steamers, taking up what torpedoes could
be seen, and passing safely over others. Arrangements were also
made to clear the channel of all obstructions. On the 22d, General
Sherman sent the following dispatch to Washington : — ¦
" Savannah, Georgia, December 22.
" To His Excellency President Lincoln :
" I beg to present you, as a Christmas gift, the city of Savannah; with one hundred
and fifty heavy guns and plenty of ammunition, and also about twenty-five thousand
bales of cotton. (Signed) " W. T Sherman, Major-General."
A few days later he issued the following order for the government
of Savannah : — "Head-Quarters Military Division of the Mississippi, )
"In the Field, Savannah, Ga., December 26, JS64. J
"special field orders, no. 143.
" The city of Savannah and surrounding country will be held as a military -post and
adapted to future military uses ; but as it contains a population of some twenty thou
sand people, who must be provided for, and as other citizens may come, ft is proper to
lay down certain general principles, that all within its military jurisdiction may under
stand their relative duties and obligations.
" I. During war, the military is superior to civil authority, and where interests clash
the civil must give way;: yet, where there is no conflict, every encouragement should
be given to well-disposed and peaceful inhabitants to resume their usual pursuits.
Families should be disturbed as little as possible in their residences, and tradesmen
allowed the free use of their shops, tools, &c. Churches, schools, and all places of
amusement and recreation should be encouraged, and streets and roads made perfectly
safe to persons in their usual pursuits. Passes should not be exacted within the line
of our pickets ; but if any person shall abuse these privileges, by communicating with
the enemy or doing any act of hostility to the Government of the United States, he or
she will be punished with the utmost rigor of the law.
" Commerce with the outer world will be resumed to an extent commensurate with
the wants of the citizens, governed by the restrictions and rules of the Treasury
Department. "II. The Chief Quartermaster and Commissary of the army may give suitable em
ployment to the people, white and black, or transport them to such points as they
choose, where employment may be had, and may extend' temporary relief in the way of
provisions and vacant houses to the worthy and needy until such time as they can help
themselves. They will select, first, the buildings for the necessary uses of the army;
next, a sufficient number of stores to be turned over to the Treasury Agent for trade
stores. All vacant store-houses or dwellings, and all buildings belonging to abseHt reb
els, will be construed and used as belonging to the United States until such time as
their titles^can be settled by the courts of the United States.
"III. The Mayor and City Council of Savannah will continue, and exercise their
functions as such, and will, in concert with the commanding officer ofthe post and the
Chief Quartermaster, see that the fire companies are kept in organization, the streets

686 HISTOEY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.
cleaned and lighted, and keep up a good understanding between the citizens and
soldiers. They will ascertain and report to the Chief Commissary of Subsistence, as
soon as possible, the names and number of worthy families that need assistance and
support. " The Mayor will forthwith give public notice that the time has come when all must
choose their course, viz. : to remain within our lines** and conduct themselves as good
citizens, or depart in peace. He will ascertain the names of all who choose to leave
Savannah, and report their names and residences to the Chief Quartermaster, that
measures may be taken to transport them beyond the lines.
"IV. Not more than two newspapers will be published in Savannah, and their
editors and proprietors will be held to the strictest accountability, and will be punished
severely in person and property for any libellous publication, mischievous matter, pre
mature news, exaggerated statements, or any comments whatever upon the acts of the
constituted authorities ; they will be held accountable even for such articles though
copied from other papers. "L M. Dayton, Aide-de-camp."
"By order of Major-General W. T. Sherman.

With the capture of Savannah ended the great march of Sherman
to the sea, just five weeks from the day he had left Atlanta. Within
that time the army had traversed a tract of country three hundred
miles in length, and had destroyed over two hundred miles of railway,
breaking up the track in such a way that immediate repair was out of
the question. The Confederacy was practically cut in twain, and with
a victorious and admirably organized army prepared soon to move
northward, while Grant's great Army of the Potomac still held Lee
at bay before Petersburg, it was no difficult matter to foresee the
speedy collapse of the rebellion. Hood's army bad been rendered use
less for offensive purposes, and at the commencement of 1865 the only
efficient forces of the Confederacy, comprising the army of Lee and va
rious scattered bodies of troops in the Carolinas and Southern Virginia,
lay between Grant and Sherman. The march of the latter to the coast
revealed the utterly exhausted condition of the South. Not only was
the body of organized troops opposed to him utterly insignificant in point
of numbers, but the inhabitants exhibited a remarkable degree of apathy
and indifference. Their early enthusiasm for the rebel cause had by
this time departed, and their sole desire seemed to be for peace
and submission. Immense destruction of public property and cotton
marked the track of the expeditionary army, and the troops fared
sumptuously on the products of a well-stocked country. In ppite of
the orders of Sherman, there were many instances of the plunder of
private property, the hiding-places of which were revealed to the
soldiers by the negroes, many thousands of whom joined the army on
its march.
While these events were happening in Georgia, an attempt was made
on Wilmington, N. C, which had been the great centre of blockade-
running during the year, and which, from the enormous difficulties at
tending the enforcement ofthe blockade in its vicinity, seemed to bid
defiance to any effort to abridge the immunity which it enjoyed. The
extent of the trade carried on there, in spite of the blockaSe of the
coast, may be estimated by the fact that the am'ount of ships and cargoes
sent in by English capitansts, from January, 1863, to December,

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.

687

1864, nearly two years, was sixty-six millions of dollars.* A joint
naval and military expedition, having for its object the closing of this
port by capturing its outer defences, was organized early in August,
under Admiral Porter ; but owing to the difficulty of obtaining a co
operating land force, the squadron remained in Hampton Roads until
December 12th, when, in connection with a force of six thousand
five hundred men under General Butler, it sailed for its destination.
The transports and war vessels numbered seventy-five in all. The
latter, which included the New Ironsides and five monitors, were ar
ranged in five divisions, as follows ; —

First Division 
Second "  14
Third "  11
Fourth "  16
Iron-clad  6
Flag-ships  2
Tugs for general service .... 1
Tender to flag-ship  1
73

16 ship  164 guns.
 152 "
 119 "
 165 "

30 9
14

655

Commodore Porter's flag-ship was the Malvern, five guns.
On the 15th of December, the fleet arrived off Wilmington and pre
pared for its work, but it was several days before wind and weather
would allow the vessels to get into position, or the troops to be landed.
Finally, at noon of Saturday, the 24th, the fleet got into position and
opened a furious fire until night on Fort Fisher, the strong earthworks
on the north side of New Inlet, twenty miles below Wilmington, firing
an average of thirty shots per minute. Of the strength of this work,
some idea can be obtained from the following description by a specta
tor of the fight : —
" The easterly front carries the main battery of the fort and covers the approach into
the channel from seaward. It forms a straight line across the point, its farther angle
resting seemingly on the river. The main wall is about eight feet high, with a ditch in
front, and is very thick. It carries not less than nine Brooks's rifled guns, of seven
and eight inch bore. Between the guns are very deep and thick traverses of sand, be
neath which are bomb-proof quarters for the gunners. These traverses securely pro
tect the guns as well as the gunners, except in case of direct firing, and in that instance
the guns are run far back, the gunners retire from their pieces, and a continuous can
nonading of hours does no harm. On the seaward angle Of the fort was a bastion cov
ering the ditch in front of the easterly wall, and also carrying heayy barbette guns.

* The total ventures made by English capital
ists and speculators, counting the values of ships
and cargoes, amounted to more than sixty-six
millions of dollars (£18,241,000). The returns are
made in six different . tables, covering various
periods, the shortest being ten months. The
general results are as follows :—
The quantity of cotton exported from Wil
mington in twenty-two months (January 1st,
1S63. to October 81st, 1S64) was 181,987 bales—
or 62,800,468 pounds, of which the larger part
was Sea Island.
The value of the export and import trade of
Wilmington in one vear (July 1st, 1868, to June
80th, 1864) was $65,1S5,000; the rebel govern
ment rating exchange five for one.
The total number of vessels which ran the

blockade in fifteen months (October 1st, 1868, to
December 81st, 1S64) was 897.
The average amount of capital invested by
Englishmen in trading venture? with Wilmington
during a period of fifteen months (October 1st-
1863, to December 31st, 1864) is stated in detail
as follows ; — Total
Entrances. Clearances. Ventures.
203 194 897
Ships at
£15.000 each... £8,045,000 £2,910,000 £5,955,000
Cargoes — Inw'd
(£12.000), Out
ward (£25,000) 2,486,000 4,850,000 7,286,000
Total  £6,481,000 £7,760,000 £18,241,000

688' HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
This bastion received the hottest of our fire during the first day's action. The seaward
front of the fort is of very peculiar construction. The main wall appears to be from
six to eight feet higher than the rest of the work— in front of, and running parallel
with it, and flanking its outer wall, or cover, casemated at its eastern end and covered
with railroad iron. This cover also protects a formidable battery facing towards the
extremity of the point. The main wall of the fort behind this cover carries an escarp
ment battery as well as several guns in casemates."
Previous to making the attack, a torpedo vessel on a large scale,
with an amount of powder on board supposed to be sufficient to explode
the powder-magazines of the fort, was prepared with great care, and
placed under the command of Commander A. C. Rhind, who had as
sociated with him on this perilous service Lieutenant S. W. Preston,
Second Assistant Engineer A. T. E. Mullan, ofthe United States steamer
Agawam, and Acting Master's Mate Paul Boydeo, and seven men.
This vessel, the Louisiana, disguised as a blockade-runner, was towed
in on the 23d until within two hundred yards from the beach, and
about four hundred from Fort Fisher. Commander Rhind anchored
her securely there, and coolly went to work to make all his arrange
ments to blow her up. This he was enabled to do, owing to the block
ade-runner going in right ahead of him, the forts making the blockade-
runner signals, which they also did to the 'Louisiana. The gallant
party, on leaving the vessel, set her on fire under the cabin. Then
taking to their boats, they made their escape off to the Wilderness,
which put off shore with good speed, to avoid the explosion. At
forty-five minutes past one on the morning of the 24th the explosion
took place, but the shock was nothing like so severe as was expected.
It shook the vessel some, and broke one or two glasses, but nothing more.
At daylight on the 24th, the fleet got under way, and stood in, in'
line of battle. At half-past eleven a. m., the signal was made to engage '
the forts, the Ironsides leading, and the Monadnock, Canonicus, and
Mahopac following. The other divisions of the fleet followed, opening '
fire as they got into position, and the whole throwing a shower of
missiles upon the fort, which drove the defenders to their casemates.
It was not until the 25th that the transports, which had been obliged,
on account of a storm, to put into Beaufort, arrived, and it was then
arranged that the troops should land under cover of a fresh attack by
seventeen gunboats. While the attack was going on, about three thou
sand men landed five miles east of the fleet. A reconnoissance was then
made by General Weitzel, second in command uuder Butler, who re
ported the place so strong that, under the circumstances, it would be
" butchery to order an assault." As this opinion coincided with that
already formed by General Butler, orders were given to re embark the
troops, and the transports thereupon returned to Hampton Roads.
The following correspondence between Butler and Porter explains
itself: — " Head-Quarters Department op Virginia and )
"North Carolina, December 25, 1864. J
" Admiral: — Upon landing the troops and making a thorough reconnoissance of Fort
Fisher, both General Weitzel and myself are fully ofthe opinion that the place could
not be carried by assault, as it was left substantially uninjured, as a defensive work,
by the navy fire. We found seventeen guns protected by traverses, two only of which,

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 689
were dismounted, bearing up the beach and covering a strip of land, the only practi
cable route, not more than wide enough for a thousand men in line of battle.
" Having captured Flag Pond Hill Battery, the garrison of which, sixty-five men and
two commissioned oflicers, were taken off by the navy, we also captured Half Moon
Battery, and seven officers and two hundred and eighteen men of the Third N. C. Ju
nior Reserves, including its commander, from whom I learned that a portion of Hoke's
Division, consisting of Kirkland's and Haygood's Brigades, had been sent from the lines
before Richmond on Tuesday last, arriving at Wilmington Friday night.
" General Weitzel advanced his skirmish line within fifty yards of the fort, while the
garrison was kept in their bomb-proof by the fire of the navy, and so closely that three
or four men of the picket line ventured upon the parapet and through the sallyport of
the work, capturing a horse, which they brought off, killing the orderly, who was the
bearer of a dispatch from the chief of artillery of General Whiting to bring a light battery
within the. fort, and also brought away from the parapet the flag of the fort.
"This was done while the shells ofthe navy were falling about the heads of the
daring men who entered the work, and it was evident, as soon as the fire of the navy
ceased because of the darkness, that the fort was fully manned again and opened with
grape and canister upon our picket line. * i
"Finding that nothing but the operations of a regular siege, which did not come
within my instructions, would reduce the fort, and in view of the threatening aspect
of the weather, wind arising from the southeast, rendering it impossible to make further
landing through the surf, I caused the troops with their prisoners to re-embark, and
see nothing further that can be done hy the land forces. I shall, therefore, sail for
Ilampton Roads as soon as the transport fleet can be got in order.
"My engineers and officers report Fort Fisher to me as substantially uninjured- as a
defensive work. I have the honor to be,
"Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
"Benjamin F. Butler, Major-General Commanding.
" To Rear-Admiral Porter, commanding North Atlantic Blockading Squadron."
"North Atlantic Squadron, U. S. Flaq-ship Malvern, )
" Off New Inlet, December 26, 1864. J
"General: — I beg leave to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of this' date, the
substance of which was communicated to me by General Weitzel last night.
" I have ordered the largest vessels to proceed off Beaufort, and* fill up with ammuni
tion, to be ready for another attack in case it is decided to proceed with this matter by
making other arrangements.
" We have not commenced firing rapidly yet, and could keep any rebels inside, from
showing their heads until an assaulting column was within twenty yards ofthe works.
" I wish some more of your gallant fellows had followed the officer who took the
flag from the parapet, and the brave fellow who brought the horse out from the fort. I
think they would have found it an easier conquest than is supposed.
" I do' not, howevSV, pretend to place my opinion in opposition to General "Weitzel,
whom I know to be an accomplished soldier' and engineer, and whose opinion has
great weight with me.
" I will look out that the troops are all off in safety. We will have a west wind
presently, and a smooth beach about three o'clock, when sufficient boats will be sent
for them.
" The prisoners now on board the Santiago de Cuba will be delivered to the Provost-
Marshal at Fortress Monroe, unless you wish to take them on board one of the trans
ports, which would be inconvenient just now.
" I remain, General, respectfully, your obedient servant,
"David D. Porter, Rear-Admiral.
" lo Major-General B. F. Butler, Commanding, &c, Ac"
The rebels, with some reason, claimed that the result of the expedi
tion was a triumph to their arms, as the fort, notwithstanding a bom
bardment perhaps unequalled in force in modern warfare, had received
no essential injury. The following is taken from a Richmond paper :—
44

690 HISTOEY OP THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
" General Bragg has issued a congratulatory- order on the defeat of the enemy's grand
armada before Wilmington, paying a merited compliment to Generals Whiting and
Kirkland, Colonel Lamb, and the officers and men engaged. The enemy's attack on
the first day lasted five hours ; on the second day, seven hours— firing, altogether,
over twenty thousand shots from fifty kinds of vessels. The Confederates responded
with six hundred and sixty-two shots on the first day, and six hundred on the second.
Our loss is three killed and fifty-five wounded. The ground in front and rear of the
fort is covered with shells, and is torn in deep pits. Two guns in the. fort burst, two
were dismounted by ourselves, and two by the enemy's fire, yet the fort is unhurt.?
While the expedition was operating against Wilmington, General
Palmer made a co-operative move from Plymouth, North Carolina. He
sent, on the 9th, an expedition, under, command of Colonel Frankle,
which proceeded to Gardner's Bridge, beyond Jamestown, on the Ro
anoke River. The Ninth New Jersey charged the bridge in column
of platoons, and soon swept away the small force which held it. At
Spring Green Church, the Ninth New Jersey and Twenty-seventh
Massachusetts again fell upon the enemy, inflicting considerable loss, and
capturing five officers and thirty men. On the 19th, our forces pro
ceeded to Rainbow Bluff, on the Roanoke, and found the enemy in
force. Unfortunately, the gunboats, which were to have co-operated,
could not do so on account of the torpedoes in the river. Colonel
Frankle's expedition, therefore, returned to Plymouth.

CHAPTER LXXn.
Affairs at Petersburg;— Eenewed Attempt to Flank the Rebel Right. — Battle at
Hatcher's Run.— Fighting on the North Side of the James. — Review of the Year.^-
Importance of Sherman's Operations. — Calls for Troops. — Relative Strength of
Armies. — Second Attack on Fort Fisher. — Capture of Fort and Garrison.
The Army of the Potomac, under General Grant, remained before
Petersburg, occasionally operating in the front, while Sherman was
pursuing his way across Georgia, and Sheridan was penetrating up the
Shenandoah Valley. It was very evident that Lee was determined not
to leave Richmond, and also that he could not be driven out of it by
a direct attack on his front. The lieutenant-general was therefore
compelled to wait until the operations of Sheridan and Sherman should
bring those generals within striding distance of Lee's rear and thus
compel the evacuation of Richmond. As it was certain that Lee would
not commit the mistake of Hood at Atlanta, but wourd follow the sys
tem of defence by which Johnston had so long delayed the advance 6f
Sherman, it remained for Grant to hold his enemy within his fortifica
tions, and to make occasional attempts to penetrate the extended line
of works which Lee opposed to him, in the hope of being able sooner or
later to reach the available point. Accordingly, soon after the victory
of Cedar Creek by Sheridan, and when Sherman was following Hood
into Northern Alabama, Grant determined on a renewal of the grand
movement by his left. Several days were consumed in preparation,
andj with profound secrecy, all the sick, baggage, and encumbrances,

HISTOEY OE THE GREAT EEBELLION. -691
commissary stores, &c, were sent to City Point under protection of
the gunboats. Three days' rations and forage were issued to the cav
alry, and four days' rations to the infantry. The long line of intrench
ments was, divested of men, except a sufficient rear-guard.
The troops north of the James were to make an attack, while
those south of the river were to form a combined movement upon
Hatcher's Run. In accordance with this design, the Tenth and Eigh
teenth Corps, on Thursday, the 27th of October, began operations on
the right. The Tenth Corps early occupied the ground between the
iDarbytown and Charles City roads, the' First .Division, under Ames
(late Terry), holding the right, the Second, Porter (late Turner), the
centre, and the Third, Hawley (late Birney), the left. The centre
having been pushed on to Darbytown, four and a half miles from
Richmond, a sharp encounter with the enemy's skirmishers soon took
place, the latter falling back upon a line of intrenchments, from which
a galling fire caused the Union troops to recoil with severe loss. To
wards evening the attack was renewed, with the same results. Mean'
while the Eighteenth Corps, General Weitzel commanding, took up a
position on the Darbytown road, in the rear of the Tenth Corps, and
then continued its route northerly to the Williamsburg road, in the
neighborhood of the old Seven Pines or Fair Oaks battle-ground. At
four o'clock Weitzel was across the Williamsburg road, which the
enemy's works commanded. Still's Pennsylvania Battery moved up
the road and engaged the enemy's batteries, while a brigade of Mars-
ton's Division, on the right of the road, and one of Heckman's, on the
left, advanced, supported by the remainder ofthe divisions. The enemy
made but feeble resistance until the troops reached the focus of his fire,
when a terrible discharge decimated them and broke the organization.
To retire was as fatal as to advance, and the enemy completed the disaster
by sallying out and capturing portions ofthe two advanced brigades,
and driving back Still's battery. Dusk approaching, the remainder
of the troops drew back out of range. Holman's colored division
meanwhile had, gallantly carried a two-gun redoubt, but the approach
pf night compelled him to abandon it. The whole force then returned
to camp under prders from General Grant. The, Federal loss was
from twelve hundred to fifteen hundred men, and that of the enemy,
according to his own account, about two hundred men. Thus ended
the feint on the right.
The attack on the left was undertaken by the Second Corps, aided
by Gregg's Cavalry, which was to march round the enemy's right
flank, turn it, and seize his line of defences on Hatcher's Run, at the
same moment that the Fifth and Ninth Corps by direct approach should
attack these works in front. Accordingly, the Second Corps, on Wed
nesday evening, the 26th, marched across to the Church road, and at
three and a half o'clock Thursday morning reached the Vaughan road,
along which they proceeded, reaching Hatcher's Run at half-past seven
a. m. The crossing was disputed by a small body of men, who were
soon dispersed. The corps then proceeded on the west side of the
run to the Boydton plankroad, which they reached at a quarter past
eleven a. m. Here Gregg's Cavalry connected on the left, about the

692 HISTORY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
same time that Generals Grant ana Meade arrived on the ground.
Egan's Division was deployed on the right ofthe Boydton plankroad,
facing up towards the bridge over Hatcher's Run, and Mott's was
deployed on the left ofthe road. De Trobriand's Brigade connected
' with Gregg, who held the extreme left. One brigade was left to take
care of the enemy in our rear. In Egan's advance was Rueg's Bri
gade, and his skirmishers, at the command, rushed forward to Hatcher's
Run, seized the bridge, and crossed the creek. ,
The next movement was to carry the enemy's works beyond Hatch
er's Run. Egan's Division was ' accordingly disposed with Rugg's
Brigade on the left, Price in the centre, and Smyth on the right,
Beck's Battery co-operating as before. McAllister's Brigade of Mott's
Division was in support of Egan. The Fifth Corps was now heard
firing rapidly on the right, and it was expected that they Would sweep
about and effect: a junction with the Second. But, owing to the ex
ceedingly perplexing character of the country, and the uncertainty as
to the roads, they were unable to do so. Of course the enemy was
prompt to seize this advantage; and about four o'clock, while we were
preparing to advance, Mahone's Division, of Hill's Corps, broke in on
the right flank of Hancock, and instantly swept off Metcalf 's section of
Beck's Battery, which was there posted. Continuing his attack, he
got across the Boydton road and bore down upon Egan's Division.
With commendable energy and promptitude, Egan changed front with
his own brigades and McAllister's, and, with the aid of the three bat
teries, Beck's and Roder's Fifth and Fourth regular, and Sleeper's
Tenth Massachusetts (under Granger), succeeded in repulsing the
enemy, after a hard and prolonged fight. In the fury of his first onset
against Smyth's Brigade, it was driven back, several hundred prisoners
captured, and our line so disordered as to allow the enemy to get upon
the plankroad. A part of these prisoners were recaptured by being
conducted by mistake into the Fifth Corps' lines. Hancock's prompt
dispositions, and the firmness of Egan's troops, soon arrested the dis
aster likely to follow. In his turn falling upon the enemy's flank,
Egan drove him back, Smith's and McAllister's Brigades behaving
handsomely, while Mott promptly co-operated with De Trobriand's
Brigade. The enemy abandoned Metcalf 's guns and began to retreat.
But he left three flags and five or six hundred prisoners — those who
had come oyer on the plankroad — in our possession.
The Federal loss in this affair was nine hundred killed and wounded
and four hundred prisoners. This repulse placed the column in a pre
carious position, as the ammunition and rations were growing scarce,
notwithstanding that sufficient for four days had been served out. The
rainfell in torrents, and the troops retraced their weary steps to camp,
leaving some of the wounded on the field.
Meantime, the Fifth and Ninth Corps left camp at daylight on the
,2Yth, and duringthe forenoon got into position with the Ninth on the
right and the Fifth on the left, confronting the enemy's works at
Hatcher's Run. Here they made demonstrations and skirmished
sharply during the day, returning to camp at night. The losses* of
the two corps were about four hundred. Thus the whole movement,

HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 693
which was to have had important results, terminated in a return to
camp, with the loss on both sides of the James of about three thou
sand men. The main attack was Hancock's, and in case of success the
Fifth and Ninth were to join him in a general advance of the whole
line. It appeared that the enemy were accurately informed of the
whole enterprise, and no surprise was effected.
Skirmishing and small encounters were frequent after this along the
lines. On the night of the 30th^ the Sixty-ninth and Hundred-and-
fourth New York were picketed before Fort Davis, being mostly raw
troops. The enemy, in some force, passed into the fear, and the word
having been given to the Federal troops to " fall in," as if they were
to be relieved, the entire line was captured. Enterprises of this nature
interfered with attacks of greater or lesser magnitude — continued up to
the first week in November, at which time Sherman started on his
grand march. On the night of November 5th, a rebel brigade which
occupied a portion of the enemy's line on the plankroad, and running
northeasterly therefrom, secretly advanced, and threw itself upon the
picket line of McAllister p brigade, Mott's Division, Second Corps,
which held our intrenchments opposite the same point. The plan was
so well devised and vigorously executed &$, to secure our entire in
trenched picket line for half a mile, with the capture of thirty prison
ers. The enemy immediately began to reverse our works, and to in
trench himself with tools brought for that purpose. At the same time,
the Holcomb Legion of Wallace's Brigade carried our picket line op
posite the Crater, as the ruins of the fort exploded by the mine are
called. The men soon rallied in force and recaptured the line pf works.
Early in December, most of Sheridan's force from the valley joined
the Army of the Potomac — the six corps arriving between the 2d and
5th of December. Early's troops also joined Lee iii great numbers,
and affairs in the valley were once more quiet, Sheridan remaining at
Winchester. The negro troops were now consolidated in one corps,
the Twenty-fifth, under the command of General Weitzel, and sent
north of the James.
The year 1864 had now reached its close, and, after a series of bril
liant campaigns, the prospect for the future was full of hope, notwith
standing a temporary lull in military operations, The only active
movement then in progjess was Sherman's campaign, on the results of
which the success of the other operations seemed to depend. In the
course of the year, the Army of the Potomac had, under Grant, fought
its way to the banks of the James, where it held the main rebel army
asifinavice. The Union troops had, under Sheridan, driven the
enemy far up the Shenandoah, and Hood had been forced out of Ten
nessee by Thomas with the miserable wreck of an army. The enemy
had abandoned Missouri and most of Arkansas, and only held good
his grasp upon Western Louisiana and Texas. We had also captured
the defences of Mobile Bay. The enemy confronted us in force chiefly
in Virginia, and the only problem yet remaining to be solved was how
long he would be able to maintain the defence. This was deeided by
the march of Sherman through Georgia to Savannah, which demon
strated that the people were unable or unwilling to resist, and that the

694 HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
rebel government had exhausted its powers. There was no force to
oppose the free movement of Sherman on the rear of Lee, arid the Armj
ofthe Potomac, which had done most ofthe fighting, and to the pub
lic eye achieved the least success, continued to occupy Lee, thus giving
to others the opportunity to win the laurels of the year.
Meantime, the President made a new call for three hundred thou
sand men. The whole number of troops hitherto called for, whether
for temporary purposes merely, or for the war, amounted in round
numbers to two millions and a half; though how large a number of
these rendered actual service it is not now and may never 1be possible
to determine. It is very certain,, however, that the men called for
were all needed, and had they been obtained to as great an extent as
the above figures would seesm, to indicate, there can be little doubt
that the rebellion would have terminated much sooner th#n it actually
did. The casualties of war, diseases inherent to a military life, and the
necessity of garrisoning almost countless outposts and. forts, as well as
of guarding longlines of communications, drew largely upon each suc
cessive levy, so that the large armies, intended for active operations in
the field, were barely kept up to their necessary strength, and often fell
below it. The following is the President's call of December, 1864 : —
"Washington, December 20.
By the President op the United State&
A PROCLAMATION.
"Whereas, by the act approved July 4th, 1864, entitled 'An act further to regulate
and provide for the enrolling and calling out the national forces, and for other pur
poses,' it is provided that the President of the United States may, at his discretion, at
4ny time hereafter, call for any number of men as volunteers for the respective terms
of one, two, or three years for military service, and that in case the quqta, or any part
thereof, of any town, township, ward of a city, precinct, or election district, or Of a'
county not so subdivided, shall not be filled within the space of fifty days after such
call, then the President shall immediately order a draft for one year to fill such quota,
or any part thereof, which may be unfilled; and whereas, by , the credits allowed in ac-.
cordance with the act of Congress on the call for five hundred thousand men, made
July 18th, 1864, the number of men to be obtained under that call was reduced to two
hundred and eighty thousand; and whereas, the operations of the enemy in certain
States have rendered it impracticable to procure from them their full quotas of troop3
under the said calls ; and whereas, from the foregoing causes two hundred and fifty
thousand men have been put into the army, navy, and maf ine corps, under the said call
of July 18th, 1864, leaving a deficiency on that call of two hundred and sixty thou
sand. Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the' United States of America,
in order to supply the aforesaid deficiency, and to provide for casualties in the military
and naval. service of. the United States, do issue this my call for three hundred thou
sand volunteers, to serve for one, two, or three years. The quotas of the States, dis
tricts, and sub-districts Under this call, will be assigned by the War Department, through
the Bureau ofthe Prpvost-Marshal-General of the United States, and in case the' quota,
or any part thereof, of any town, township, ward of a city, precinct, or election district,
or of a county not so subdivided, shall not be filled before the 15th day of February,'
1865, then a draft shall be made to fill such quota, or any part thereof, under the call
which may be unfilled on said 15th day of FebruaTy, 1865.
'In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the
United States to be affixed.
Done at the City of Washington this 19th" day of December, m the year of our
[l. s.] Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, and of the independence
the United States of America the eighty-ninth.
"By the President : " Abbaham Lincoln.
^ "William H. Seward, Secretary of State."

HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.

695

The armies in the field, in the spring of 1 864, numbered nearly six hun
dred thousand men ; * and so great were the losses during the year, that
at its close, notwithstanding nine hundred thousand men had been called
for, the numbers remained about the same. The military supplies pro
duced during the year included one thousand seven hundred and fifty
pieces of ordnance, two thousand three hundred and sixty-one artillery
carriages and caissons, eight hundred and two thousand five hundred
and twenty-five small-arms, seven hundred and ninety-four thousand
and fifty-five sets of accoutrements and harness, one million six hun
dred and seventy-four thousand two hundred and forty-four projectiles
for cannon, twelve million seven hundred and forty thousand one hun
dred and forty-six pounds of bullets and lead, eight million four hun
dred and nine thousand four hundred pounds of gunpowder, one hun
dred and sixty-nine millions four hundred and ninety thousand and
twenty-nifie cartridges f(5r small-arms. These were complete articles,
in addition to large quantities of the same kind of supplies partially
made up at the arsenals. The ordnance supplies furnished to the mili
tary service during the year included one thousand one hundred and
forty-one pieces of ordnance, one thousand eight hundred and ninety-
six artillery carriages and caissons, four hundred and fifty-five thou
sand nine hundred and ten small arms, five hundred and two thousand
and forty-four sets of accoutrements and harness, one million nine hun
dred and thirteen thousand seven hundred and fifty-three projectiles
for cannon, seven million six hundred and twenty-four thousand six
hundred and eighty-five pounds of bullets and lead, four hundred and
sixty-four thousand five hundred and forty-nine pounds of artillery am
munition, one hundred and twenty-five thousand and sixty-seven seta
Of horse equipments, one hundred and twelve million eighty-seven
thousand five hundred and fifty-three cartridges for small-arms, seven
million five hundred and forty-four thousand and forty-four pounds of
gunpowder. These supplies were in addition to large quantities of
parts provided for repairs in the field.
The forces of the rebels at the commencement of 1864 did not much
exceed three hundred and fifty thousand men, of whom they lost
during the year probably two hundred thousand. In the same period
they were enabled., by strenuous exertions, to recruit one hundred thou
sand men. Of these probably one hundred thousand were with Lee
at Richmond, and the others detached under Hood, Beauregard, and
other generals. Under these circumstances, the necessity of arming

* These may be computed as follows : —
General Grant had, including those under Gen
erals Smith and G i 1 1 more.on the James River, and
those co-operating with him under Sigel, in the
Shenandoah Valley  ...1.200,000
Sherman had  120.000
At and near Washington there were  40,000
General Banks in Louisiana had  80,000
In Kentucky and Tennessee there were... 80,000
In Missouri and Arkansas there were  85,000
On the line of the Upper Potomac and in
Western Virginia  25,000
On the Mississippi River there were  25,000
At Charleston and on the coast of South
Carolina  15,000

At Fortress Monroe, Norfolk, &c.,there were 10,000
In North Carolina there were  10,000
On the Pacific coast there were  10,000
In the Indian Territory there were  10,000
In Florida there were  5,000
At various points in the North there were 40,000
Total available force of the North in April.
1S64  605000
Of course many of these were on the sick list,
many were employed on duties which did not
bring them into the field, and many also were ab
sent without leave, in other words, had deserted
the service. Perhaps not more than three-fourths
of them were available for offensive purposes.

696 HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
the negroes or employing them as soldiers was apparent, and the head
of the rebel government recommended that course with the advice of
General Lee, but the measure was not promptly acted upon, and never
had any practical result. The year 1864, therefore, for the rebels, ap-
^ proached its close without any apparent means of raising more men to
ofFset the new levies called for by President Lincoln to invigorate the
movements of Thomas, Sherman, and Grant.
The troops that had returned from the Fort Fisher expedition were
re-enforced at Fortress Monroe, and, as the Government was by no
means satisfied with the first attempt, almost immediately prepared, for
a renewal of the movement. General Butler was, early in January,
relieved from the command of the Army of the James, and General
Terry succeeded to the command of the expeditionary force, number
ing somewhat over eight thousand men, and comprising Ames's Second
Division ofthe Twenty-fourth Corps, and Hawley's Second Brigade (now
under Abbott) of Terry's First Division, and Paine's Division of the,
Twenty-fifth (colored) Corps, with Myrick's and Lee's Batteries. These
went on board transports, and on the night of the 5th and the morn
ing of the 6th of January,' left Fortress Monroe to co-operate with
Admiral Porter's fleet, then oft Beaufort. After some detentions, oc
casioned by the weather, the fleet, on the 13th, moved upon Fort
Fisher in five divisions.
Admiral Porter opened the bombardment by sending the iron-clad
column, with the New Ironsides at its head, directly upon Fort Fisher.
At half-past seven a. m., the forts opened on them as they approached,
but they quietly took up their old positions within one thousand yards
of Fort Fisher, and began to fire about half-past eight. The landing
of the troops commenced at nine o'clock, from all the transports, some
of the men eagerly jumping into the water, waist-deep. In about an
hour, enough troops were landed to push out a skirmish line, and all
the force designed for the attack was ashore before three p. m., when
they took possession of Half Moon Battery.
: Before four^ the troops started down the beach towards Fort Fisher,
with skirmishers out. At dusk, they had paused, out of range of
Fort Fisher. Under cover of the darkness, however, they moved on
again, and, at ten p. m., their camp-fires showed the long bivouac line
across the sand-spit, about two miles from the fort. Their right flank
seemed to be well covered by a sort of lagoon, running between it and
the woods beyond. The enemy's two gunboats, the Tallahassee and
the Chickamauga, shelled our lines from Cape Fear River. During
the eight hours' action, the iron-clads showered shells upon the devoted
fort at the rate of four per minute. The whole number of shells thrown
by iron-clads and wooden vessels was computed at four per second.
During the night, the enemy was re-enforced and the place Strength
ened. The 14th was occupied by the Union troops in building breast
works between the Cape Fear River and the sea, and the loth was
fixed for the assault. As a force of the enemy, about five thousand
strong, under Hoke, was threatening to relieve the place from Wil
mington, Abbott's Brigade was placed in the intrenchments facing that
direction. Ames's Division was drawn up to assault the west end of

HISTOEY OF THE GREAT EEBELLION.

697

the fort, the most difficult and arduous point. A column of fourteen
hundred sailors and marines, under Captain Breese, was detailed from
the fleet to assault the sea front, which had been so terribly demolished
by the bombardment that it was thought a lodgment might more easily
be effected there. At daybreak, the iron vessels, the Brooklyn, and
the eleven-inch gunboats commenced a terrible fire, under cover of
which, Ames moved his men up to within one hundred and fifty yards
of the fort. At ten, all the rest of the fleet joined in the tremendous
cannonade, which was kept up, almost without intermission, until
three p. m., when the ships changed their fire from the path of the
assaulting columns to other works. At half-past three p. m., the signal
for the assault was made. The gallant column from the fleetdashed at
the sea front with desperate energy, and gained the parapet. But after
a short conflict and heavy loss it was checked and driven back in dis
order. When re-formed, it was sent to the defensive or Wilmington
line, to take the place of Abbott's Brigade, which had joined Ames.
The attack on the sea front, though a failure, diverted a part of the
enemy's attention, and made the attack of the main storming column
by so much the easier.
Promptly at the word of command, our gallant column of between
three thousand and four thousand men, principally of the old Tenth
Corps, rushed upon the works. The enemy's force in the fort was over
two thousand two hundred strong. Colonel Curtis led the attack,

698 HISTOEY' OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
and, after a splendid assault, effected a lodgment on the west end of
the land front. Pennypacker instantly followed with his brigade, and
then Bell with his, Every one of these leaders fell wounded, the
former severely, the second dangerously, and Bell mortally. At five
o'clock, after the most desperate fighting, foot by foot, and with the
severest loss, we got possession of about half the land front. Then
Abbott came up from the defensive line, the marines taking his place*
Once more the attack went on. At ten o'clock, after six and a half
hours of splendid fighting, the last trenches were cleared ofthe enemy,
and Fort Fisher was ours.
General Whitney and Colonel Lamb, the commanders of the fort,
with their officers and men — over eighteen hundred in all — surrendered
Unconditionally about twelve at night. All the works south of Fort
Fisher fell also into our hands. The enemy's loss was, first, Fort Fisher
and all its chain of outworks, with all their contents — seventy-two
guns, some of large calibre and rifled, and one Armstrong gun — and
the camp and garrison equipage and stores, including sixteen days'
rations ; second, the loss of Cape Fear River and its facilities for run
ning the blockade ; third, a garrison of two thousand two hundred
men, of whom four hundred Were killed and wounded, and eighteen
hundred captured. General Whitney and Colonel Lamb were wounded.
On our side, not a ship nor a transport was lost, and but little damage
was done to the fleet. Our loss in officers and men was very large —
something over one thousand in all, of which about nine hundred fell
upon the army, and two hundred on the fleet. Among these were
Colonels Bell and Moore, and Lieutenant-Colonel Lyman, killed, and
Colonels Curtis, Pennypacker, and Lieutenant-Colonel Coan, badly
wounded. In the fleet, Lieutenants Preston and Porter were killed,
and Lieutenants Lamson, Bache, and others wounded.
By some mismanagement the magazine blew up, killing about three
hundred of ,the garrison.
The official numerical reports of casualties sustained by our forces
in the fight are appended : — Killed. Wounded. Missing.
Oflicers. Men. Officers. Men. Men.
Curtis's Brigade  ,  2 35 18 166 9,
Pennypaoker's Brigade. ;  1 24 15 183 12
Bell's Brigade  2 15 4 105 —
Abbott's Brigade...  ..— 3 2 18 11
Total  U 11 39 41S 9a
Aggregate.. .  ,691

HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 699

CHAPTER LXXHL
Capture of Remaining Defences on Cape Fear River. — Schofield Ordered from Tennes
see. — Fort Anderson Taken. — Occupation of Wilmington. — Movement on Kinston. —
Goldsboro. — Gillmore. before Charleston. — Evacuation of the City by Hardee. — Flag
Restored to Fort Sumter. — Sheridan in the Valley. — His Raid. — Great Destruction
of Rebel Property. — Joins Meade.
The holding of the ports on the Cape Fear Rivei was regarded by
General Lee as of vital consequence to his position at Richmond ; never
theless, on the fall of Fort Fisher it became apparent that the other
places could not be defended. On the 16th of January, the enemy
blew up Forts Caswell and Campbell, and abandoned them and the
works oh Smith's Island, also those at Smithville and Reeves'^ Point,
which were occupied by the navy. The whole number of guns cap
tured exceeded one hundred and fifty. A large number of small-arms
also feHr into our hands, besides quantities of ordnance and commissary
stores. On the 18th, General Paine reconnoitred in force towards Wilming
ton, and found the enemy about two miles distant. After a slight
skirmish he fell back to his intrenchments. On the 19th, one of our
dispatch boats was severely handled by the guns of Fort St. Philip, on
the south bank of the river, and forced to return. The same day, Gen
eral Paine made another reconnoissance, found the enemy as before,
two miles distant, had another severe skirmish, and retired.
The forts which fell into the hands ofthe navy, up to January 21, and
subsequently to the fall of Fisher, were officially reported as follows:
Reeves's Point — Two ten-inch guns.
Above Smithville — Two ten-inch guns.
Smithville — Four ten-inch guns.
Fort Caswell — Ten ten-inch guns, two nine-inch, one Armstrong,
and four thirty-twos (rifled), two thirty-tWos (smooth), three eight-
inch, one Parrott (twenty-pounder), three rifled field-pieces, three guns
(bored) — twenty-nine guns.
Forts Campbell and Shaw — Six ten-inch, six thirty-twos (smooth),
one thirty-two (rifled), one eight-inch, six field-pieces, two mortara
¦ — twenty-two guns.
Smith's Island — Three ten-inch, six thirty-twos (smooth), two thirty-
twos (rifled), four field-pieces, two mortars — seventeen guns. Reported
at the other end of Smith's Island, six guns.
Total captured, eighty-three guns.
Wilmington, to which the enemy had gradually fallen back, as the
force accummulated in their front, was defended by General Bragg.
While these events were occurring, General Schofield, who, with
the Twenty-third Army Corps, was on his way to Eastport, Missis
sippi, received orders to proceed with his troops to North Carolina.
At that time the Department of North Carolina was created, and

Y0O HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
Schofield assigned to its command, with orders to occupy Goldsboro'
and open up communication with the coast, and unite with Sherman.
In pursuance of this plan, be landed at the mouth of the Cape Fear
River, February 9th, with the Third Division, Cox, near Fort Fisher.
At that time, General Terry, with eight thousand men, held a line
across the peninsula, formed by the ocean and the Cape Fear River,'
occupying Smithville and Fort Caswell, with his flanks covered by the
fleet, under Admiral Porter. The enemy occupied. Fort Anderson, on
the west bank of the river, with a collateral line running to a large
swamp about three-fourths of a mile distant, and a line opposite Fort
Anderson, running across the peninsula from Cape Fear River to
Masonboro' Sound. His position was impregnable against direct at
tack, and could be turned only by crossing Masonboro' Sound above
his left, or passing around the swamp which covered his right. On
the llth of February, Schofield pushed forward Terry's line, supported
by Cox's Division, drove in the enemy's pickets, and intrenched in a;
new position, close enough to the enemy's line to compel him to hold
the latter in force.
The weather presented many obstacles to a combined movement
with boats on the enemy's left. , Hence General Schofield directed his
attention to the enemy's right, where he would not have to contend
with the difficulties of both land and sea. Cox's and Ames's Divisions
were ' crossed over to Smithville, where they were joined by Moore's
Brigade of Couch's Division, which had just debarked, and advanced
along the main Wilmington road until they encountered the enemy's
position at Fort Anderson and adjacent works. Here two brigades
were intrenched to occupy the enemy, while Cox, with his other two
brigades and Ames's Division, started around the swamp, covering the
enemy's right, to strike the Wilmington road in rear of Fort Ander
son. The distance to be travelled was about fifteen miles. The enemy,
warned by his cavalry bf Cox's movement, hastily abandoned his works
on both sides of the river, during the night of February 19th, and fell
back behind Town Creek on the west, and to a corresponding position,
covered by swamps, on the east. Possession was thus gained of the
main defences of Cape Fear River and of Wilmington, with ten pieces
of heavy ordnance and a large amount of ammunition. Our loss was
but trifling.
On the following day, Cox pursued the enemy to Town Creek, be
hind which he was found intrenched, having destroyed the only bridge.
Terry also encountered the enemy in superior force in his new position,
and, in consequence, Ames's Division was brought over to the east bank
during the night of the 19th. On the 20th, Cox crossed Town Creek
below the enemy's position, and, reaching the enemy's flank and rear,
attacked and routed him, capturing two pieces of artillery and three
hundred and seventy-five prisoners. The next morning he pushed on
towards Wilmington without opposition. Terry was unable to make
any further advance, but occupied the attention of all of Hoke's force,
so that he could not send any to replace that which Cox had destroyed.
On the 21st, Cox secured a portion ofthe enemy's pontoon bridge across
Brunswick River, wMch he had attempted to destroy, put a portion of

HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 701
¦ , * i
his troops on to Eagle Island, and threatened to cross the Cape Fear
above Wilmington. The enemy at once set fire to his steamers, cotton,
and military and naval stores, and abandoned the town. Our troops
entered without opposition early in the morning of February 22d, and
Terry pursued the enemy across Northeast River. Our total loss in
the operations from February llth to the capture of Wilmington was
.about two hundred officers and men killed and wounded. That of the
enemy was not less than one thousand killed, wounded, and prisoners;
fifty-one pieces of heavy ordnance, fifteen light pieces, and a large
amount of ammunition fell into our hands. -
Meantime a force of five thousand troops had been ordered forward
from Newbern, under General Palmer, to occupy Kinston, with the
view of moving thence upon Goldsboro' and tapping the main railway
line between Richmond and Savannah. As soon as Wilmington was
secured, Schofield sent Ruger's Division, Twenty-third Army Corps,
which was then arriving at Cape Fear Inlet, by sea to Morehead City,
to re-enforce the column moving from Newbern. On the 25th, finding
that Palmer had not moved, as was expected, he sent Cox to take
command at Newbern and push forward at once. The divisions of
Couch and Cox were also sent thither, but owing to great difficulty of
transportation, it was March 6th before the movement upon Kinston
was commenced. On that day, Couch marched from Newbern with
the Second and Third Divisions of the Twenty-third Corp, and on the
8th, General Cox advanced to Wise's Forks, where he was joined by
Schofield in person. The force in front ofthe Union troops, consisting
of Hoke'ft Division and a small body of reserves, had fallen back be
hind Southwest Creek, and General Cox had sent two regiments, under
Colonel Upham, Fifteenth Connecticut Infantry, to secure the crossing
ofthe creek on the Dover road. The enemy, having been re-enforced
by a portion of the old Army of"Tennessee, recrossed the creek some
distance? above the Dover road, came down in rear of Colonel Up-
ham's position, and surprised and captured nearly his entire command,
about seven hundred men. The enemy then advanced and endeavored
to penetrate between Carter's and Palmer's Divisions, occupying the
Dover road and the railroad respectively, but was checked by Ruger's
Division, Which was just arriving upon the field.
On the 9th the enemy pressed our lines strongly, and felt for its
flanks. Heavy skirmishing was kept up during the day, but no assault
was made. On the 10th, the enemy, having been largely ire-enforced,
and, doubtless, learning of the approach of Couch's column, made a
heavy attack upon Cox's left and centre, but was decisively repulsed,
and with heavy loss. Both attacks were met mainly by Ruger's Divi
sion, a portion of that division having been rapidly transferred from
the centre to the left, to meet the attack there, and then returned to
the centre in time to repel the attack on that portion of the line. The
enemy retreated, leaving his killed and wounded, and, during the
night, fell back across the Neuse, and burned the bridge. Our loss in
this engagement was about three hundred killed and wounded ; that
of the enemy probably about fifteen hundred in killed, wounded, and
missing. Couch effected his junction with Cox on the following day.

702 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
Having no pontoon train, Schofield could not cross the Neuse until
the 14th, when the enemy, having abandoned Kinston, moved rapidly
towards Smithfield to join the force under Johnston, which was con
centrating to oppose the advance of Sherman from Fayetteville. Im
mediately upon the occupation of Kinston, Schofield put a large force
of troops to work upon the railroad,, in aid of the Construction Corps
under Colonel Wright, rebuilt the wagon bridge over the Neuse; and
brought forward supplies preparatory to a further advance. He moved
from Kinston on the morning of the 20th, and entered Goldsboro', with
but slight opposition, on the evening of the 21st. The portion of the
command which had remained at Wilmington, under Terry, moved
from that point March 15th, reached Faison's Dep6t on the 20th, and,
in compliance with Sherman's orders, moved from that point to Cox's
Bridge, and secured a crossing of the Neuse on the 22d.
On the 8th of February, General Gillmore succeeded to the com
mand of the Department of the South, with head-quarters at Hilton
Head. The city of Charleston was then held by General Hardee with a
force of twelve thousand to fifteen thousand men, comprising the regular
garrison and the troops which, had retreated from Savannah. The city
had withstood during nearly three, years all attempts to reduce it.
This, on account of its euorniously strong natural position, had been
comparatively easy. ,But now it became exposed to a series of opera
tions of an entirely different nature from those which had formerly
been undertaken agamst it. Sherman, from Savannah, was penetrating
into North Carolina, and was, on February llth, at Branchville, on the
South Carolina Railroad, thus cutting Charleston off from communica
tion with the interior. The defences of Cape Fear River below Fort
Anderson had fallen into the hands of the Federals, and although
General Bragg professed himself able to hold Wilmington, grave
doubts of his ability to do so were entertained, and with the fall of
Wilmington, communication with the North would be threatened.
Under these circumstances, General Gillmore was no sooner in com
mand than he landed a considerable force upon James Island, and after
some sharp fighting established himself within two miles of the city.
With. Savannah and its communications in the hands of the Union
troops, with Sherman and his large force holding the North Carolina
Railroad at Branchville, with Wilmington virtually in the hands of
Schofield, and Gillmore established within two miles of the city on
James Island, it became very evident that Hardee had no alternative
but to leave. If he could carry off his garrison it would be, under the
circumstances, as much as he could hope for. This he succeeded in
doing. The. evacuation commenced on the 16th, and by the next night
the last of the troops had left. About midnight the enemy fired the
upper part of the city, burning up the railroad buildings and several
thousand bales of cotton. The buildings contained, besides the cotton,
a large quantity of rice and two hundred kegs of powder. About
half-past three o'clock the powder blew up, with a terrific explosion,
killing or mutilating about one hundred of the poor people, who were
getting the rice. At daylight, the rebel rams in ^e harbor, near the
city, were blown up.

HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 703
On the morning of the 18th, the mayor of the city sent a note to
General Gillmore stating that the Confederate military authorities had
departed, and at nine a. m. the city of Charleston, with Fort Sumter,
Fort Moultrie, Castle Pinckney, and all its defensive works, and all
its contents, were surrendered to us. Nearly all the rebel troops had
gone, and only a few men remained. Our forces were promptly moved
up to the city, and, amid deafening cheers, the national flag once more
streamed from the parapet of Fort Sumter. In the fort were nine
guns — four columbiads, and five howitzers. The cruel firing of the city
by the enemy, and the explosion of its magazines, spread devastation
far and wide. Our troops were at once set to work, to quell the flames,
but probably two-thirds of the place were destroyed. The lower part of
the city within reach of our guns was in effect a ruin, and was almost
uninhabited. Comparatively few persons dared to remain there. Some
of 'the houses were knocked down. Bricks and timbers were lying
everywhere, and the streets in particular were strewn with the frag
ments, in many places entirely obstructing travel. Shells were lying
among the ruins. The appearance of the city, the lower part unin
habited and the upper part in flames, is described as dreary and desolate
in the extreme. Among our captures were over two hundred pieces
of good artillery and a supply of fine ammunition. The enemy burned
his cotton warehouses, arsenals, quartermaster stores, railroad bridges,
two iron-clads, and some vessels in the ship-yards. Some of the
enemy's troops remained to plunder, and succeeded in their object*
Several hundred deserters were concealed in the houses in Charleston j
and when our troops entered they surrendered. The main army
moved off northward, hi numbers conjectured to be about fourteen
thousand strong. There remained in the city only about ten thousand
persons of the poorer classes, who had had no means of making their
escape, and who were now suffering from want of food.
The surrender of Charleston took place on the fourth anniversary
of the inauguration of Jefferson Davis as president of the " Southern
Confederacy." The actual siege of the city was commenced July
10th, 1863, when Gillmore landed on Morris Island, and had thus
lasted five hundred and eighty-five days. The city had actually been
under fire five hundred and forty-two days. The capture of the city
was thu» officially reported: —
"Head-Quarters Department of the South, )
"Charleston, S. C, February 26, 1865. j
"Lieutenant-General TJ. S. Grant, and Major-General Halleck, Chief of Staff, Wash.
ington:
" An inspection of the rebel defences of Charleston shows that we have taken over four
hundred ana fifty (450) pieces of ordnance, being more than double what I first reported.
The lot includes eight and ten inch columbiads, a great many thirty-two and forty-two
pounder rifles, some seven-inch Brooks rifles, and many pieces of foreign make.
" We also captured eight locomotives, and a great number of passenger and platform,
cars, all in good condition.
"Deserters report that the last of . Hardee's aijmy was to have crossed the San tee
Eiver yesterday, bound for Charlotte, N. C, and it was feared that Sherman had al
ready intercepted their march.
"It is reported, on similar authority, that the last of Hood's army, twelve thousand
. Strong, passed through Augusta last Sunday, the 19th, on the way to Beauregard.

704 v HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
" Georgetown has been evacuated by the enemy, and is now in our possession.
"Deserters are coming in constantly. We have over four hundred already.
(Signed) "Q. A. Gillmore,
"Major-General Commanding"
As the surrender of Sumter had produced an impression on the
public mind too deep to be readily forgotten, the President, with a
view of commemorating its restoration to the national authority, di
rected Major-General Robert Anderson to raise the stars and stripes
on the battlements of Fort Sumter on the 13th of April, 1865, the
anniversary of the day he consented to evacuate it, after a protracted
and gallant resistance, when his ammunition and provisions were ex
hausted. The next seaport destined to fall was Mobile, which wasj early in
March, occupied by the Confederate General Dick Taylor, with Maury
commanding the defences of the city, and F. H. Gardner in the field.
His forces numbered about fifteen thousand men. The defences of Mo
bile were strong. Beauregard and Taylor had been at work upon
them for months, employing thousands of negroes in intrenching. The
garrison, however, , was inadequate , to man the elaborate works in
tended to protect the place. ' Not only had the operations of Lee and
Johnston heavily drained the old army of Hood, but a cavalry demon
stration of Wilson through Alabama and Mississippi, then in progress,
distracted the attention of the force which remained. Few but raw
Alabama troops were around Mobile. Among the harbor defences was
Spanish Fort, an irregular bastioned work, with fortifications five miles^
in length, commencing at D'Olive's Creek and running to Minetta Bay.
It was built by De Soto in 1540. The guns were in embrasures. The
main defence of Mobile was at this point. From the land side, on the
right of Spanish Fort, were two bastions, encircled with rifle-pits,
chevawxrde-frise, trenches, and torpedoes. The fortifications on the
extreme right were covered by the works on the left of Blakeley.
Pinto Island, to the right, covers Spanish River, and commands Uhris-
tian Pass. Mobile Bay, beyond Blakeley River, was filled with tor
pedoes. A large number of torpedoes were also buried in the earth
in front of Spanish Fort, near the rebel rifle-pits. Forts Huger, Brad
ley, Tracy, Battery Gladden, Spanish River Battery, Blakeley, and
other rebel strongholds, were in front and to the left.
Preparations for attack had been in progress some time. Granger's
Thirteenth Corps had long been concentrated on Mobile Point. A. J.
Smith's Sixteenth Corps was sent by transport from New Orleans to
Dauphin Island, opposite Mobile Point, the greater part arriving at
Fort Gaines on the 12th of March. All the cavalry were under Grier
son, and— recently largely re-enforced from the Army ofthe Cumberland
— had left for Mobile Point, crossing Pontchartrain. General Steele's
negro division was near Pensacola. On the 18th of March, Moore's
First Brigade of Carr's Third Division of the Sixteenth Corps, about
two thousand strong, left Dauphin Island to effect a landing on Cedar
Point, above Fort Powell, and to clear the way for the rest of the
corps. On the day previous, Bertram's Brigade of the Second Division
of the Thirteenth Corps, which had been transported across from

HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 705
Dauphin Island to Mobile Point, the mainland, for that purpose, ad
vanced on Mobile along that side of the bay. In order to make the
movement of all three columns simultaneous, on the 18th, General
Steele's column started from Pensacola and Barrancas, on a march to
Blakeley Landing, at which point they were to unite with Granger's
column starting from Fort Morgan and marching up the east side of
the bay. Granger's whole corps followed the advance brigade, march
ing by land along the shore of Bon Secour Bay, which forms the
southeastern corner of Mobile Bay.
The rendezvous for the army was on Fish River, at Donnelly's (or
Danby's) Mills, situated about six or eight miles up the river, twenty
or more from Fort Gaines, and thirty from Mobile. The next day
Smith's Corps moved on transports to the same point, McArthur's
First Division in advance, Garrard's Second following, and Carr's Third
in the rear. On the 20th the corps began to arrive at the appointed
place, and were all disembarked by night of the 21st, On the 22d and
23d, Granger's Corps got in. The roads were wretched, and the
troops often forofl d to great labor in extricating the artillery and trains
from the mire. 1 Bertram's advance easily drove away the enemy's
cavalry vedettes.
On the 25th, the advance through the pine forests was commenced,
from Fish River towards Blakeley, McArthur's Division skirmishing,
and Colonel Marshall, commanding its Third Brigade, being amongst
the wounded. On the 26th, the forces advanced from Fish River, the
Sixteenth Corps moving on the right, towards Blakeley, and the
Thirteenth on the left, towards Spanish Fort, which commands
Minetta Bay. The Thirteenth drove the enemy's cavalry back to the
fort. The Sixteenth compelled the force in its front, also, to* fall back,
until Sibley's Mills was reached. On the 27thj the enemy in front of
Spanish Fort attempted to surprise the pickets ofthe Thirteenth' Corps.
After a few moments' brisk firing the rebels were repulsed. We' lost
four men wounded. Both corps now marched into position-, to invest
Spanish Fort, the enemy falling back to Blakeley. The Sixteenth
formed the right, and the Thirteenth the left, the divisions being posted
in the line as follows, from right to left: Carr, McArthur; Veach,
Benton, Bertram's Brigade. Garrard was in the rear, guarding the
trains. The artillery was brought to within five hundred yards of the
fort, and opened a heavy fire. About eleven o'clock the fleet got
under way, and proceeded up the bay as far as Newport and Howard's
Landings, below Spanish Fort, on the same, i. e., the easterly shore of
the bay. The Metacomet, Stockdale, Milwaukee, Cincinnati, Albatross,
Winnebago, and Genesee opened fire at a quarter, to one p; m., doing
considerable damage. They ceased firing at twenty minutes past five
P. M., and returned to Great Point Clear to anchor for the night.
It was necessary that the fleet should attack Spanish Fort on the
water side, while the army invested it on the land side. On the 28th
the Milwaukee exploded a torpedo, and instantly filled and sank.
Only one man was injured, however, and as the water was but eleven
feet deep, the crew were all saved. Next day, the 29th, the Chicka
saw, Kickapoo, Winnebago, and the Octorara, being in line, the- Osage,
45

706 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
which was a short distance astern, struck a torpedo on the starboard
bow, and instantly sank. Six men were killed or mortally wounded,
and four others wounded. The rest of the officers and crew were
saved unhurt.
Bombardment and skirmishes continued, with more or less loss, until
April 3d, when the place, by the arrival of Steele's force, which was to
have joined Granger on the 22d, was finally invested. Just before
nightfall of the 8th, the final preparations were completed. Within
half a mile of the fort over thirty heavy Parrott guns and mortars had
been mounted, and three light batteries were thrown forward several
hundred yards nearer. The entire artillery, siege-guns and field-pieces,
then opened a terrific fire on the fort, which was completely henrmed
in by our lines, while the gunboats, which had done the same office by
water, cutting off communication with Mobile, added their contribution
to the general roar and flame. Simultaneously, the skirmishers crept
forward from trench to trench and ridge to ridge, until they had soon
got within a hundred yards of the fort, and prevented, by the accuracy
of their fire, the rebel artillerists from managing the Unsheltered guns.
The enemy responded briskly and heavily at first to olr bombardment;
but,, as the battle went on, he was gradually driven from his guns by
the hot fire, and replied more and more feebly, until, at midnight, he
was silenced. An hour afterwards the enemy surrendered, our troops
pressing upon his intrenchments, and entering them about two o'clock
on the morning of the 9th.
The capture of Mobile was now assured. The enemy commenced
evacuating it on the 10th, ahd continued to do so on the llth, at which
time the work was complete. At half-past ten o'clock on the 12th, our
troops planted their colors on batteries Porter and Mackintosh, and,
four hours later, in Mobile, the second seaport of the Confederacy.
General Granger's forces occupy the city. The tugboat Allena was
blown up by torpedoes on the same day. The total loss of our fleet
is said to have been two iron-clads, two tin-clads, and one transport, all,
or nearly all, blown up by torpedoes. The loss of men in the fleet was
less than fifty. That of the army about two thousand five hundred.
While these events were culminating at the South, Sheridan was
once more in motion at the North. That general, who had retained
his head-quarters at Winchester with a moderate force, was contem
plating a renewed movement up the valley. The concentration of the
enemy's troops around Lee had left but a small rebel force in the
valley. Accordingly, towards the close of February, preparations
were made for an extensive cavalry raid, and General Hancock was
installed in command of the Middle Military Division, as General
Thomas had been in Tennessee, on the departure of Sherman. The,
enemy, under Rosser, were scattered at .various places in the
valley, viz., Waynesboro', Woodstock, Edenburg, and 'Staunton;
the main body was at the latter-named place, Neal's and Woodson's
guerrillas in Hardy County, Gilmor's Battalion in Pendleton County,
Lnboden's command in Bath, and adjacent counties.
At eight a. m., on February 27th, the troops began their march
from Winchester, reaching Woodstock, thirty-three miles distant, by

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 707
dark. The enemy were not encountered in any force until the "Com
mand reached Lacy's Springs, March 1st, where about four hundred
men, under Rosser, made some show of resistance, but soon retired.
The same day the bridge over Middle River was secured, Rosser's
men falling back before the Union advance to Waynesboro', wbere
Early had concentrated his men, about one thousand four hundred in
number, to give battle. A portion of his command had fallen back the
day before from Fishersville, to strengthen the post there. The posi
tion was on commanding ground — a ridge of hills skirting the front of
the town — and was protected by breastworks made of earth and rails.
The advance of Sheridan's force arrived in front of the position at
noon on the 2d of March j and, after a brief reconnoissance by General
Custer, an attack was ordered, and the place carried by a flank move
ment, which induced the enemy to give way. The greater part of the
force were captured, including Generals Long and Lilly. Sheridan's
force pushed on, and reached Charlottesville on March 4th; thence
on the 6th it again moved in two columns, one of which, under
General Devin, took the direct southern route to Scottsville, destroying
all mills, merchandise, and property on the line of march along the
Rivanna River to Columbia.
The other column proceeded down the railroad to Lynchburg, de
stroying it for the distance of forty miles to Amherst. From Scotts
ville, Devin's Division proceeded westward along the James to Pugalds-
ville, twenty miles from Lynchburg. On the 10th of March, Sheridan
was at Columbia, and, not being able to cross the James on account of
high water, he moved, with a view of ultimately joining the army
before Petersburg, in a northerly direction from Columbia to the Cen
tral Railroad, striking it at the same time at several different points
between Louisa Court-House and Beaver Dam Station.
A portion of two days was consumed in the thorough destruction of
the Central road between Saxton's Junction and Gordonsville. The
next move was to points on the Fredericksburg road, below the junc
tion. General Devin marched his column to the bridges on both roads
across the South Anna, one of which was defended by a detachment
of infantry, posted behind earthworks, with three pieces of artillery.
The Fifth Cavalry, under Devin and Cook, charged the position, sup
ported by the Second Massachusetts, capturing a number of prisoners,
and the three guns. The only man killed on our side was a scout, and
there were only three wounded. Custer, at the same time, moved
towards Ashland Station.
By this time it was known in Richmond that the northern defences
of that city were threatened. Longstreet, with the whole of Pickett's
Division and some other troops, moved up to within five miles of Ash
land. On the following morning, when a detachment of the Fifteenth
New York entered Ashland as an advance-guard, the advance of Long-
street's column was encountered, and drove them back. Subsequently,
Sheridan moved eastward, crossing the Fredericksburg Railroad at
Chesterfield Station, and on the 19th his entire command arrived at the
White House, whence it crossed the James, and joined Meade on the
25th. Sheridan's operations resulted in the destruction of the James

708 HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
River Canal, which was the main dependence for the support of Rich
mond, and also of all railroads and other means of communication with
the Southwest. Thus gradually was the metaphor, so often employed
in the early history of the war, and so greatly ridiculed, of the Union
armies pressing around the rebel capital, as the anaconda tightens its
folds about the body of its victim, beginning to have force and signifi
cance.

tiHAPTER LXXIV.
General Sherman at Savannah. — The Advance Northward. — Pocotaligol—Salke-
hatchie. — Movement on Columbia. — Conflagration in Columbia, and its Origin —
Beauregard at Charlotte. — Lee placed in Chief Command of the Eebel Armies —
Johnston Reinstated.— Fayetteville.— Bebel Strength.— A verysbo'ro'.— Bentonville.
— Goldsboro'. — Junction of Three Union Armies. — Objective of the Campaign
Gained. At Savannah, General Sherman had not merely to recuperate his
forces and prepare a new base for further operations into the interior,
preparatory to a concentration upon Richmond, but he was also
compelled to provide for the local government, and to arrange the
means of feeding the people. To this end the following notice was
issued : — " Head-Quarters Military Division op the Mississippi, )
"In the Field, Savannah, Georgia, January 14. J
" It being represented that the Confederate army and armed bands of robbers, acting
professedly im<fjer the authority of the Confederate government, are harassing the peo
ple of Georgia, and endeavoring to intimidate them in the efforts they are making to
secure to themselves provisions, clothing, security to life and property, and the restora
tion of law and good government in the State, it is hereby ordered and made public:
"First. — That the farmers of Georgia may bring into Savannah, Fernandina, or
Jacksonville, Fla., marketing, such as beef, pork, mutton, vegetables of any kind, fish,
&c, as well as cotton in small quantities, and sell the same in open market, except the
cotton, which must be sold by or through the Treasury agents, and may invest thepro-
ceedsin family stores, such as bacon and flour, in any reasonable quantities, groceries,
shoes and clothing, and articles not contraband of war, and carry the same back to their
families. No trade store will be attempted in the interior, or stocks of goods sold for
them, but families may club together for mutual assistance and protection in coming
and going.
" Second.— The people are encouraged to meet together in peaceful assemblages, to
discuss measures looking to their safety and good government, and the restoration of
State and National authority, and will be protected by the National army, when so
doing; and all peaceable inhabitants who satisfy the commanding officers that they
are earnestly laboring to that end, must not only be left undisturbed in property and
person, but must be protected as far as possible, consistent with the military opera
tions. If any farmer or peaceable inhabitant is molested by the enemy — viz., the Con
federate army of guerrillas — because of his friendship to the National Government, the
perpetrator, if caught, will be summarily punished, or his family made to suffer for the
outrage ; but if the crime cannot be traced to the actual party, then retaliation will be
made on the adherents to the cause of the rebellion. Should a Union man be mur
dered, then a rebel, selected by lot, will be shot ; or if a Union family be persecuted
on account of the cause, a rebel family will be banished to a foreign land. In aggra
vated cases, retaliation will extend as high as five for one. All commanding oflicers
will act promptly in such cases, and report their action after the retaliation is done. ,
"By order of Major-General VT. T. Sherman. "L. M. Dayton, Assistant Adjutant- General."

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 709
In relation to the political status of people, the following letter was
published by General Sherman, in which he states explicitly, in his cus
tomary clear and vigorous style, that the only condition of peace would
be to lay down arms and submit to the authority of the General Gov
ernment : — "Head-Quarters Military Division of the Mississippi, )
"In the Field, Savannah, Ga., January 8, 1865. )
«U. w.  , Esq.,  County, Ga. :
"Dear Sir: — Yours ofthe 3d instant is received, and, in answer to your inquiries, I
beg to state I am merely a military commander, and act only in that capacity ; nor can
I give any assurances or pledges . affecting civil matters in the future. They will be
adjusted by Congress when Georgia is again represented there as of old.
" Georgia is not out of the Union, and, therefore, the talk of 'reconstruction ' appears
to me inappropriate. Some of the people have been, and still are, in a state of revolt,
and as long as they remain armed and organized, the United States must pursue them
with armies, and deal with them according to military law. But as soon aa they break
up their armed organizations and return to their homes, I take it they will be dealt
with by the civil courts. Some of the rebels in Georgia, in my judgment, deserve death,
because they have committed murder, and! other crimes, which are punished with
death by all civilized governments on earth. I think this was the course indicated by
General Washington, in reference to the Whiskey Insurrection, and a like principle
seemed to be recognized at the time of the Burr conspiracy.
" As to the Union of the States under our Government, we have the high authority
of General Washington, who bade us b'e jealous and careful of it, and the still more
emphatic words of General Jackson, ' The Federal Union, it must and shall be pre
served.' Certainly Georgians cannot question the authority of such men, and should
not suspect our motives, who are simply fulfilling their commands. Wherever neces
sary, force has been used to carry out that end, and you may rest assured that the
Union will be preserved, cost what it may. And if you are sensible men you will con
form to this order of things or else migrate to some other country. There is no other
alternative open to the people of Georgia.
" My opinion is that no negotiations are necessary, nor commissioners, nor conven
tions, nor any thing of the kind. Whenever the people of Georgia quit rebelling
against their Government and elect members of Congress and Senators, and these go '
and take their seats, then the State of Georgia will have resumed her functions in the
Union. " These are merely my opinions, but in confirmation of them, as I think, the people
of Georgia may well consider the following words, referring to the people ofthe rebel
lious States, which I quote from the recent annual message of President Lincoln to
Congress at its present session :
" ' They can, at any moment, have peace simply by laying down their arms and sub
mitting to the national authority under the Constitution. . After so much, the Govern
ment could not, if it would, maintain war against them. The loyal people would not
sustain or allow it. If questions should remain, we would adjust them by the peace
ful means of legislation, conference, courts, and votes. Operating only in constitu
tional and lawful channels, some certain and other possible questions are and would
be beyond the Executive power to adjust, as, for instance, the admission of members
into Congress, and whatever might require the appropriation of money.'
" The President then alludes to the general pardon and amnesty offered for more
than a year past, upon specified and more liberal terms, to all except certain designated
classes, even these being still within contemplation of ' special clemency,' and adds :
" ' It is still so opeii to all, but the time may come when public duty shall demand
that it be closed, and that in lieu more vigorous measures than heretofore shall be
adopted.' "It seems to me that it is time for the people of Georgia to act for themselves, and
return, in time, to their duty to the Government of their fathers.
" Respectfully, your obedient servant, "W. T.Sherman, Major-General."

710

HISTOEY OE TTTTC GEEAT EEBELLION.

Having employed several weeks in refitting his army at Savannah,
Sherman was, by the 15th of January, 1865, ready to resume opera
tions. On that day Fort Fisher was captured and the road to Wil
mington opened. The Twenty-third Corps, Schofield, was also on its
way from Tennessee to co-operate with Generals Terry aud Palmer in
North Carolina, and prepare the way for Sherman's coming, and to
enable Sherman to move in full strength. Grant had sent Grover's
Division of the Nineteenth Corps to garrison Savannah. As Sherman
proposed to march directly upon Goldsboro', Colonel Wright was
sent to Hewbern to be ready by the middle of March to open the rail
road to the former place. On the 1 8th January the command of Sa
vannah was transferred to Foster, with instructions to co-operate on
the coast, in conjunction with the fleet, with the interior movement.
On January 15th, Howard, commanding Sherman's right wing, com
posed of the Fifteenth and Seventeenth Corps, and other troops, num
bering forty-five thousand in all, had effected a lodgment on the
Charleston Railroad, near Pocotaligo, with the view of demonstrating
against Charleston, and opening communications with Hilton Head.
The left wing, under Slocum, was ordered to rendezvous at Roberts-
ville and Coosawattie, South Carolina, but was prevented for weeks
by the flooded state of the adjoining country from moving. Finally,
on the 29th January, finding that the roads were so far improved as
to admit of the movement of the left wing, Sherman ordered the Seven
teenth Corps to River's Bridge,-on the Salkehatchie, and the Fifteenth
Corps to Beaufort's Bridge. On the 2d February the two corps
reached their destinations. Here General Sherman admonished Slo
cum, still struggling with the floods ofthe Savannah River, to hurry his
crossing atSister's Ferry and overtake the right wing on the South Caro
lina Railroad at or near Midway. The enemy held the line ofthe Salke
hatchie iu force, with artillery, at River's and Beaufort's Bridges. The
Seventeenth Corps was ordered to carry the former, which was promptly
done by Mower's arid Smith's Divisions on the 3d February. The
weather was bitter cold, and Generals Mower and Smith led their di
visions in person, on foot, waded the swamp, made a lodgment below
the bridge, and turned on the brigade which guarded it, driving it in
confusion and disorder towards Branchville. Our casualties were one
officer and seventeen men killed, and seven men wounded, who were
sent to Pocotaligo, The line of the Salkehatchie being thus broken,
the enemy retreated at once behind the Edisto, at Branchville, nnd the
whole army was pushed rapidly to the South Carolina Railroad at
Midway, Hamburg (or Lowry's Station), and Graham's Station. The
Seventeenth Corps, by threatening Branchville, forced the enemy to
bum the railroad bridge, and Walker's bridge below, across the
Edisto. General KUpatrick * had, meanwhile, come up with his cavalry, and

*Judson Kllpntrick was born in New Jersey
about 1S40, and graduated at West Point In 1S61.
Be was immediately commissioned as captain in
the Fifth New York Volunteers (Duryea's
Zouaves), and, during tho summer of 1SC1, became
colonel of a New York cavalry regiment. In tho

succeeding year he was appointed to command
a cavalry brigade, and In June, 18C8, was commis
sioned a brigadier-general of volunteers. In this
year ho became noted as one of the most dashing
cavalry oflicers of the army, distinguishing him
self in the campaign of Gettysburg, and in the

HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.

711

proceeded to threateii Augusta, skirmishing sharply with Wheeler's
Cavalry. General Slocum reached Blackville on the 10th. The rebels,
at this time occupied Augusta, Aiken, Branchville, and Charleston.
When, therefore, the army on the llth was on the railroad from Mid
way to Johnson's Station, the enemy's forces were divided, and he
could no longer hold Charleston. The Seventeenth Corps now pushed
for Orangeburg, while the Fifteenth Corps, in support, proceeded to
Poplar Springs. The left wing had orders to move to the Edgefield
road, and there await the result of the movement upon Orangeburg.
That point was occupied, with little opposition, at four o'clock on the
12th. Branchville, the point of junction of the South Carolina and
Columbia Railroad, being turned, bike Charleston, it fell of itself, and'
Sherman marched direct upon Columbia, which was held by Beaure
gard, The Seventeenth Corps moved by the State road, and the Fif
teenth Corps by a road which united with the State road at Zeig-
ler's. The enemy were encountered at Little Congaree Bridge on
the 15th, but retired after a brief encounter, burning the bridge
behind them, so that the column was delayed, and did not reach
the Congaree Bridge, in front of Columbia, until early on the 16th,
too late to save the fine structure which there spans the river.
Howard was accordingly directed to cross the Saludaj which joins the
Congaree at Columbia, three miles above, so as to approach Columbia
from the north, while Slocum was ordered to march direct upon
Winnsboro', twenty-five miles north of Columbia. On the 17th, while
Howard was preparing to cross, the mayor of Columbia came out and
made a formal surrender of the city.
In anticipation of the occupation of the city, orders had been given
to Howard to destroy absolutely all arsenals and public property not
needed for the use of the army, as well as all railroads, depots, and
machinery useful in war to the enemy, but to spare all dwellings and
harmless property, whether of a public or private character. General
Wade Hampton, who commanded the rebel rear-guard, had, in anticipa±
tion of the capture of the place, ordered all the cotton to be moved
into the streets and fired. A violent gale was blowing as the advance '
of the Union army entered Columbia, and, before a single building had
been fired by Sherman's order, the smouldering fires, set by Hampton's
order, and which soldiers and citizens had labored hard to extinguish,
were rekindled by the wind, and communicated to the buildings
around. A whole division of troops was called out to stay the prog
ress of the conflagration, but the flames had now become unmanage
able, and, until four a. m. of the 18th, they pursued their devouring
course, laying a large portion of the city in ashes. It was not until
the wind began to subside that the fire could be controlled. Sherman,
with many of his generals, was up all night laboring to save houses

operations in Virginia during the autumn. After
conducting a dariug raid towards Richmond In the
early part of 1S64, lie was appointed, in the spring,
to command a cavalry division in Sherman's
army, and on May 18th was wounded in a skir
mish near Resaca. in August he returned to
duty, accompanied the army Into Atlanta, and, du

ring Sherman's march to the coast, comm'qnded
the cavalry of the expeditionary force. He held a
similar command in the succeeding campaign from
Savannah to North Carolina ; at the conclusion at
which ho was brevetted a major-general of voli
un teers.

712 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
and protect families thus suddenly deprived of shelter and home. "I
disclaim," he says in his official report, " on the part of my army, any
agency in the fire, but, on the contrary, claim that we saved what of
Columbia remains unconsumed. And without hesitation I charge
Wade Hampton with having burned his own city of Columbia, not
with malicious intent, or as the manifestation of a silly ' Roman stoi
cism,' but from folly and want of sense in filling it with lint, cotton,
and tinder. Our officers and men on duty worked well to extinguish
the flames ; but others not on duty, including the officers, who had
long been imprisoned there, rescued by us, may have assisted in spread
ing the fire after it had once begun, and may have indulged in un
concealed joy to see the ruin of the capital of South Carolina." This
may be taken as a final and complete refutation of the many men
dacious reports, originating chiefly in the South, that the city of^
Columbia was wantonly fired by Sherman's troops.
General Slocum reached Winnsboro' on the 21st, destroyed the rail
road, and reached Rocky Mount on the 23d, on which day he was
joined by the Twentieth Corps. Kilpatrick followed and demonstrated
on Charlotte, to which point Beauregard had retreated from Columbia,
and where he was expecting to be joined by Cheatham's Corps of
Hood's old army. The rains continued very heavy until the 26th,
when the Twentieth Corps was at Catawba waiting for the Fourteenth
Corps to cross the Catawba. In the mean time the right wing had
destroyed the railroad to Winnsboro', and thence moved upon Cheraw,
whence a force was sent to burn the bridge over the Wateree, at
Camden, and another to Florence, with a view of breaking up the
railroad between that place and Charleston. The latter was beaten
back by the enemy's horse. On the 3d of March the Seventeenth
Corps entered Cheraw, the enemy retreating across the Pedee.
While these events were occurring, the proceedings of the rebel
Congress had begun to give signs of the speedy dissolution of the
" Confederacy." The want of men was urgent, and the question of
arming slaves was warmly discussed. Much dissatisfaction with the
Government and the leading generals had sprung up, and the finances
were in a deplorable condition. Continued disaster had at last
brought the Executive into a degree of despair from which nothing
seemed likely to rescue it. In accordance with a resolution of the
rebel Congress, and as a last means of making head against the rapidly
advancing armies of the Union, Jefferson Davis had appointed General
Lee to the chief command of the entire military force. Lee's order
announcing that he assumed this post is dated February 9th. General
Joseph E. Johnston, between whom and Jefferson Davis a deep
animosity had long existed, had been virtually retired from the army
after the fall of Atlanta. Public opinion so strongly demanded his
restoration that Davis was forced to yield, and he was reinstated, and
placed in immediate command of the forces opposed to Sherman, in
the place of Beauregard, who wrote to the rebel President that the
general sentiment of the public, and particularly that of the Army
ofthe Tennessee, was so urgent for Johnston's restoration to command
that he was induced to join his wish to theirs ; but he did not wish

HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 713
to be removed from his present field of operations, but preferred to
serve under his old comrade. Johnston's order assuming the command
ofthe " Army of the Tennessee, and all the troops in the Departments
of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida," is dated at Charlotte, North
Carolina, February 25th, when it was too late for him, or perhaps any
general living, with the means then at his disposal, to oppose the prog
ress of Sherman.
The movement of Sherman was continued without delay upon Fay
etteville, North Carolina, on the Cape Fear River, which point was
reached March llth by the Fourteenth and Seventeenth Corps, after
skirmishing with Wade Hampton's Cavalry, that covered the rear of
Hardee's retreating army, which had crossed Cape Fear River, burning
the bridge. During the march from the Pedee, KUpatrick had kept
his cavalry well on the left and exposed flank. During the night of
the 9th of March, his three brigades were divided to picket the roads.
Hampton, detecting this, dashed in at daylight, and gained possession
of the camp of Colonel Spencer's Brigade, and the house in which KU
patrick arid Spencer had their quarters. The surprise was complete,
but Kilpatriok quickly succeeded in rallying his men, on foot, in a
swamp near by, and, by a prompt attack, well followed up, regained
his artillery, horses, camp, and every thing save some prisoners whom
the enemy carried off, leaving their dead on the ground. Several days
Were spent in Fayetteville destroying property. The array tug David
son here came up the river from Wilmington, and carried back dis
patches from Sherman to Terry and Schofield. The gunboat .JSolus
also arrived at Fayetteville.
At this time Johnston, the old antagonist of Sherman, had begun to
get his forces well in hand, and to concentrate them at Raleigh, on
Sherman's flank. Beauregard, falling back from Columbia, had been
re-enforced by Cheatham's Corps from the West, and the garrison of
Augusta, and ample time had been given to move these troops to
Raleigh. Hardee had also succeeded in getting across Cape Fear
River, and could therefore complete the junction with the other rebel
troops in North Carolina. The whole, under the command of the skil
ful and experienced Johnston, made up an army superior to Sherman's
in cavalry, and formidable enough in artillery and infantry to justify
him in extreme caution in making the last step necessary to complete
the march he had undertaken. He could no longer move at will with
an overwhelming force, regardless of the enemy.
KUpatrick was ordered to move up the plankroad to and beyond
Averysboro', to be followed by four divisions of the left wing. In
like manner, Howard was ordered to hold four divisions ready to go
to the aid of the left wing if attacked while in motion. The columns
moved out from Cape Fear River on Wednesday, the 15th of March.
Slocum, preceded by Kilpatrick's Cavalry, moved to Kyle's Landing,
KUpatrick skirmishing heavily with the enemy's rear-guard about three
miles beyond, near Taylor's Hole Creek. At Kilpatrick's request, Slo
cum sent forward a brigade of infantry to hold a line of barricades.
Next morning the column advanced in the same order, and developed
the enemy, with artillery, infantry, and cavalry, in an intrenched posi-

714 HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
tion, in front of the point where the road branches off towards Golds
boro', through Bentonville.
Hardee, with twelve thousand men, in retreating from Fayetteville,
halted in the narrow swampy neck between Cape Fear and South
Rivers, in hopes, by checking Sherman, to save time for the concentra
tion of Johnston's armies at some point to his rear, namely, Raleigh,
Smithfield, or Goldsboro'. It was necessary to dislodge him, that we
have the use of the Goldsboro' road. Slocum was therefore ordered
to press and carry the position, only difficult by reason of the nature
of the ground, which was so soft that horses would sink everywhere,
and even men could hardly make their way over the common pine
barren. The Twentieth Corps, Williams, had the lead, and Ward's Division
the advance. This was deployed, and the skirmish line developed the
position of, a brigade of Charleston heavy artillery armed as infantry
(Rhett' s) posted across the road behind a light parapet, with a battery
of guns enfilading the approach across a cleared field. Williams sent
a brigade (Case's) by a circuit to his left, that turned this line, and by
a quick charge broke the brigade, which rapidly retreated back to a
second line, better built and more strongly held. A battery of artillery
(Winniger's), well posted, under the immediate direction of Major
Reynolds, Chief of Artillery ofthe Twentieth Corps, did good execution
on the retreating brigade, and, on advancing Ward's Division over
this ground, Williams captured three guns and two hundred and seven
teen prisoners. As Ward's Division advanced, he developed a second
and stronger line, when Jackson's Division was deployed forward on
the right of Ward, and the two divisions of Jeff. C. Davis's (Four
teenth) Corps on the left, well towards the Cape Fear. At the same
time, KUpatrick, who was acting in concert with Williams, was ordered
to draw back his cavalry and mass it on the extreme right, and, in
concert with Jackson's right, to feel forward for the Goldsboro' road.
He got a brigade on the road, but it was attacked by McLaws's rebel
division furiously, and was driven back to the flank of the infantry.
The whole line advanced late in the afternoon, drove the enemy well
within his intrenched line, and pressed him so hard that he retreated
during the night to Smithfield. Slocum reported his aggregate loss in
this affair, known as that of Averysboro', at twelve oflicers and sixty-
five men killed, and four hundred and seventy-seven Wounded. Leav
ing Ward's Division to keep up a show Of pursuit, Slocum's column
was turned to the right; built a bridge across the swollen South River,
and took the Goldsboro' road.
In the mean time, Howard's column was moving towards Goldsboro',
vid Bentonville, and on the night of the 18th was at Lee's Store, ten
miles south of Slocum, who was on the road, five miles from Benton
ville, and twenty-seven miles from Goldsboro', at a point crossed by
the road from Clinton to Smithfield. General Sherman, anticipating no
further opposition from the enemy, directed Howard to move his right
wing by the new Goldsboro' road, which goes by way of Falling
Creek Church. General Slocum's head of column had advanced from
its camp of March 18th, and first encountered Dibbrell's Cavalry, but

HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.

715

soon found his progress impeded by infantry and artillery. Johnston
had moved by night from Smithfield, with great rapidity, and without
unnecessary wheels, intending to overwhelm the left flank before it
could be relieved by its co-operating columns.
The enemy attacked the head of the Union column, gaining a_ tem
porary advantage, and took three guns and caissons of Carlin's Division,
driving the two leading brigades back on the main body. Slocum
promptly deployed ihe two divisions of the Fourteenth Corps, and
rapidly brought up on their left the two divisions of the Twentieth
Corps. These he arranged on the defensive, and hastily prepared a
line of barricades. KUpatrick also came up at the sound of artillery,
and massed on the left. In this position the left wing received six dis
tinct assaults by the combined forces of Hoke, Hardee, and Cheatham,
under the immediate command of General Johnston himself, without
giving an inch of ground, and doing good execution on the enemy's
ranks, especially with artillery, the enemy having little or none.
General Sherman, immediately on receipt of a dispatch from Slocum,
sent him orders to caU up the two divisions guarding his wagon trains,
and Hazen's Division of the Fifteenth Corps, still back near Lee's
Store, to fight defensively until he could draw up Blair's Corps, then '
near Mount Olive Station, and with the three remaining divisions of
the Fifteenth Corps come upon Johnston's left rear from the direction of
Cox's Bridge. At the same time he received couriers from both Scho
field and Terry. The former reported himself in possession of Kinston,
delayed somewhat by want of provisions, but able to march so as to
make Goldsboro' on the 21st, and Terry was at or nearFaison's Dep6t.
Orders were at once dispatched to Schofield to push for Goldsboro', and
to make dispositions to cross Little River, in the direction of Smith-
field, as far as Millard ; to Terry to move to Cox's Bridge, lay a pontoon
bridge, and establish a crossing ; and to Blair to make a night-march
to Falling Creek Church ; and at daylight, the right wing, Howard, less
the necessary wagon guards, was put in rapid motion on Bentonville.
At daybreak on the morning of the 20th, Hazen's Division of the
Fifteenth Corps, Geary's of the Twentieth Corps, and Baird's of the
Fourteenth. Corps, reported oU the field, having marched all night, from
the new Goldsboro' road, where the trains were moving. Howard,
with Logan's and Blair's Corps, came up on the right, by way of Cox's
Bridge, and on moving forward the Fifteenth Corps, General Logan,
found that the enemy had thrown back his left flank, and had con
structed a line of parapet connecting with that towards Slocum, in the
form of a bastion, its salient on the main Goldsboro' road, interposing
between Slocum on the west and Howard on the east, while the flanks
rested on Mill Creek, covering the road back to Smithfield. Howard
was instructed to proceed with due caution until he had made strong
connection on his left with Slocum.. This he soon accomplished, and,
by four p. m. of the 20th, a complete and strong line of battle con
fronted the enemy in his intrenched position. Sherman ordered all
empty wagons to be sent at once to Kinston for supplies, and all other
impediments to be grouped near the Neuse, south of Goldsboro', hold
ing the rebel army in close contact with the enemy, ready to" fight him
if he ventured outside his parapets and swampy obstructions.

716 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
Thus matters stood about Benton vUle on 21st of March. On the
same day, General Schofield entered Goldsboro' with little or no oppo
sition, and Terry had got possession of the Neuse River at Cox's
Bridge, ten miles above, with a pontoon bridge laid, and a brigade
across, so that the three armies were in actual connection, and the
great object of the campaign was accomplished.
On the 21st, a steady rain prevailed, during which Mower's Division
of the Seventeenth Corps, on the extreme right,, had worked well to
the right around the enemy's flank, and had nearly reached the bridge
across Mill Creek, the only line of retreat open to the enemy. Of
course, there was extreme danger that the enemy would turn on him
all his reserves, and, it might be, let go his parapets to overwhelm
Mower. Accordingly, Sherman ordered at once a general attack by
the skirmish line from left to right. Quite a noisy battle ensued,
during which Mower was enabled to regain his connection with his
own corps, by moving to his left rear. That night the enemy retreated
on Smithfield.
The losses of the left wing about Bentonville were nine oflicers and
one hundred and forty-five men killed, fifty-one officers and eight hun
dred and sixteen men wounded, and three officers and two hundred and
twenty-three men missing, taken prisoners by the enemy ; total, one
thousand two hundred and forty-seven. Slocum buried on the field one
hundred and sixty-seven rebel dead, and took three hundred and thirty-
eight prisoners.
General Howard reported the losses ofthe right wing at two officers
and thirty-five men kiUed, twelve officers and two hundred and eighty-
nine men wounded, and one officer and sixty men missing; totak
three hundred and ninety-nine. He also buried one hundred dead of
the enemy, and took one thousand^ two hundred and eighty-seven
prisoners. The cavalry of KUpatrick was held in reserve, and lost but
few, if any. Our aggregate loss at Bentonville was one thousandsix
hundred and forty-six.
Thus the 21st of March found Sherman in virtual^ possession of
Goldsboro', the real objective of the campaign, together with its two
railroads to Wilmington and Beaufort, which large working parties were
then putting in complete repair. In spite of a desperate enemy in his
front, and of roads rendered nearly impassable by an almost unpreee-
dentedly wet season, the army had, with inconsiderable loss, moved, in
two months' time, through the heart of the Confederacy, thoroughly
destroying the railroads between Goldsboro' and Savannah, and were
now prepared to enjoy, in the camps assigned to them around Golds
boro', a period of much-needed rest, and an opportunity "to replenish
their wornout clothing and equipments. The following congratula
tory order by General Sherman announced the result of his campaign : — •
"Head-Quarters Military Division of the Mississippi,)
"In the Field, near Bentonville, N. C, [•
"March 22, 1865. )
"SPECIAL FIELD ORDERS — No. 35.
" The General Commanding announces to the army that yesterday it beat, on its chosen
ground, the concentrated armies of our enemy, who has fled in disorder, leaving his
dead, wounded, and prisoners in our hands, and burning his bridges on his retreat.

HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 717
"On the same day, Major-General Schofield, from Newbem, entered and occupied
Goldsboro', and Major-General Terry, from Wilmington, secured Cox's Bridge crossing,
and laid a pontoon bridge across Neuse River, so that our campaign has re ulted in a
glorious success. After a march of the most extraordinary character, nearly five hun
dred miles, over swamps and rivers deemed impassable to others, at the most inclement
season of the year, and drawing our chief supplies from a poor and wasted country,
we reach our destination in good health and condition.
"I thank the army, and assure it that our Government and people honor them for this
new display of the physical and moral qualities which reflect honor upon the whole
nation. "You shall now have rest, and all the supplies that can be brought from the rich
granaries and store-houses of our magnificent country, before again embarking on new
and untried dangers. ,
"W. T. Sherman, Major-General Commanding."

CHAPTER LXXV.
Grant's Preparations for a Final Movement. — Rebel Attack on Fort Steadman. — Disas
trous Repulse. — Object of Lee. — Movement on the Left Commenced.— Affair of
Quaker Road. — Heavy Fighting on Boydton Road. — Decisive Battle of Five Forks.
— Rebel Left Turned.— Assault on Petersburg. — Evacuation of Petersburg and Rich
mond. — Pursuit of Lee. — His Surrender to Grant. — End of Campaign.
As March approached its close, preparations began to be made by
Grant for that grand movement on the enemy's right, his chief vulner
able point, which was to give us possession of Petersburg and Rich
mond, capture or destroy the army of Lee, and end the war by a
single blow. The sorely tried Army ofthe Potomac, so often defeated
and disappointed, but never dishonored, was about at last to reap the
fruit of all its exertions, and to redeem the promise of its early prime.
Anticipating that the decisive moment was at hand, and dreading the
battle which Grant with superior forces was about to offer him, Lee
had already commenced preparations to evacuate Petersburg and Rich
mond, and move southward to effect a junction with Johnston. To
cover this movement he organized a night attack upon the Union
lines in front of Petersburg — a desperate expedient, certainly, consider
ing their strength, but the only one which under the circumstances was
practicable. Grant had anticipated the evacuation, and had taken
means to prevent the escape of the rebel army. Meanwhile the busy
note of preparation was heard along the Union ¦lines, and frequent
reviews of corps and sub-divisions, which were witnessed by President
Lincoln and a distinguished party of visitors, gave the camps a festive
appearance. At daylight on the 25th of March, Gordon's rebel Corps, consisting
of three divisions, was massed for a charge against our lines, in front
of Fort Steadman, a square fort, covering about an acre of ground,
and carrying nine guns, and supported by mortar batteries, on the
right and left. It was the second regular fort in our line running from
the river, the first being Fort McGilvrey. Just beyond Fort Steadman,
and about three-eighths of a mile distant, was Fort Haskell ; and
between the two were mortar batteries 11 and 12. Simultaneously

718 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
with this disposition of Gordon's Corps, the rest of Lee's army was
arranged to co-operate in an attack farther down towards our left.
Our hnes at this time extended over the enormous distance of thirty
miles, from right to left. The extreme right was terminated by Fort
Harrison, north of the James, on Chapin's Farm, and by the outposts
of Kautz's Cavalry. Thence it crossed the James, and, passing in front
of Bermuda Hundred, crossed the Appomattox, and so extended around
Petersburg as far southwest as the hither bank of Hatcher's Run, on
which the left rested. The Army of the Potomac occupied the whole
of the ground south of the Appomattox, and that ofthe James, under
Ord, the remainder of the Unes. Besides covering his retreat by a
sudden and strong attack,. Lee had an additional object to gain, which
was to break through our lines at Hare's Hill, on which Fort Stead
man was situated, by a bold dash, to turn the guns he should capture
upon us, to wheel his troops to the right and march down the line,
taking Forts HaskeU, Morton, Meikle, and the rest in reverse, strip
ping off the guns and garrisons from the forts and batteries, and threat
ening the whole line. While one column should accomplish this work,
another, in its rear, crossing through the gap, would get upon our
mifitary railroad and destroy it, and perhaps inarch to City Point and
burn our depots and supplies at that point. The seizure of our base
would have effectually cut off the army of Ord from the army of
Meade; and, in short, if successful, the move might have entirely
broken up the famous campaign against Richmond, and have thrown
a new aspect over the war.
At daybreak, Gordon's troops rushed to the attack. The space be
tween the opposing lines was but one hundred and fifty yards wide,
and once having cleared his own abatis, he charged across the inter
val and up the acclivity to Fort Steadman, worked his way through
our abatis, and carried the fort almost instantly.. Our line here was
guarded by McLaughlin's Brigade of Willcox's (First) Division of the
Ninth Corps. In the fort were the Fourteenth New York heavy
artillery, and so skilfully and boldly was this assault executed, that
the garrison, numbering about five hundred men, was captured with
scarcely a show_ of resistance. The enemy at once turned the cap
tured guns against the rest of the line, and speedUy occupied mor
tar batteries 9, 10, and 11, adjoining Fort Steadman. His onward
rush, however, was now checked by Fort Haskell, and the rest of Will
cox's Division having been rallied, a stubborn resistance began to
be offered to him. At this juncture Hartranft's Third Division of
the Ninth Corps came up to the support of Willcox, and our batteries
from all quarters were massed upon Fort Steadman. A tremendous
cannonade burst from our artUlery, to which the enemy replied briskly
from the guns he had captured. Under the terrific fire, Hartranft's
Division pressed up towards the captured fort to retake it. The
enemy at first resisted obstinately, and checked Hartranft's progress,
inflicting on the latter a loss of nearly two hundred men killed and
wounded. But soon the concentrated fire of our artillery, and the
determined advance of Hartranft on all sides, were too much for him.
He fell back into the fort, and then beyond the fort, down the hUl,

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 719
leaving all the guns he had captured, and endeavored to regain his own
lines. But our own guns opened upon him with such severity as to
prevent a large part of the retreating force from escaping from the
fort, and seventeen hundred and fifty-eight prisoners fell into our
hands. The enemy's total loss at this point could not have been less
than two thousand five hundred. Our own loss was a little over nine
hundred. The enemy did not fight with his accustomed fierceness.
Many of the rebel soldiers were only too glad to be captured, and
many, breaking through all rules of discipline, began to plunder the
officers' quarters in the captured fort, thus preventing such a following
up of their first success as was essential to a final victory.
By ten a. m. the fighting in front of Fort Steadman was over, but
the Second and Sixth Corps were now under arms, in anticipation of
an attack upon our left ; and with a view of reaping some advantages
from the enemy's signal repulse by Hartranft, they were at eleven
o'clock pushed out against the rebel intrenched picket lines, which
extended some distance beyond their main line of works. The move
ment was entirely successful, and although the enemy made desperate
efforts in the afternoon to drive our troops from the captured intrench
ments, night closed upon our lines stUl advanced. The following are
extracts from General Meade's congratulatory order :—
"The Major-General Commanding announces fcethe army the success of the oper
ations of yesterday.
" The enemy, with a temerity for which he has paid dearly, massed his forces,, and
succeeded, through the reprehensible want of vigilance of the Third > Brigade, First
Division, Ninth Corps, in breaking through our lines, capturing Fort Steadman, and
batteries 9, 10, and 11.
" The prompt measures taken by Major-General Parke, the firm bearing of the troops
of the Ninth Corps in the adjacent portions of the line held by the enemy, and the
conspicuous gallantry of the Third Division of this corps, for the first time under fire,
together with the energy and skill displayed by Brigadier-General Hartranft, its leader,
quickly repaired this disaster; and the enemy were driven from Fort Steadman and
our lines, with heavy losses in killed and wounded, leaving in our hands eight battle-
flags and over nineteen hundred prisoners.
" The enemy being driven from the front of the Ninth Corps, the offensive was
assumed by the Sixth and Second Corps ; the enemy by night was driven from his in
trenched picket line, and all his efforts to recover the same, which were particularly
determined and persistent on the Second Corps' front, were resisted and repulsed
with heavy losses, leaving with the Sixth Corps over four hundred prisoners, and with
the Second Corps two battle-flags and over three hundred prisoners.
* * m * * « * * * *
"The result of the day was the thorough defeat of the enemy's plans, the capture
of his strongly intrenched picket line under the artillery fire of his main works, and
the capture of ten battle-flags and about two thousand eight hundred prisoners — a
result on which the Major-General Commanding heartily congratulates the army.
" Two lessons can be learned from these operations : one, that no fortified line, how
ever strong, will protect an army from an intrepid and audacious enemy, unless
vigilantly guarded; the other, that no disaster or misfortune is irreparable, where
energy and bravery are displayed in the determination to recover what is lost and to
promptly assume the offensive.
"The Major-General Commanding trusts these lessons will not be lost on this army.
The total loss of the enemy in the feveral encounters of the 25th
must have reached five thousand ; that of the Union army was offi
cially stated at two thousand three hundred and ninety.

720 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
The design of Lee to evacuate Petersburg and Richmond was now
so apparent, that Sheridan was hurried forward to the left of our lines,
where he arrived on the 26th. It was Grant's object to strike the ene
my before he should succeed in getting away from his capital. On
the morning of the 29th the army was at last in motion, the movement
which it was about to undertake being a simple repetition of what it
had many times before fruitlessly attempted, viz., to turn the enemy's
right by overlapping it, and t® seize the Southside Railroad. The Sec
ond and Fifth Corps with the cavalry under Sheridan were selected
for the flanking movement, the Sixth and Ninth Corps remaining in
their works untU the time should come for them to co-operate ; and
in order tch preserve the lines in front of Petersburg intact,' the works
evacuated by the Second and Fifth Corps were immediately filled
by detachments from the Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth Corps, com
prising the Army of the James, under General Ord, drawn from the
extreme right of our lines.
At six a. m. of the 29th, Sheridan, with his command divided into
two wings, the right under Crook and the left under Merritt, pro
ceeded by the Jerusalem plankroad to Reams's Station, on the Wel
don road, and thence to Dinwiddie, which was reached on the same
day. Meanwhile, the advance by the Second and Fifth Corps was
progressing favorably. The Sixth Corps had its left on Hatcher's Run.
The Second Corps, extending down the run from the left of the Sixth,
formed a line nearly at right angles with it to the crossing of the
Vaughan road. The Fifth Corps was in reserve, extending in rear of
the Sixth, at a right angle from the left of the Second. At three
o'clock on the morning of the 29th the Fifth and Second advanced
towards Dinwiddie. The Fifth Corps crossed Hatcher's Run without
opposition, and moved along the old stage-road towards Dinwiddie
until the Quaker road was reached, when it turned to the right. At
about nine o'clock, a connection was formed between the left of Miles's
Division of the Second Corps and the right of the Fifth Corps, the
line of the latter extending across the Quaker road and within two
or three miles of Dinwiddie Court-House. At Gravelly Run, the Fifth
Corps encountered opposition for the first time. Very soon our troops
were drawn up in position, awaiting attack. The preparations were
soon completed, and, at about half-past three o'clock in the afternoon,
Bushrod Johnson's Division of Anderson's Corps came down and
attacked our skirmishers, Sickles's Brigade of Griffin's Division.
The Fifth Corps was now on the Quaker road. The enemy soon
drove in our skirmishers and burst with great fury upon Griffin's Divi
sion, threatening to overwhelm it, but Crawford and Ayres coming into
position, he withdrew, after a sharp skirmish, with a Iosb of about five
hundred. That of the Fifth Corps was not less. On the morning of
March 30th the Fifth occupied a position near the junction of the
Quaker and Boydton roads. The Second Corps, on the right of the
Fifth, had rested its right on Hatcher's Run. A portion of the Twenty-
fourth Corps was on its right, with the two divisions of the Twenty-
fifth on the right of the latter. The Sixth and Ninth Corps were to
the right of the Twenty-fifth. Early in the morning, Sheridan connected

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 721,
his right with Warren's left, near the Boydton plankroad. The enemy
was found to have a very strong line of intrenchments already erected
to cover the position known as Five Forks. His right was com
manded by Anderson, and Pickett's Division of Anderson's Corps held
the extreme right. His intrenchments completely covered the White
Oak road, which runs from the Boydton road to the Southside Raik
road. From the White Oak road up towards Hatcher's Run the ene
my's troops were in strong force., He baffled all our attempts on
Thursday, the 30th, to turn him by cavalry, as his works, manned by
infantry, checked us at all points.
During the day the Fifth Corps pushed on nearly due west about
three-foUrths of a mile, and lay fronting northward, with the pickets of
Ayres's Division within five hundred yards of the White Oak road, at
a point between two and three miles west of its intersection with the
Boydton road. On the right of the Fifth Corps lay the Second, which
now had its right near Hatcher's Run, while its left rested on the
Boydton plankroad, near Burgess's , Tavern, about one mile south of
the bridge across Hatcher's Run. Sheridan continued to cover our left
flank, and remained at Dinwiddie.
On Friday, the 31st, began a movement having for its object the pos
session ofthe strategic, position known as Five Forks. The success of
the movement would involve the turning of the enemy's flank. At
this point five roads meet in the woods, and as three of them lead back
to the Southside Railroad, the carrying of the junction would give us
a choice of advance towards the railroad. The White Oak road
at this point was thoroughly fortified with logs and earth, its ap
proaches blocked by felled trees, and sharpshooters stationed to contest
any advance. Early on Friday morning the Fifth Corps began by a left
flank movement to advance upon the White Oak road, Ayres having
the advance. The. enemy fell back, skirmishing, upon his main works,
a mile and a half below White Oak road, whence he delivered a fire
which compelled Ayres's Division to break and fall to the rear. _ The
enemy immediately rallied from his works and charged Ayres's Division,
with air his old elan. Our troops resisted stubbornly, and suffered
severe losses before they would yield. But nothing could resist the
impetuous onset of the enemy's columns, which, handled with great
skill, swept the field. Crawford, next attacked, followed the fate of
Ayres, and Griffin followed the fate of Crawford. The whole Fifth
Corps was driven back to the Boydton road, and anxiety was at once
thrown over the grand movement.
Meanwhile, the enemy, having driven back our infantry advance so
far, turned his forces towards the task of cutting off the cavalry. The
failure of the Fifth Corps to advance greatly exposed the cavalry,, and
checked the intended movement on Five Forks. About noon the ene
my attacked the cavalry, and by five o'clock had driven them also, back
several miles to the Boydton road.
But now he had encountered our entire force. Merritt's troops were
re-formed, and Custer's Division, with Capehart on the left and Pen
nington on the right, held a firm position. The enemy, who had been
re-enforced with a part of Pickett's and Johnson's Divisions— the troops
46

722 HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
employed against the Fifth Corps — came down with a furious charge,
cheering and gallantly advancing. Very hard fighting took place here.
But our artillery in position and our very large force of cavalry now
rallied, and eventually forced him to desist. A few desperate charges
left our men immovable, and the enemy, well content with his day's
work, drew off to the woods. Our forces immediately intrenched.-*
Meantime the Fifth Corps, having re-formed again, advanced as the
enemy retired. Following up the advance, they carried an earthwork,
and took position on the White Oak road, east of Five Forks. Si
multaneous With this movement, the Second Corps swung forward in
support, followed by the Twenty-fourth Corps, the troops making a
general advance of ab»ut three-fourths of a mile. The results of the
day were, upon the whole, a success to the enemy. He. had. driven us
back from our advanced positions and had foiled our plans. Thanks,
however, to our well-served batteries and preponderance in numbers,
he had been checked in turn. The Federal losses were about three thou
sand. The enemy's loss was less severe, and included several hundred
prisoners. The left flank of the Federal army was now atDabney's, on
the White Oak road, three-fourths of a mile from Five Forks, and
held the road one mile eastward, from which point the line ran in an
irregular semicircle to the Second Corps near Burgess's Farm. The
troops were busy all night erecting works, and at four o'clock on the
morning of Saturday, the 1st of April, three brigades of Hill's Corps
charged the Twenty-fourth Corps, which, being taken by surprise, im
mediately broke to the rear, and the enemy planted his colors on the
works. The men were, however, soon rallied, and drove the enemy
out. Heavy skirmishing ensued for several hours. Our loss was small.
Soon afterwards the grand movements of the day commenced.
Upon hearing of the disaster of Friday, Grant had placed Sheridan
in command of all the cavalry and also ofthe Fifth Corps, so that he now
controlled upward of thirty thousand men. This large force was su
perior to:any thing the enemy could oppose to it at Fiv^e Forks from his
long line, reaching from Petersburg to Dinwiddie. The plan of Sher
idan was 'to penetrate the enemy's lines so as to envelop Five Forks
and capture it. The cavalry started for their appointed positions at
daybreak of Saturday, Custer and Devin slowly driving the enemy to
wards the left of their works on the White Oak road. These divisions
now dismounted, and fought with carbines. "The brigades of Gregg
and Mackenzie were kept in the saddle, so as to move rapidly on the
flank ofthe enemy. In this way Sheridan worked his men steadily up
to the enemy's intrenchments on all sides. The enemy fill slowly back
through the broken country to his m.iin position, delivering a terrific
fire upon our men, who fell in great numbers. Still, however, Sheridan
kept his men up to their work, and gradually got all his forces well into
position, with a division or more upon the enemy's flank and rear, and
the rest of his troops pressing slowly and with much loss upon the
front of the works. Afthree o'clock the Fifth Corps, which was on the
road towards Ford's Station, was ordered to advance on the right and
support the -cavalry. The enemy fell back stubbornly for some distance,
andthen made a decisive stand. Strongly intrenched, and with abut-

HISTOEY OF THE GREAT EEBELLION. 723
tery in position, they raked the advancing columns of Griffin, Warren
being superseded by order of Sheridan, leading the Fifth Corps on the
right and the cavalry on the left. Several times the blinding sheets of
fire which poured from the rebel works were too much for the men,
and they staggered back appalled. Their high courage, however, did
not fail to tell in the long run. Encouraged by Sheridan, who was by
turns in all parts ofthe' field, cheering and exhorting, they rushed on
again and again, until the enemy, surrounded and exhausted, could no
longer drive back the assailants that swarmed over his works. He
finally gave way, and Sheridan's forces rushed in. After another fierce
struggle the position was ours, and Sheridan, stood, at half-past one
o'clock, p. m., upon the blood-stained works, master of from four thou
sand to six thousand prisoners, eight guns, and several thousand mus
kets, having sustained a loss of about thirty-five hundred dead and
wounded. Sheridan being thus in possession of the works on the enemy's
right, at four o'clock on the morning of Sunday, April 2d, orders for
the assault of Petersburg were issued. The troops had been held in
readiness for the movement since Sheridan's first advance on the left.
The loss of his position on the extreme right had forced upon the
rebel general the necessity of abandoning Petersburg. It also enabled
General Grant to shorten and greatly re-enforce his lines, so that the
environment of Petersburg upon the south side was perfect, and so
strong as to repel any attempt of the enemy to break through. The
extension ofthe left across the Southside road sealed the fate of Peters
burg, and rendered it valuable to the enemy only as an outpost to
Richmond. Lee consequently prepared to withdraw his army from
Petersburg. At four o'clock, however, on Sunday morning, the Sec
ond, Sixth, and Ninth Corps were formed for the attack, the Sixth
being in front of Forts Welch and Fisher. The Second Corps was in
advance, with its three divisions arranged in numerical order from
right to left. A portion of the Twenty-fourth Corps was brought up
in support of the Sixth. While the formation was going on, a terrific
cannonade showered missiles upon the columns. It was early dawn
when the troops pushed forward. Getty aud Wheaton, of the Sixth
Corps, after being once checked by the terrific fire of the enemy,
rushed forward again, and carried the two forts in their front, while
Seymour, after a sharp fight, broke through to the Southside Railroad,
and commenced tearing it up. Here he found the Twenty-fourth
Corps, which, between the Sixth and Second, had been equally fortu
nate. The right division of the Second Corps and the two divisions of
the Twenty-fourth had captured about one thousand prisoners and many
guns, and carried the works up to the railroad. The whole line was
now swung in towards Petersburg, the Twenty-fourth marching in to
the support of the Sixth, and Wheaton pressing over to the aid ofthe
Ninth. The enemy, from a strong position in the rear of the captured
forts, opened a hot and destructive fire upon our men, but, after a hard
struggle, succumbed, their leader, A. P. Hill, being kUled, with many
of his officers. By eleven o'clock the hardest fighting was done, and,
with brief pause, our lines were onto more gathered up, and the

724 HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
Twenty-fourth,: Second, and Sixth Corps once more formed for a final
attack on Petersburg. The battle raged through the afternoon. At
night, the Sixth Corps rested its left close to the Appomattox, south of
the city. It had captured about two thousand prisoners, and about
twenty guns.
During the attack of the Sixth Corps, the Ninth, on the right, ad*
vaneed against Fort Mahone, one of the strongest positions on the
enemy's Unes, which had been weakened, however, in order to resist
the advance of Sheridan. After a desperate struggle, Fort Mahone
and neighboring works, carrying fourteen guns, were taken. But the
position was too important to be so sacrificed. Commanding Fort
Mahone was an interior work, from which the enemy opened a murder
ous fire on bur troops. The latter advanced to carry the new position,
but were repeatedly driven back with great loss. Hill's troops then
charged in turn to retake Fort Mahone, and, by the desperate valor of
his few troops,, nearly succeeded in doing so. But, fortunately, the
Sixth Corps now coming up on the left; once more the enemy were
driven back, and the Ninth Corps held the position. At the close of
the fight, the enemy had lost, perhaps, not more than half as many as
we in killed and wounded, as our troops had charged elaborate breast
works under a galling fire — works so strong that, had not their gar
risons been fatally weakened by the necessity of sending troops against
Sheridan, they might never have been carried by storm.
The results of the conflict bad been anticipated by Lee, who on Sun
day afternoon began transporting troops to Richmond, and thence be
yond. On Monday morning both cities were found to be evacuated.
General Weitzel, temporarily commanding the Army of the James,
learned at three a.m. that Richmond was being evacuated, and at day
light moved forward, first taking care to give his men breakfast, in the
expectation that they might have to fight. He met no opposition, and
on entering the city was greeted, with hearty welcome from the mass
of the people. The mayor went out to meet him and to surrender the
city, but missed him on the road. General Weitzel found much suffer
ing and poverty among the population, who numbered only about
twenty thousand, half of them of African descent. Previous to evacu
ating the city the enemy fired it. All the business part of Main Street
,was destroyed, and also the bridges over the river.
Weitzel took one thousand prisoners, besides the wounded, who
numbered five thousand, in nine hospitals. He captured cannon to the
number of at least five hundred pieces. Five thousand muskets were
found in one lot, also thirty locomotives and three hundred cars. All
the rebel vessels bad been destroyed except an unfinished ram. The
Tredegar Works were unharmed, and the machinery was taken under
General Weitzel's orders. Libby Prison and Castle Thunder, which
had escaped the fires, were immediately filled, with rebel prisoners of
war. ,
Meantime, on the morning of the 3d, Sheridan, pressed the pursuit.
Lee, in retreating from Richmond, reached Amelia Court-House on the
4th, and ou the 5th Sheridan was at Jettersville, whence he sent word
to Grant that he could see no escape for Le& The cavalry and the

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 725
Fifth Corps lay across the railroad, and in the rear was the Second
Corps, with the Sixth supporting. The two last were under General
Meade. On the 4th, two divisions of the Ninth Corps marched from
Petersburg to Ford's Station, on the Southside road, about twenty
miles west of Petersburg. On the 5th it started again, and, stUl mov
ing on the Cox road, towards Burkesville, along the railroad, camped
at night at WellesvUle, twenty-one miles distant from the latter point.
The next day, the 6th, it pressed on along the same road, and en
camped at night about ten miles from Burkesville, with one brigade
ofthe Second Division thrown forward to the junction.
._ Thus on the night of the 5th the army lay in line of battle, stretch
ing across three or four miles of country, and facing substantially
northward. Custer's Division of cavalry lay on the right flank, and
McKenzie's on the left. The infantry line was formed with the Sixth
Corps on the right, the Fifth in 'the centre, and the Second on the left.
On the 6th began our final manoeuvres. The Sixth Corps was trans
ferred from the right to the left, and the whole army had, before noon,
marched about five miles in the direction of Amelia Court-House. Soon
after moving, trustworthy intelligence was received that the enemy was
moving towards Farmville1.
The direction of the Second and Fifth Corps was immediately
changed from a northerly to a northwesterly direction, the directing
corps, the Second, moving on Deatonville, while the Fifth, heretofore
in the centre, moved on the right of the Second, and the Sixth, facing
about and moving by the left flank, took position on the left of the
Second. The cavalry were directed to operate on the extreme left.
The. charges were promptly made, the Second Corps soon becoming
engaged with the enemy near Deatonville, driving him across Sailor's
Creek to the Appomattox. The Fifth Corps made a long march, but
its position prevented its striking the enemy's column before it had
passed. The Sixth Corps came up with the enemy about four p. m.,
and, in conjunction with the Second on its right, and cavalry on its
left, attacked and routed the enemy, capturing many prisoners, among
them Lieutenant-General Ewell and General Custis Lee.
After this defeat, Lee retired upon Barnesville, sixteen miles west
of Burkesville. Here he was sharply engaged, on the 7th, by the
Second Corps, and, after inflicting some loss, again retired across the
Appomattox at High Bridge, where he captured some troops stationed
there to hold the bridge, which he destroyed, and retreated upon
Lynchburg. The position of Lee was now hopeless. His army had
dwindled to a small force, and this was now almost surrounded by
troops greatly superior in numbers and flushed with victory. Han
cock's column had left Winchester on the 4th, for a march up the
Shenandoah Valley, well equipped and in good spirits, and ready to
seize Lvnchburg; but their services were not required. Stoneman s
column "had already reached Boone, North Carolina, and would have
aided in the capture of Lee's army, were not Sherman's grand army
already advancing in overwhelming numbers upon Johnston's army,
and the hour of surrender had struck. On the 7th April, after the
battle of Barnesville, Grant opened correspondence as follows:—

726 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.

GENERAL GRANT TO GENERAL LEE.

" April 1.

" General R. E. Lee, Commanding C. S. A. : \ .
" General :— The result of the last week must convince you of the hopelessness of
further resistance on the part of the Army of Northern Virginin in this struggle.. I
feel that it is so, and regard it as my duty to shift from myself the responsibility of
any further effusion of blood, by asking of you the surrender of that portion of the
C. S. army known as the Army of Northern Virginia.
" Very respectfully, your obedient servant, "U.S. Grant,
" Lieutenant- General Commanding Armies of the United States."
n.
GENEBAL LEE TO GENERAL GRANT. " April 1.
"General: — I have received your note of this date. Though not entirely of the ,
opinion you express of the hopelessness of further resistance on the part of the Army
Of Northern Virginia, I reciprocate your desire to avoid useless effusion of blood, and
therefore, before considering your proposition, ask the terms you will oner, on condition
of its surrender. " K. E. Lee, General.
" To Lieutenant-General TJ. S. Geakt, Commanding Armies of the United States."

GENERAL GRANT TO GENERAL LEE. "AprilS.
" To General R. E. Lee, Commanding Confederate States Army :
" General: — Your note of last evening, in reply to mine of the same date, asking
the conditions on which I will accept the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia,
is just received.
" In reply, I would say that peace being my first desire, there is but one condition
that 1 insist upon, viz. :
" That the men surrendered shall be disqualified for' taking up arms against the Gov
ernment of the United States until properly exchanged.
"I will meet you, or designate officers to meet any oflicers you may name for the
same purpose, at any point agreeable to yon, for the pirpose qf arranging definitely
the terms upon which the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia will be re
ceived. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, "U. S. Grakt,
" Lieutenant-General Commanding ike Armies of the United States."
IV.
GENERAL LEE TO GENERAL GRANT. " April 8.
General: — I received at a late hour your note of to-day in answer to mine of
yesterday. " I did not intend to propose the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia, but
to ask the terms of your proposition. To be frank, 1 do not think the emergency has
arisen to call for the surrender. But as the restoration of peace should be the" sole
object of all, I desire to know whether your proposals would lend to that end.
" I cannot, therefore, meet you with a view to surrender the Army of Northern Vir
ginia, but so far as your proposition may affect the Confederate States forces under my
command, and lend to the restoration of peace, I should be pleased to meet you at ten
A. M., to-morrow, on the old ptnge-road to Eichnioml, between the picket lines of the
two armies. Very respectfully, your obedient servant,, " R. E. Lee,
* " General Confederate States Armies. ,
" To Lieutenant-General Gbant, Commanding Armies of the United States."

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 727

GENERAL GRANT TO GENERAL LEE.
" April 9
"General R. E. Lee, Commanding C S. A. :
"General:— -Your note of yesterday i3 received. As I have no authority to treat
on the subject of peace, the meeting proposed ten A. M., to-day, could lead to no
good. I will state, however, general, that I am equally anxious for peace with your
self; and the whole North entertain the same feeling, The terms upon which peace
can be had are well understood. By the South laying down their arms they will hasten
that most desirable event, save thousands of human lives, and hundreds of millions of
property not yet destroyed.
" Sincerely hoping that all our difficulties may be settled without the loss of another
life, I subscribe myself, very respectfully, your obedient servant, "U.S. Grant,
"Lieutenant-General U. S. A."
VL
GENERAL LEE TO GENERAL GRANT. "April?, 1865.
"General: — I received your note of this morning on the picket line, whither ft had
come to meet you and ascertain definitely what terms were embraced in your proposi
tion of yesterday with reference to the surrender of this army.
" I now request an interview in accordance with the offer contained in your letter of
yesterday for that purpose. Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
" R. E. Lee, General
"To Lieutenant-General Grant, Commanding United States Armies."

GENERAL GRANT TO GENERAL LEE. "Aprils.
" General R. E. Lee, Commanding Confederate States Armies :
"Tour note of this date, is, but this moment (11.50 A. if.) received.
, "In consequence of my having passed from the Richmond and Lynchburg road to
the Farmville and Lynchburg road, lam at this writing about four miles west of
Walter's Church, and will push forward to the front for the purpose of meeting you.
• "Notice sent to me on this road where you wish the interview to take place will
meet me. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, "U. S. Grant, Lieutenant-General."

THE TERMS. " Appomattox Court-House, April 9.
"General R. E.Lee, Commanding C S. A. :
"In accordance with the substance of my letter to you of the 8th instant, I propose
to receive the surrender1 of the Army of Northern Virginia, on the following terms, to
wit: " Rolls of all the officers and men to be made in duplicate, one copy to be given to
an officer designated by me, the other to be retained by such officers as you may

" The officers to give their individual paroles not to tako arms against the United
States until properly exchanged, and each company or regimental commander sign a
like parole for the men of their commands. '
" The arms, artillery, and public property to be packed and stacked, and turned over
to the oflicers appointed by me to receive them. This will not embrace the side-arms
of the.offieers, nor their private horses or baggage.
"This done, each officer and man will be allowed to return to their homes, not to be
disturbed by United States authority so long as they observe their parole and the laws
in force where they may reside. Very respectfully, " u. S. Guant, Lieutenant- General."

728 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
the surrender.
" Head-Quarters Army of Northern Virginia, 1
"April 9, 1865. f
"Lieutenant General U. S. Grant, Commanding U. S. A. :
"General: — I have received your letter of this date, containing the terms of sur
render of the Army of Northern Virginia, as proposed by you ; as they are substanti-
ally the same as those expressed in your letter of the 8th instant, they are accepted.
I will proceed to designate the proper officers to carry the stipulations into effect.
" Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
" R. E. Lee, General."
On Sunday, the 9th day of April, 1865 — a date which will ever
hereafter be memorable - in American annals — in a farm-house near
Appomattox Court-House, the capitulation was signed, by which the
remnant of the once famous army, so often led by Lee to victory or
invasion, passed out of existence. In the ecclesiastical calendar for the
year, this Sunday was known as Palm Sunday — the day which com
memorates the triumphal entry of Christ into Jerusalem. Hereafter it
is destined to be a, patriotic as well as a pious anniversary. The result
was hailed with unbounded delight by the Union soldiers, and for half
an hour or more the air resounded with their cheers, although many
expressed their dissatisfaction, not only at the unprecedented liberality
granted to the rebels, but at the manner in which they were paroled
and allowed to go their way, without our men being permitted to enjoy
the results of their long struggle in the passage through the lines of
Lee and his army. But it was urged that this would have been hu
miliating to General Lee and his oflicers, and that it was not the wish
or desire of the Government or the Union commanders to act toward
them in any way that would tend to irritate their feelings, or make
their position more intolerable than it actually was. During Sunday
night and Monday, large numbers of the rebels, officers as well as pri
vates, made their escape from the lines, and scattered through tho
woods, many of whom returned at once to their homes. Although
Lee probably had upward of fifty thousand men when our forward
movement began, not above eighteen thousand, including teamsters,
hospital men, and camp-followers of all descriptions, were surrendered
by him. As only ten thousand muskets and about thirty pieces of ar
tillery were surrendered, it is fair to presume that the avaUable Tebel
force on April 9th did not exceed fourteen thousand men. Upward
of ten thousand had been killed and wounded in battle, and consider
ably over twenty thousand had been taken prisoners or had deserted.
Our total captures of artillery, during the battles and pursuit, and at
the surrender, amounted to one hundred and seventy pieces.
The •surrender of Lee was followed by the voluntary surrender of
most of the regular troops of the enemy in the Shenandoah. On tho
15th, Lieutenant-Colonel Farrell, of Mosby's command, came, under
flag of truce, to our picket lines on the Kernstown road, and arranged
with General Hancock to surrender the forces of Mosby on the terms
accorded to General Lee, his troops being recognized as a part of
the Army of Northern Virginia. On the 17th, at noon, Mosby sur
rendered his forces to General Chapman, at Berryville, receiving the

HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 729
terms granted to Lee. General Rosser was also permitted to have
his command included in the cartel. The exact number of men in
Mosby's command did not vary much from seven hundred.
With the announcement of the fall of Richmond and Petersburg,
and the capitulation of Lee, the loyal population of the country sur
rendered itself to rejoicing, and it seemed as if one universal jubilee
was being held. Those who had been from the outset in favor of a
vigorous prosecution of the war were not less thankful for the 'speedy
approach of peace than those who had sincerely deprecated hostilities
and advocated peace on principle. Both parties had gained their end j
and both, disregarding for the time the manner in which it had been
gained, were brought into close sympathy. The war party, however,
by the very extravagance of its delight, showed how severe had been
the effort to rema'n true to its often avowed purpose of conquering a
peace. During the advance movement of Grant, President Lincoln
remained at the head-quarters of the latter before Petersburg, a deeply
interested spectator of the closing act of the great drama, which had
been protracted through four years of varying fortunes. A few miles
only separated the two presidents. On Saturday, the 1st of April, was
fought the decisive battle of Five Forks ; and on the succeeding morn
ing, while Davis was attending service at the Monumental Church in
Richmond, an orderly, splashed from head to foot with mire, entered
the building, strode hastily up the aisle, and handed him a dispatch
from Lee. It announced that all was over, and counselled the rebel
chief to take his immediate departure from the city. A few hours
later found Davis a fugitive on his way to Danville, leaving behind
him the capital he had so frequently boasted his ability to hold against
the utmost power of the Union, and two days afterwards, Mr. Lin
coln entered Richmond in' triumph, amid the acclamations of thou
sands, and held a levee in the rebel presidential mansion. This inci
dent formed a significant and fitting close to the great campaign
against Richmond.

CHAPTER LXXVI.
Raids in Kentucky and East Tennessee.— ^Defeat and Death of Morgan. — Successes of
Stoneman and Burbridge. — Destruction of Works at Saltville.— Stoneman's Last
Raid.— Capture of Salisbury. — Negotiations between Sherman and Johnston.— Agree
ment for Surrender by Johnston disavowed at) Washington.^-Reasons Assigned. —
Pinal Surrender of Johnston. — Wilson's great Raid in Alabama and Georgia. — Cap
ture: of Selma, Montgomery, and Maeon. — Exchanges of Prisoners. — Cruel Treatment
by Rebels of Union Prisoners. — Horrors of Andersonville.-rRebel Plots in Canada.
—The St. Albans Raid.— Execution of Beall and Kennedy.— Attempts to Fire Amer
ican Cities and introduce Pestilence.
It is now necessary to go back a- few months, and notice briefly
several events which had an indirect, though not unimportant, bearing
on the grand result related in the previous chapter. It had long been
a favorite theory with many experienced mUitary men, that, in the

730 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
event of disaster before Richmond, Lee would retire with his army
into Southwestern Virginia, and thence pass into East and Middle
Tennessee, where the remaining forces of the Confederacy would be
concentrated. He would then be in a position to threaten Chattanoo
ga, Nashville, or LouisvUle, and it was predicted that the decisive bat
tle of the war would be fought somewhere in Tennessee. Accordingly,
as long as the rebels kept any considerable force in East Tennessee,
which 'forms the doorway to the Valley of the Mississippi, a Union
army of corresponding strength was retained there. Knoxville was
rendered doubly strong, and outlaying bodies of infantry and cavalry
were pushed well Up the railroad and the Holston River Valley, towards
the Virginia line. But by May, 1S64, both sides were so much occu
pied with the great Richmond and Atlanta campaigns, that affairs in
East Tennessee lost nearly all their interest. Nevertheless, the pres
ence of scattered bodies of irregular rebel cavalry in Southwestern
Virginia proved a source of constant alarm to the comparatively un
protected inhabitants of Eastern Kentucky. Darting unexpectedly
through the gaps of the Cumberland Mountains, these rough riders
would occasionally fall upon some isolated post, capture its garrison,
and, after killing, burning, and robbing through the adjoining country,
would be back in their mountain fastnesses before pursuit could over
take them. Early in June, 1864, the noted guerrilla chief, John
Morgan, entered Kentucky through Pound Gap, at the head of two
thousand five hundred mounted men, and pushed directly towards Lex
ington, plundering and destroying on the way, and spreading conster
nation on every side. On the 8th, Paris was captured and plundered
by a portion of his forces. The next day, however, General Burbridge,
who had been on Morgan's track from Virginia, came up with, him
near Mount Sterling, having marched ninety miles in twenty-four
hours, and defeated him. By mounting his troopers on stolen horses,
Morgan got rapidly away from Burbridge, and on the 10th entered
Lexington, where he burned the railroad station, and plundered the
stores and private dwellings. The Union garrison, however, held the
fort. Thence he proceeded to Cynthiana, attacked and defeated two
Ohio regiments under General Hobson, and captured the entire force,
besides burning a considerable portion of the town. On the 12th,
Burbridge, following hard on Morgan's traces, overtook him at Cyn
thiana, and attacked him at daylight. After an hour's hard fighting,
the enemy were completely routed, losing three hundred killed, about
as many wounded, nearly four hundred prisoners, and one thousand
horses. Burbridge also recaptured one hundred of Hobson's men.
The total Union loss did not exceed one hundred and fifty. A few
days later, Hobson and his staff were recaptured. By this defeat, the
enemy were so completely broken up and demoralized, that they were
glad to make their escape, in small scattered parties, into Virginia.
Morgan subsequently rallied the remnant of his force, but for some
time no enterprise of consequence was undertaken by either side. The
restless guerrilla could not, however, remain long unoccupied, and by
the beginning of September his band was again in motion, with the
view of striking at the town of Greenville, -East Tennessee, on the

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.

731

line of railroad connecting Lynchburg with Knoxville. He occupied
the place on September 3d, and on the same night was surprised and
killed by a Union force, under General GUlem, which had made a
forced march thither from Bull Gap, sixteen miles distant. The death
of Morgan * was followed by another comparative cessation of hostili
ties in East Tennessee, both sides merely watching each other. Public
attention at that time was concentrated on the operations around Atlanta.
About the 1st of October, however, an attempt was made by
General Burbridge to capture Saltville, in Southwestern Virginia,
and destroy the large salt-works there, which were of great importance
to the rebels. He found himself confronted by a superior force
under Breckinridge, who had been placed in command of the rebel
troops in that quarter, and after pushing the enemy inside of his defen
sive works, was compelled, through the failure of his ammunition, to
retire, with the loss of three hundred and fifty men.
On October 28th, Gillem suddenly attacked the rebel brigades of
Vaughan and Palmer, at Morristown, near Bull Gap, defeating them
with a loss of three or four hundred men, and four pieces of artillery.
Soon after this affair, Breckinridge, re-enforced by the return of ab
sentees and the arrival of new recruits, attacked Gillem on the night
of the 13th, near Bull Gap, and defeated him. Our cavalry gave way
in the greatest confusion, a large number throwing away their arms in
their flight. Gillem lost all his artillery (one battery), and his trains
and baggage. Owing to the darkness his casualties were small,, two
hundred and twenty being the total reported. Subsequently, Gillem
retreated to Knoxville, where he arrived on the 20th. The repulse of
Gillem excited some apprehension for the safety of Eastern Kentucky,
and Burbridge began to concentrate troop* beyond Lexington.
Breckinridge assumed the air of a conqueror in East Tennessee, issu-

* John II. Morgan was born near Lexington,
Kentucky, about 182T. He served in the Mexican
war first as private, then as second lieutenant in a
regiment, or Kentucky volunteers, and subsc
quentty was engaged a number of years in tho
manufacture of domestic goods. In the tall of 1 SGI
he declared for secession, and raised an independ
ent, company of mounted men, which, in the suc
ceeding spring, had increased to a regiment He
was now commissioned a colonel in the rebel ser
vice, and, after the commencement of . military
operations in Tennessee, in 1862, showed so much
activity in harassing the Union rear, cutting of?
trains, and interrupting railroad and telegraphic
communication, that he became the terror of tho
country through which ho raided. The stories
of his exploits at this time savored more of ro
mance than reality. On May 5th he was surprised
and routed at Lebanon, Tennessee, by General
Dumont, and in consequence took refuge for a
while in East Tennessee, where he recruited his
force. In July and Angust ho was particularly
active in independent raids against Union out
posts. During the invasion , of Kentucky by
Bragg, his command was attached to the rebel
army, and helped to cover the retreat, but soon
afterwards resumed the irregular warfare most
congenial to his tastes. About this time ho
made, a dash into Huntsville, capturing a number
of prisoners. In April, 1S63, ho was. again sur
prised, and barely effected his escape.' In tho lat
ter part of June, at the head of four thousand

mounted men, and a battery of horse artillery, he
crossed the Cumberland Kiver, at Burksville, and
passing through Lebanon and Bardstown, reached
Brandenburg, on the Ohio, on July 7th. Seizing a
couple of steamboats, he transported his mew
across the river, and started on a raid through
Southern Indiana and Ohio. At first the uaarmea
population, taken completely by surprise, could
offer little resistance, but as tho bold raider ad
vanced, home guards and national troops began- to
environ his path, until finally it became necessary
to make good his escape into Kentucky He
moved towards Pomeroy, on the Ohio, with that
object, but was foiled in his attompt to ford tho
"river, by the opportune arrival of Union gun
boats, sent to headiim off. On the ?lst his force,
already greatly depleted by skirmishins and cap
tures, was routed by General Hobson, near Ky-
"Cr's Creek. Morgan, with fivo hundred men,
succeeded in escaping; but, on the 36th, this
remnant was surrounded and captured near *ow
Lisbon, Ohio, by Colonel Shackleford. In retalia
tion for the barbarous treatment of Colonel
Streisht, who was captured, by the rebels whilo
on a raid through Northern Gcorgny Morgan was
confined in the Ohio penitentiary, whence, in the
succeeding December, he succeeded in escaping.
Early in January, 1S64, he repaired to Eichmond
was promoted to be a major-general, and received
a command in Southwestern Virginia. Tho re
mainder of his career is narrated va. the text.

732 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
ing a proclamation granting protection to all who might wish to lay
down their arms and become peaceable and quiet citizens. His
appointment to the command in this part of the country was identical,
it wiU be remembered, with the invasion of Tennessee by Hood, and
it was expected by the rebel authorities that the two generals would
form a junction somewhere between Knoxville and Nashville. Had
this been effected, serious consequences might have ensued, and the
consummation of the well-laid plans for the overthrow of the rebel
power been delayed, or possibly prevented.
With a view of stopping the progress of Breckinridge, General
Stoneman was early in December appointed to command in East Ten
nessee. On the 10th he left Knoxville with three cavalry brigades,
under Burbridge and Gillem, and moved with great rapidity upon Bris
tol, one hundred and thirty miles from Knoxville, where he arrived oa
the 14th, having severed communication between the rebel brigades
of Vaughan and Duke, and left the former far in the rear. At Bristol,
three hundred prisoners and several railroad trains laden with supplies
were captured. Fifteen miles more brought the command to Abing
don, where many supplies and quartermaster and ordnance stores were
destroyed. By very heavy forced marching, Vaughan had succeeded
in getting on the pike to the left of Bristol. One of our columns had
preceded him, and burned the depots at Marion and Thomas's Furnace,
but had then turned off to the right. Vaughan, on reaching Marion,
fet his brigade at work intrenching; but in a few hours, Gillem, who
had pursued in a hard march of twenty-nine miles, came upon him, at
tacked him instantly, and, after a very hot and hard fight, drove him
back to Wytheville,' thirty miles, killing twenty men, wounding a
proportionate number, and capturing three hundred and nine prison
ers, and eight pieces of artillery. This running fight was conducted
with the greatest vigor. Vaughan was attacked once more fifteen
miles east of Wytheville at the great lead mines, the most important
works ofthe kind in the Confederacy, where our forces destroyed all
the buildings and machinery. Up to this time, Gillem had captured,
besides what has been recorded, several extra caissons, with' large
quantities of pack-saddles, ammunition, wagons, and other property,
wprth over a million of dollars. A large wagon train was captured at
Wytheville. Our forces remained in Wytheville but a few hours, and
then retired towards Seven-Mile Ford, one hundred and sixty-seven
miles from Knoxville. Gillem, however, pushed on to Max Meadows,
destroying railroad bridges and tracks, and other species of public prop
erty to a large amount.
Meanwhile, Burbridge's forces, retiring from Wytheville, were en
countered near Marion and repulsed by Breckinridge, who hjid moved
his troops out from Saltville for that purpose on hearing of our with
drawal from WythevUle. But, fortunately, Gillem came up with his
brigade, on returning from Max Meadows, just as our troops were
giving way, restored the fortunes of the day, captured eleven pieces
of artillery, two hundred prisoners, one hundred and fifty negroes, and
ninety-three Wagons, and Breckinridge's own head-quarters, and drove
that general back on Mount Airy. The whole action of the 18th at

HISTOET OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 733
Marion, which was the principal battle of the campaign, lasted more
than a day. Our loss was between fifty and one hundred, and that of
the rebels quite as great, besides the prisoners we captured. On the
morning of the 19th, Breckinridge pushed over towards North Caro
lina. One detachment of our troops, meanwhile, had moved on Glade
Springs, one hundred and fifty-eight miles from Knoxville, and Salt-
ville, nine miles beyond. At three o'clock p. m. of the 20th, our
troops entered Saltville with a mere show of resistance. Soon after,
the public buildings and all the machinery and works were fired and
totally destroyed. Great quantities of salt were destroyed by tram
pling it in the mud. The immense works, which could turn out, it was
said, over five thousand bushels a day, and are among the largest in
the world, were very seriously injured. Nearly all the kettles were
destroyed by punching out their heavy bottoms, and the vats, engines,
and boilers demolished. With the defeat of Breckinridge ended his
attempt to threaten East Tennessee. The disaster to Hood's army
before Nashville destroyed the well-devised scheme of the rebels to
create a diversion in that quarter, and thenceforth they had quite
enough to d?> to act on the defensive in Virginia and the Carolinas.
Matters remained quiet in East Tennessee for a number of weeks
after the events just described, but when the march of Sherman north
ward gave the signal to the other Union generals to close in upon
Lee, Stoneman was directed to equip a heavy cavalry column at Knox
ville for a co-operative movement into Virginia and North Carolina.
Starting on March 10th, he moved rapidly to Boone, North Carolina,
and thence passing into the Yadkin River valley, pushed northward for
the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad, which he destroyed between
Wytheville and Salem, Virginia. On Aprif 6tb he moved vid Jack
sonville and Danbury into North Carolina again, and on the 12th
reached the vicinity of Salisbury, where about three thousand troops,
under the command of General Gardiner, and fourteen pieces of artil
lery, under command of Colonel (late Lieutenant-General) Pemberton,
were drawn up to oppose him. The whole formed behind Grant's-
Creek, about two miles and a half from Salisbury. As soon as a prop
er disposition could be made, Stoneman ordered a- general charge
.upon the entire line, and the result was the capture of the whole four.
teen pieces of artillery, and one thousand three hundred and sixty-four
prisoners, including fifty-five officers. Tho remainder ofthe force was
chased through and several miles beyond the town, but scattered and
escaped into the woods.,
During the stay of Sherman at Goldsboro', a considerable number of
promotions took place, and the united forces, after being recruited and
refitted, were reorganized in accordance with the following order : —
" Head-Quarters Military Division op the Mississippi, in the Field, )
"Goldsboro', North Carolina, April 1, 18G5. J
SPECIAL FIELD ORDERS, NO. 44 — EXTRACT.
" 1. The following is announced as the organization of this army :
" Eight wing— -Army of the Tennessee, Fifteenth and Nineteenth Corps, Major-Geni
era! 0. 0. Howard, commanding.
" Left wing— Army of Georgia, Fourteenth and Twentieth Corps, Major-General H,
A Slocum, commanding. *

734 HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.'
" Centre — Army of Ohio, Tenth and Twenty-third Corps, Major-General J. W. Scho
field, commanding.
" Cavalry — Brevet Major-General J. KUpatrick, commanding.
" 8. Each of these commanders will exercise the powers prescribed by law for agen-
eral commanding a special department or army in the field.
"9. Major-General Jos. A. Mower is hereby, subject to the approval of the President,
appointed to command the Twentieth Corps, vice Slocum, promoted to a command, of
an army in the field.
" 10. Brigadier-General Charles Walcott is hereby transferred from the Army of the
Tennessee to the Army of Georgia, for assignment to the command of a division made
vacant. "11. Brigadier-General Charles Ewing, having been promoted, is hereby, relieved
from, staff duty at these head-quarters, and will report to Major-Seneral Howard, for
assignment to duty according to his rank.
"By order of Major-General W. T. Sherman. " L. M. Dayton, Assistant Adjutant- General."
Finally, on April 10th, Sherman started his road-worn veterans once
more on the track of his old antagonist, Johnston. On that day, Kil
patriok moved his cavalry out on the road to Raleigh, and next day,
the llth, the infantry started in light marching order. The march
was, however, quite deliberate and easy, as the railroad, broken up by
the enemy between Raleigh and Goldsboro', was to be repaired. The
troops were well supplied with provisions. On the 13th, Raleigh was
reached and occupied, with only a slight skirmish on the outskirts,
Johnston falling back upon Hillsboro'. On the following day a con
ference with Sherman was asked for by Johnston, through a flag of
truce, with a request for an armistice and a statement of the best terms
on which Johnston would be permitted to surrender the army under
his command. General Sherman answered immediately that if the sur
render of the rebel army was the object of such a truce as was re
quested, he would accede to it, but if any thing else was desired, he
wished to know it, in order to decide whether or not it would be neces
sary to send for the Lieutenant-General. He stated his readiness to
meet Johnston at any time to confer on the subject of his wants. This
offer was promptly accepted, and, through Wade Hampton, the point
of meeting was agreed upon. At Mr. James Bennett's, a little hut on
the left of the Chapel Hill road, five miles from Durham's Station, and
thirty from Raleigh, the meeting took place. Sherman was accompa
nied by his chief engineer, Colonel O. M. Poe, and General Barry, •
with others of his staff, and met General Johnston, with Major John
ston and Captain Hampton, of his staff. Both generals were accom
panied by their cavalry generals, Kilpatriok and Wade Hampton.
At the first meeting between' the generals no arrangement was per
fected, but at a subsequent meeting on the 18th, at which Breckin
ridge, then holding the office of Secretary of War in the Confederacy,
was present, an agreement for a suspension of hostilities, together with
a memorandum, for a basis of peace, was signed in the following
terms : —
" Memorandum or basis of agreement, made this ] 8th day of April, A. D. 1865, near
Durham's Station, and in tho State of North Carolina, by and between General
Joseph B. Johnston, commanding the Confederate Army, and Major-General William
T. Sherman, commanding the Army of the United States in North Carolina, both
present, *

HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.

735

"First. The contending armies now in the field to maintain their statu quo, until
notice is given by the 'Commanding General of either one to its opponent, and reason
able time— say forty-eight hours— allowed.
"Second. Tho Confederate armies now in existence to be disbanded and conducted
to their several State capitals, there to deposit their arms and public property in the
State arsenals, and each officer and man to execute and file an agreement to cease from
acts of war, and abide action of both State and .Federal authority. The number of
arms and munitions of war to be reported to the Chief of Ordnance at; Washington City,
subject to future action of the Congress of the United States ; in the mean time, to be
used solely to maintain peace and order within the borders of the States respectively.
"Third. The recognition by the Executive ofthe United States of several State Gov
ernments, in their officers and legislatures, taking oath, prescribed by the Constitution
of the United States, and where conflicting State Governments have resulted from the
war, the legitimacy of all shall be submitted to the Supreme Court of the United
States. "Fourth. The re-establishment of all Federal courts in the several States, with
powers as defined by the Constitution and laws of Congress.
"Fifth: The people and inhabitants of all States to be guaranteed, so far as the
Executive can, their political rights and franchise, as well as their rights of person and
property, as defined by the Constitution of the United States and of States respectively.
"Sixth. The Executive authority of the Government of the United States not to
disturb any of the people by reason of the late war, so long as they live in peace and
quiet, and abstain from acts of armed hostility, and obey laws in existence at any place
of their residence.
" In general terms, war to cease ; a general amnesty, so far as the Executive power
of the United States can command, or on condition of disbandment of the Confed
erate armies, and the distribution of arms and resumption of peaceful pursuits by
officers and men as hitherto composing the said armies, not being fully empowered by
our respective principals to fulfil these terms, we individually and officially pledge
ourselves to promptly obtain necessary authority, and to carry out the above pro
gramme. "W. T. Sherman,
"Major- General Commanding the Army of the United States in North Carolina.
" J. E. Johnston,
"General Commanding Confederate States Army in North Carolina."
Upon the reception of this memorandum in Washington, on April
21st, a Cabinet meeting was held, at which the action of General Sher
man was disapproved by the President, by the Secretary of War, by
General Grant, and by every member of the Cabinet. General Sher
man was ordered to resume hostilities immediately, and was directed
that the instructions given in the following telegram, which was penned
by Mr. Lincoln himself, at the Capitol, on the night ofthe 3d of March,
should govern his action : — * "Washington, March 3, 1865—12 p. m.
" Lieutenant-General Grant .
" The President directs me to Bay to you that he wishes you to have no conference
with General Lee unless it be for the capitulation of General Lee's army, or on some
minor and purely military matter. He instructs me to say that you are not to decide,
discuss, or confer upon any political question. Such questions the President holds in
his own hands, and will submit them to no military conferences or conventions.
Meantime, you are to press to the utmost your military advantages. .
"Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War."

* On tho night of the 8d of March, while Presi
dent Lincoln anil his Cabinet were at the Capitol,
a telegram, from General Grant was brought to the
Secretary of War, informing him that General Lee
had requested an interview or conference, to make
an arrangement for terms of peace. General Grant's
telegram was submitted to Mr. Lincoln, who, after

pondering a few minutes, took up his pen and
wrote with his own hand the above reply, which
he submitted to tho Secretary of State and the
Secretary of War. It was then dated, addressed
and Signed by the Secretary of War, and tele
graphed to General Grant.

If 3 6 HISTOET OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
The following are the reasons given by Secretary Stanton for disap
proving the proceeding of Sherman : —
" First. It was an exercise of authority not vested in General Sherman, and on its
face shows that both he and Johnston knew that he (General Sherman) had no author
ity to enter into any such arrangement.
" Second. It was a practical acknowledgment of the rebel government.
'f Third. It undertook to re-establish the rebel State Government, that had been
overthrown at the sacrifice of many thousand loyal lives, and an immense treasure, and
placed arms and munitions of war in the hands of the rebels at their respective capi
tals, which might be used as soon as the armies of the United States were disbanded,
and used to conquer and subdue the loyal States.
" Fourth. By the restoration of the rebel authority in. their respective States, they
would be enabled to re-establish slavery.
" Fifth. It might furnish a ground of responsibility by the Federal Government to
pay the.Tebel debt, and certainly subjects loyal citizens of the rebel States to the debt
consummated by the rebels in the name of the State.
" Sixth. It put in dispute the existence of loyal State Governments, and the new
State of Western Virginia, which had been recognized by every department of the
United States Government.
" Seventh. It practically abolished the confiscation laws, and relieved rebels of every
degree, who had slaughtered our people, from all pains and penalties for their crimes.
" Eighth. It gave terms that had been deliberately, repeatedly, and solemnly re
jected by President Lincoln, and better terms than the rebels had ever asked in their
most prosperous condition.
" Ninth. It formed no basis of true and lasting peace, but relieved rebels fro/n the
pressure of our victories, and left them in condition to renew their efforts to overthrow
the United States Government, and subdue the loyal States, whenever their strength
was recruited, and any opportunity should offer."
General Grant immediately started for Raleigh, Sherman's head
quarters, where he arrived on the 24th. From that point, he sent a
dispatch dated at nine o'clock on the same night, stating that he had
delivered to General Sherman the reply to his dispatch announcing his
terms of negotiation with the rebel General Johnston, and that John
ston was immediately informed by Sherman that the truce was termi
nated, that civil matters could not be discussed in any convention be
tween military commanders, and that the terms accorded to General
Lee were the only ones that would be entertained by the United States
Government. On the 25th, Johnston replied, and, on the 26th, the
surrender of the rebel army was made in an interview between Sher
man and Johnston at Durham Station. It included every thing east
of the Chattahoochee River not previously surrendered by Lee. Then,
the articles being signed, the Lieutenant-General intervened to put his
approval upon them. Over fifty miles of territory lay between the two
main armies, the picket lines, however, closely approaching. John
ston's force was collected nearly as far kick as Greensboro', and
at this latter point, therefore, the paroling took place. The number
of men surrendered and paroled was in the neighborhood of twenty-
five thousand. One hundred and eight pieces of artillery were parked,
with limbers, caissons, &c, complete ; little ammunition was captured.
About fifteen thousand small-arms were given up. More than ten
thousand men strayed off with their guns and horses, mnlps, or wagons1.
There was no discipline in the army at the end, and Johnston was
said not to have been responsible for tho marching away of his men

HISTOEY OF THE OEEAT EEBELLION. 737
without parole. The same thing happened, also, in the paroling of
Lee's army.
In the latter part of 1864, General James H. Wilson, who had
gained a reputation in the Army of the Potomac as an able cavalry-
officer, was dispatched to Nashville to reorganize that branch of the
service in the West. Having accomplished this duty, he was directed
to concentrate a force at Waterloo and Gravelly Springs, on the Ten
nessee, in the northwestern corner of Alabama, with the view of un
dertaking in the spring an expedition through Alabama and Southern
Georgia, a region never yet penetrated by Union troops, and which
furnished large quantities of food and munitions to the rebel armies.
This was intended as an auxiliary movement in support of the opera
tions against Lee and Johnston in the East. On*the 22d of March,
Wilson broke up his camp, and, at the head of twelve thousand cavalry,
accompanied by three horse batteries and a pontoon train, took up his
march for Elytown, in Central Alabama. The general command ofthe
rebel troops in Alabama and Mississippi was then held by General
Dick Taylor, who, however, being needed at Mobile, had left Forrest
at Tupelo with a body of cavalry to guard against such raids as Wilson
was about to undertake. Forrest finally assumed command of aU
Northern and Middle Mississippi and Alabama, and set vigorously to
work to reorganize the cavalry in his department. But it -was beyond
the power of even so energetic a commander as he to infuse life into
the torpid body ofthe rebellion ; and notwithstanding he issued orders
declaring that illegal organizations of cavalry must be placed regularly
in the service or leave the country, the border swarmed with roving
bands of deserters, stragglers, horse-thieves, and robbers, whose acts
of lawlessness and crime put a stop to travel, and made life and prop
erty alike insecure.
. Wilson proceeded without interruption as far as Elytown, whence
he moved due south upon Selma, where he arrived on April 2d.
Between Elytown and Selma there had been considerable skirmishing
with Roddy's rebel cavalry, which feU back towards the_ latter place,
where Taylor and Forrest bad concentrated all their available troops
behind substantial works. These consisted of a heavy line of earth-
Works, eight to twelve feet in height, and fifteen feet thick at base, with
a ditch in front, partly filled with water, four feet in width and five
feet deep, and in front of this a stockade, or pickets of heavy posts,
planted firmly in the ground, five feet bigh, and sharpened at the top.
Four heavy forts, with artillery in position, also covered: the ground
over which the men were to advance ; the ground was rough, and a
deep ravine had to be passed before the works could be reached.
After a brief reconnoissance, one division, under General Long, was
directed to attack on the right ofthe Summerville road, while another,
under General Upton, was to move to the Plantersville road, penetrate
a swamp at a point regarded impassable by the enemy, and attack just
after dark. But before Upton could get into position, the rebel Gen
eral Chalmers having attacked Long's picket, posted on the creek to
cover his rear, Long, without waiting for the signal designated, imme
diately began the attack with two dismounted regiments from each
47

738 HISTOET OE THE GEEAT EEBELLIOIf.
brigade, numbering in all but one thousand one hundred and sixty
men ; Long himself, together with his brigade commanders, gallantly.
leading the charge. Rushins: over five hundred yards of open field,
swept by musketry and artillery, the intrepid assailants, leaping and
tearing Up the stockade, pushed through the ditch, "and over the para
pet, in a sudden and irresistible tide. The foe, though outnumbering
the assailants, everywhere succumbed or fled. Nothing seemed able
to stand before an onset of such swift and determined vigor. On parts
of the line, indeed, and for a moment, the enemy fought stubbornly,
with clubbed guns, but in vain. Upton's Division, finding the works
carried by Long's Division, immediately advanced from its position on
the Plantersville road, the skirmish line, driving the enemy and cap
turing five guns. TyVinslow's Brigade then charged into the city in
various directions, capturing several pieces of artUlery and several hun
dred prisoners. In vain did the enemy attempt to rally behind an
inner line of works ; they were overpowered and captured by hundreds,
and night alone enabled Forrest, with about half his force, to make a
precipitate retreat. General Taylor had left at three p. m. by the rail
road for Mobile. Two thousand seven hundred prisoners, including
one hundred and fifty officers, twenty-six field-guns and one thirty-
pound Parrott in position, and about seventy heavy guns, besides large
quantities of military stores in the arsenal and foundery, fell into Wil
son's hands at Selma. Immediately the work of destruction com
menced, and in a brief time, all the immense Government works, arse
nal, rolling-mills, founderies, factories, munitions of war, ordnance and
subsistence stores, and other material, were in ruins.
On the 10th, Wilson resumed his march, and on the 14th occupied
Montgomery without resistance. This, it wUl be remembered, was the
capital of the now fast-crumbling " Confederacy," in' the early days of
the rebellion. On the 16th, West Point, on the Chattahoochee, was
captured by Lagrange's Brigade, after a desperate resistance by the
small rebel garrison, and on the same day the main body reached the
important city of Columbus, Georgia, situated on the east bank of the
Chattahoochee, and defended by two thousand seven hundred infantry,
behind strong earthworks. The onset of the Union troops was irre
sistible, and by ten p. m. the city, with its vast munitions of war, one
thousand five hundred prisoners, and twenty-four pieces of artillery,
was in our possession. This victory was the closing conflict of the
war, and was gained with a Union loss of not above thirty. Long's
Division, under Colonel Minty, now took the advance, and moved to
wards Macon, within a short distance of which place he was met by a
flag of truce, with a dispatch from General Howell Cobb, in command
there, announcing an armistice between Sherman and Johnston. Sus
pecting, from the manner of the rebels, that this was only an expe
dient to gain time, Minty pushed rapidly forward, and reached Macon
just in lime to save the fine bridge across the Ocmulgee, which the
rebels were about to fire. The city and defences were at once surren
dered by Cobb. The captures comprised five general oflicers, viz.,
Major-Generals Cobb and Gustavus W. Smith, and Brigadier-Generals
Maokall, Robertson, and Mercer, together with forty-five other officers,

HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 739
and one thousand eight hundred and forty-three enlisted men, and sixty
pieces of artillery.
Thus, in thirty days, Wilson's command had marched five hundred
miles, part of the distance over an exceedingly difficult -country, had
captured two hundred and forty pieces of artillery, of all calibres, and
six thousand three hundred prisoners, and destroyed cotton and public
property to the value of hundreds of millions of dollars. It was un
doubtedly the most brUliant and important raid of the war.
In the foregoing pages we have related the history of the attempts
which the rebels made, by force of arms, in the open field, to resist
and overthrow the power of the General Government. It now becomes
necessary to allude to other means employed by them to effect the same
end, which were directly sanctioned by the rebel government, and
over which humanity would wish to drop the veil of oblivion. But as
an impartial narrator of events, the writer of these pages could no
more avoid an allusion to this subject than he could omit any of the
prominent occurrences of the war previously related. Without such
allusion the History of the Great Rebellion would be incomplete. If
acts like the destruction of unarmed merchantmen on the high seas, or
the massacre of the garrison of Fort Pillow, may be excused as neces
sarily growing out of a state of warfare, it will scarcely be pretended
that the deliberate destruction of prisoners by starvation, neglect, or
ill treatment, the burning of peaceful cities far removed from the seat
of war, by disguised emissaries, the introduction of pestilence, or the
piratical seizure of vessels and the murder of their officers, are legiti
mate means of conducting war. They were, however, each and all,
resorted to by the rebel authorities> as we shall briefly narrate.
For upward of a year after the commencement ofthe war, there was
no regular system in operation for the general exchange of the prisoners
captured on either side. Finally, in the summer of 1862, a cartel was
signed for the equitable exchange of prisoners, man for man, and offi
cer for officer, and for the paroling of prisoners within ten days after
their capture. This remained in force until the succeeding summer,
when difficulties occurred, in consequence ofthe loose manner in which
the rebel authorities interpreted the cartel, which threatened its per
manent interruption. By this time the colored regiments of the Na
tional Army had begun to participate in the war, and the oflicers and
privates of these regiments captured by the enemy were, in accordance
with a resolution of the rebel Congress, withheld from exchange, and
reserved for special punishment. After much acrimonious correspond
ence, the rebel Commissioner of Exchanges, Mr. Ould, proposed in the
latter part of October, that all oflicers and men, on both sides, should
be released in conformity with the provisions of the cartel, the excess
on the one side or the other to be on parole. This proposition was re
jected by General Meredith, the Union Commissioner, for the reason,
among others, that the officers and privates of the colored regiments,
not being recognized by the rebels as prisoners of war, would not be
delivered by them with the other prisoners. The rebels had also
shown bad faith in deolaring exchanged, before the right to do so in
accordance with the terms of the cartel had accrued to them, most of

740

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.

the prisoners paroled by Grant and Banks at Vicksburg and Port Hud
son. And as at the close of the year we had in our possession about
forty thousand rebel prisoners against thirteen thousand pf our men in
rebel prisons, it was justly considered hazardous to permit the rebels
to have the control of so large an excess as twenty-seven thousand
men. Thenceforth exchanges ceased, except in a few special instances,
and prisoners began to accumulate in large numbers on either side.
In the latter part of 1863 complaints began to be made of the treat
ment to which Union prisoners were subjected in rebel prisons. In
those at Richmond, the mortality at certain periods reached fifty a
'day — a rale which, in the opinion of exchanged Union surgeons, was
altogether unprecedented, and arose from neglect, insufficient food and
clothing, and similar causes. In reply the rebels alleged that Union
prisoners were placed on an equality, in respect to rations and clothing,
with their own men, and that they did not receive the comforts which
might reasonably have been expected, simply because it was not in the
power of the Confederate government to give them. But this excuse,
urged strenuously by the rebels and their friends, and half accepted
by every one disposed to be moderate and just, accounted for only a
small part of the conduct of the rebels to their captives. The latter
were crowded in city warehouses of far too limited dimensions to
lodge them with any approximation to comfort, or compelled to en
dure the rigors of winter in open encampments. They were almost
invariably stripped of their private property, even to the clothing on
their backs at the time of their capture, and the supplies of food and
clothing, which, after much negotiation, they were permitted to receive
from the North, were, in many instances, stolen or withheld. The
rations issued to them were frequently of the most execrable descrip
tion, and barely sufficient to sustain life. On the other hand, the
rebels captured in war were, in nine cases out of ten, men in fine
physical condition, well clad, and giving abundant evidence of having
been well fed ; while the few Union prisoners from time to time ex
changed, exhibited such frightful evidences of suffering and privation,
that photographic representations of their appearance were taken, in
order that the accounts of their condition might not seem overdrawn.
The allegation of the rebel government, that it was embarrassed for
want of supplies, that its own soldiers were naked and hungry, and
that even the prison-guards shared the privations of the prisoners,
must therefore be dismissed as utterly unfounded.
A few months later the rebels threw off even this thin disguise, and
in terms too plain to be mistaken announced by their acts their inten
tion to systematically destroy their prisoners, for the purpose, appar
ently, of relieving themselves of the charge of such persons, and of
thereby lessening the number of their enemies. As if the Libby Prison
and Belle Isle * at Richmond were not sufficient, refinements in cruelty

* This Is a small Island lu the James River, op-
£osite the Tredegar iron works, and lo sight ofthe
ibby Prison. Here, in an enclosure of less than six
acres, surrounded by an earthen wall and ditch,
were confined at times from ten to twelve thou
sand prisoners, who were turned in like so many
cattle to find what resting-place they could.

Some found a poor shelter in a number of Sibley
tents, rotten and full of holes'; but thousands had
no tents or shelter of any kind, and nil were here
subjected alike to the heat of midsummer or the
cold of winter. Under such circumstances it is
not to be wondered at that the rate of mortality
-was large.

HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 741
were attempted, and at Charlotte and Salisbury in North Carolina, and
Millen and Andersonville in Georgia, prison-pens were erected, in
which tens of thousands of Union prisoners were deliberately starved
to death or destroyed by neglect and ill usage. The last-named place,
in particular, has obtained a hideous reputation, and to the wretches '
who entered its precincts must have occurred the idea contained in
Dante's inscription over the gates of Hell, "Who enters here must
leave all hope behind." It comprised an open space of about twenty- /
five acres, and was surrounded by a high stockade, and by earth
works mounted with cannon. About one quarter of the enclosure was
occupied by a swamp, through which crept a shallow muddy stream,
or rather sewer, which had previously received the filth and refuse of
a rebel camp beyond, and which formed the only supply of water to the
prisoners. Here, in a country so covered with woods as to be nearly
a forest, were frequently crowded thirty thousand men, with not so
much as a simple shed to protect them from the rain, or the heat, or the
cold. The unfortunate prisoners found a partial shelter by burrowing
in the earth like wild animals, and upon the occupation of the place by
the Union forces, the ground was discovered to be completely honey
combed by their digging. The details of the life which prisoners passed
in ihis place would prove too sickening to our readers, and we willingly
omit them. Probably more of the men admitted there died than left
the prison, and of the latter class most will bear about them for life the
marks of the privations which they there endured. In a memorial ad
dressed to President Lincoln in August, 1864, by Union officers confined
in Charleston, occurs the following passage with reference to the
Andersonville prisoners : " They are fast losing hope and becoming ut
terly reckless of life. Numbers, crazed by their sufferings, wander about
in a state of idiocy. Others deliberately cross the ' Dead Line ' and
are remorselessly shot down."
As accounts of the atrocities practised upon Union prisoners at An
dersonville were made public by those persons who were fortunate to
escape from the prison alive, a feeling of hprror pervaded the North,
and in the opinion of m:iny persons their statements were too dreadful
to believe. It was assumed that they must be greatly exaggerated, and
that the rebel authorities were ignorant of the atrocities alleged to be
committed there. Fortunately we are enabled to verify by rebel evi
dence the condition of things at Andersonville and the infamous pur
pose of General J. H. Winder, the commanding officer in charge ofthe
post. Some months after the termination of the war, Captain Henry
Wirz, a subordinate, having immediate command of the prison, was
arraigned before a military court in Washington for wanton and un
necessary cruelty to his prisoners. The facts we have stated above
were corroborated by many Union soldiers, summoned as witnesses ; but
more valuable testimony, considering the source from which it ema
nated, was given by Colonel D. T. Chandler, formerly an inspector-
general in the rebel service. The following is an extract from an
official report from this officer, addressed to Colonel ChUton at Rich
mond, under date of August 5, 1864 : —

742 HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
" My duty requires me respectfully to recommend a change in the officer in command
ofthe post, Brigadier-General, J. H. Winder, and the substitution in his place of some
one who unites both energy and good judgment with some feelings of humanity and
consideration for the welfare and comfort (so far as is consistent with their safe keep
ing) ofthe vast number of unfortunates placed under his control; some one wlio. at
' least, does not advocate deliberately and in cold blood the propriety of leaving them in
their present condition until their number has been sufficiently reduced by death to
make the present arrangements suffice for their accommodation; who will not consider
it a matter of self-laudation, boasting that he has never been inside the stockade— a
place the horrors of which it is difficult to describe, and whicli is a disgrace to civiliza
tion—the condition of which he might, by the exercise of a little energy and judgment,
even with the limited means at his command, have considerably improved."
Colonel Chandler, upon being called to the stand, verified the forego
ing report, adding that he had nothing to retract; and stating that
during his inspection he had a conversation with General Winder, who
seemed very indifferent to the welfare of the prisoners, and was indis
posed to do any thing. He remonstrated with General Winder as well
as he could. He spoke to him of the great mortality, and suggested
that, as the sickly season was coming on, the swamp should be drained,
better food furnished, and other sanitary measures adopted. Winder
replied to him that he thought it would be better to let-one-half die, so
they could take care of the remainder. His (Chandler's) assistant,
Major Hall, had previously reported that Winder had made a similar ex
pression to him ; and upon Chandler's remarking that he thought this
incredible, Hall said Winder had repeated that expression to him sev
eral times.
This certainly shows that the rebel government in Richmond was
made officially cognizant of the barbarities committed at Andersonville ;
ami as the condition of the prisoners at Belle Isle had been so imme
diately under their eyes that ignorance could hot possibly be pleaded,
the conclusion seems inevitable that they deliberately approved of the
measures adopted by the commanding oflicers at both places. Finally,
in November, 1864, the general exchange, interrupted in the previous
year, was resumed, and the survivors of the rebel prison-pens released
from their sufferings. In contrast with the treatment of Union prison
ers was that accorded to captured rebels. They were comfortably
housed and clad, drew abundant rations, and, when sick or wounded,
received no less kind treatment than our own soldiers. To' both Union
men and rebels were also extended the beneficent offices of the Sani
tary Commission and the Christian Commission, two noble private
philanthropic associations, whose expenditures amounted to many mU-
lions, and whose agents were found in every camp and hospital, and on
every battle field ot the war, supplying to the sick and wounded the
numberless little delicacies and comforts which the Government, amid
the multiplicity of cares, could not well furnish, and affording by their
acts a proof of the humanizing influences of free institutions. In con
trast with this, the conduct of the rebels to their prisoners illustrates
once more the barbarizing influences of slavery.
Soon after the commencement of hostilities in 1861 the Canadian
provinces began to be a resort for rebel refugees, who gradually accu
mulated in Quebec, Montreal, and other cities, in large numbers.

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 743
Among these men were some of the most wily and determined enemies
of the Union whom secession had begotten, and their presence so near
our Northern frontier was felt to be full of danger, as it was known
they were prepared for any desperate enterprise. Their leaders, George
N. Sanders, Beverly Tucker, Jacob Thompson, and men of like pro- 1
divides, spared no efforts to organize plots against the United States,
in defiance of the neutrality of the country in which they resided, and,
strange to say, the local authorities seemed indifferent to these attempts
to abuse the right of asylum. In the latter part of 1863 a plot was set
on foot by Sanders and his associates, under instructions from the gov
ernment at Richmond, to release twenty-five hundred rebel officers im
prisoned on Johnson's Island, in Lake Erie, who, in conjunction with a
body of rebels in Canada, were to attack and destroy Buffalo and other
lake cities. The American Consul-General at Montreal, having received
timely notice of this plot, laid the details before the Governor-General
of Canada, by whom they were communicated on November llth to
the United States Government. The prompt measures taken by the
latter to guard against the danger prevented the execution of the plot.
The British Government, however, seems to have taken no measures to
arrest and punish the participators in this transaction. But though
baffled in this attempt, the secessionists in Canada relaxed in no degree
their efforts to harass the border towns of the United States. On the
afternoon of October 19, 1864, a body of forty well-armed men, headed
by one Young, suddenly attacked the village of St. Albans,in Vermont,
fifteen miles from the Canadian frontier, and, after robbing the banks of
over two hundred thousand dollars, and firing upon the defenceless and
thoroughly astounded inhabitants, one of whom was mortally Wounded,
rode off to Canada, where nearly the whole gang was subsequently ar
rested. They were brought before the Court of Quarter Sessions at
Montreal, and discharged by Justice Coursol on the ground of a want
of jurisdiction. Subsequently, on being tried before the Superior Court
of Lower Canada, they were all discharged. The St. Albans banks re
covered a portion ofthe money stolen from them, but the United States
Government received no reparation for this incursion upon their terri
tory from a friendly state.
In September, 1864, John Y. Beall, an officer in the rebel army,
organized in Canada a force for the purpose of a raid on the lakes, and
succeeded in capturing and destroying two steamboats owned by citi
zens of the United States. In the succeeding December he was ar
rested near the suspension bridge over the Niagara River, m the State
of New York, for attempting to throw a passenger train from B,'ffal°
off the railroad track, which act he claimed to have perpetrated by
virtue of his commission from the rebel government. He was tried
and executed as a pirate, spy, and murderer, on Governor s Island,
New York, on February 24th, 1865. .
As if the attempt to rob defenceless towns, and murder their in
habitants, or to throw railroad trains off the track, were not sufficient
ly infamous, the Canadian refugees now organized a plot to lire the
principal hotels of the city of New York. The attempt was made on
the nio-ht of November 25 th, and, if successful, might have resulted

'744 HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
in a .frightful sacrifice of property and life ; but fortunately, it was
committed to timid and unskilful hands, and the fires kindled by them
were soon extinguished. Captain Robert C. Kennedy, of the rebel
service, was subsequently arrested in Detroit for complicity in this
plot, and was tried and executed at Fort Lafayette, in New York
Harbor, on March 24th, 1865.
Similar to the exploit of Beall on the lakes was that of a party of
disguised rebels, who, embarking on the passenger steamer Chesa
peake, at New York, on December 19th, 1863, murdered.one ofthe
oflicers, and carried the vessel into a Nova Scotian port. She was
subsequently restored to her owners, but her piratical captors, like so
many of their associates in British America, went unwhipped of jus
tice. Finally, to cap the climax of horrors, we have to record the
attempt, fortmately abortive, of a Dr. Blackburn, to introduce into
the United States the yellow fever, by means of infected clothing
brought from Bermuda. This, like the other acts just related, was
\done in the interest of the rebel Confederacy, by men claiming to act
as Confederate soldiers, and indicated a lack of moral principle, which,
for the sake of civilization, it is to be hoped was rare among 'the in
habitants of the seceded States, or their sympathizers.

CHAPTER LXXVII.
Peace Negotiations at Fortress Monroe. — Their Fruitless Issue. — Second Inauguration
cf Lincoln. — His Address. — Rejoicings at the Prospect of Peace. — Assassination of
Lincoln.— tThe Public Mourning. — Funeral Procession. — Character of Lincoln. —
Booth, the Murderer, Pursued and Shot. — Trial and Execution of his Accomplices. —
Inauguration of Andrew Johnson as President. — Amnesty Proclamation. — Plan for
Reconstruction. — Pursuit and Capture of Davis.: — Capitulation of Generals Taylor
and Kirby Smith. — Termination of the War and Disbanding of the Armies. — Tha
National Debt. — Concluding Reflections.
With the opening of 1865, the air was filled, as it had been often
before, with rumors that the rebels- were anxious to negotiate for
peace, and in order that no opportunity might be lost to effect a con
summation so devoutly wished for by all classes of the people, Mr.
Lincoln authorized Secretary Seward to proceed to Fortress Monroe,
and there confer with Alexander H. Stephens, of Georgia, the rebel
Vice-President, R. M. T. Hunter, of Virginia, and J. A. Campbell, of
Alabama, who had been designated by Jefferson Davis as commission
ers to act in behalf of the Confederacy. The President's instructions
were conveyed to Mr. Seward in the following terms : —
" Executive Mansion, Washington, )
"January 31, 1865. )
"Hon. William H. Sewakd, Secretary of State:
"You will proceed to Fortress Monroe, Virginia, there to meet and informally confer
with Messrs. Stephens, Hunter, and Campbell, on the basis of my letter to P. P. Blair,
Esq , of January 1 8, 1 865, a copy of which you have. You will make known to them,
that three things are indispensable, to wit ; First, the restoration of ihe national

-jitrawn &y G 11'hitt

misriTBAi. OBSEQUIES or FREST LINCOLN AT THE PKttSIDF/NTTAu MANSION

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 745
authority throughout all the States. Second, no receding by the Executive of the
United States, on the slavery question, from the position assumed thereon in the late
annual message to Congress, and in the preceding documents. Third, no cessation of
hostilities short of an end of the war, and the disbanding of all the forces "hostile to
the Government. You will inform them that all propositions of theirs not inconsist
ent with the above, will be considered and passed upon in a spirit of sincere liberality.
You will hear all they may choose to say, and report it to me. You will not assume
to definitely consummate any thing. Yours, &c, "Abraham Lincoln."
On February 2d, the President himself left for Fortress Monroe,
and on the succeeding day had an interview of several hours' duration
with the rebel commissioners on board of a steamer anchored in
Hampton Roads. The conference was altogether informal, but enough
was developed to show that the rebels would enter into no negotia
tions for peace, without first obtaining a recognition of their inde
pendence. "What the insurgent party seemed chiefly to favor," said
Mr. Seward in a dispatch to the American minister in London, " was
a postponement of the question of separation upon which the war is
waged, and a mutual direction of the efforts of the Government, as
well as those of the insurgents, to some extrinsic policy or scheme
for a season, during which passions might be expected to subside,
and the armies be reduced, and trade and intercourse between the
people of both sections be resumed." This was immediately rejected
by the President, who further declared that "the complete restoration
of the national authority everywhere, was an indispensable condition
of any assent, on our part, to whatever form of peace might be pro
posed." The conference, accordingly, came to an end by mutual
agreement, without accomplishing any thing.
In February, 1865, the electoral vote for President was officially an
nounced to be, for Lincoln, two hundred and twelve, for McClellan,
twenty-one. Andrew Johnson was also announced to have received
two hundred and twelve votes for Vice-President. On March 4th,
Mr. Lincoln was, for the second time, inaugurated President, receiv
ing the oath of office from Chief-Justice Chase, the late Secretary of
the Treasury, who had been appointed to succeed Taney on the bench
of the Supreme Court. The President elect then delivered from the
Capitol the following address to the citizens in attendance : —
THE INAUGURAL ADDRESS.
"Fellow-Counteymen : — At this second appearing to take the oath
ofthe Presidential office, there is less occasion for an extended address
than there was at the first. Then a statement somewhat in detail of a
course to be pursued seemed very fitting and proper. Now, at the
expiration of four years, during which public declarations have been
constantly called forth on every point and phase of the great contest
which still absorbs the attention and engrosses the energies of the
nation, little that is new could be presented.
"The progress of our arms, upon which all else chiefly depends, is
as well known to the public as to myself, and it is, I trust, reasonably
satisfactory and encouraging to all. With high hope for the future,
no prediction in regard to it is ventured.

746 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.
" On the occasion corresponding to this, four years ago, all thoughts,
were anxiously directed to an impending civil war. All dreaded it;
all sought to avoid it. While the inaugural address was being de
livered from this place,' devoted altogether to saving the Union with
out war, insurgent agents were in the city seeking ^ to destroy it
without war — seeking to dissolve the Union and divide ihe effects
by negotiation. Both parties deprecated war, but, one of them would
make war rather than let the nation survive, and the other would accept
war rather than let it perish, and the war came.
" One-eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, not dis
tributed generally over the Union, but localized in the Southern part
of it. These slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. All
knew that this interest was somehow the cause of the war. To
Strengthen, perpetuate, and extend this interest was the object for
which the insurgents would rend the Union by war, while the Gov
ernment claimed no right to do more than to restrict the territorial
enlargement of it.
" Neither party expected for the war the magnitude or the duration
which it has already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of
the conflict might cease, even before the conflict itself should cease.
Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental and
astounding. " Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each in
vokes His aid against the other. Jt may seem strange that any men
should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread
from the sweat of other men's frices, but let us judge not, that we be
not judged. The prayers of both should not be answered. That of
neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has his own purposes.
Woe unto the world because of offences, for it must needs- be that
offences come ; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh.
If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of these offences,
whieh, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having
contmued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and
that He gives to both North and South this terrible war as the woe
due to those by whom the offence came, shall we discern there is
any departure from those Di\ ine attributes which the believers in a
living God always ascribe to him? Fondly do we hope, fervently do
we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away.
Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the
bondman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be
sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash fhall be paid
by another drawn witlfthe sword, as was said three thousand years
ago, so, still it must be said, that the judgments ofthe Lord are true
and righteous altogether.
" With malice towaeds none, with chaeity foe all, with
FIEMNESS IN THE EIGHT, AS God GIVES US TO SEE EIGHT, LET US
FINISH THE WORK WE ARE IN, TO BIND UP THE NATION'S WOUNDS,
TO CARE FOR HIM WHO SHALL HAVE BORNE THB BATTLE, AND FOE
HIS WIDOW AND HIS ORPHANS, TO DO ALL WHICH MAT ACHIEVE AND

HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.

747

CHEETSH A JUST AND A LASTING PEACE AMONG OURSELVES AND WITH
ALL NATIONS."
The new cabinet was almost identical with the old, the only impor
tant change being the substitution of Hugh McCulloch as Secretary
of the Treasury for Mr. Fessenden, who resumed his place in the
Senate. Meanwhile, the important events related in the few last chapters
followed each other in rapid succession, and with the fall of Richmond
and the capitulation of Lee, a universal feeling of joy thrilled the
country. The President, after witnessing the closing scenes of the
great drama in Virginia, and visiting the late rebel capital, returned
on April 9th to Washington, followed a day or two later by General
Grant ; and, as an earnest of the good results which were to flow from
the events which had just occurred, he caused the following official
bulletin to be issued by the War Department : —
"Wae Department, Washington, April 13, 1865 — 6 p. m.
" This Department, after mature consideration, and consultation with the Lieutenant-
General upon the results of the recent campaigns, has come to the following determi
nations, which will be carried into effect by appropriate orders, to be immediately
issued :
" First. To stop all drafting and recruiting in the loyal States.
" Second. To curtail purchases for arms, ammunition, quartermaster and commis
sary supplies, and reduce the expenses of the military establishment in its several
branches. " Third, To reduce the number of general and staff officers to the actual necessities
ofthe service.
" Fourth. To remove all military restrictions upon trade and commerce, so far as
may be consistent with public safety.
"As soon as these measures can be put in operation, it will be made known by
public.orders. " Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War."
On the evening of April 14th (Good-Friday), Mr. Lincoln, in com
pliance with the request of the proprietor, visited Ford's Theatre in
Washington. Preoccupied as he was with public duties and ques
tions of future policy, he felt little inclination to go ; but as the announce-i
ment that he would be present had been made public, he determined,
rather than disappoint the audience, to conquer his reluctance and
give an hour or two to relaxation. In the midst of the performance,
while sitting in the Presidential box, which adjoins the stage, in com*
pany with his wife and two friends, he was attacked by an assassin,
who, bursting suddenly upon him, shot him in the back of the head
with a pistol, and then, leaping upon the stage and brandishing a dag
ger, shouted, "Sic Semper Tyrannis— -the Soutli is avenged," and
disappeared into the street. There, mounting a fleet horse which was
in readiness, he effected his escape almost before th'e astounded audi
ence were aware of the tragedy that had happened. Between the
deed of blood and the escape of the assassin there was not the lapse
of a minute. Mr. Lincoln* was conveyed in an unconscious state to a

1, Abraham Lincoln was born in Hardin Comity,
Ky., February 12th, 1809. In 1816 he removed
with his parents to what Is now Spencer < 'ounty,
Indiana, where, for upwards of ten years, he was
principally employed on his father's farm, which

he assisted to clear. During this period he re
ceived in the aggregate about one year s> school
ing. In 1830 he removed with his father to Illi
nois, and for several years was variously employed
asflatboat-nian, farm laborer, and clerk In a coun-

748

HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.

neighboring house, where he expired the next morning, April 15th, at'
twenty-two minutes past seven o'clock, surrounded by his cabinet and
friends. The murderer was recognized by several persons in the audi
ence to be John Wilkes Booth, a member of a distinguished family of
actors, and himself an actor of some reputation. On the same night,
Secretary Seward, who was then confined to his bed in a crippled
condition, in consequence of having been thrown from his carriage a
few days previous, was attacked by an assassin, who forced his way
into the house, overcame the resistance of the attendants, and after
inflicting dangerous, though fortunately not mortal, wounds with a
knife on Mr. Seward and his son Frederick, effected his escape into
the street.
The horror and alarm with which these acts filled the community
cannot be adequately described ; and, indeed, the impression caused
by them is too recent to render description necessary.. The revulsion
from unbounded delight at the prospect of returning peace, to despair
and distrust of what the future might bring forth, was sudden and
terrible. Almost with one accord the people realized that they had
lost a friend and a father, one who, through good report and through
evil report, amidst cares and embarrassments such as have seldom
rested upon any ruler, had borne himself wit h a meekness and patience,
a dignity and rectitude, and had exhibited withal an ability which
challenged the admiration of the world. Stricken down by an assas
sin's hand at the- moment when his patient forbearance and unswerving
trust in the result of the war for the Union were about to meet their
reward from a people whose confidence he had already largely received,
he passed more deeply into the affections of his countrymen than
ever before. At once the idea came uppermost to every mind that
the Southern rebels, in whose behalf Booth had professed to com
mit his mad act, had lost in Abraham Lincoln the man who, of till
others, would have dealt most tenderly with them. His large and
generous nature could harbor ill-will to no one — not even to those
political opponents who, throughout his Administration, had spared no
efforts to denounce and misrepresent him, and who had even ridiculed
his rugged features and ungainly form ; nor to the rebels, who had
exhausted the vocabulary for coarse terms of abuse to apply to him ;

try store. In 1S32 he Berved aR captain of a com
pany of volunteers in the Ijlack Hawk War, and
was subsequently an unsuccessful Whig candi
date for the Illinois Legislature but from 1834 to
1842 he held a seat in that body. After a brief
attempt to keep a country store, he studied law,
and, in 1S36, obtained a license to practise. In
1S37 he settled at Springfield, and rose rapidly to
distinction in his profession. He was, at the same
time, an active member 'of the Whig party, by
which he was elected, in 1S46. to represent the
Central District of Illinois in Congress. In that
body he voted for. the Wilmot Proviso, and advo
cated 'other anti-slavery measures. After several
years, devoted mainly to professional duties, he
re-entered political life upon the repeal of the
Missouri Compromise, in 1854. aided in. securing
the election of Mr. Trumbull as United States
Senator. from Illinois. In place of General Shields.
tho Democratic candidate, and became a decided
Republican. In 1858 he was the Republican can

didate for United States Senator, in opposition to
Stephen A. Douglas, with whom he conducted an
active canvass throughout the Slate, both candi
dates speaking on the same day at the same place.
The result of the election was a popular vote of
125.215 for the Republican candidates to the Leg
islature, who were pledged to vote for Mr. Lin
coln ; 121,100 for the Douglas candidates; 85,071
for the Lecompton candidates. But, though Mr.
Lincoln had a clear majoritv over Mr. Douglas,
the lutter was elected Senator by the Legislature,
where his supporters had a majority of eight on
joint ballot At the Convention in Chicago in
May, I860, lie was nominated the Republican can
didate for President, and was elected in the suc
ceeding November Bv a large majority, receiving
the votes of all the "Free States, except three in
New Jersey, given to Mr. Douglas. He was in
augurated on March 4th, 1861. His subsequent
career is related in the foregoing pages of this
work.

HISTOET OF THE GEEAT EEBELLIOK. 749
and at the moment when the fatal bullet lodged in his brain, he stood
before the world, to use his own noble words, " with malice towards
none, with charity for all." A kindly, humble, simple-hearted, and up
right man, without learning, with little training in statesmanship, and
with no great intellectual endowments, he had succeeded in fulfilling a
great public trust, partly by the exercise of a natural sagacity, but
chiefly by his moral rectitude and abiding trust in the providence of
God. As the recollection of all that he had done and suffered in be
half of that Union he had sworn to maintain and defend, of his en
dearing private traits, and even of that quaint humor which he
assumed to drive away, for the moment, the harassing cares of state,
rose in the public mind, the people bowed itself and wept. Such a
universal mourning had not been known in the memory of living men :
the land seemed clad in the habiliments of woe.
At noon, on the 19th of April, his obsequies were celebrated in the^
Executive Mansion at Washington, in the presence of the chief civil
and military authorities of the nation ; and at the same hour through
out the country the tolling of church bells and the booming of minute-
guns announced that the people were participating in the solemn
ceremony. An imposing procession then escorted the body to the
Capitol, where it lay in state until the 21st. It was then conducted
in one long funeral procession, occupying several weeks, through the
chief cities of the Union, to its final resting-place in the cemetery at
Springfield, Illinois. It may be added, that the untimely end of Mr.
Lincoln called forth in Europe expressions of horror not less vehement
than those uttered by his own countrymen ; and from all parts of the
civilized world went up unfeigned tributes of respect for his virtues
and ability.
Meanwhile the Government was on the alert to arrest the assassin
and his accomplices. Booth was finally tracked to a farm-house, near
Port Royal, on the Rappahannock, where, refusing to be arrested, and
fighting with the desperation of a wild beast brought to bay, he was
mortally wounded on the 27th, dying a few hours afterwards. Har-
rold, an accomplice, was captured with him. A few days later a^man
named Payne was arrested and identified as the assassin who had
attempted the life of Mr. Seward. Other arrests followed, and on
May 10th, David E. Harrold, George A. Atzeroth, Lewis Payne,
Michatl O'Laughlin, Edward Spangler, Samuel Arnold, Mary E. Sur-
ratt, and Samuel A. Mudd, were arraigned before a military tribunal,
presided over by General David Hunter, as principals or accessories
to the murder. After atrial, lasting nearly two months, in the course
of which the existence of a plot to murder not only Mr. Lincoln and
Mr. Seward, but Vice-President Johnson, General Grant, and others,
was made manifest, Harrold, Payne, Mrs. Surratt, and Atzeroth were
found guilty of murder, and were hung in Washington on the 7th of
July; Mudd, Arnold, and O'Laughlin were sentenced to imprison
ment for life, and Spangler to six years' imprisonment at hard labor.
'By the Constitution ofthe United States, the office of President,
in the event ofthe death of the incumbent, devolves upon the person
holding the office of Vice-President. Accordingly, a few hours after

750

HISTOEY OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.

Mr. Lincoln had breathed his last, the oath of office was administered
by Chief-Justice Chase to Vice-President Andrew Johnson,* in, the
presence ofthe Cabinet. After receiving the oath, and being formally
declared President of the United States, Mr. Johnson addressed the
following remarks to those present: —
"Gentlemen: — I must be permitted to say that I have been almost overwhelmed
by the announcement ofthe sad event which has so recently occurred. I feel incom
petent to perform duties so important and responsible as those winch have been so un
expectedly thrown upon me. As , to an indication of any policy which may be pre
sented by me in the administration of the Government, I have to say that that must be
left for development as the administration progresses. The message or declaration
must be made by the acts as they transpire. The only assurance that I can now give
of the future is by reference to the past. The course which I have taken in the past
in connection with this rebellion, must be regarded as a guarantee of the future. My
past public life, which has been long and laborious, lias been founded as I, in good
conscience believe, upon a great principle of right, which lies at the basis of all things.
The best energies of my life have been spent in endeavoring to establish and perpetuate the
principles of free government, and I believe that the Government, in passing through its
present trials, will settle down upon principles consonant with popular rights, more perma
nent and enduring, than heretofore. 1 must be permitted to say, if I understand the feelings
of my own heart, I have long labored to ameliorate and alleviate the condition of the
great mass of the American people. " Toil and an honest advocacy of- the great princi
ples of free, government have been my lot. The duties have been mine— the conse
quences are God's. This has been the foundation of my political creed. I feel that
in the end the Government will triumph, and that these great principles will be per
manently established. In conclusion, gentlemen, let me say that I" want your en
couragement and countenance. I shall ask and rely upon you and others in carrying
the Government through its present perils. I feel in making this request that it will
be heartily responded to by you and all other patriots and lovers of the rights and
interests of a free people."
Of the new chief magistrate, thus unexpectedly inducted into office,
it scarcely falls within our province to speak. His Administration be
longs rather to the new era now dawning upon the country than to that
which witnessed the rise, the progress, and the overthrow of the Great
Rebellion, and of which we have assumed to give the narrative. He
was known to be a, man of ability, energy, and integrity, who, from the
commencement of the rebellion, had pronounced unmistakablyfor the
Uni«i. It was hoped and believed that he would pursue the course
already marked out by his predecessor, and although he was popularly
supposed to have lessof the mild clemency for which President Lin
coln was noted, that circumstance rather accorded than othervvjge with
the prevailing temper of the people, whose hearts, for the time, were

* Andrew Johnson was born In Kaleigh, North
Carolina, December 29th, 180S, and at the age of
ten was apprenticed to a tailor in his native town,
with whom he remained seven years. He never
had one day's schoolings in the course of his life,
but by his. own exertions learned to read while
an apprentice. A few years later his wife
Instructed him in writing and ciphering. In
1826 ho emigrated to Tennessee, and settled In
Greenville as a tailor. At twenty years of age
he was elected au alderman of Greenville; was
re-elected in the two succeeding years, and from
1880 lo 1834 held the office of mayor of the town.
In 1885 he entered political life as a Democratic
member of the Tennessee Legislature; was re
elected In 1889, and during the Presidential can.

vassof 1S40 was an active speaker in favor of the
Democratic candidate. In 1841 he was a member
ofthe State Senate, and from 1S48 to 1858 held a
seat in Congress. From 1S58 to 1S57 he filled the
office of Governor of Tennessee, and in the latter
year was elected by tho Legislature a United
'States Senator. At the outbreak of the rebellion
he pronounced strongly in favor of the Union,
and was commissioned a brigadier-general of
volunteers. In 1862 he was appointed military
governor of Tennessee, which position he held
until his election as Vice-President of the United
States, on the same ticket with Mr. Lincoln. He
was inaugurated Vice-President March 4th. 1865,
and on the 15th of April succeeded Mr. Lincoln
as President. ,

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 751
¦turned away from clemency, and who demanded that stern and exact
justice should be meted out to the rebels. This sentiment gradually
passed away, and the President and his cabinet, the same whom Mr.
Lincoln had selected, set themselves seriously to work lo reconstruct
loyal governments in the States which had attempted to form a new
confederacy. Of the principles on which such reconstruction was to
rest, an idea may be obtained from two important proclamations issued
by the President within a few' weeks of his entrance upon office. The
first, a new amnesty proclamation, rendered necessary by the progress
of events, was in the following terms : — " Washington, May 29.
"Bt the President of the United States of America.
"A PROCLAMATION.
" Whereas, The President ofthe United States, on the eighth day of December, A. D.
eighteen hundred and sixty-three, and on the twenty-sixth day of March, A. D. eighteen
hundred and sixty-four, did, with the object to suppress the existing rebellion, to in
duce all persons to return to their loyalty, and to restore the authority of the United
States, issue proclamations offering amnesty and pardon to certain persons, who had
directly or by implication participated in the said rebellion ; and
" Whereas, Many persons, who had so engaged in said rebellion, have, since the issu
ance of said proclamations, failed or neglected to take the benefits offered thereby ; and
" Whereas, Many persons, who had been justly deprived of all claim to amnesty or
pardon thereunder, by reason of their participation, directly or by implication, in said
rebellion, and continued hostility to the Government of the United States since the date
of said proclamations, now desire to apply for and obtain amnesty and pardon ;
"To'tlie end, therefore, that the authority of the Government of the United States
may be restored, and that peace, order, and freedom may be established, I, Andrew
Johnson, President of the United States, do proclaim and declare that I hereby grant
to all persons, who have directly or indirectly participated in the existing rebellion, ex
cept as hereinafter excepted, amnesty and pardon, with restoration of all rights of
property, except as to slaves, and except in cases where legal proceedings under the
laws of the United States providing for the confiscation of property of persons engaged
in rebellion ha"ve been instituted ; but on the condition, nevertheless, that every such
person shall take and subscribe the following oath or affirmation, and thenceforward
keep and maintain said oath inviolate, and which oath shall be registered for perma
nent preservation, and shall be of the tenor and effect following, to wit :
" 'I,  , do solemnly swear or affirm, in presence of Almighty God, that I will
henceforth faithfully support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the
Union of the States thereunder. And that I will, in like manner, abide by and faith
fully support all laws and proclamations which have been made during the existing re
bellion with reference to the emancipation of slaves, so help me God.'
" The following classes of persons are excepted from the benefits of this proclama
tion :
"First. All who are or shall have been pretended civil or diplomatic officers, or other
wise domestic or foreign agents of the pretended Confederate Government.
" Second.. All who left judicial stations under the United States to aid the rebellion.
" third. All who shall have been military or naval officers of said pretended Confed-.,
erate Government above the rank of colonel in the army or lieutenant in the navy.
" Fourth. All who left seats in the Congress of the United States to aid the rebellion.
"Fifth. All who resigned or tendered resignations of their commissions in the army
or navy of the United States, to evade duty in resisting the rebellion.
"Sixth. All who have engaged in any way in treating otherwise than lawfully as
prisoners of war persons found in the United States service, as officers, soldiers, sea
man, or in other capacities.
"Seventh. All persons who have been or are absentees from the United States for
&e purpose of aiding the rebellion.

752 HISTOET OE THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
"Eighth. All military and naval officers in the rebel service who were educated by
the Government in the Military Academy at West Point, or the United States Naval
Academy. " Ninth. All persons who held the pretended offices of Governors of States in insur
rection agamst the United States.
" Tenth. All persons who left their homes within the jurisdiction and protection of
the United States and passed beyond the Federal military lines into the so-called Con
federate States, for the purpose of aiding the rebellion.
" Eleventh. All parties who have been engaged in the destruction of the commerce of
the United States upon the high seas, and all persons who have made raids into the
United States from Canada, or been engaged in destroying the commerce of the United
States upon the lakes and rivers that separate the British Provinces from the United
States. " Twelfth. All persons who at the time when they seek to obtain the benefits hereof
by taking the oath herein prescribed, are in military, naval, or civil confinement, or
custody, or under bonds of the civil, military, or naval authorities or agents of the
United States, as prisoners of war, or persons detained for offences of any kind, either
before or after conviction.
" Thirteenth. All persons who have voluntarily participated in said rebellion, and the
estimated value of whose taxable property is over twenty thousand dollars.
" Fourteenth. All persons who have taken the oath of amnesty, as prescribed in the
President's Proclamation of December eighth, A. D. eighteen himdred and sixty-three,
or an oath of allegiance to the Government of the United States since the dates of said
Proclamation, and who have not thenceforward kept and maintained the same inviolate
— provided that special application may be made to the President for pardon by any
person belonging to the excepted classes, and such clemency will be liberally extended
as may be consistent with the facts of the case and the peace and dignity of the United
States. "The Secretary of State, will establish rules and regulations for administering and
recording the said amnesty oath so as to insure its benefit to the people and guard the
Government against fraud. «
" In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal ofthe United
r -¦ States to be affixed. Done at the City of Washington, the twenty-ninth day
¦¦ -'of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-five,
and of the independence of the United States the eighty-ninth.
"By the President: "Andrew Johnson.
"Wm. H. Seward, Secretary of State.' '
The second proclamation provides for the reconstruction of a State
government in Mississippi, and may be taken as the model on which
all similar acts are to be formed : —
"Bt the President of the United States of America.
"A PROCLAMATION.
" Whereas, The fourth section of the fourth article of the Constitution of the United
States declares that the United States shall guarantee to every State in the Union a
republican form of government, and shall protect each of them against invasion and
domestic violence ; and whereas, the President of the United States is, by the Consti
tution, made commander-in-chief of the army and navy, as well as chief civil executive
officer of the United States, and is bound by solemn oath faithfully to execute the office
of President of the United States, and to take care that the laws be faithfully executed;
and whereas, the rebellion which has been Waged by a portion of the people of the.
United States against the properly constituted authorities of the Government thereof,
in the most violent and revolting form, and whose organized and armed forces have
now been almost entirely overcome, has, in its revolutionary progress, deprived the
people of the State of Mississippi of all civil government ; and whereas, it becomes
necessary and proper to carry out and enforce the obligations of the United States tor

U.0~ •

2331 ^ec1

V>V

Airs ©sew J®G3M§®(i

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 7o3
the people of Mississippi in securing them in the enjoyment of a republican form of
government now, therefore, in obedience to the high and solemn duties imposed upon
me by the Constitution of the United States, and for the purpose of enabling the loyal
people of said State to organize a State government, whereby justice may be estab
lished, domestic tranquillity restored, and loyal citizens protected in all their rights of
life, liberty, and property ; I, Andrew Johnson, President of the United States and
Commander-in-Chief of the army and navy of the United States, do hereby appoint
William L. Sharkey, of Mississippi, Provisional Governor of the State of Mississippi,
whose duty it sh allbe, at the earliest practicable period, to prescribe such rules and
regulations as may be necessary and proper for convening, a convention, composed of
delegates to be chosen by that portion of the people of said State who are loyal to the
United States, and no others, for the purpose of altering and amending the Constitution
thereof, and with authority to exercise, within the limits of said State, aE the powers
necessary and proper to enable such loyal people of the State of Mississippi to restore
said State to its constitutional relations to the Federal Government,, and to present such
a republican form of State government as will entitle the State to the guarantee of the
United States therefor, and its people to protection by the United States against inva
sion, insurrection, and domestic violence ; provided, that in any election 'that may be
held hereafter for choosing delegates to any State Convention, as aforesaid, no person
shall be qualified as an elector, or shall be eligible as a member ,pf such convention,
unless he shall have previously taken and subscribed the oath of amnesty, as set forth
in the President's proclamation of May twenty -ninth, A. D. eighteen hundred and sixty-
five, and is a voter qualified as prescribed by the Constitution and laws of the. State of
Mississippi, in force immediately before the ninth of January, A. D. eighteen hundred
and sixty-one, the date of the so-called ordinance of secession. And the Said conven
tion, when convened, or the Legislature that may be thereafter assembled, will pre
scribe the qualification of electors, and the eligibility of persons to hold office under the
constitution and laws of the State — a power the people of the several States composing
the Federal Union have rightfully exercised from the origin of the Government to the
present time. And I do hereby direct :
"First. That the military commander of the department, and all officers and persons
in the military and naval service, aid and assist the said Provisional Governor in car
rying into effect this Proclamation ; and they are enjoined to abstain from in any way
* hindering, impeding, or discouraging loyal people from the organization of a State Gov
ernment, as herein authorized.
" Second. That the Secretary of State proceed to put in force all laws of the United
States, the administration whereof belongs to the State Department, applicable to the
geographical limits, aforesaid.
" Third. That the Secretary of the Treasury proceed to nominate for appointment
assessors of taxes and collectors of customs and of internal revenue, and such other
officers of the Treasury Department as are authorized by law, and put in execution the
revenue laws of the United States within the geographical limits aforesaid. In making
appointments the preference shall be given to qualified loyal persons residing within
the districts where their respective duties are to be performed. But if suitable resi
dents of districts shall not be found, then persons residing in other States or districts
shall be appointed.
"Fourth. That the Postmaster-General proceed to establish post-offices and post-
routes, and put into execution tho postal laws of the United States within the said
States, giving to loyal residents the preference of appointment; but if suitable residents
are not found, then to appoint agents, &c, from other States.
"Fifth. That the District Judge for the judicial district in which Mississippi is in
cluded, proceed to hold courts within said State, in accordance with the provisions of
the act of Congress, and the Attorney-General will instruct the proper officers to libel
and bring to judgment, confiscation, and sale; property subject to confiscation, and en
force the administration of justice within said State, in all matters within the cogni
zance andi jurisdiction of the Federal courts.
" Sixth. That the Secretary of the Navy take possession of all public property belong
ing to tho Navy Department within said geographical limits, and put in operation all
acts of Congress in relation to naval affairs having application to said State.
" Seventh. That the Secretary of the Interior put in force the laws relating to the
Interior Department applicable to the geographical limits aforesaid.
48

Y54 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
" In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the
United States to be affixed. Done at the City of Washington, this thirteenth
[l. S.] day of June, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-
five, and of the independence of the United States the eighty-ninth.
" By the President : " Andrew Johnson.
" Wm. H. Seward, Secretary of State.''
In a former chapter we have described how Davis, at the approach
of danger, hurried southward, leaving to Lee and his remnant of an
army the task of defending the State of Virginia. On the 3d of April
he arrived in Danville, and assumed, with such of his cabinet and offi
cials as he could gather around him, to establish the fiction of a gov
ernment. He also issued a proclamation, announcing his intention to
hold on to Virginia. . But the capitulation of Lee and the threatening
aspect of Sherman and Stoneman counselled him to move farther
southward, while escape was possible. With his fugitive government
fast crumbling to pieces around him, he still maintained an appearance
of confidence and a degree of assurance which deceived no one ; and
at Charlotte, North Carolina, where he remained several days, he
made a public speech, promising soon to have a larger army than ever
before in the field. About the 25th of April he left Charlotte, alarmed
by the approach of Stoneman's Cavalry, who now became aware that
the great head of the rebellion was in their neighborhood. Passing
through Yorkville, South Carolina, with a train of several ambulances
and a small mounted escort, he entered Georgia in the beginning of
May, and on the 4th reached Washington, a small town northwest of
Augusta. Thence he moved rapidly southward, hoping, possibly, to
reach the Gulf and there find a vessel to convey him to Cuba. Mean
while, rumors of the flight of Davis through Georgia reached General
Wilson at Macon, who sent out parties of cavalry to scour the neigh
boring country. At Irwinsville, about seventy miles south of Macon,
the Fourth Michigan Cavalry, Colonel Pritchard, came upon the traces
of the rebel ex-President, and at daybreak on the 9th of May his en
campment, two miles outside of the town, was completely surprised
and the whole party of fugitives captured, including Mrs. Davis and
her, sister, the rebel Postmaster-General, Reagan, and others. The
following description of the manner in which Davis was captured is
vouched for as true, to the minutest detail, by an eye-witness : —
"Andrew Bee, a private of Company L, went to the entrance of Davis's tent, and
was met by Mrs. Davis, 'bareheaded and barefoot,' as he describes her, who, putting
her hand on his arm, said :
" ' Please don't go in there till my daughter gets herself dressed I'
" Andrew thereupon drew back, and in a few minutes a young lady (Miss Howell)
and another person, bent over as with age, wearing a lady's ' water-proof,' gathered
at the waist, with a shawl drawn over the head, and carrying a tin pail, appeared and
asked to go to 'the run ' for water. Mrs. Davis also appears and says :
" ' For God's sake let my old mother go to get some water 1'
" No objections being made, they passed out. But sharp eyes were upon the singu
lar-looking ' old mother.' Suddenly Corporal Munyer, of Company C, and others at
the same instant, discovered that the 'Old mother' was wearing very heavy boots for
an aged female, and the corporal exclaimed :
"^ That is not a woman 1 Don't you see the boots ?' and, spurring his horse forward

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. Y55
and cocking his carbine, compelled the withdrawal of the shawl, and disclosed Jeff
Davis. "As if stung by this discovery of his unmanliness, Jeff struck an attitude, and cried
out: " ' Is there a man among you ? If there is, let me see him 1'
"'Yes,' said the corporal, 'I am one; and if you stir, I will blow your brains 1'
" ' I know my fate, and might as well die here.'
"But his wife threw her arms around his neck, and kept herself between him and
the threatening corporal.
"No harm, however, was done him, and he was generally kindly spoken to: he
was only stripped of his female attire.
"As a man, he was dressed in a complete suit of gray, a light felt hat and high cav
alry boots, with a gray beard of about six jveeks' growth covering his face,
"He said he thought that our Government was too magnanimous to hunt women
and children that way.
" When Colonel Pntchard told him that he would do the best he could for his com
fort, he answered :
" ' I ask no favors of you.'
" To which surly reply the colonel courteously responded by assuring him of kind
treatment." Davis was conveyed to Macon, and thence to Fortress Monroe, where
he arrived in the latter part of May, and where he has since been in
carcerated, awaiting his trial for high treason. Stephens, the rebel
Vice-President, was captured about the same time, together with
others, who had held high civil and military positions in the rebel
government. A few words will suffice to relate the formal closing of the rebellion.
On May 4th the forces under General Taylor, comprising all those
troops east of the Mississippi who had not yet succumbed, were sur
rendered to General Canby on the same terms as those accepted by Gen
eral Lee ; and a few weeks later the whole of Kirby Smith's trans-
Mississippi command was surrendered on similar terms. On June 1st,
1865, there was not an organized body,of men east of the Rio Grande
who defied the authority of the National Government. Long before
this final act was effected, measures had been taken to reduce and dis
perse the immense forces which had been converging upon Richmond.
On May 23d and 24th the armies of Grant and Sherman were reviewed
in Washington in the presence of President Johnson and a vast con
course of people, and soon these famous organizations remained such
Only in name. To all parts of the country poured a steady stream of
disbanded regiments, and by the 1st of September half a million of
men had been discharged from the national service, leaving less than
two hundred thousand for duty in the recently revolted States. Over
the whole country settled a profound peace. The South, from sheer
exhaustion alone, was incapable of offering further resistance, and ac
quiesced in the result of the great struggle. To such a pitch of mis
ery had it been brought during four years of war that peace was wel
come on any terms, and numbers of recent rebels, including some who
had held high civil and military office, became applicants for pardon
at the hands of the Executive. Although the emancipation of the
slaves was generally accepted as a settled fact, prejudice and habit
could not at once succumb to the force of circumstances, and the re
ciprocal relations and duties of those who had recently been masters

756 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION.
and slaves were not immediately recognized. In order to protect the
interests of the latter class, a Freedman's Bureau was organized by
the Government, of which General Howard was appointed superin
tendent, with agents distributed over every portion of the late insur
gent States. The close of the war necessarily found the Government
saddled with an enormous debt, but with its credit unimpaired at
home or abroad. So popular, indeed, was the 7.30 loan among all
classes of the community, that during the spring and summer of" 1865
the subscriptions, principally in small sums, to the authorized issues,
sometimes reached the enormous amount of twenty-five or thirty mil
lions a day. On the 31st of May<the Secretary of the Treasury pub
lished an official statement of the public debt, from which it appeared
that the amount outstanding, bearing interest in coin, was $1,108,-
113,842; the interest being $64,480,489.50. The debt, bearing inter
est in lawful money, was $1,053,476,371 ; the interest being $60,158,-
384:52. The debt on which interest has ceased was $786,270, The
debt bearing no interest was $472,829,270.57. The total indebted
ness was $2,635,205,753.50; the interest, both in gold and paper, being
$124,638,874. The amount of legal-tender notes in circulation was
$659,160,569. These included $432,687,966 of the new issue, and
$160,143,620 of the compound-interest notes under the act of June
30, 1864. The uncalled for pay requisitions were $40,000,000, and the
amount in treasury notes over '$25,000,000. The amount pf fractional
currency was $24,667,000.
Here we may fitly close our History of the Great Rebellion. Du
ring four years of trial such as few people have lived through, of un
equalled financial pressure, and of ceaseless warfare with a foe of our
own blood and birth, the nation had struggled on to final victory.
The aristocratic governments of the Old World, pleased at the idea of
seeing the great republic of the. West dismembered and displaced from
among the family of nations, stood appalled at the prodigious energy
and vitality which she displayed in her hour of trial. At the call of
the President armies had sprung up as if by a magician's wand, swarm
ing in numbers that, recalled the hordes which penetrated from the
remote East into Europe ; arms in abundance were put into their
hands, and great generals were found to lead them in the field. With
in two years a petty navy, not greater than a third-rate European
power would maintain, had swollen to a size rivalling those of Great
Britain or France; and two years later it contained vessels which
could bid defiance to any foreign ship afloat. These armies had been
raised and maintained, this navy built and manned, without so much
as one dollar pbtained by loans from Europe ; the men, the ships, and
the money were furnished by our own people. Such a v-esult was cer
tainly astounding to those who could not appreciate the patriotism and
the unconquerable will of a free people ; such a command of resources,
even to those who thought they knew the capacity of the country,
seemed inexplicable. They had looked for weakness, and they wit
nessed a strength which, if it aroused their apprehensions, increased
also their respect. The war had developed the overgrown boy, de
spised for his awkwardness and unconscious of hia powers, into a very

HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 757
giant. The United States at once took its place among the great pow
ers of the world, more than ever before the bulwark of freedom, the
hope of struggling democracies in the Old World, and the exemplar of
progress. That all this was accomplished without years of sorro,w and
misery such as, it is to be hoped, we may never endure again, it would
be useless to deny ; but in the nobler manhood, the self-sacrificing spirit,
and the pure patriotism which the struggle called forth, and, above
all, perhaps, in the overthrow of the institution of slavery, the war
furnished some compensating advantages. The chastening hand of
God was heavy upon us, as many a desolated hearth-stone will attest,
but in His providence He permitted us also to
" Gain in moral height,
Nor lose the wrestling thews that throw the world."

INDEX.

Acquia Creek, rebel batteries silenced at, 91.
Acts passed by the Thirty-seventh Congress, 125.
Act to prevent certain sales of gold, &c, 674.
Acworth, Johnston compelledby Sherman to aban
don his works at, 574.
Adrcms, John Quincy, attempt to expel from the
House of Representatives, 26.
Adams, Mr., representations of. to Earl Russell,
with regard to the Alabama, 374.
Adams, President, measures taken by, in relation
to the Indian troubles in Georgia, 1825, 23.
Address, inaugural, of Mr. Lincoln, 60; effect of,
on the South~ 61 ; Mr. Lincoln's second inaugural,
745.
Alabama,. secession movements in, 88; secession
ordinance of, 88; small vote of the people of, in
- favor of secession, 89.
Alabama, steamer, history of the, 872-875; depre
dations of the, 373 ; action of the British Govern
ment in relation to the, 874; claim of indemnity
for depredations of the, 875; United States
steamer Hatteras captured by, 875' details of
her fight with the Kearsarge, 628-627.
Albemarle, rebel ram, important assistance ren
dered by, in the capture of Plymouth, 621 ; fight
of, with the Sassacus, 622; sunk by Lieut. Cush
ing, 622; subsequently raised, 628.
Alexandria, occupation of, by New Tork Fire
Zouaves, &c, 90;
Alexandria, La., occupation of, by Gen. Banks's
force, 600; perilous position of Porter's fleet at,
602; consumed by fire, 603.
Algiers, occupation of, 368.
Alien acts and sedition law, origin of, and opposi
tion to, 19.
"Alien enemies ri in the South, property of, seques
trated, 117.
Allatoona Pass, turned by Gen. Sherman, 573, 574 ;
defence of, by Gen. Corse, 682.
Allsman, Andrew, rebel prisoners shot in retalia
tion for the supposed murder of, 605.
"Anaconda plan," 146.
Anderson, Major Robert, biographical sketch of,
64; transfers the garrison of Fort Moultrie to
Fort Sumter, 52, 65 ; attempts made to re-enforce,
52; his defence of Fort Sumter, 63-72; placed
in command of State and National forces in
Kentucky, 165; proclamation issued by, 165;
order issued by, at Louisville, 167; resignation
of on account of ill health, 168; succeeded by
Gen. Sherman, 168; directed to restore the Na
tional flag on Fort Sumter, 704.
Andersonville, infamous treatment of Union pris
oners at, 741.
Annapolis, Gen. Butler given command of the de
partment of, 82.
Antietam, battle of, 880-886; indecisive results
from the battle of, 883.
Anti -Federalists, opposition of, to tho alien acts
and sedition law, 19.
Anti-slavery agitation, growth of the, 26.
Arkansas, ordinance of secession of, 43 ; operation s

of Gen. Curtis in, 293-802; operations of Gen.
Steele in, towards Shreveport, 603.
Arkansas, ram, passes through the Union fleet
above Vicksburg, 369; her commander's report,
870 ; failure of a combined attack upon, 370 ; final
destruction of, 371.
Arkansas Post, captnre of, 420.
Arlington Heights, headquarters of Gen. McDowell
at, 90..
Armies, Federal and Confederate, in the field in
1S64, statistics of, 695.
Armies, Northern, organization of, necessary,
189.
Armory at Harper's Ferry seized by Tirginia mili
tia, 74.
Armory at Springfield, capacity of the, 96.
Arms, great scarcity of, at the outbreak of the re
bellion, 89, 95 ; inadequate supply of, in Missouri,
153; modern improvements in the manufacture
of, 223-228; repeating, 225.
Army, strength of, at the outbreak of the rebellion,
62; organization, 94: number of troops in, in
1861, 122- number of troops in, in 1864, 695.
Army of the Cumberland, reorganized by Gen.
Rosecrans, 492; numbers and composition of, in
May, 1864, 568.
Army of the Ohio, force and composition of, in
May, 1864, 568.
Army of the Potomac, demoralization in, 140;
McClellan called to take command of, 140; Gen.
Lana on the demoralization in, 141; rapid reor
ganization of, 142; position of, in September,
1861, 143; position of, made impregnable by
McClellan, 145; movements of, 210 ; inactivity
of, under McCleUan, 228-245; general advance
of, 284; concentration of, at Cumberland, 255;
operations of, against Richmond, 279-295; situa
tion of, on the James, after tho Seven Days' bat
tles, 290; address of McClellan to, 291; losses of,
291; long detention of, at Harrison's Landing,
826; Pope's complaints respecting brigade and
division commanders in, 884; return of, to Fort
ress Monroe, 337; united with that of Virginia,
under McClellan, 877; advance of, by way o£
Leesburg, 890; operations of, under Hooker, 443
-450; chief apparent duty of, 451; Gen. Meado
supersedes Hooker in the command of, 455";
movements of, after the battle of Gettysburg,
464-472 ; reorganization of, 474-476 ; list of gen
erals and brigade commanders in, 475, 476;
movements of, under Gen. Grant, from the Rap
idan to the Chickahominy, 508-529; movements
of, till the crossing of the James, 583^-539 ; oper
ations of, against Petersburg, 539-549 ; effect
upon, of the rapid succession of battles, 545;
operations of, before Petersburg and Richmond,
690-698; operations of, till the surrender of Lee,
717-728.
Army of the Tennessee, numbers and composition
of, 568; command of, assumed by Gen. Howard*}
586.
Arrest of citizens without warrant of law, 130,;

760

ESTDEX

Arsenal at St. Louis, arms in, secured by Capt.
Stokes, 104.
Article of war, additional, prohibiting the return
of fugitive slaves. 362.
Articles of Confederation ofl778, insufficiencyof, iS.
Artillery, improvements in the manufacture of,
225.
Art of war, remarks on the, 184-189.
Asboth, Gen., capture of Marianna by, 615.
Ashby, Gen., death of, 275.
Assassination of Mr. Lincoln threatened, 59 ; ac
complished, 747.
Assessments, arbitrary, in the Confederate States,
128.
Atlanta, siege of, 5S7-591; description of, 587;
battles near, 581-584, 586, 589, 500; evacuation
of, by Gen. Hood, 591; civilians sent from, by
Gen. Sherman, 593 ; remarks on Sherman's cam
paign against, 564; correspondence between
Mayor Calhoun and Gen. Sherman in relation to
the depopulation of,' 628,, 629; destruction, of
property in, 6S0; abandoned by the army of
Sherman, 6S1 ; march pf Sherman from, to Sa- |
vahnah, 681-683.
Atlanta, iron-clad, capture of, by the 'Weehawken,
504.
Austerlitz, Napoleon at, 186.
Averill. Gen;, defeats a rebel force at Moorfield, 553.
Averysboro1,1 battle of, 714..

Bailey, Godard, stocks of .Indian Fund abstracted
by,'52.
Bailey,' Lieut.-Col., Porter's fleet on the Red Eiver
rescued by, 602.
Baker, Col. E. D., death of, at the battle of Ball's
Bluff, 213.
Baker's Creek, battle of, 427.
Baltimore, attack on the Massachusetts Sixth Eeei-
ment in,1 77 ; Federal authority restored in, by
Butler, 88 ; advance of rebel cavalry toward, 553 ;
Republican convention of 1864 held at, 668.
Ball's Bluff, battle of, 218 ; results of the battle
of, 214
Banks, Gen. Nathaniel Prentiss, biographical
sketch of, 485; supersedes Gen. Butler in Mary
land, 108; transferred to the valley of Virginia,
108; operations of, in the valley of the Shenan
doah, 265-270 ; dispatches of, .268, 270.; retreat of,
2G9, 270 ; McDowell and Fremont .sent to the aid
of, 274; at the battle of Cedar Mountain, 825;
supersedes Butler in New Orleans, 435; opera
tions of, in the Southwest, 48jS^48 ; operations
of, in TexaB and on the Bed River, 59&-604.
Banks, national, organization of, 677.
Banks, Southern, condition of, in 1861, 119.
Banks's Ford, battle of, 448.
Bardstown, Ky., address of Gen. Bragg issued from,
%Q the people of the Northwest, 401 ; retreat of
the Confederates from, 40G.
Barnard, Gen., extract from his report on the Pen
insula campaign, 294.
Barron, Commodore, surrenders Fort Hatteras to
Gen. Butler, 146.
Base, McClellan's change of, .285.
Battle of Antietam, 3S0-8S6.
Atlanta, 531-5S4, 686, 589, 590.
Averysboro', 714.
, Bains Bluff, 213.
Baker's Creek, 427.
Banks's Ford, 443.
Belmont, Mo., 179.
Big Bethel, 92.
Booneville, Mo., 106.
Brier Forks, Mo., 106.
Bristow Station, 467.
Bull Kun, 100.
Bull Run, second, 331.
Bunker Hill, Va., 109.
Campbell Station, 498,

Battle of Carricksford, 112.
Cedar Creek. 650-654.
Cedar Mountain, 325.
Champion's. Hill. 427.
ChanceUorsville, 446-441
Chantilly, 335. '
Charlestown, Mo., 152.
Cheat Eiver, 112.
Chickamauga, 486-491.
Cold Harbor, 584 585.
Cross Keys, Va., 275.
Dallas, 578.
Darbytown, 691.
Draincsville, 214
' Dug Springsyl48.
Fair Oaks. 261.
Fisher's Hill. 646.
Five Forks, 721 723.
Fort Darling, 681.
Fort Donelson, 176.
Franklin, Tenn., j683.
Fredericksburg, 893.
Gaines's Mills, 285.
Gettysburg,, 458-463.
Glendale. 290.
Griswoldsviiie, Ga., 681.
Hainesville, Va., 109.
Hatcher's Kun, 692.
Jackson, Miss., 426.
Jonesboro', 589,
Kelly's Ford, 468. ,
Kenesaw Mountain, 577.
Laurel Hill, Va., 111.
Lookout Mountain, 500.
Lost Mountain, 575.
McDowell. Va.. 272.
Malvern Hill, 290.
Mansfield, 600.
Marion, 782.
Mechanicsville, 533.
Mill Spring, 172.
Monocacy, 552. , -
Murfreesboro', 413-417.
Nashville, 637-640.
Nelson's Farm, 290.
Olustee, 618
Peach-tree Creek, 5S1.
Pea Ridge. 299-301.
Perrysville, Kv., 407.
Pittsburg Landing, 307-812.
Pleasant Hill. La., 601.
Pumpkin Vine Creek. 568.
Rappahannock Station, 468.
Raymond, 425.
Reams's Station, 557.
Rich Mountain, 111.
Romney, Va., 111.
Salisbury, 788.
Savage's Station, 288.
Selma, 73S.
Seven Days', on the Peninsula, 234-292.
Seven Pines. See Fair Ouks.
Shiloh. Sea Pittsburg Landing.
South Mountain. 467.
Stone River, 418-417.
Wilderness, 509-515.
Weldon Railroad, 542, 556, 557.
Williuinstiurg, 253.
Wilson's Creek, 149.
' Winchester, 267, 646.
Bates, Attorney-General, opinion of, in relation to
the President's power to suspend the habeas
corpus, 180.
Baton Rouge, occupation of, by Gen. Williams,
868 ; Gen. Williams attacked at, by Gens. Breck
inridge and Rnsrgles, 870 ; raid or Grierson to,
from Lagrange, Tenn., 434.
Bautzen, Napoleon at, 187.
Bayou Teehe country, successful expedition to the,

INDEX

761

Beall, John T., execution of, as pirate, Bpy and
murderer, 743.
Beaufort, N. C, Burnside's operations against,
840-342.
Beaufort, S. C, occupation of, by Federal forces,
200.
Beauregard, Gen. P. G. Toutant, biographical
sketch of, 67 : placed in command at Charleston,
67; his bombardment of Fort Sumter, 68-72;
proclamation of, to the people of Loudon, Fair
fax, :and Prince William Comities, V».v 86 ; at
Manassas Junction, 97 ; confirmed full general
in the Confederate service, 118; inactivity of, in
Virginia, 145; assumes command of the Confed
erate Army of the Mississippi, 805; letter of,
from Corinth to Samuel Cooper, Richmond, 312 ;
evacuates Corinth, 815; late pursuit of, 816; ap
peal of, to the people of Georgia, 681.
Belie Isle prison at Richmond, description of, 740.
Belmont. Mo., defeat of Confederate troops ut, by
Gens. Grant and McClernand^ 179.
Beuian, John, hung for refusing to take the oath
to Sustain the1 Confederacy, 129.
Benham, Gen., his siege of Fort Pulaski, 844 ; dis
astrous operations of. on James Island, 347 ;
placed under arrest. 347.
Bentonville, Sherman's army at, 715.
Berry, Gen. Hiram Gregory, biographical sketch
of, 450 ; death of, at the battle of ChanceUors
ville, 450.
Berryville, supplv train captured at, by Mosby, 643.
Bethel, Big and Little, expedition againsr, 92.
Betts, Judge, on misprision of treason, 132.
Beverly, Va., surrender of Col. Pegram at, 112.
Big Bethel, batile of, 92.
Bills, military, before Congress, 123; by whom
opposed, 124
Biography of Anderson, Major Robert, 64.
Beauregard, Gen. P. G. Toutant, 67.
Berry.'Gen. Hiram Gregory, 450.
Bragg, Gen. Braxton, 72.
Buchanan, Capt. Franklin, 246.
BuelL Gen. Don Carlos, 168.
Burnside, Major-Gen. Ambrose E.,
206.
Butler, Gen. Benjamin Franklin, 867.
Davis, Jefferson, 114.
Dix, Gen. John Adams, 67.
Dupont, Kear-Admiral Samuel F.,
m
Ewell, Gen. Richard Stoddard, 525.
Farragut, Admiral David G., 421.
Floyd, John Buchanan, 65.
Foote, Rear-Admiral Andrew H.,
178.
Gillmore, Gen. Quincy Adams, 504.
Grant, Lieut.-Gen. Ulysses 6.,, 150.
Halleck, Gen. Henry Wager, 295.
Hardee, Gen. William J., 162.
Hood, Gen. John B., 580.
Hooker, Gen. Joseph, 448.
Howard, Gen. Oliver Otis, 586.
Jackson, Gen. Thomas Jonathan, 265.
Johnson, Andrew, 750.
Johnston, Gen. Joseph Eccleston, 98.
Kearny, Gen. Philip, 284.
KUpatrick. Gen. Judson, 710.
Lee, Gen. Robert Edmund, 86.
Lincoln, Abraham, 747.
Longstreet, Gen. James. 487.
McClellan, Gen. George B., 229.
McCulloch, Gen. Ben., 298.
Mel >owell, Gen. Irvin, 90.
McPherson, Gen. James Bw 583.
Magruder, John Bankhead, 98.
Mansfield. Gen. J. K. F., 90.
Meade, Gen. George G., 456.
Mitchel, Gen. Ormsby McKnight,
812.
Morgan, Gen. John H. 731.

Biography of Patterson, Gen. Robert, 96.
Pemberton, Lieut-Gen. John C.,427.
Pheips, Gen. J. W., 204.
Pillow, Gen. Gideon J , 152.
Polk, Gen. Leonidas, 575.
Pope, Gen. John, 147.
Porter, Admiral David D., 601.
Price, Gen. Sterling, 151.
Rosecrans, Gen. William S., 111.
Schofield, Gen. John McAllister, 604.
Sedgwick, Gen. John, 517.
Sheridan, Gen. Philip Henry, 522.
Sherman, Gen. Thomas W., 199 .
Sherman, Gen. William Tecumseh,
418."
Shields, Gen. James, 266.
Sigel, Gen. Franz, 148.
Stephens, Alexander 11. , 114.
Stone, Captain Charles P., 64
Stuart, Gen. James B., 622.
Thomas, Gen. George Henry, 487.
Toombs, Robert, 114.
Von Dorn, Gen. Earl, 297.
Wadsworth. Gen. James Sanruel, 513 ;
death of, 513.
Ward, Capt James H., 98.
Winthrop, Major Theodore, 93.
Wool, Gen. John E., 63.
Birney, Gen., his attack upon Laurel Hill, 559.
Black, Secretary, circular addressed by, to minis
ters abroad, 216. , .
Blackmore, Dr., attempt of, to introduce yellow
fever into the United States, 744
Blair, Col. Francis P., complaints of, in relation to
Fremont's management in Missouri, 155 ; ar
rested by Fremont, 155 ; joins Sherman's army
with the Seventeenth Corps, 575.
Blockade of Southern ports declared, 74.
Blockade of the coasts of Virginia and North Car
olina proclaimed. 187.
Blockade, law of, 190-192.
Blockade of Charleston temporarily interrupted
by Capt. Ingraham, 502.
Bolivar Heights, Va., Colonel Geary attacked near,
211.
Bombardment of Fort Sumter, 63.
Booneville. Mo., defeat of the rebels near, by Gen.
Lyon, 106; Shelby routed at, by tho Missouri
militia, 607.
Booth, John Wilkes, assassination of President
Lincoln by, 743; shot near Port Royal, 749;
trjal and pnnf hment of his accomplices, 749.
Border States, hesitation of the, 42 ; propositions
of a committee of the, 54; convention of, at
Frankfort, Ky., 87 ; proposition of President
Lincoln in relation to emancipation in, 357.
Boston, petition sent from, in favor ofthe Critten
den resolutions, 55.
Bowling Green, Ky., occupation of, by Gen. Buck
ner, 167; occupied by a Federal force under
Gen. Mitchel, 175; occupation of, by Gen.
Bragg, 401.
Bradford, Major, his defence of Fort Pillow against
Forrest. 565; murder of, by rebel soldiers, 507.
Brag" Gen. Braxton, biographical sketch of, i2;
succeeds Beauregard at Okalona, 318; address
of to the people of the Northwest, 401 ; opera
tions of, in Kentucky, 401-408: order of, in re-
lotion to the inauguration of a rebel governor of
Kentucky, 403; great quantity of spoils earned
off by, from Kentucky, 408; retreat of, from
M urfreesboro' before Rosecrans. 41 6 ; driven back
upon Chattanoosra by Rosecrans, 4S2: abandons
Chattanooga, 484; re-enforced from the army of
Johnston, 485; remarks on the career of, 492;
inactivity of, before Chattanooga, 4!'4; driven
from Lookout Mountain. 500.
Brandy Station, retreat of Gen. Meade to, 4i0.
Brashear City, surprise ond capture of, by the
rebels, 438.

762

IKDEX.

Breckinridge, J. C, resigns his senatorship, 168.
Breese, Captain, his attack on the sea front of Fort
Fisher, 697.
Brier Forks, Mo., battle near, 106,
Bristow Station, battle of, 467.
Brough, John, elected governor of Ohio, 658.
Brown, Col. Harney, secret expedition dispatched
under command of, 67; arrival of, at Fort Pick
ens with re-enforcements, 72 ; operations of, at
Fort Pickens, 208.
Brown, Gov., forts in Georgia seized by, 40.
Brown, John, raid of, at Harper's Ferry, 88; exe
cution of, 84.
Brownlow, Rev. W. G., persecuted for loyalty, 129.
Brown's' Gap,' strong position «f Early at, 648.
Brownsville, occupation of, by the troops of Gen.
Dana, 598.
Buchanan, Capt. Franklin, biographical sketch of,
346; wounded and captured in the ram Tennes
see, 613.
Buchanan, President, his message of Dec, 1860,
50; message of, Jan., 1861, 52.
Buckner, Gen. S. B., proclamation issued by, from
Bowling Green, 167 ; his surrender of Fort Don
elson to Gen. Grant, 177.
Buell, Gen, Don Carlos, biographical sketch of,
16S; succeeds Anderson and Sherman in com
mand of the Department ofthe Cumberland, 16S ;
advance of, on Nashville, 178; opportune arrival
. of his troops at Pittsburg Landing, 310; losses
of, at the battle of Pittsburg Landing, 811,; oper
ations, of, in Kentucky, 399-408; superseded by
Gen. Thomas, 404; reinstated in his command,
405; large force under, 405; superseded by Gen.
Rosecrans, 412.
Bull Run, battle of, 100; effects of the defeat at,
104; beneficial effect on the North of the battle
of, 113; paralyzing iniluence of the defeat at,
139; second battle of, 830; losses at the second
battle of, 381.
Bunker Hill, Va., battle near, 109.
Burbridge, Gen., letter of Sherman to, in relation
to the treatment of guerrillas, 578; routs Mor
gan at Cynthiana, 730; attempt of, to capture
Saltville, 781.
Burnside, Maj.-Gen. Ambrose E., biographical
sketch of, 206; operations of, on the coast of
North Carolina, 200, 888-342; return of, to For
tress Monroe, 848; important services of, at the
battle of Antietam, 8b J; McClellan superseded
by, in command of the Army of the Potomac,
390; account of his operations against Freder
icksburg, 391-398;. inquiry into the causes of his
failure at FrederickshL-g, 3S5; singular tele-
j gram of tho President to, 897; plans of, made
known to tho cnomy, 398; superseded by Gen.
Hooker, 89S; capture of Knoxvillo by, 484; re
lieved from the command of the department of
the Ohio, 501.
Butler, Gen. Benjamin Franklin, biographical
sketch of, 867; placed in command of the Anna
polis department, 82; occupies Relay House,
82; maintains the Federal authority in Balti
more, 88; head-quarters of, at Fortress Monroe,
91, 108; surrender of Fort Hatteras to a force
under, 146; account of his Ship Island Expedi
tion, 202-206; attempts to raise troops in Massa
chusetts without State authority, 204: expedi
tion of, against New Orleans, 368-867; his occu
pation of New Orleans, 867 ; administration of,
in New Orleans, 867; superseded by Gen. Banks,
435; co-operative movement of, up the James,
4S0; "operations of, on the (Tames, 529-583; dis
patch of, from City Point, 530; attacked by
Beauregard within his lines, 582; consolidation
of his army with that of Grant, 642 ; expedition
of, against Wilmington, 687-690; relieved ofthe
command ofthe Army ofthe James, 696; letter
of, to Admiral Porter, in relation to Fort Fisher,

Buzzard Roost, Johnston's position at, turned by
Sherman, 569.
Cabell, Gen., repulse of, at Fayetteville, Ark., 606;
raid of, in Southwestern Missouri, 607.
Cabinet, Confederate, members of the, 48, 114.
Cabinet, Federal, changes in the, 51.
Cairo, apprehended Confederate movements
against, 170; fleet of gunboats prepared at, un
der the direction of Flag-officer Foote, 173.
Caleb Cushing, revenue cutter, captured in Port
land harbor, 375.
Calhoun, a stong advocate of nullification, 24; error
of President Jackson in relation to, 25.
Calhoun, Mayor James M., surrenders Atlanta to
Gen. Ward*, 591 ; letter of, to Gen. Sherman, in re
lation to the depopulation of Atlanta, 628 ; Gen.
Sherman's reply to, 629.
Calhoun, Sherman's forces at, 572.
Camden, Ark., occupation of, by Gen. Steele, 603.
Cameron, Col., killed at Bull Run, 103.
Cameron, Secretary, report of, to the Thirty-
seventh Congress, 122 ; visit of, to Missouri, to
inquire into Fremont's management, 159; resig
nation of, 215.
Camp Beach Grove, forti&edby Zollicoffer, 171.
Campbell, John A., Mr. Seward accused of dupli
city by, 62.
Campbell Station, battle of, 49S.
Camp Dick Robinson, Ky., complained of as an in
fringement of Kentucky neutrality, 162.
Camp Jackson, surrender of Gen. Frost at, to Capt;
Lyon, 104.
Camp Wild Cat, battle near, between the troops
of Zollicoffer and Schceff, 167.
Canal, Dutch Gap, proposed by Gen. Bntler, 554.
Canal cut across the peninsula opposite Island No.
Ten, 808.
Canal from the Mississippi to Lake Providence,
421.
Canal on the peninsula, opposite Vicksburg, ret
opened, 420 ; abandoned, 421.
Cannon, improvements in the manufacture of,
225; large number of, captured at Vicksburg,
432.
Cape Fear River, forts on, abandoned by the rebels,
699*
Cape Girardeau, defence of, by Gen. McNiel, against
Marmaduke, 606.
Capital, national, consumption of, 853.
Carlile, Mr. J. S„ admitted to the Senate from
West Virginia, 124.
Carrollton, occupation of, by Gen. Phelps, 868.
Casev, Gen., Division of, routed at the battle of
Seven Pines, 261.
Cass, Hon. Lewis, resignation of, 51.
Cuttle, twenty-five .hundred head of, carried off by
Wade Hampton, 559.
Cavalry, want of, in McClellan's army, 8S6.
Cedar Creek, battle of, 650-654; Sheridan turns
defeat into victory at, 658.
Cedar Mountain, battle of, 325.
Centreville, advance of Gen. Tyler to, 99 ; descrip
tion of the Confederate works at, 231 ; army of
Gen. Pope at, 884.
Certificates, issue of, 251.
Chambersburg, proclamation issued from, by Gen.
R. E. Lee, 455 ; fired by rebel cavalry under Mc
Causland, 553.
Champion's Hill, battle of, 427.
ChanceUorsville, battle of, 446-443.
Chandler, Col. D. T., testimony of, as to Gen. Win
der's infamous treatment of Union prisoners,
742. *
Change of base, McClellan's, 2S5.
Chantilly, battle of, 385.
Charleston, South Carolina, convention adjourned
to, 85; notice ofthe forts at, 64: military prepa
rations made in, 65; Beauregard placed in com-

INDEX.

763

mand at, 67; siege of, 345-347, 501-508; shelled
by Gen. Gillmore, 508 ; movement of Gen. Gill
more against, 702; surrender of, 708.
Charleston harbor, stone fleet sunk at the entrance
of, 202.
Charlestown. Mo., battle of, 152.
Charlestown, Va., capture of, by Gen. Imboden,
467.
Chase, Secretary, measures taken by, to obtain loons,
127.
Chattahoochee River, Sherman's army at the, 578 ;
Johnston compelled by Sherman to retire from
the, 580.
Chattanooga, Gen. Kirby Smith at, with 20,000
men, 318; Bragg driven bock upon, by Long-
street, 482; retreat of Bragg from, 484; Rose
crans at, after Chickamauga, 491 ; situation of
Rosecrans at, 494; arrival of large re-enforce
ments at, 496.
Cheatham, B. F., appointed brigadier-general in
the Confederate service, 118.
Cheat Mountain Pass, operations near, 182.
Cheat River, defeat of General Garnett at, 112.
Cherokee Station, General Osterhaus repulses Lee
and Loring near, 497.
Chesapeake, steamer, seizure of, by Confederate
passengers, 744.
Chicago, Democratic Convention of 1864 held at, ,
665.
Chickahominy, advance of the Army of the Poto
mac to the, 258; bridges over the, 260; Grant's
battles on the, 534-537.
Chickamauga, battle of, 436-491; killed and
wounded at, 489 ; remarks on the campaign ter
minating with the battle of, 491.
Christian Commission, beneficent offices of, 742.
Christmas gift, Sherman's, 685.
Cincinnati, alarm occasioned in, by the approach
• of Gen. Bragg, 403; martial law proclaimed in,
by Gen. Wallace, 408 ; proclamation of the may
or of, 404; liquor stores closed in, 404,
Circular addressed to foreign ministers by Mr.
Seward, 217.
Circular addressed by Mr. Seward to the governors
of States, 222.
Circular addressed by Memminger to officers of
Confederate States, 119.
Circular of Gen. Sherman in relation to newspaper
reporters and the transmission of mails, 572.
Citizens, Northern, banished from Southern States,
117, 129.
City Point, explosion of an ordnance boat at, 554.
Clay, Clement C, and others, letter of Horace
Greeley to, 670 ; final reply of, to Mr. Greeley, 671 .
Clay, Henry, author of the Missouri compromise,
22; compromise measures proposed by, in rela
tion to the tariff, 25.
Cobb, Howell, resigns his position as secretary of
the treasury, 51 ; elected chairman of the South-
era Convention, 46.
Coercion, President Adams's measures for, in
Georgia, 23; President Jackson's measures for,
in South Carolina, 25.
Coggin's Point, 2,500 cattle carried off from, by
Wade Hampton, 559.
Coin, interest on the national debt and customs
duties to be paid in, 343.
Cold Harbor, battles at, 534, 585.
Collins, Commander, captures the Florida in the
Bay of San Salvador, 627.
Columbia, South Carolina, Convention adjourned
from, an account of small-pox, 85; surrender of,
to Gen. Howard, 711 burning of, 711.
Columbiad gun, description of the, 226.
Columbus, Ky., occupation of, by Gen. Polk, 163;
fortification of, by the Confederates, 170 ; occu
pation of, by Federal troops, 178.
Columbus, Ga., capture of, by Gen. Wilson, 788.
Commerce, American, how affected by the dep
redations of Southern cruisers, 870.

Commissioners, Confederate, sent to Europe, 161.
216; reply of Earl Russell to, 220.
Commissioners, Southern, reply of Mr. Seward to,
61 ; final letter of, to Mr. Seward, 62.
Commission of the Virginia Convention, reply of
Mr. Lincoln to, 62.
Commissions, Christian and Sanitary, beneficent
offices of, 742.
Compromise, measures of, proposed by Clay, in
relation to the tariff, 25.
Compromise, Missouri, history of the, 22; repeal
of, 28.
Confiscation act, provisions of, 125; signed by the
President, 858.
Confiscation in the North of property belonging
to rebels, 18V
Congress, Confederate, early proceedings of, 83,
86; assembled in Richmond, July, 1 861,
118; how constituted, 114 ; action of;
in relation to Missouri, 116.
the Thirty-Bixth Federal, action of, 57.
the Thirty -seventh Federal, how con
stituted, 121 ; acts passed by, 125; sec
ond session of, 354; results ofthe pro
ceedings of, 862.
frigate, capture of, by the Merrimac,
Conscription, Confederate, after the 'battle of1
Gettysburg, 466.
law, Mr. Wilson's, 362 : unpopular
ity of, 450 ; amended by Congress,
662. ,
Constitution, Federal, history of the formation of
the, 17; binding on the whole
people, 18; amendments to, sug
gested by the Hartford Conven
tion, 21; amendments to, proposed
by Mr. Crittenden, 54 ; proposed
amendment to the, 53; Webster
on the, 25 ; powers conferred by,
upon the Government, 355.
Confederate, 4S; adopted by tho
Virginia Convention, 43; adopted
by the North Carolina Conven
tion, 45.
adopted by the Montgomery Con
vention, 47.
Convention of 1787 to amend tho Articles of Con
federation, 17.
Alabama, secession ordinance of, 89.
Arkansas, ordinance of secession,
passed by the, 48.
Democratic, of 1864, platform of, 666.
Hartford, resolutions adopted by the,
21.
Mississippi, action of, 87; secession
ordinance of, 88.
Missouri, action of, 116.
Montgomery, delegates to the, 47.
of Paris of 1856, in relation to priva- ,
teering, 115.
Republican, of 1864, platform of, 668.
Sonth Carolina, adjourned from Co
lumbia to Charleston, 35 ; ordinance
of secession of, 85; reasons of, for
secession, 86; resolutions adopted
by, 36.
of States invited by the Virginia leg
islature, 56.
Texas, ordinance of secession passed
by, 41.
Virginia, reply of Mr. Lincoln to the-
commissioners of, 62 ; secession ordi
nance, passed by the, 42; Confeder
ate constitution adopted by, 48.
Washington, 46.
Western Virginia, loyal action of, 88.
Corcoran, Col., made prisoner at Bull Run, 108.
Corinth, concentration of Confederate troops at,
under Gen, A, S. Johnston, 806; operation* of

764

IKDEX.

Gen. Halleck against, 818-317; dispatches of
Halleck in relation to capture of, 818-316; evac-
. nation of, by the forces of Beauregard, 815; siege
of, by Pi ice, Van Dorn, and Lovell, 410.
Corse, Go*., bis defence of Allatoona Pass, 632,
Cost of construction, of Federal forts in the Slave
^Slates, 85. ,
Cotton, export of, prohibited by the Confederate
Congress,: 86 * groat destruction of, in the South
west, Sl8; and at New Orleans, 865; large quan
tities of, captured at Savannah, 685.
Cotton gin, effect of the invention ofthe, 26.
Covington, Ga., raid of, Gen. Garrard to, 584.
Creditors, Northern, act of the Confederate con
gress in relation to, 11°.-
Creeks, title's of, to lands in Georgia,' extinguished
by treaty of 1825, 28.
Crew of the Savannah, trial of the, 195.
Puitfienden, Col. Thomas L., troopB raised by, in
defence of Kentucky, 164. .
Crittenden, Gen. George B., in command of the
.rebel force at Mill Spring, 171.
Crittenden, Mr., amendments to the Federal Con-
-. stitutidn proposed by, 54; resolution moved by,
in the House of Representatives, 124.
Crittenden resolutions, fate of the, 58.
Cross Keys, Va., battle of, 275; dispatch of Fre-
>.mont in relation^) the battle at, 276.
Cuba, schemes for the annexation of; 29.
Cullnm, Gen., his report on the works at Winches
ter, 451.
Culpepper Court-House, advance of Gen. Pope to-
¦ ward, 824.
Cumberland, concentration of the Army of the Po>
, torn ac at, 255.
CnmberJand, frigate,- the -sinking of, by the Merri
mac, 246.
Cumberland Gap, occupation of, by Gen. Zollicof
fer, 164 ; description of, 408; capture of, by Gen.
. G. W. Morgan, 409.
Cumberland River, description of, 173,
Currency, Confederate, rapid depreciation of, 118,
. 119.
Curtin, Governor, militia of Pennsylvania called
out by, 377.
Curtis, Gen. Samuel R., biographical sketch of,
297; operations of, in Missouri and Arkansas,
. -2.97-302; slaves. liberated by,. in Arkansas, 301.
Cushing, Lieut. W. !>., how he Bank the rebel ram
Albemarle, 622.
Cynthiana, burnt by the guerrilla Morgan, 730.

Dahlgren, Admiral John A., succeeds Dupont in
command of tire South Atlantic Squadron, 504.
Dahlgren, Col., death of, 472; papers said to have
been found oh his body, 472.
Dahlgren gun, peculiarity of the, 226.
Dallas, Ga., battle of, 573.
Dallas, Mr., succeeded by Mr. Adams at the Court
of St. James, 217, 218. .
Dalton, Johnston compelled by Sherman to aban
don his works at, 569.
Dam built by Lieut.-Col. Bailey on the Red Riv-
¦ er, 602.
Dana, Gen., expedition ofL to Brownsville, Texas,
598.
Dana, Mr. C. A., dispatch of, from Spottsylvania
Court-House. 521.
Danville and Weldon railroads, expedition of Wil
son and Kautz against, 544.
Darbytown, buttle of, 691.
Davis, Commodore, defeats the rebel- fleet near
. Memphis, 817: fleet of, joins that of Farragut
above Vicksburg, 368.
Davis, Ge.n. Jefferson C, biographical sketch of,
800; expedition of, toward Rover and Frunklin,
480 ; relieves Gen. Palfner, 586.
Davis, Jefferson, biographical sketch of, 114 ; ex
tracts from his first message, 68; message of, to

the Congress at Richmond, 115; address of„ to the
Confederate army after the retreat qf McClellan
from the Chickahominy. 292 ; details of the cap
ture of, 754; confined in Fortress Monroe, 755^
Dayton, Mr., Secretary Seward's instructions to.
218, 219.
Debt, interest-bearing, amount of, 358.
Debt, national, interest on- to be paid in coin, 848;
amount and composition of, in 1862, 849; and in
1863,352; amount of, in 1SG1-64, 354; tabular
statement of the, 678 ; at the close of the war.
756.
Debts, American, British, and French, comparative
. annual charges on, 854
Decatur, Ala., capture of, by Col. Turchin, 812.
Deep. Bottom, reconnoissance from, toward Rich
mond, 554.
Deerhound, steam yacht, Captain Semmes and
others carried off by the, 626.
Delegates to the Mongomery Convention, 47.
Democratic convention of 1864, platiorm of, 666.
Deposit loans, 349.
Depreciation of the Confederate currency, 118, 119.
Disloyalty in the diplomatic corps and among.
office-holders, 180.
Dismal Swamp Canal, expedition of Gen. Reno to
destroy, 342.
District of Columbia, abolition of slavery in the,
357.
Diplomacy, national, results of, 221.
Diplomatic corps, disloyalty among the members
of the, 180.
Dix, Gen. John Adams, biographical sketch of, 67 ;
famous order of, 67; appointed to the depart
ment of Maryland, 108.
Doubleday, Gen., at the battle of Antietam, 3S2.
Draft riot in New York, 466.
Drafts, successive, 470, 471, 473. 546, 694.
Dragon, gunboat destruction of, by the Merrimac,
249.
Drainesville. battle of, 214.
pred Scott decision, 28.
Dug Springs, Mo., battle of, 148.
Dunham. Col., his defence and surrender of Mum-
ford s vill e. Ky., 401.
Dupont, Rear Admiral Samuel F., biographical
sketch of, 198; operations of, in Port Royal har
bor, 198; operations of, against the Charleston
forts, 502; retires from command of the South
Atlantic Squadron, 504.
Dutch Gap canal, proposed by Gen. Butler, 554;
diversion attempted to relievo the working par
ties on, 554.

Early, Gen, A. £, contribution levied by. upon
York, Pa., 456; his invasion of Pennsylvania
and Maryland, 551-553; operations of Sheridan
against, in the Shenandoah Valley, 641-656.
East Tennessee, operations of Burnside in, 484;
other military operations in. 494-51H; Gen. Stone
man appointed to command in, 732.
Eighth Massachusetts Regiment, departure of, for
Washington, 78; machinists in the ranks of
the. 79.
Election, presidential, of I860, 82; followed by
secession movements, 84
Election, presidential, of 1864. 663-668.
Ellet, Col., expedition of, up the Yazoo, 869.
Ellis, Gov., reply of, to President Lincoln's call for
troops, 78.
Ellsworth, Col. Ephroim E., death of, at Alexan
dria, 90.
Emancipation, proposition of President Lincoln to
Border States Jn relation to, 357.
Emancipation proclamations, 856. 859, 361.
proclamation of Gen. Fremont in
Missouri, 154.
England, relations with the government of, 217.
Europe, Interference of, apprehended, 140.

INDEX.

765'

Swell, Gen. Richard Stoddard, biographical sketch
of, 525; advance of his corps upon Winchester,
451 drives Milroy out of Winchester, 452.
Exchange of prisoners, 739, 742; questions in rela
tion to, 196.
Excise law, 350.
Executive, questions as to the powers of the, 130.
Exports ofthe Confederate States, 118.

Fair Oaks, battle of, 261 ; large destruction of gov
ernment stores at, 288.
Falls at Alexandria, how passed by Porter's fleet,
602.
Farragut, Admiral David G., biographical sketch
of, 421; fleet of, pass the Mississippi forts, 364;
letter of, to the Mayor of New Orleans, demand
ing surrender; fleet of, pass the Vicksburg bat
teries, 368; fleet of, pass the Port Hudson batter
ies, 421; operations of, against Mobile, 611-615.
Fay, Col., Gen. Zollicoffer killed by, 172.
Fayetteville, Ark., Gen. Cabel repulsed at, by Col.
Harrison* 606.
Fayetteville, N. C, occtlpatipn of, by Sherman's
forces, 713.
Ferocity pf the Southern press and people, 129.
Fessenden, Mr. William Pitt, financial manage
ment of, 677.
Finance measures of Secretary Chase, 127.
Finances, Federal, disordered condition of, at the
beginning of the war, 57; condition Of, in 1861,
123; chapter on, 348-354; in 1864, 672-679.
Finances of the Confederate States, 118-121.
Fisher's Hill, battle of; 646.
Fishersville, capture of, by Sheridan, 707.
Fitch, Col., occupation of Fort Wright and Mem
phis by, 317; battery at St. Charles stormed by,
' 818
Five Porks, battle of, T21-723.
Florida, secession movements in, 39 ; expedition to
the east coast of, 383 ; places occupied in, 844;
Gen. Asboth's expedition in, 615; other military-
operations in, 615-619.
Florida, steamer, fortnerly the Oreto,. sails from
Mobile, 372; rebel cruiser, history of the, 027;
capture of, in the Bay of San Salvador, 621.
Floyd, John Buchanan; biographical'sketch of, 65;
resignation of, 51; escape -of, from Fort Donel
son, 177; compelled by Gen. Eosecrans to retreat
from the Gauley Eiver, 183.
Flusser, Lieut. Commander, singular death of, 621.
Foote, Itear Admiral Andrew H., biographical
sketch of, 173 ; fleet of gunboats prepared at Cairo
under the direction of, 173; surrender of Fort
Henry to, 174; wounded at the siege of Fort
Donelson, 176; death of, 504.
Forrest, Gen., defeats Smith and Grierson at "West
Point, 563; operations of, in Tennessee and Ken
tucky, 563-507 ; operations of, against Sherman's
communications, 630, 631 ; re-enforces the army
of General Hood, 638; defeated by Gen. Milroy
near Murfreesboro', 635; defeated and driven
out of Selma by Gen. Wilson, 738.
Fort Beauregard, S. O., capture of, 200.
Fort Darling, unsuccessful attack upon, by iron
clads, 256 ; failure of Butler's attempt upon, 631,
Fort de Eussey, Lai, capture of, 599.
Fort Donelson, description of, IT5'; siege and cap
ture of. 175-177; results ofthe capture of, 177.
Fort Fisher, description of, 687 ; torpedo vessel ex
ploded near, 6S8 ; failure of the attack upon, 688;
correspondence between Porter and Butler in re
lation to the attack upon, 685, 689 , language of
Gen. Bragg in relation to the attack upon, 690;
second expedition against, under General Terry
and Admiral Porter, 690-696 ; capture of, by as
sault, 698 ; killed and wounded at, 698.
Port Gaines, investment of, by Gens. Granger and
Canby, 611 ; Mobile, surrender of, 614.

Fort Hatteras, surrender of, to a force under Gen.
Butler, 146.
Fort Henry, on the Tennessee, sieere and capture
of, 174; results ofthe capture of."l74.
Forts Jackson and St. Philip, bombardment and
surrender of, 864. 865.
Fort McAllister, attack on, bv the iron-clad M6n»
tauk. 501 ; capture of, by Gen. Hazen. 683; dis
patch of General Sherman after the capture of,
683.
Fort Macon, N. C., siege of, 841 ; capture of, 342.
Fort Mahone, Petersburg, capture of. 724
Fort Morgan, Mobile, surrender of, 615.
Fort Moultrie, garrison transferred from, to Fort
Sumter, 52-65,
Fort Pickens, Florida, garrisoned by Federal
troops, 66; re-enforced by 'Colonel Harvey Brown,
72; fire opened from, on the navy yard and de
fences of Pensacola, 20S.
Fort Pillow, description of, 564 ; taken by assault,
565; details of tbe massacre at, 565-567.
Fort Powell, Mobile, surrender of, 614.
Fort Pulaski, siege of, 844; Surrender of, 845.
Fort Steadman, near Petersburg, capture and re
capture of, 717-719.
Fort Sumter, garrison of Fort Moultrie transferred
to, 52-65; attemptto re-enforce, 52-66; bombard
ment of, 68-70; names of officers in, during the
bombardment, 68; arrival of Gen. Wigfall at, 70';
surrender of, 72; effect ofthe fall of, "8; attack
on, with iron-clads, 503; made a "shapeless
mass of ruins" by Gillmore, 507; national flag
restored on, by Gen. Anderson, 704.
Fort Wagner, siege of, 505-508.
Fort Walker, S. C, capture of, 200.
Fort Wright, siege of, 814, 315; evacuation of, 815';
occupation of, by Col. Fitch, 817.
Fortifications, how far valuable,' 135.
Fortification's erected around St. Louis, 15%
Fortress Monroe, headquarters of General Butler
at, '91; army of McClellan at, 241; return of Mc
Clellan's army to, from Harrison's Landing:, 837.
Forts, Federal, seized bjj State authorities, 67.
Forts at Charleston, notice of the, 64
Forts in the Slave States at the outbreak ofthe re
bellion, 85.
Forts on Cape Fear Eiver, capture of, 699, 700.
Foster^ Gen.; part taken by, in the attack on New
bern, 339 ; appointed military governor of New-
bern,S40; assigned to command the Department
of the Ohio, 501 ; opens communications with
Savannah, 685.
France, relations with the government of, 217; ac
tion of the government of, In relation to the
seizure of Mason and Slidell, 223.
Franklin, Benjamin, Federal Constitution not
satisfactory to, 18.
Franklin, Gen. William Buell, biographical sketch
of, 599; at the battle of Antietam, 832; at the
battle of Fredericksburg, 898; relieved from
duty with the Army ofthe Potomac, 89S ; expe
dition df, to Sabine Pass, 596.
Franklin, Tenn., attack upon, by Van Dorn, 481;
Hood repulsed at, by Schofield, 634
Frauds in the War Department, 52.
' Frederick, Md., march of the Confederates upon,
, 377. • arrival of Hooker's army at, 458.
Fredericksburg, Burnside's' operations against,
891 ; battle of, 893.
Freedmeri's Bureau established, 662.
Fremont, Gen. John Charles, biographical sketch
of, 271 ; extensive command assigned to, 106 ;
operations of, in the West, 147-160; martial law
declared in St Louis by, 151 ; proclamation of,
in Missouri, of. August. 1861; complaints made
against, by Col. Blair, 155; alleged extravagance
of, 156 ; dispatch of, in relation to the fall of Lex
ington, 158; advance of, toward Lexington, 159:
reoccupies Springfield, 159; order transmitted
to, from the Secretary of War, 159 ; superseded

766

INDEX

by Gen. Hunter, 160 ; placed in command of the
Mountain Department, 238; operations of, in
Virginia, 270-279; dispatches of. to Harrison
burg, 275, 276 ; dispatch of, from Port Republic,
Va , 276 ; severe measures adopted by, against
plunderers, 278; resignation of, 278; order of
. Stanton relieving, 279.
French, Gen., at the battle of Antietam, , 882 ;
forces the passage of the Rappahannock at Kel
ly's Ford, 468.
Front Royal, Col. Kenly surprised at, 169.
Frost, Gen., surrender of, at Camp Jackson, to
Capt. Lyon, 104.
Fugitive slave law, opposition to, in the North, 27.

Gaines's Mills, battle of, 285.
Galveston, operations at, 208.
Gamble, Hamilton E., appointed provisional gov
ernor of Missouri, 116. ,
Gantt, Hon. E. W., defection of, from the Confed
erates in Arkansas, 607.
Gardner, Gen., correspondence of, with Gen. Banks
in relation to the surrender of Vicksburg 441.
Garfield, Col., Humphrey Marshall driven out of
, Kentucky by, 172.
Garnett, Gen., defeat and death of, at Carrick's
Ford, 112.
Garrard, Gen., raid of, to Covington, Ga., 584.
Garrisons in Federal forts in the Slave States at
the outbreak of the rebellion, 85.
Gauley Bridge, rapid retrpat of Gen. "Wise from,
1S1; operations in the vicinity of, 182-184
Gearv, Col., attacked by a rebel force near Bolivar
Heights, Va., 211.
Georgia, opposition to the National Government
in, in 1825, 22 ; Indian claims to lands in, extin
guished by treaty, 23 ; forts in, seized, by Gov.
Brown, 40; operations of Sherman in, 567-596,
679-686 ; appeals of Beauregard and the Georgia
delegation to the people of, 681 ; appeal of Sena
tor ftill to the people of, 682.
Georgia, privateer, where built and armed, 375;
capture of the, 627.
Georgia Convention, secession resolution and or
dinance passed by, 40.
Gettysburg, battle Of, 458-463.
Gillem, Gen., defeated by Breckinridge near Bull
Gap, 731 ; operations ofj in Southwest Virginia,
782.
Gillmore, Gen. Quincy Adams, biographical sketch
of, 504; his capture of Fort Pulaski, 345; suc
ceeds Hunter in command of the Department
ofthe South, 504; operations of, against Morris
Island, 505 ; dispatch of, announcing the capture
of Fort Wagner, 508^in Butler's attack on Fort
Darling, 531; the Florida expedition planned
by, 616; operations of, against Charleston, 702;
dispatch of. announcing the surrender of Charles
ton, 703.
Glendale, battle of, 290.
Gold, rapid disappearance of, in the Confederate
States,, 120; rise in the premium on, 849-
351 ; measures of Congress to prevent dealing
in, 674 ; effect of legislation on the price of, 675 ;
monthly course of the premium on, in 1862-
1865, 679.
Gold bill, repeal of the; 676.
Goldshorough, occupation of, by Gen. Schofield,
702, 716.
Gordonsville, retreat of the Confederate forces to,
from Manasaaa, 235.
Gortchakoff, Prince, remarkable letter of, 220.
Gosport Navy Yard, destruction of national prop
erty at, 74.
Government, National, history of various attempts
to resist the, 18-80; war powers of the, 855.
Governors of slaveholding States, reply of, to Pres
ident Lincoln's call for troops, 78,
Grain, large export of, to Europe, 852, 854,

Grand Gu7fy occupation of, by Gen. Grant, 428;
march of Gen. Grant's army from, toward Vicks
burg, 423-427.
Granger, Gen., attacked by Van Dorn at Frank
lin, Tenn., 481.
Grant, Lieut-Gen. Ulysses S., biographical sketch
of, 150 ; occupies Paducah. 168, 171 ; proclamation
issued by, at Paducah, 163; surrender of Fort
Donelson to, 177 ; army of, at Pittsburg Landing,
surprised by Gen. Johnston, 807; losses of the
army of, 811; apology for, 812; appointed to
the command of West Tennessee, 318; opera
tions of, against Vicksburg, 420-430; corre
spondence of, with Pemberton, in relation to the
surrender of Vicksburg, 430-432 ; letter of Pres
ident Lincoln to, after the fall of Vicksburg,
434 ; called to command the army in Tennes
see, 495; drives Bragg from Lookout Mountain,
500; appointed lieutenant-general, 573; formal
presentation of his commission to, 477; cor
respondence of, with President Lincoln. 477; his
plan, for the capture of Richmond, 580; cor
respondence of, with Gen. Lee, in relation to
terms of surrender, 726-728; sent from Wash
ington to Sherman, at Kaleigh, 736.
Graves House, Ga., skirmish at, 572.
Greble, Lieut, death of, at Big Bethel, 93.
Greeley, Horace, letter of President Lincoln to,
358 ; letters of, in relation to propositions for
peace, 669, 670 ; telegram of President Lincoln
to, 671 ; final reply of Clay and Holcombe to,
672.
Grierson, Col., cavalry raid of, from Lagrange,
Tenn,, to Baton Rouge, La., 484.
Grierson and Smith, Gens., cavalry expedition of,
from Memphis toward Meridian, 562.
Griswoldville, Ga., battle of, 681.
Guerrillas, activity of, in Western Missouri, 153;
letter of Gen. Sherman in relation to the treat-
* ment of, 578.
Guinney's Station, Gen. Torbert at, 525.
Gunboats, fleet of, prepared at Cairo, 173 ; Fort
Henry, on the Tennessee, captured by the aid
of, 174 ; compelled to retire from the attack on
Fort Donelson, 176; screw, built for the navy,
189; iron^clad, compelled to retire from Fort
Darling, 256; important assistance rendered by,
at the battle of Pittsburg Landing, 809 ; fight of,
with the rebel fleet, near Memphis, 817; at
tack made with, on Sabine Pass, 596; capture of
the rebel ram Tennessee by, 613.
Gunboat Unadilla, description of, 190.
Guns, calibre, weight, &c, of, in the United
States service, 227.
Guyandotte, a small body of Union troops sur
prised at, 185.

Habeas Corpus, suspension of, by the President,
ISO ; opinions of Taney and Bates as to the Presi
dent's power to suspend the, 180; opinion of
Reverdy Johnson in relation to the suspension
of, 181.
Hagerstown, troops concentrated at, 837 ; Stuart's
cavalry driven out of, 464; occupation of, by
rebel cavalry, 552.
Haines's Bluff, attacks of Sherman upon, 419, 422,
423;
Hainesville, Va., battle at, 109.
Halleck, Gen. Henry Wager, biographical sketch
of, 295; oommand of the Western Department
assumed by, 1 79 ; placed in command of the De
partment ofthe Mississippi, 238; severe meas
ures of, with regard to secessionists, 296; affairs
in Missouri under the management of, 295-802;
order of, excluding fugitive slaves from Federal
camps, 296 ; appointed to the Department of
the Mississippi, 802 ; dispatches of, in relation
to the evacuation of Corinth, 815-316: opera
tions of, against Corinth, 813-317; made com-

INDEX.

767

mander-in-chief, 819; correspondence of, with
McClellan in relation to Harper's Ferry, &c.,
878; correspondence of, with Secretary Stanton,
in relation to the condition of Gen. McClellan's
army, 889; testimony of, in relation to the delay
at Fredericksburg, 895; relieved from duty as
commander-in-chief, and appointed chief of staff,
478.
Hampton, "Wade, carries off cattle from Coggin's
Point, 559 ; accused by Sherman of having fired
Columbia, 712.
Hancock, Gen. Winfield Scott, biographical sketch
of, 520; organization of the second army corps
under, 475; famous charge of his corps near
Spottsylvania Conrt-House, 520.
Hardee, Gen. William J., biographical sketch of,
152 ; escape of, from Savannah, 684.
Harkins, Col., his surrender of Union City to For
rest, 563.
Harper's Ferry, John Brown's raid at, 83 ; armory
at, seized by Virginia militia, 74; railroad bridge
at, burnt by Johnston's troops, 108; command
assumed at, by Gen. Sigel, 278 ; Col. Miles in
command at, 877; abandonment of, recommend
ed by McClellan, 878; investment of, by Gen.
Jackson, 373; surrender of, to Confederate
forces, 379; recapture of, 884; retreat of Sigel
to, from Martinsburg, 551.
Harris, Gov., reply oi, to Pres. Lincoln's call for
troops, 78; Louisville and Nashville road closed
by, 161.
Harris, Richard, inaugurated provisional rebel
governor of Kentucky, 408.
Harrisburg, public property removed from, on the
approach of the rebels, 454.
Harrison, Col. M. La Rue, repulses Cabell at Fay
etteville, 606.
Harrisonburg, dispatches of Fremont from, 275,
' 276.
Harrison's Landing, Army of the Potomac at, 292;
Pope's movements intended to facilitate McClel
lan's retirement from, 824;' delay of McClellan
in leaving, 826 ; excuses of Gen. McClellan for
not leaving, 836.
Hartford Convention, resolutions adopted by the,
"21.
Hartsnff, Gen., wounded at Antietam, 881.
Hartsville, Mo., movements of Marmaduke and
Porter against, 605.
Harney, Gen., superseded by Gen. Lyon, 105.
Hatch, George, Mayor of Cincinnati, proclamation
of, 404.
Hatcher's Eun, battle of; 692.
Hayes, Gen. Alexander, death of, 511.
Hayne, of South Corolina, nullification advocated
bv, 23; declares the principles of State sover
eignty established, 25.
Hazen, Gen., takes Lookout Mountain, 496; takes
Fort McAllister, 6S3.
Head-quarters, scene at Grant's, 516.
Heckman, Gen., made prisoner in Butler's attempt
on Fort Darling, 531.
Helena, Ark., repulse of Price and Marmaduke at,
by Gen. Prentiss, 606.
Helper, John Eowan, effect of the publication of
his book, 34.
Henry, Alexander, call to arms addressed by, to
the citizens of Philadelphia, 457.
Hicks, Col., repulses Forrest at Paducah, 564.
Hicks, Gov., extractfrom his address to the people
of Maryland, 80; suggests Lord Lyons as "me
diator," 80.
Hilton Head, operations of Gen. T. W. Sherman
in the vicinity of, 848; schools for negroes es
tablished at, 844
History of the Federal Constitution, IT.
History of various attempts to resist the National
Government, 18-80.
Hobson, Gen., entire force under, captured by Mor
gan, 730.

Holllns, Capt. G. IT, fleet fitted out by, at New Or
leans, 209.
Holly Springs, Grant's depot of supplies destroyed
at, 412. '¦ '
Holmes, Gen., retreat of, before Gen. Steele, in
Ark., 606.
Hood, Gen. John B., biographical sketch of, 5S0 ;
supersedes Gen. Johnston, 580; letters of, iii re
lation to the removal of the inhabitants of At
lanta, 593 ; Sherman's letter to, 594; operations of,
against Sherman's communications, 631 ; retires
before Sherman into Northern Alabama, 632:
army of, re-enforced by Forrest, 633; repulsed
at Franklin, 634; advances on Nashville, 634;
operations of, against Nashville. 635-640; driven
over the Tennessee by Gen. Thomas, 640 ; end
of his career, 641. ,
Hooker, Gen. Joseph, biographical sketch of, 443 ;
at the battle of Antietam, 880 ; wounded at An
tietam, 881; at the battle of Fredericksburg
898; Burnside superseded by, in command or
the Army of the Potomac, 898 ; his short cam
paign against Eichmond, 442-450; confident
order of, 445 ; remarks on his* Eichmond cam
paign, 450; superseded by Gen. Meade, '455;
farewell address of, 455; at Lookout Mountain,
500; relieved by Gen. Slocum, 586.
Hotels in New York, attempts of Confederates to
burn, 748.
Houston, Gov., adverse to the secession movement
in Texas, 41.
Howard, Gen. Oliver Otis, biographical sketch of,
586; at the battle of Antietam, 8S1 ; appointed
to command the Army of the Tennessee, 586.
Howitzer, description of tho, 227.
Hunter, Gen., wounded at Bull Eun, 101; super
sedes Fremont in Missouri, 160 ; retreat of, from
Springfield, followed by Price, 178; transferred
to the Kansas department, 179 ; placed in com
mand of the Department of the South, 844; su
perseded by Gen. Mitchel, 347; supersedes Sigel
at Cedar Creek, 550; deieats Gen. Jones near
Staunton, 550 ; advances to Lynchburg, 550 ; pre
cipitate retreat of, into Western Virginia, 551 ;
superseded by Gen Sheridan, 553.
Huntsville, Ala., capture of, by Mitchel's forces,
847.

Illinois, important contributions from, of officers
and men, 169.
Imboden, Gen., worsted at Williamsport, 461;
capture of Charlestown by, 467.
" Impending Crisis," effect of the publication of
Helper's, 84:
Inaugural address of Mr. Lincoln, 60 ; effect of, on
the South, 61 ; second, 745.
Income tax, 350.
Indian lund, stocks of, abstracted by Godard
Bailey, 52.
Indiano'la steamer, capture of, 421.
Indians, lands owned by, in Georgia, Alabama, &c,
22 ; titles of, to lands in Georgia, extinguished by
treaty in 1825, 23.
Inflation of prices, enormous in the Confederate
States, 119. ,
Ingraham. Capt., his attack on the blockading fleet
off Charleston, 502.
Interest, large actual, paid by Government, 353.
Interest-bearing debt of the United States, 853.
"Interior lines," held by the Confederate armies,
189.
Intrigue among officers of Burnside's army, 896.
Iron-clads built for the navy, 189 ; attack with, on
the Charleston forts, 502.
Island No. Ten, operations against. 802-304; sur
render of, to Commodore Foote, 805.
Italy, Napoleon in, 135. '
Iuka, occupation of, by Gen, Price, 409.

768

LTOEX.

Jackson, Gen. Thomas Jonathan, biographical
sketch of, 265; movement of, towards Hancock,
Md., 186; operations of, in the valley of the
Shenandoah, 265-270, 272-279: letter of Gen. J.
E. Johnston to, 272 ; pursuit of, by Gens. McDow
ell and Fremont, 274; movement of, towards
Thoroughfare Gap, 828: escape of, from Pope,
329, 830; after the rapture' of flapper's Ferry,
recrosses the Potomac, 880 ; operations of, against
Hooker, 446; death of, 446.
Jackson, Gov., reply of, to Pres. Lincoln's call for
troops, 73-104; flight of, from Jefferson City,
105; opposed to United States troops passing
through Missouri, 116.
Jackson, President, measures \ taken by, for the
coercion of South Carolina, 25.
Jackson, capture of, by Gen. Grant, 426.
Jacksonville, occupation of, by Federal troops^
843 ; evacuation of, by order of Gen. Hunter,
344; occupation of, by Gen. Seymour, 616.
James Island, disastrous operations on, under Gen.
Benham, 347 ; abandonment of, 347.
James River, crossing of, by Grant's army, 538..
James Uiver Canal, property destroyed on, by
Col. Dahlgren, 472.
Jaques, Col. James F., visit of, to Davis at Rich
mond, 669.
Jefferson, Thomas, Federal Constitution not satis
factory to, 18; action of, in support of State
rights, 19 ; language of, in relation to " nullifica
tion," 20.
Jefferson City, occupation of, by Gen. Lyon, 105.
Jenkins, Gen., death of, 513.
Johnson, Andrew, oi Tennessee, biographical sketch
of, 750 ; resolution moved by, in the Senate,
124; appointed military governor of Tennessee,
173 ; , nomination of, for the Vice-Presidency,
663; address of, on taking the oath of office aa
President, 750 ; proclamations of, in relation to
reconstruction, 751, 752.
Johnson, Iteverdy, opinion of,, as to the power of
the President to suspend the habeas corpus,
131.
Johnson's Island, plot to release rebel oflicers con
fined on, 748.
Johnston, Col. Samuel, notice of, to Yirginia mili
tia, 1292.
Johnston, Gen. A. S., concentration of Confederate
forces under, at Corinth, 806; death of, at the
battle of Pittsburg Landing, 809.
Johnston, Gen. Joseph Eccleston, biographical
sketch of, 98; at Winchester, 98; junction of,
with Beauregard, 100; letter of, to Gen. T. J.
Jackson, 272; defeat of, by Grant, at Jackson,
426; force, under the command ofl May, 1864,
569 ; superseded by Gen. Hood, 580 ; reinstated
in command ofthe forces opposed to Sherman,
712; concentrates at Raleigh, 718; details of his
surrender to Gen. Sherman, 734-786.
Jonesboro1, battle of, 589.
Jordan, Edward, opinion of, in relation to the gold
bill, 675.
Judges of United States Courts, treason defined
by, 132.
Kansas, efforts to make a Slave State of, 29.
Kautz, Gen., cavalry raid of, from Suffolk, towards
Petersburg, 530 ; cavalry expedition of, against
the Richmond and Danville Railroad, 531.
Kautz and Wilson, expedition of, against the
Weldon and Danville Railroads, 544.
Kearny, Gen. Philip, biographical sketch of, 284;
death of, 885.
Kearsarge, corvette, details of her fight with the
Alabama, 628-627.
Kelley, Gen, march of to Philippi, 110; rebel
troops driven out of Romney by, 185.
Kelly's Ford, battle of, 468.

Kenesaw Mountain, description of, 574-676; battle
of, 577.
Kenly, Col., surprised at Front Royal, 269.
Kennedy, Capt. Robert C, executed for complicity
in the plot to burn New York, 744.
Kentucky, neutral policy of, 45; Union sentiment
in, 87; military operations in, 160-179; neutral
ity policy attempted in, 161 ; Union majority in
the legislature of, 162 ; action of the legislature
of, in favor of expelling Confederate troops, 164;
course of, decided by the Confederate occupa
tion, 164; State and National forces in, placed
under command of Gen. R. Anderson, 165; sta
tions and numbers of Confederate troopsln, 166;
large number of Federal troops in, 171; opera
tions of Bragg and Kirby Smith in, against Buell.
399-403 ; Morgan's raid in, 730.
Keokuk, iron-clod, injured in tho attack on Fort
Sumter, 503.
Kilpatrick, Gen. Judson, biographical sketch oft
710; raid of, from Stevensburg to Richmond,
472; operations ofnis cavalry on the march to
Savannah, 681, 682; surprise of, by Wade Hamp
ton, 713.
Kingston, Sherman's forces at, 572.
Kinston, operations against, 701; occupation of,
702.
Kirke, Mr., visit of, to Davis at Richmond, 669..
" Knights of the Golden Circle," institution ofthe
orde,r of,, 81.
Knoxville, capture of, by Burnside, 484; his de
fence of, 498 ; Longstreet retreats from, on the
approach of Sherman, 501.
Knoxville Whig, suspension of the, 129.

Lafayette, Ga., Confederate forces concentrated at,
485.
Lake Providence, attempt to cut a canal to, from
the Mississippi, 421.
Lane, Gen., remarks of, on the disorganization of
the Army of the Potomac, 141.
Lancaster, Mr., carries off Capt Semmes and
others in the Deerhound, 626.
Lander, Gen., death of, 136. "
Lands in Georgia, Indian titles to, extinguished by
treaty, 1825, 23.
Laurel Hill, West "Virginia, battle of, 111 ; capture
of rebel camp at, 112.
Laurel Hill, near Richmond, attack upon, by Gen,
Birney, 559.
Law of blockade, 190-192.
Lawrence, atrocities of Qnantrell at, 607.
Lee, Gen , Whiskey Rebellion of 1794 put down
by, 19.
Lee, Gen. Fitzhugh, repulsed by colored troops at
Wilson's Wharf, 632.
Lee, Gen. Robert Edmund, biographical sketch of,
86; commissioned general in the Confederate
service, 118; on the Peninsular campaign, 294;
invasion of Maryland by, 877; troops concen
trated by, at Harper's Ferry, 377; his invasion
of Maryland and Pennsylvania, 451-460 ; retreat
of, after the battle of Gettysburg, 464; appointed
to command all the rebel armies, 712; corre
spondence of, with Gen. Grant, in relation to
the terms of surrender, 726-728 ; surrender of,
728.
Legislature of Kentucky. Union majority in, 162;
action of, in favor of expelling Confederate
troops, 164; loans and the calling out of volun
teers authorized by, 165.
Legislatures, Northern, assistance tendered by, to
the Federal Government, 53.
Legs, want of, with McClcllan'B army, 885.
Letcher, Gov., reply of, to President Lincoln's call
for troops, 78; efforts of, to induce Western Vir
ginia to join In secession, 89.
Letters of marque, &&, offered by Jefferson Davis,

INDEX.

769

Lexington, Ky., occupation of. by General Kirby
Smfth,401. '
Lexington, Mo., advance of the Confederates to,
152; description of, 156; garrison' of, re-enforced
by Col. Mulligan, 156; siege and surrender of,
157; Gen. Price's report In relation to, 153;
Fremont's dispatch in relation to the surrender
"of, 158. ,
Lieutenant-general, office of, revived by Con
gress, 4T3.
Lincoln, Abraham, biographical sketch of, T4T;
great public interest in the views of, 58; journey
to Washington and threatened assassination of,
59; inauguration of, 59; inaugural address of,
60 ; message of, to the Thirty-seventh Congress,
181; extract of a letter from, to Fremont, 155;
first general war order of, 215; letter of, to Mc
Clellan, urging energetic action, 242; reply of, to
various dispatches or McClellan, 284; proposi
tion of, to Border States in relation to emancipa
tion, 857; letter of, to Horace Greeley, 888;
emancipation proclamations of, 856, 359,361;
letter of, to McClellan, urging more energetic ac
tion, 886; reply of McClellan to, 887; letter of,
to Gen. Grant after the fall of Vicksburg, 434;
proclamation of,- calling out militia, 453; an
nouncement of, after the battle of Gettysburg,
463 ; telegram of, to Gen. Meade, after the pas
sage of the Rappahannock, 469 ; order of, for the
draft of April, 1864, 473 correspondence of, with
Gen. Grant, after his appointment to the lieuten
ant-generalship, 477; proclamation of, ordering
the draft of September, 1864, 546; hiar.econstruc-
tlon plan. 659 ; vote for, in 1864, 668; instructions
of, toMr.Seward, for his conference with 8 tephens
and others, 744, interview of, with rebel com
missioners at Fortress Monroe, 745; inaugural
address of, 745 ; assassination of, 747 ; obsequies
of, 749.
Little Osage crossing, defeat of Price's forces at,
610.
Little Rock, occupation of, by Gen. Steele, 60.6;
retreat of Gen. Steele, to, from Camden, 604.
Loan, produce, in the Confederate States, 120.
Loans authorized by Congress, 127. "
Longstreet, ' Gen. James, biographical sketch of,
437 ; address of, to his soldiers, before Eichmond,
2S1 ; at the battle of Chickamauga, 488 ; opera
tions of, against Burnside, at Knoxville, 498 ;
compelled by Sherman to raise the siege of
Knoxville, 501.
Lookout Mountain, description of, 492 ; taken by
Gen. Hazen, 496.
Lost Mountain, description of, 575; battle of, 575.
Louisiana, secession movements in, 40; popular
secession vote in, 41.
Louisiana Convention, secession ordinance, passed
by, 40 ; action of, with regard to the navigation
ofthe Mississippi, 41.
Louisiana, Western, lost to Union arms, by the fall
of Brashear, City, 48a
Louisville and Nashville Railroad, important effect
ofthe closing of, 161.
Lovell, Gen. M., defence of New Orleans intrusted
to, 863.
Lynchburg, arrival of Hunter before, 550; his
rapid retreat from, 551.
Lyon, Gen., surrender of Gen, Frost to, at Camp
Jackson, 104 ; early operations of, in Missouri,
105; why not re-enforced by Fremont, 147;
operations ol, in Missouri, 148; death of, at the
battle of Wilson's Creek, 149.
Lyons, Lord, suggested by Gov. Hicks as " medi
ator," ,80,
McCauley, Commander, destruction of national
property by, at Gosport Navy Yard, 74; super
seded hy Commodore Paulding, 74.
McCausland, Gen., fires Chainbersburg, 553.
49

McClellan, Gen. George B., biographical sketch of,
229 ; appointed to the command of the Fourth
Military Department, 110; operations of, in
Western Virginia, 110-113; called to take com
mand of the Army of tho Potomac, 140 ; reforms
commenced by, 141; precautionary measuresof,
145; general order of, in relation to Sabbath
observance, 146; improvement brought about
by, in the Army of the Potomac, 210 ; order
issued by, in relation to depredations by soldiers,
211 ; succeeds Gen. Scott in command of the
armies ofthe United States, 214; inaction ofthe
Army of the Potomac under, 215; operations of
the Army ofthe Potomac under, 228-245; com
mand of, restricted to tho Department of the
Potomac, 238; address of, to the Army of tho
Potomac, 238; orders of, to Adjutant-General
Thomas, 239 ; at Fortress Monroe, 241 ; letter of
President Lincoln to, urging energetic action,
242; dispatches of, in relation to the capture of
Yorktown. 251; dispatch of, in relation to the
battle of Williamsburg, 254; opportunity lost
by, after the battle of Seven Pines, 263 ; dispatch
of, 263; address of, to the army, 264; corrected
dispatches of, 264, 265 ; re-enforcements demand
ed by, 273; operations of, against Richmond,
279-295.; dispatch of, in relation to McDowell's
corps, 281 ; dispatch of, in relation to Jackson's
movements, 282; various dispatches of, 283;
reply of President Lincoln to, 284; address of,
to the Army of the Potomac, after the seven
days' battles, 291; extraordinary answer of, to
Pope's request for rations, 333 ; excuses of, for
not leaving Harrison's Landing, 336; arrival of
the army of, at Fortress Monroe, 337; language
of, addressed to Mr. Lincoln, in relation, to the
policy of the government, 355 ; troops gradually
detached from the command of, 876; placed in
command nf the troops in and around Washing
ton, 377 ; dispatch of, to Halleck, in relation to
Harper's Ferry, &c, 878; recaptures Harper's
Ferry, 884; ordered by Mr. Lincoln to cross the
Potomac, 385; dilatory policy of, 384; corre
spondence ot, with Halleck, with regard to army
movements, 885; letter of the President to,
urging more energetic action, 386; reply of, to
the President's letter, 387 ;, advance of, by way
of Leesburg, 890 ; superseded by Gen. Burnside,
890; merits and demerits of, 891; nomination
of, for the Presidency, 665 ; his letter of accept
ance, 667; vote for, 668.
Macon, surrender of, by Howell Cobb, to Gen.
Wilson, 788.
McCook, Gen., escape of, from a superior force at
Newman, 585.
McCulloch, Gen. Ben,, biographical sketch of, 298;
killed at the, battle of Pea Ridge, Sol.
McDowell, Gen. Irwin, biographical sketch of, 90 ;
force under, at and near Alexandria, June, 1661,
96; advance of, towards Manassas, 98; corps or,
retained for the defence of Washington, 241;
corps of, sent to the support of Gen. Banks, 260.
McDowell, Va., battle of, 272.
Mcintosh, Creek chief, assassination of, 23.
McKinstry, Major J., appointed provost-marshal
in St. Louis, X&l ; suppresses the War HulleUn
and the Missourian, 152.
McNeil, Gen. John, rebel prisoners shot by, 605 ;
repulses Martnaduke's attack on Cape Girardeau,
606; supersedes Gen.- Blunt, 608.
McPherson, Gen. James B., biographical sketch
of, 583; defeats Gen. Gregg near Raymond, 425;
operations of, from Vicksbure, 597; force under
the command of, May, 1861, 56S; death of, 584.
Magoffin, Gov., reply of, to Pros. Lincoln's call for
troops, 78; protests against tho occupation of
Hickman ana Columbus by Confederate troops,
163
Magruder, Gen. John Bankhead, biographical-
sketch of, 93.

770

ho>ex.

Mails in the Confederate States in charge of John
H. Reagan, 87.
Malvern Hill, battle of, £90,; attack on the Con-
' federate position at, by Hooker and Sedgwick,
887.
Manassas, Gen. Beauregard at, 97 ; 'advance of
¦ Gen. McDowelrs force towards, 98; description
ef the Confederate works at, 231 ; 'sudden aban
donment of, by the Confederate force, 334
Manassas, the steam ram, blockading fleet below
New Orleans attacked by, 209.
Mann, Mr., Confederate commissioner to Europe,
216.
Mansfield, battle of,600.
Mansfield, Gen. J. K. F., biographical sketch of,
90; force under, in Washington, June, 1861, 96;
mortally wounded at Antietam, 881.
Mantua, Napoleon at, 136.
Manufactures, how called into being-in the North,
120; commenced in the South, 120.
Marcy, Mr., proposition of, to European powers, in
relation to privateering, 115 ; language of, in re
lation to privateering, 191.
Marianna, capture of, by Gen. Asboth, 615.
Marietta, occupation of, by Gen. Sherman, 577.
Marines, assault of, on Fort Fisher, 697.
Marion, defeat of Breckinridge at, by Gillem and
Burbridge, 732.
Marmaduke, Gen., operations of, against Spring
field, 605; defeat of, by Gen. Steele, 606; repulse
of, at Cape Girardeau, by McNeil, 606; defeated
by Gen. A. J. Smith near Lake Village, 608.
Marshall, Humphrey, with four regiments, driven
out of Kentucky by Col. Garfield, 172.
Marshall House, Alexandria, death of Col. Ells
worth at, 90. - »
Martial law declared in St Louis by Gen. Fre-
¦ mont, 151.
Martinsburg, Sigel driven from, to Harper's Ferry,
551. ,
Marye's Hill, carried by Sedgwick's troops, 448.
Maryland, position of, in relation to secession, 45 ;
preamble and resolution passed by the legisla
ture of, 46 ; posi tion of, at the outbreak of the
. rebellion, 80; action of the legislature of, 82;
invasion of, by Gen. Lee, 877; raid of Gen.
Stuart into, S86 ; second invasion of, 461 ; loyalty
of the people of, 454; invasion of, by a rebel
force under, Early, 551-553. .
Maryland Heights occupied by McClellan after
the battle of Antietam, 384.
Mason and Slidell, seizure of, by Captain Wilkes,
222; restoration of, to the British flag, 223;
action of Congress with regard to the arrest of,
354.
Massachusetts Sixth Regiment attacked by rioters
in Baltimore,. 77.
Massachusetts Eighth Regiment, departure of, for
Washington, 78 ; machinists in the ranks of, 79.
Massacre at Fort Pillow, report of the Congress
ional committee on. 565.
Matamoras, extensive contraband trade of, 59S.
Mathias Point, Va., death of Capt Ward at, 93.
Meade, Gen. George G., biographical sketch of,
456; at the battle of Antietam, 380; succeeds
Hooker in command of the Army of the Poto
mac, 455 ; dispatch of, after the battle of Gettys
burg^ 468; retreat of, from the Rapidan,. before
Lee, 467; advance of, towards the line of tho
Rappahannock, 468 ; dispatches of, after crossing
the Rappahannock, 469; advance of, over the
, Rapidan, ,470; retreat of, to Brandy Station,
470 ; illness of, 471 ; dispatched of, after the bat
tles for the Weldon Railroad, 558.
Meadow's Bluff, Union stores destroyed at, 551.
Meagher, General, wounded at the battle of Antie
tam, 881.
Mechanics ville, battle of, 533.
Meigs, Lieut. John U., retaliation ordered by
Sheridan for the murdor of, 618.

Memminger, C. G., circular of, addressed to Con
federate State officers, 119.
Memorandum of agreement between Gens. Sher
man and Johnston, 786:
Memphis, naval engagement near, 317.
Meridian, expedition of Sherman to, 562.
Merrimac, exploits of, off Fortress Monroe, 245-
,250; blown up by the rebels, 256, 257.
Merritt, Gen., destruction effected by, in London
and Fauquier counties, Va., 655.
Message of Pres. Buchanan of Dec, 1860, 50; of
Jan., 1861. 52.
Message of Pres. Davis, to tlfe first Confederate
Congress, extracts from, 83; to the Richmond
Congress, 115.
Message of Pres. Lincoln to the Thirty-seventh
Congress, 121.
Mexico, relations with the Government of, 221.
Miles, Colonel, in command at Harper's Ferry,
377 ; surrenders Harper's Ferry, 379.
Militia, call of Pres. Lincoln for 75,000, 73 ; response
of the Northern States to the call for, 76; called
out for the defence of Pennsylvania,&c*, 458.
Militia, Virginia, armory at Harper's Ferry Eeized
by, 74; notice of Col. Samuel Johnson to, 129.
Millen, cruelties practised by the Confederate
Government on the prisoners at, 741.
Mill Spring, camp of Gen. Zollicoifer at, 171 ; de
feat and death of Zollicoffer at the battle of, 172.
Milroy, Gen. R. H., Confederate camp in the Al
leghany Mountains attacked by, 185; camp cap
tured by, at Huntersville, 186* rapid march of,
to the support of Banks, 272; driven out of
Winchester by Ewell, 452.
Mine at Petersburg, construction of the, 546 ; ex
plosion of, 547 ; the assault after the explosion,
548, becomes a slanghter-pen, 549.
Mine Run, Gen. Lee's army at, 470.
Mine sprung by the enemy at Petersburg, 554.
Ministers, American, circular addressed to, by
Secretary Black, 216; circular addressed to, by
Secretary Seward, 217.
Minnesota frigate, fights o_, with ihe Merrimac,
247-249.
Mississippi, secession movements in, 3T ; ordinance
of secession of, 38. , -
Mississippi River, Louisiana convention in favor
of free navigation of, 41 ; navigation of, declared
free by the Confederate Congress, 48; forts oh,
below New Orleans, 363; opened l}y the fall of
Vicksburg and Port Hudson, 443. _
Missouri, early operations of Gen. Lyon in, 104-
106; Hamilton R. Gamble appointed provisional
governor of, 11 6 ; action of the Confederate Con-
fress in relation to, 116; operations of Gen.
'remont in, 147-160; situation of affaire in, after
the death of Gen. Lyon, 150; martial law pro
claimed in, by Gen. Fremont, 153; important
measures adopted in, by Gen. Halleck, 179;
affairs in, under the management of Gen. Hal
leck, 295-802; militarv -operations in, 604; in
vaded by Gen. Price, 608.
Missouri Compromise, history of tho, 22 ; repeal
ofthe, 28,
Missouri State convention, action oi, 116.
Mitchel, Gen. Ormsby McKnight, biograpm'cal
sketch of, 812; Bowling Green, Ky., occapied
by, 175; operations of, in Tennessee and Ala
bama, 812; supersedes Gen. Hunter in command
of the Department of the South, 347.
Mob at Baltimore attack the Massachusetts Sixth
Regiment. 77.
St. Louis attack troops, 105.
Mobile, siege of, 610-615 ; description of the de
fences of, 610; capture of the ram Tennessee in
the harbor of, 618 ; surrender of the forts of, 614 ;
military operations against, 704-706; evacuation
of, 706.
Mobs, influence of, on the Northorn press, 188.
Money, paper, effect of the excessive issue of, in

INDEX.

771

the Confederate States, 120 ; large Issue of, au
thorized by the Federal Government, 848, 850.
Monitor, arrival ofthe, off Fortress Monroe, 248 ;
fight of, with the Merrimac, 248.
Mohoeacy Eiver, defeat of Gen. Wallace at the,
552.
Monroe, John F., Mayor of New Orleans, surren
ders the city to Commodore Farragut, 866.
Montauk, iron-clad, attack of, on Fort McAllister,
501.
Montgomery, proceedings of the Confederate Con
gress at, «8, 86 ; occupation of, by Gen. Wilson,
783.
Montgomery Convention, delegates to the, 47;
constitution adopted by the, 47.
Morehead, ex-Gpvernor, arrest of, 161.
Morgan, Gen. George W., capture of Cumberland
Gap by, 409.
Morgan, Gen. John H., biographical sketch of, 731 ;
activity of guerrillas under, in Kentucky, 899 ;
raid of, in Ohio, note, 781 ; his raid in Kentucky,
780 ; surprised and killed, 781.
Morris, Gen., operations of, in Western Virginia,
110-118.
Morris, Gen. W. H., death of, hefore Spottsylvania
Court-House, 517.
Morris Island, operations against, 504.
Mortar, description of the, 227.
Mosby, Supply train captured by, at Berryville,
648 ; murders Union cavalrymen, 644 ; surren
der of, 728.
Mound City, steamer, explosion of the boiler of
the, at St- Charles, Ark., 818.
Mulligan, Col., his defence of Lexington, Mo., 157;
surrender of, 157.
MumfordsviUe, fight near, between Indianians
and Texas Bangers, 169; .capture of, by Gen.
Bra?g, 401 ; reoccupation of, by Gen. Buell,
404."
Murfreesboro', battle of, 418-417 ; fortified by Rose-
. craus, 430; attack on, by Forrest and Bates, 635.
Murphy, Coi., driven out of Iuka.
Musket, old smooth-bore , superseded by the rifle,
224.

Napoleon in Italy, 185; at Austerlitz, and at Man
tua, 136; at Bautzen, 187.
Nashville, surrender of, to Gens. Buell and Nelson,
ITS; Gen. Thomas sent to direct operations at,
630 ; Hood advances on, 634 ; field order ' issued
at, by Gen. Thomas, 636 ; Hood driven back
from, 640.
Nashville, steamer, cruise of the, 194.
Nashville and Louisville Eailroad, important effect
' of the closing ofthe, 161.
Natchez, surrender of, to a Union force, 869.
National Freedmen's Belief Association, 844,
Navigation laws, action of the Confederate Con
gress in relation to, 49.
Navy, Federal, condition of, in 1861, 122 ; condi
tion of, at the outbreak of the rebellion, 186 ; ves
sels purchased for, IBS ; list of vessels built for,
189.
Navy Yard at Gosport, destruction of national
property at, 74.
at Pensacola burned, 208.
Negroes, Chiefr Justice Taney on the rights of, 28;
schools for, established at Hilton Head, 344 ; gal
lantry of, in the assault on Fort Wagner, 506.
Negro soldiers put on an equal footing with white,
662.
Nelson, Gen. William, biographical sketch of, 404;
movement of, on Piketon, 109 ; proclamation
issued by, from Prestonburg. Kv„ 169 ; advance
of, on Nashville, 178 : killed by Gen. J. C. Davis,
404.
Nelson, Judge, treason defined by, 182; on piracy,
195.
Nelson's Farm, battle of, 290.

Neutrality, extract from an address to the people
of Kentucky, advocating, 161.
policy ofthe British government, 218 ;
Seward on, 218.
Newbern, description of, 838; Burnside's opera
tions against, 389 ; occupation of, 840; Gen. Fos
ter appointed military governor of, 840 ; Gen.
Fickettf s demonstration against, 620.
New England, hostility to the National Govern
ment in. In 1807-15,20; State rights doctrine
in, 21.
New Madrid, occupation of, by Gen. Pillow, 152;
evacuation of, by the Confederates, 303.
New Orleans, expedition of Gen. Butler against,
863-367 ; destruction of cotton and tobaccb at,
865; surrender of, to Commodore Farragut, 366;
occupation of, by Gen. Butler, 867 ;, mayor and
common council of, arnested, 867.
Newspapers in the South compelled to support
the Confederate Government, 129.
Northern disloyal, suppressed, 133.
New Tork, memorials from, U)id before Congress,
55; response of, to the President's call for
troops, 78 ; draft riot in, 466 ; rebel plot to burn,
748.
New York Fire Zouaves at Alexandria, 90.
Legislature, aid offered by, to the Fed
eral Government, 53.
Seventh Eegiment, departure of, for
Washington, 78.
Nicaragua, Walker's expedition into, 29.
Noleman, Capt., defeat of a party of Confederates
by, in Missouri, 158.
Nominations, Republican, of 1864, 663 ; Demo
cratic, 665, 666.
Norfolk, destruction of national vessels and prop
erty at, 74; evacuation of, by the rebels, 256;
occupation of, by Gen. Wool, 257.
North Anna River, crossed by Grant's army,527;
recrossed, 528.
North Carolina, progress of secession in, 44; se
cession ordinance of, 45 ; Confederate constitu
tion adopted by, 45; Burnside's operations on
the coast of, 206 ; operations of Burnside in,
838-342; Hon. Edward Stanly appointed mili
tary governor of, 342; military operations in,
619-628, 699-702 ; Sherman's operations in, 713-
716.
Northwest, address of Gen. Bragg to the people of
the, 401.
Nullification, Jefferson's doctrine of, 20.
in Georgia and Alabama in 1825, 22 ;
in South Carolina in 1832, 24; Presi
dent Jackson's opinion of, 25.

Ocracoke Inlet, operation&j at, 199; stone fleet
sunk in, 202.
Office-holders, disloyalty among, 180.
Oflicers, power to remove at pleasure given to tho
President, 143.
Ohio, Morgan's raid in, note, 781.
Okalona, Gen. Bragg at, with 80,000 men, SIS ; ar
rival of the cavalry column of Smith and Grier
son at, 5 3.
Olnstee, battle of, 618.
Oostenaula, crossing of the, by Sherman's army,
572
Opelika, raid of Gen. Rousseau to, 580.
Orange Court-House, Lee's army at, 465.
Orders, special field, of Sherman, for the march to
Savannah, 680 after the surrender of Savannah,
685; after the occupotion of Goldsboro', 716; re
organizing his army, 788.
Ordinance of secession of Alabama, 89; or Arkan
sas 43; of Florida, 89 ; of Georgia, 40; of Loui
siana^; of Mississippi, 88; of North Carolina,
45 ; of South Carolina, 85 ; of Texas, 41 ; of Vir-
Oriinanco boat, explosion of, at City Point, 554.

.772

INDEX.

Oreto, steamer. See Florida.
Organization of armies, American and foreign, 94.
Osterhaus, Gen., repulses Lee and Loring, at Cher
okee Station, 497. '

Paducah, occupation of, by Gen. Grant, 168;
Grant'B proclamation. at, 168; occuption of, by
Gen., Grant, 171 ; repulse of Forrest at, 564.
Palmer, Gen., relieved by Gen. Jeff C. Davis, 586;
movement of, from Plymouth towards Wilming
ton, 690.
Pamunkey River, crossed by Grant's army, 529.
Paper currency,.'froctional, 850, 351.
Paper money, effect of the excessive issue of, in
the Confederate -States, 120; large issue of, au
thorized, 448, 350.
Park, John, Mayor of Memphis, notice of, in rela
tion to the impressment of citizens, 128.
Parke, Gen., in the attack on Newbern, 389.
Parrott .gun, description of the, 226.
Parson Brownlow persecuted for loyalty, 129.
Partie's, Federal and State Eights, early conflicts
of, 18.
Parties, political, in 1864, 656.
Passport system adopted in the North, 184.
Patterson, Gen. Robert, biographical sketch of,
96 ; force under, on the Potomac, June, 1861, 96 ;
fatal negligence, of, 99; operations of, in the
Valley of Virginia, 108, 109,; his reasons for not
following up Gen. Johnston, 109.
Paulding, Commodore, completes the destruction
of national property at Gosport Navy Yard, 74.
Pay of volunteer troops, 142.
Peace negotiations, attempts to commence, 668-
672.
at Fortress Monroe, 744.
Peach-tree Creek, battle of, 581.
Pea Ridge, battle of, 299-801.
Pegram, Col., surrender of, to Gen. McClellan, 112.
Pemberton,, Lieut- Gen. John Cm biographical
sketch of, 427,; operations of, indefeDce of Vicks
burg, 412; correspondence of, with Gen. Grant,
in .relation to the surrender of Vicksburg, 480-
432. '
Pendleton, George H„ Democratic nominee for the
Vice-Presidency, 666.
Peninsular battles, McClellan's, 280-292.
Peninsular campaign, review ofthe, 292-295; ex-
" tract from Gen. Barnard's report ofthe, 294,
Pennsylvania, militia of, called out hy Gov. Curtin,
877; raid of Gen. Stuart into, 886; invasion of,
threatened, 453; militia called out for the de
fence of, 453; measures taken for the defence of,
454; invasion of, by a rebel force under Early,
551 ; Western, history of the Whiskey Rebellion
in, 18.
Pennsylvania, ship-ofUhe-line, burned at Gosport
Navy Yard, 75.
Pensacola Ndvy Yard seized by the Florida State
authorities, 89 : launches destroyed at, by Lieut.
Russell, 207; burned, 208.
Perrysville, Ky.. battlo of, 407; retreat of Gen.
Bragg from, 4Q8. ,
Personal liberty bills, repealed or modified in va
rious States. 56.
Pettigrew, Gen., mortally wounded at Falling
Waters, 465.
Petersburg, Kautz's raid towards, 580 ; operations
of Gen. 'Grant against, 539-549, 554-561 ; attack
on, by the Eighteenth Corps, 589 ; other succes
sive attacks on the defences of, 540, 541; con
struction and explosion of the mine at, 546, 547 ;
unsuccessful assault on, 54S; Lee prepares to
abandon, 728; evacuation of, by Lee's forces,
724.
Phelps, Gen. J. W., biographical sketch of, 204;
address of, to the people of the Southwest. 204 ;
address of, disavowed by Gen. Butler, 206 ; oc
cupation of Carrollton by, 868.

Philadelphia, citizens of, called to arms by Mayor
Henry, 457.
Philippi, rebels driven out of, by Col. Kelley, 110.
Pickett, Gen., at the battle of Gettysburg, 462; his
demonstration against Newbern; 620. '
Pierce, Gen., defeat of, at Big Bethel, 92.
Pierce, Mr. C. L., appointed government agent at
Hilton Head, 844.
Pierpont, Gov. Francis H., extract from the speech
of, on taking office, 88.
Piketon, Ky., movement of Gen. Nelson on, 169.
Pillow, Gen. Gideon J., biographical sketch of, 152;
escape of, from Fort Donelson, 177,
Piracy, what constitutes, 195; opinion in England
as to what constitutes, 196.
Pittsburg, alarm occasioned in, by the approach of
Lee's cavalry, 456.
Pittsburg Landing, battle of, 807-312; arrivalof
Gen. Buell's troops at, 810.
Platform of the Democratic Convention of 1864,
666.
Platform of the Republican Convention of 1864,
.668.
Pleasant Hill, La., battle of, 601.
Pleasants, Lieut. -Col., the Petersburg mine pro
posed by, 546.
Pleasonton, Gen., reconnoissance of, over the Rap
pahannock, 451.
Plymouth, capture of, by the rebels, -621 ; reoccu-
pation of, 623.
Polk, Gen. Leonidas, biographical sketch of, 575;
Confederate troops under, intrenched at Hick
man and Columbus," 1 62 ; proclamation issued
by, from Columbus, 163 ; his reasons for the oc
cupation of Columbus and Hickman, 164; death
of, 575.
Pontoons, fatal detention of, in the attack on Fred
ericksburg, 892.
Pope, Gen. John, biographical sketch of, 147;
operations of, in Missouri, 180; operations of, "
against New Madrid and IslandNd Ten, 802-804;
joins the army under Gen. Hallech,*814; placed
in command of the Army of Virginia, 278; ac
count of his Virginia campaign. 319-335; address
of, to the Army of Virginia, 820; general orders
of, 822, 823 ; combined movement of Lee and
Jackson against, 826; dangerous position of, 327;
re-enforced by Porter and Heintzelman, '828 ;
effective force under the Command of, 829;
language of, with regard to the misconduct of
Porter, 881 ; dispatch of, in relation to the sec
ond battle of Bull Run, 881 ; extraordinary an
swer of McClellan to his demand for rations,
333 ; army of, .return to Washibgton, 885; his
complaints to Halleck of demoralization among
oflicers of the Potomac Army, 885; attacked at
Chantilly, 885 ; relieved of his command, 885. ,
Population, white and black, in WesteraandEast-
ern Virginia, 180. \
Porter, Admiral David D., biographical sketch of,
601; surrender of the forts below New Orleans,
to, 864; bombardment of Vicksburg by, 86S;
Heet of, pass the Vicksburg batteries, 422 ; opera
tions of, on the Red River, 601 ; perilous ppsir •
tion of his fleet 602; expedition of, against Wil
mington, 687-690 ; letter of, to Gen. Butler, after
the failure at' Fort Fisher, 6S9.
Porter, Col. Andrew, appointed provost-marshal in
Washington, 141.
Porter, Gen. Fitz-John, culpable inactivity of, du
ring the second battle of Bull Ran, 381 ; charges
preferred against, by Pope, 885.
Potomac, Gen. Patterson'* force on the, 96; pod'
tion ofthe Confederate* along the line of the,
in September, 1861,144; navigation of, obstruct
ed by rebel batteries, 288 ; crossing of, by Lee's
army, after Gettysburg, 465.
Port Gibson, defeat ofthe Confederates ot, 428.
Port Hudson, batteries at, passed by Farragut s
fleet, 421 ; regular investment of, 'by the forces

INDEX.

m

of Gen. Banks, 436; unsuccessful attack on the
batteries of, 487 ; assaults upon, 489, 440; siege
of, 435-448; correspondence between Geh's.
Banks and Gardner in relation to the surrender
of, 441 ; terms of capitulation of, 441 ; occupa-
' tion of, by Union troops, 442 ; chronological rec
ord of the siege of, 442.
Portland Harbor, revenue cutter Caleb Cushing
captured in, 375.
Port Republic, dispatch of Gen. Fremont from,
276. , ^
Port Royal expedition, 197-202.
Port Royal harbor, description of, 198.
Port Royal Island, occupation of, 201.
Ports, Southern, declared in a state of blockade, 74.
Powers of the Executive, questions as to the ex
tent of, 180.
Prentiss, Gen., repulses Price and Marmaduke at
Helena, 606.
Press, loyal and disloyal, in the North, 188.
Press in Missouri placed by Halleck under mar
tial law, 296.
Prestonburg, Ky;T occupation of, by Gen. Nelson,
. 168.
Price, Gen. Sterling, biographical sketch of, 151 ;
capture of Lexington^ Mo., 157; extract from his
ofticial report, 158; wounded at the battle of
Pea Eidge, 801; at Fulton with 15,000 men,
818; invades Missouri again, 608; defeated and
driven out of Missouri by Curtis and Pleasonton,
610.
Price of gold in legal tender, in 1862-1865, 679.
Prices, great rise in, 351 ; enormous inflation of, in
the Confederate States, 119.
Prisoners, questions in relation to, 196 ; cruel treat
ment of, by the Confederate govern
ment, 739-742.
rebel, shot by McNeil, 605.
Privateer Georgia, where built and armed, 875.
Privateer Savannah, capture of, by the Perry, 195.
Privateering, action of Congress in relation to, 115 ;
language of Mr. Marcy In relation
to, 191.
Southern failure of, 371.
Privateers, Southern, 198; policy of European
powers in relation to, 198 ; opinion in England
as to the character of, 196; effect ofthe depreda
tions of, upon American commerce, 876.
Proclamation of Gen. Beauregard to the people of
Loudon, Fairfax, and Prince William Counties,
Va., 86. .
Proclamation of Gen. Fremont of August, 1861,
158;.modIfled by order of the President 155.
Proclamation of President Lincoln, calling for
troops, effect of, in theSouth, 78 ; effectof, in the
North, 76; how treated in the Confederate Con
gress, 84;.caljing out the militia for the defence
of Pennsylvania, 454; in relation to his recon
struction policy, 659 ; in relation to the recon
struction act of Congress, 662.
Proclamations, emancipation, 856, 859, 861.
Proclamations of President Johnson in relation to
reconstruction, 751, 752.
Produce loan, Confederate, projected, 120.
Projectiles, description of various, 227.
Property belonging to Southern rebels confiscated
in the North, 134.
Pumpkin-vine Creek, battle of, 578.
Quautrell, the guerrilla chief, atrocities of, at Law
rence, 607.
Queen ofthe West steamer, captureof, in the Eed
Elver, in an attack on Fort Taylor, 421 ; Used by
the rebels in the capture of the Indianola, 421 ;
destruction of, in possession of the rebels, 486.
Eaid of Grierson from Lagrange to Baton Eouge,
484,

Eaid of KUpatrick aud Dahlgren to the vicinity of
Eichmond, 472.
Raid of Sheridan from Winchester to the White
House, 706,707.
Eaid of Stoneman in Virginia, 444, 447-449 ; to
ward the Macon road, 584.
Eaid of Stuart around the rear of McClellan's posi
tion, 280; into Maryland and Pennsylvania, 386.
Raleigh, occupation of, by Sherman's forces, 784 ;
arrival of Gen. Grant at, 736.
Earn Arkansas passes through the Union fleet
above Vicksburg, 369 ; her commander's report,
870; failure of a combined attack upon, 870;
final destruction of, 871.
Earn Manassas, Federal fleet below New OrleanB
attacked by, 209.
Eamseur, Gen., death of, 654.
Eapidan, defences of Gen. Lee south of the, 469 ;
advance of Meade's army over the, 470.
Rappahannock, operations of Pope on the, 827;
crossing of, by Gen. Meade's army, 468 ; crossed
by Hooker's army, 444 ; recrossed by Hooker,
447.
Rappahannock Station, battle of, 468.
Rations, excellent quality of, in tho United States
army, 143.
Raymond, battle of, 425.
Reagan, John H.; Confederate postmaster-general,
87.
Reams's Station, battle of, 557.
Rebellion Whiskey, history of the, 18.
Reconstruction, President Lincoln's planfor, 659; .
provisions of an act of Congress in relation to,
661 ; proclamations of President Johnson in re
lation to, 751, 752.
Eecord, chronological, of the siege of Vicksburg,
488; oftthe siege of Port Hud6on, 442.
Eed Eiver, perilous position of Porter's fleet on
the, 602.
Red River expedition, Gen. Banks's, 598-604.
Reed's Hill, defeat of Gen. Sigel by Breckinridge
at, 550.
Relations, foreign, 216-228.
Relay House, occupation of, by Gen. Butler, 82.
Eeno, Gen , in the attack on Newbern, 839; expe
dition of, to destroy the Dismal Swamp Canal,
342.
Eeorganization of the Army of the Potomac, 474.
Repeal of the Missouri Compromise, 23.
Report of the Congressional Committee on the
Fort Pillow massacre, 565.
Reports of Secretaries to the Thirty-seventh Con
gress, 122, 123.
Reporters, newspaper, Sherman's circular in re
lation to, 572.
Republican convention of 1864, platform of, 668.
Republican party, origin of the, 29.
Resaca, Johnston compelled by Sherman, to aban
don his works at, 570.
Eevenne, and expenses, national, for 1864, 676.
Eevenne cutters seized, 65-67.
Eeynolds, Gen., fall of, at the battle of South
Mountain, 457.
Rhode Island, personal liberty bill repealed in, 56.
Richmond, Confederate Congress assembled at, 115 ;
retreat of the Confederates to, froni Williams-
bur^ 255 ; gradual approach of McClellan's lines
towards, 2E2; campaign of Gen. Hooker against,
443-450; raid of Kilpatrick to the vicinity of,
from Stevensburg, 472; physical character of the
country between Washington and, 478; three
ways of approaching with nn army. 479 ; Grant's
plan for the capture of. 530; reconnoissance of
the Second and Tenth Corps towards, 554 ; Grant
renews the attack upon, 559 ; evacuated by the
forces of Lee, 724 ; flight of Davis from, and en
trance of Lincoln into, 729.
Eichmond and Danville Railroad, Kautz's opera
tions against, 531.
Rieh Mountain, battle of, 111,

m

INDEX.

Rifles,Mini6, Springfield, and Enfield, 224; Sharped,
Burnside's, and Maynard's, 225. '
Roanoke Island expedition, 206.
Eodgers, Commander, in the Port Royal expedi
tion, 200. ,
Rodman gun, description of the, 226.
Eolla, a company of Missouri cavalry defeated
near, 608.
Eome, Sherman's forces at, 572.
Eomney, Va., a body of secession troops at, routed
by Col. Wallace, ill • rebel troops driven out of,
by Gen. Kelley.185.'
Eosecrans, Gen-. William S-, biographical sketch
of, 111 ; operations of, in Western Virginia, 111 ;
in command ofthe Departmentof the Ohio, 180;
superseded by Fremont in Western Virginia,
2T0; his defence of Corinth against Frice^ Van
Dorn, and Lovell, 410 ; supersedes Buell in com
mand ofthe Army, of the Ohio, 412; reorganizes
his force, 413; advance of towards Murfreesboro1,
413; attacks the army of Bragg, 413; occupies
Murfreesboro',- 416; drives Bragg back upon
Chattanooga, 482; remarks on the career of, 492 ;
operations of, in Tennessee, 480-494; letter of,
, in relation to the battle of Chickamauga, 490;
shut up in Chattanooga, 494; takes leave of the
army, 495; assigned-to the Department of Mis
souri, 561 ; succeeds General Schofield in Mis
souri, 608.
Eost, Mr., appointed Confederate Commissioner to
Europe, 116, 216.
Rousseau, Gen., raid of, to Opelika, Ala., 580.
Eussell, Lieut., launches destroyed by, at Pensa
cola Navy, Yard, 20T.
Eussell, Lord John, reply of, to Mr. Dallas, in re
lation to Mr. Seward's circular, 21,7; language
of, to Mr. Adams, in relation to the Oreto, 871 ;
his excuse for the escape of the Alabama, 874.
Eussia, relations with the government of, 220.
Sabbath, general order of Gen. McClellan in rela
tion to the observance of the, 146.
Sabine Pass expedition, 596.
fit. Albans .bank, robbery of, by Confederates from
Canada, 743. , .
St. Charles,1 Ark., captured by Col. Fitch, 318.
St. Louis, arms in the arsenal at, secured by Capt.
Stokes, 104; troops at, attacked by a mob, 105;
martial law" declared in, by FremontL 151 ; forti
fications erected around, 158. -
Salem Hill, capture of, by troops of Sedgwick, 448.
Salisbury, defeat of Gen. Gardiner at, by Gen.
Stoneman, 783. ,
Salkehatchie, crossing of, by Sherman's army, 710.
Saltville, Confederate government Bait-works de
stroyed at, 733.
Sanders, George N., and others, plot Bet on foot by,
to release rebel prisoners at Johnson's Island,
743.
Sanitary commission^ beneficent offices, of, 742.
Santa Eosa Island, night attack on New York
Zouaves at, 207.
Sassacus, gunboat, fight of, with the. rebel ram
Albemarle, 622.
Saunders, Gen., mortally wounded near Knox
ville, 49a -
Savage's Station, battle of, 2S8.
Savannah, stone fleet sent to the entrance of the
harbor of, 202, march of Sherman to, from
Atlanta, 681-6S3; surrender of, 684; valuable
captures made at, 685; notice arid letter pub
lished by Sherman at, 708, 709 ; Gen. Foster ap
pointed to command at, 710.
Savannah, privateer, capture of, by the Perry, 195 ;
trial of th^e crew of, as pirates, 195; threat of re
taliation by the Confederate government in caso
, the crew should be punished as pirates, 196.
Schenck, Gen. E. C. surprised near Vienna, Va.,
91,

.Schofield, General John McAllister, biographical
sketch of,' 604; resumes command of the Army
of the Ohio, 561 ; force under the command of
1864, 568; repulses Hood at. Franklin, Tenn.!
634; retires to Nashville; 634; assigned to tbo
command of the Department of North Carolina,
700 : operations of, in North Carolina, 699-702.
Schools for negroes established at Hilton Head
344. '
Scott, Gen., sent to Charleston by President Jack
son, 25 ; retirement of, 214.
Scrip, Southern, rapid depreciation of, 119.
Secession, resolved on by the Southern leaders.
31^ progress ot; after tne Presidential Election
;of 1860, 35 ; consummation of, in South Carolina,
86. - ,
Secession, popular rote for, in Alabama, 39; in
Louisiana, 41; in Texas, 41; in Virginia, 43; in
Tennessee, 45.
Secession Ordinance of South Carolina, 35; of Ala
bama, -38; of Arkansas, 43; of Florida, 89; of
Georgia, 40; of Louisiana, 40-; of Mississippi, 88:
of North- Carolina, 45; of Texas, 41 ; of Virginia,
421.
Secessionville, description of, 346; Gen. Benham's
disastrous attack on a battery near, 347.
Secretaries, reports of, to the Thirty-seventh Con
gress, 122, 123.
Sedgwick, Gen. John, biographical sketch of, 517;
important services of, at the battle of Seven
Pines, 262; wounded at the battle of Antietam,
881; at the battle of ChanceUorsviUe, 448; ser
vices of, at the battle of Gettysburg, 460; forces
the passage of the Rappahannock, at Rappahan
nock Station, 468>; organization ofthe Sixth Ar
my Corps under, 476; death of, 517.
Selma, battle of, 738.
Semmes, Captain Raphael, command of the Ala
bama assumed by, 873; challenges the Kear
sarge, 623; rescued by Mr. Lancaster in the
Deerhound, 626.
Senators, withdrawal of Southern, from the TJnited
States Senate, 38; expulsion of, 124
Sequestration act passed by the Confederate Con
gress, 117.
Seven days' battles on the Peninsula, 284-2921
Seven Pines, battle of. See Fair Oaks. "
Seventh Regiment, New York, departure of, for
Washington, 78.
Seward, Wm. H., reply of^ to Southern commis
sioners, 61: charged with duplicity by John A
Campbell, 62; final letter of the Southern com
missioners to? 62; circular addressed by, to for
eign ministers, 217'; action of, in relation to the
Paris Convention of 1856, 116; on the depreda
tions ofthe Alabama, 875; life of, attempted by
an assassin, 743.
Seymour, Gen. Truman, operations of, in Florida,
616-619; defeated near Olustee, 61 S.
Shelby, Gen., routed at Boonville by the Missonri
militia, 607,
Shells, description of various, 228.
Shenandoah Valley, operations of Jackson and
Banks in, 265-270; operations of Gen. Jackson
n, 272-279; operations of Gen. Ewell in, 451;
operations of Gens. Sigel and Hunter in, 549-
554; destruction of grain and provisions in, 643",
649; houses destroyed in, 644; operations of
Gen. Sheridan in, 641-656.
Sheridan, Gen. Philip Henry, biographical sketch
of, 522; appointed to command the cavalry of
the Army of the Potomac, 476; raid of, Jn rear
of Lee'B army, 522;, supersedes. Gen. Hunter,
553; expedition of, against the Virginia Gentral
Railroad, 543 ; effect of the operations of, on the
armies of Gens. Lee and Hood, 645; operations
of, in the Shenandoah Valley, 641-656; raid of,
from Winchester to the White House, 706, 707;
wins the battle of Five Forks, 738 ; pursues Gen*
Lee after the evacoatlon of Richmond, 724.

INDEX

775

Sherman, Gen. Thomas W., biographical sketch of,
199 ; in command of the troops in the Port
Eoyal expedition, 199; proclamation addressed
by, from Port Koyal, to the people of South Caro
lina, 200 ; operations of, in the vicinity of Hilton
Head, 343; superseded by Gen. Hunter, 844;
loses a leg' at the siege of Port Hudson, 487.
Sherman, Gen. "William Tecumseh, biographical
sketch of, 418; operations of, against Vicksburg,
418; placed in command of the Army of the Ten-
nessee, 495; march of, from Vicksburg towards
Chattanooga, 497; expedition of, from Vicks
burg to Meridian, 562 ; operations of, in Georgia,
567-596; force under the command of, 568; let
ter of, in relation to the treatment of guerrillas,
578; address of, to his troops, after the capture
of Atlanta, 592 ; letter of, to Gen. Hood, in rela
tion to the removal of civilians from Atlanta,
594; letter of, to Mayor Calhoun, in relation to
the depopulation of Atlanta, 629 ; operations of,
in Georgia, 679^686; march of, to Savannah, 681-
688; dispatch of, after the capture of Fort Mc
Allister, 6S8; "special field orders of, for the
march to Savannah, 6S0; orders of, after the cap
ture of Savannah, 685: operations of, from Sa
vannah to Goldsboro', 708-716 ; notice and letter
published by, at Savannah, 708, 709 ; efforts of,
to stop the progress of the fire at Columbia, 712 ;
special field orders of, after the' occupation of
Goldsboro', 716; orders of, reorganizing his ar
my, 788; meeting of, with Gen. Johnston, 784;
basis pf agreement made by, with Johnston, 784,
735; -action of, disapproved of at "Washington,
785; Stanfr-n's reasons for disapproving of the
. action of, 736; receives the final surrender of
. Johnston, at Durham Station, 736.
Shields, Gen. James, biographical sketch of, 266;
, ot the battle of Winchester, 2,67.
Shiloh, battle of. See Pittsburg Landing.
Ship Island expedition, 202-206.
Ship Island, Gen. Butler's force leaves, 864,
Shreveport, movement of Gen. Banks's force to
wards, 600.
Sickles, Gen., at the battle of Gettysburg, 459;
wounded, 460.
Siege of Atlanta, 587-591.
Beaufort, N. C, 840-342.
Charleston, 845-847. 702.
Corinth, by Gen. Halleck, 818-317.
Corinth, by Price, Van Dorn, and Lovell,
410.
Port Darling, 581.
Fort Donelson, 175.
Fort Fisher, 687-691
Fort Henry, 174.
Fort Macon, N. O, S4L
Fort Pulaski, 844.
Fort Wagner, 505-508.
Fort Wright, Tenn., 814, 815.
Island Number Ten, 308.
Knoxville, 498.
Mobile, 610-615, 704-706.
Newbern, 838-340.
Petersburg, 539-549, 554-561
Plymouth, N. 0, 620.
Port Hudson, 485-443.
Savannah, 684.
Vicksburg, 418-434.
Torktown, 241-245.
Sigel, Gen. Franz, biographical sketch of, 148
retreat of, from Brier Forks to Carthage, 106
defeat of his column at Wilson's Creek, 149
command assumed by, at Harper's Ferry, 278:
succeeds Fremont in command of the First
Army Corps of the Army of Virginia, 279; im
portant services of, at the battle of Pea Ridge,
801; co-operative movement of, in the valley of
the Shenandoah, 480; defeat of, by Breckinridge,
at Eeed's Hill, 550; driven from Martinsburg to
Harper's FerryV

Sill, Col., .large number of prisoners taken by, at
Stevenson, Ala., 312.
Slave labor, great increase of the demand for, 26.
Slavery, growth of Northern opposition to, 26;
efforts to introduce into Kansas, 29; abolition
of, in the District of Columbia and the Territo
ries, 857; amendment of the Constitution In
relation to, submitted to the States, 663.
Slavery extension, question of, supposed to have
been settled by the Missouri Compromise, 22.
Slaves, fugitive, order of Gen. Halleck in relation
to, 296 ; additional article of war, prohibiting the
return of, 362.
Slaves in Confederate military service^ act for the
confiscation of, 125.
Slaves of rebels in Missouri declared free by Gen.
Fremont, 154.
Slave States, forts in, at the outbreak of the rebel
lion, 85.
Slave trade, action of the Confederate Congress in
relation to the, 49. '
Slidell and Mason, seizure of, by Captain Wilkes,
222; restored to the British flag, 223; action of
Congress with regard to, 854.
Slocum, Gen., at toe battle of Antietam, 882; at
the battle of Gettysburg, 461; relieves Gen.
Hooker in Georgia, "586.
Sloops, 6erew, built for the navy, 1S9.
Small-pox, South Carolina Convention adjourned
to Charleston on account of, 85.
Smith, Gen. A. J., defeats Marmaduke near Lake
Village, 608.
Smith, Gen. C. F., intrenchments at Fort Donelson
stormed by, 176.
Smith, Gen. Edmund Kirby, biographical sketch
Of, 603; at Bull Eun, 102; wounded, 108; opera
tions of, in Kentucky, 899; surrender of, 755.
Smith, Gen. M. L.,'wounded in Sherman's attempt
on Vicksburg, 419. ,._..'
Smith, Gen. W. F., in Butler's attack on Fort Dar
ling, 531 ; detached from Butler's army, with the
Eighteenth Corps, to re-enforce Grant, 582.
Smith and Grierson, cavalry expedition of, from
Memphis towards Meridian, 562.
Snake Creek Gap, passage of, by Sherman's army,
569.
Soule, Pierre, arrest of, at New Orleans, 367.
Sounds of North Carolina, occupation of, by Fed
eral forces, 207.
South Carolina, opposition in, to the tariffs of 1828
and 1882, 28-26; nullification in, in 1832, 24;
Secession Ordinance of, 85; Convention of, ad
journed to Charleston, 35; proclamation ad
dressed to the people of, by G«n- T- w- Sherman,
201 ; Gen. W. T. Sherman in, 711.
South Mountain, battle of, 457.
Spain, policy of the government of, 220.
Spanish Fort, Mobile, siege and surrender of, ,
Bpecie payments, early suspension of, by Southern
Spottsylvania Court-House, movement of Grant's
army towards, 616; Lee's army at, 517; fighting
before, 519-521 ; Grant's operations before, 519-.
525- further attempts against abandoned, 535*
Sprague, Judge, on the law in relation to piracy,
Springfield, Mo., occupation of, by Gen. Lyon, 148;
occupation of, by the Confederates under Gen.
McCulloch, 149 ; Zagonyiis charge upon the rebel
rear-guard at, 159; movements of Gen. Marma
duke against, 605. ¦
Springfield armory, capacity of the, 96.
Springfield rifle, description of the, 224.
Spring Hill, Federal brigade Burpnsed at, by Van
Dorn, 480.
ISy, Hon\8fward. appointed military governor
of North Carolina, 842.
Stanton, Edwin M^ appointed' Secretary ot War,

',704-

776

INDEX.

215; correspondence of, with. Gen. Halleck, in
relation to the condition of McClellan's army,
. 888.
Star of the West, sent to re-enforce Fort Sumter,
52 ; fired upon, 66 ; seized off the coast of Texas
. by Col. Van Dorn,, 75.
State rights, action of Jefferson and Madison in
favor of, 19.
State Eights and Federal parties, early conflicts of,
18.
State rights doctrine in New England in 1815, 21.
State sovereignty, said by Gov. Hayne to be "es
tablished," 25.
Staunton, property destroyed at, by Gen. Hunter,
550.
Steamers, side-wheel, built for the navy, 189.
Steel cannon, advantage of, and how manufactured,
227.
Steele, Gen., operations of, in Arkansas, towards
Shreveport, 603; retreat of, to Little Rock, 604;
operations oi', in Arkansas, against Marmaduke
and Holmes, 606*
Stephens, Alexander H., biographical sketch of,
. 114; repeal of the Missouri Compromise pro
cured by, 28; opposed to secession, 40; mission
of, from Jeff. Davis to President Lincoln, 465;
conference of Mr. Seward with, at Fortress Mon
roe, 744; capture of, 755.
Stevens, Gen., death of, 835.
Stevenson, Ala., occupation of, by Col. Sill, 312.
Stock, large issues of, authorized, 350, 851.
Stokes, Capt. John II., arms in the St. Louis ar
senal secured by,. 104.
Stone, Capt. Charles. P., biographical sketch of, 640.
Stone fleets sent to the entrances of Charleston and
Savannah harbors and at Ocracoke Inlet, 202;
English opinion with regard to the use of. 202.
Stoneman, Gen., cavalry raid of, in Virginia, 444,
447-449; raid of, towards the Macon road, 584;
defeat and capture of, 585; appointed to coni:
mand in East Tennessee, 782; operations of,, in
. Southwest Virginia and North Carolina, 733.
Stone Eiver, battle of, 413-417 ; results of. the bat-
, tie of, 430.
Strasburg, retreat of Sigel upon, 550.
"Strategy" distinguished from "tactics." 135.
Streighti Col., defeat. and capture of, by Forrest and
Eoddy, 481; imprisoned -on a charge of inciting
slaves to rebellion, 481.
Stuart, Gen. James E. B., biographical sketch of,
532; raid of, round the rear of McClellan's posi
tion, 280; raid of, into Maryland and Pennsylva
nia, 386; driven out of Hagerstown, 464; mor
tally wounded near Eifchmond, 522.
Sudley Spring, late arrival' of McDowell's troops
at, 100-
Suffolk, occupation if, 257.
Sumner, Gen., at the battle of Antietam, 881; re
lieved froni duty with the Army of tho Potomac,
898.
Sumter, steamer, cruise of the, 194 ; abandoned at
Gibraltar, 371.
Suppression of disloyal newspapers in the North,
138.
Swift Creek, advance of Gens. Smith and Gillmore
to, 580.

Tacony, revenue cutterCaleb Cushing captured by
the crew of the, 375.
"Tactics" distinguished from " strategy," 185.
Taney, Chief-Justice Eogcr B., decision of, in the
Dred Scott case, 28; oath administered by, to
Mr, Lincoln, 60; action of, in, relation to the
Presidents suspension of the habeas eo7'p-uii,VSQ,
Tariff act or 1828, opposition o, on the part of
teouth Carolina, 23.
Tariff bill of March 2, 1861, provisions of, 5a
Tarissa Island, cargo transferred to the Alabama
at, 872,

Tatnall, Comtdodore, in command of rebel gun
boats at Port Eoyal, 199; the Merrimac de
stroyed by, £57. J
Taxation, necessity for, 350.
Taxation in the Confederate States, 119.
Taylor, Gen. Dick, surrender oi; to Gen. Canby, 755,
Teche Bayou, expedition to the region of the, 486.
Tecumseh, iron-clad, sunk by a torpedo in the at
tack on Mobile, 612.
Tennessee, secession of, 45 ; popular vote- in, for
secession; 45; Senator Andrew Johnson ap
pointed military governor oCl78; military op
erations in, 480-501, 561; Gen. Grant assumes
command of the army in, 495.
Tennessee, rebel ram, fight of, with Farragut's
gunboats, 612. r
Tennessee Eiver, description of, 173.
Tennessee, Western, Gen. Grant appointed to the
cdnimand of, 318.
Territories, abolition of slavery in the, 857.
Terry, Gen., expedition against Fort Fisher under
the command of, 696; operations of, against Wil
mington, 700; occupies Wilmington, 701.
Texas, consequences of the annexation of, 27; pop
ular vote in, for secession. 41 ; secession ordi
nance of, 41 ; Federal forces, &c, in, surrendered
by Gen. Twiggs, 67; operations of Gen. Banks
in, 596, 598.
Thomas, Adjutant-General, order written by, to
Gen. Fremont in Missouri, 159 ; general orders
ofMcCleIlanto,289.
Thomas, Gen. George Henry, biographical sketch
of, 487; important services of, at the battle of
Chickamauga, 4SS: placed in command ofthe
Army ofthe Cumberland, 495; plan of, for open
ing the Tennessee, 496; at Lookout Mountain,
500; force under the command of, May, 1864,
568 ; sent to Nashville, 680 : directed, to occupy
Hood in Tennessee, 633; his defence of Nash
ville, 635-640 ; defeats Hood and drives him over
the Tennessee, 640.
Thompson, Gen. A. P., killed at Paducah, 564,
Thouvenel, M., conversation of, with Mr. Dayton,
217.
Tilghman, Gen. Lloyd, his surrender of Fort Hen
ry, 174. ,
Toombs, Robert, biographical sketch of, 114 ; ap-
p inted brigadier-general, J1S.
Torbert, Gen., destruction effected by, at Guin
ney's Station, 525.
Trade, home and foreign, how affected by the war,
852.
Treachery in the Federal War Department, 109.
Treason, opinions of United States judges as to
what constitutes the crime of, 132.
Treasury, Federal, condition ot; in 1861,123.
Treatise, short, on the art of war, 184-139.
Treaty made with Creek Indians, 1S25,28.
Trent, steamship, Mason and Slidell taken from,
by Captain Wilkes, 222 ; action of Congress with
regard to the capture of. 854.
Troops, Confederate, number of, in the field, Janu
ary, 1862, 118; volunteer and regular, how raised
and paid, 117,118; large proportion of, to the
population, US; number of, in the Federal ser-«
vice in 1S61, 122 ; severe measures taken to pro?
cure, in the Confederate Suites, 128, 129; Union
and Confederate, in Kentucky, 166.
Twiggs, Gen. David E., treason and dismissal of,
67.
Tybee Island, occupation of, 202; operations on,
against Fort Pulaski, 844.
Tyler, Gen,, advance of, to Centreville, $9; defeajl
and pursuit of, by Gen. Jackson, 277; repulse^
an attack by Ewell, 526.
Tyk'r. John, president of the convention of States
invited by Virginia, 56.

Unadilla, gunboat, description of, 190.

INDEX.

777

Union City, surrender of, by OoL H<trkins,'to For
rest, 568.
United States debt, tabular statement of the, 678.
Vallandigham, arrest and banishment of, 657;
Democratic nominee for governor of Ohio, 653.
Y alley of the Shenandoah. See Shenandoah Val
ley.
Valley of Virginia, Gen. Patterson's operations in
the, 108, 109. •
Van Dorn, Gen. Earle, biographical sketch of, 297;
Star of the West seized by, off the Texas coast,
75; in command of Confederates at the battle of
Pea Ridge, 298; force concentrated under, at
Vicksburg, 368 operations of, in Tennessee,
481.
Vicksburg, d icription of, 868; bombardment of,
by Commodore Porter, 868; batteries of, passed
by Farragut's fleet, 868 ; canal on the peninsula
opposite, 869; siege of, abandoned, 870; an ex
pedition organized against, under Sherman and
Grant, 412 ; siege of, 418-482 ; Porter's fleet pass
the batteries at, 422; assaults upon, 429; corre
spondence between Gens. Grant and Pemberton
in relation to the surrender of, 430-482 ; chrono
logical record of the siege of, 433; cheeiingeffect
in the North of the fall of, 484; expedition of
Sherman from, to Meridian, 562 ; operations of
McPherson from, 597.
Viele, Gen. Egbert L., appointed military governor
of Norfolk, 257. •
Vienna, Va., Gen. Schenck surprised near, 91.
Virginia, popular vote in, for secession, 48 ; decides
to join the Confederacy, 74; first advance of
Federal troops into, 86, A9 physical formation
of, 97.
Virginia Central Railroad, destruction effected on,
by Sheridan, 543,707.
Virginia Convention, secession ordinance passed
by the, 42; Confederate Constitution adopted
by, 43; reply of Mr. Lincoln to the Commission
ers of the, 62.
Virginia Legislature, action of, favoring the Crit
tenden compromise, 55 ; resolutions passed by,
inviting a Convention of States, 55.
Virginia ordinance of secession, 42.
"Virginia, Western, action of the loyal convention,
88 ; senators from, admitted to Congress, S9 ;
McClellan's operations in, 110-113 ; other mili
tary operations in, 180-186.
Virginia, Western and Eastern, black and white
population in, 1S1.
Voltigeurs, organized by Napoleon, 187.
Volunteers, the President's second call for, 93;
abundance of, 95.
Volunteer troops, pay of, 142.
Vote, popular, at the Presidential election of 1860,
88. '
Vote, popular, for secession, 89, 41, 48, 45..
Votes for Lincoln and McClellan, in 1864, 663.

Wachusett captures the Florida in the bay of San
¦ Salvador, 627.
Wadsworth, Gen. James Samuel, biographical
sketch of, 518; his report of the forces left under
his command for tho defence of Washington,
240; death of, 518.
Wallace, Colonel, routs a body of secession troops
at Romney, I'll.
Wallace, Gen. Lewis, proclaims martial law in Cin
cinnati, 403 ; defeat of, at the Monocacy, 552.
Walker, William, expeditions of, Sato Nicaragua,
War, art of, remark* on the, 184-139.
War Department, 'Federal, treachery in, 100.
War Department frauds, 52. ,
War order, President Lincoln's first, 215.
War powers «f the Government, 355.

Ward, Capt. James H., death and biographical
sketch of, 93.
Warren, Gen., organization of the Fifth Army
Corps under, 476 ; operations of, against the Wefr
don Railroad, 555; superseded by order of Gen.
Sheridan, 728.
Warsaw Sound, contest In, between the Atlanta
and Weehawken, 508.
Washington, Federal Constitution not satisfactory
to, 18 ; measures taken by, to suppress the Whis
key Rebellion, 19.
Washington, Col. John A., death of, 179.
Washington, Gen. Mansfield's report of the number
of troops in, June, 1861, 96; disorderly crowds
of troops in, 140 ; Col. Porter appointed provost-
maBshal in, 141; system of earthworks con
structed for the defence of, 144 ; troops employed
in strengthening the defences of, 210; force left
for the defence of, under Gen. Wadsworth, 240 ;
corps of McDowell retained for the defence of,
241 ; anxiety of President Lincoln for the secu
rity of, 286, 878 ; alarm caused -in, by the move
ments of Jackson, 272; 50,000 militia called for,
for the defence of Washington, 274; threatened
by a rebel force under Early, 552; the Sixth
Corps detached from Grant's army for the de
fence of, 544.
Washington, N. C, evacuation of, by the Federal
garrison, 621.
Webster, Daniel, the nullification doctrine anni
hilated by, 23 ; on the Constitution, 25.
Weehawken, monitor, fight of, with the iron-clad
Atlanta, 508.,
Weitzel, Gen., assault of, en Port Hudson, 439 ; en
trance of, into Richmond, 724.
Weldon Railroad, operations against the, 542; ope
rations of the Fifth Corps against, 555; Hill's
attack upon the Fifth Corps near, 556 ; destruc
tion effected on the, 557.
Weldon and Danville Railroads, expedition of Wil
son and Kautz against, 544.
Western Virginia, McClellan's operations in, 110-
118. See Virginia, Western.
West Point, new oath administered to the cadets
at, 148.
West Point, Miss., defeat of Smith and Grierson
at, by Forrest, 568.
West Point, on the Chattahoochie, capture of, 738.
Wheeler, Gen., captures the train of the Four
teenth Corps, 494.
Wheeling, proceedings of the Western Virginia
convention at, 83.
Whipple, Gen., death of, at ChanceUorsville, 450.
Whiskey Rebellion,' history of the, 18.
White House, destruction of stores at, 287; be
comes the new base of Grant's army, 529.
White River, expedition to, 817.
Whitworth gun, description of the, 226.
Wigfall, Gen., visit of, to Fort Sumter during the
bombardment, 70.
Wilder, Col., his defence of Mumfordsville, Ky.,
401.
Wilderness, battles of the, 509-515.
W-ilkes, Captain, account of his seiznre of Mason
and Slidell, 222; action of, approved by Congress,
854.
Wilkins, Mr., measures proposed by, for the coer
cion of South Carolina in 1888, 25.
Willey, Mr. W. T., admitted to the Senate from
Western Virginia, 124.-
William Aiken, revenue cutter, surrender of, 65.
Williamsburg, battle of, 258, 
Williams, Gen., Baton Rouge occupied by, 868;
attacked by Gens. Breckinridge and Ruggles,
870; death of, 870.
Williamsport, defeat of Gen. Imboden at, 464;
Lee's army at, 465. .
Wilmington, operations of Admiral Porter and
Gen. Butler against, 687-690; amount of English
icapital invested In the trade with, note, 687;

m

ho>ex.

operations of Gen. Terry against, 700; occupa
tion of, by Terry's forces, 701.
Wilson, Gen. James H., raid of, in Alabama and
Southern Georgia, 737-789,
Wilson and Kautz, expedition of, against'the Wel
don and Danville Railroads, 544.
Wilson, Mr., conscription law brought into Con
gress by, 362.
"Wilson's Creek, Mo., battle of, 149.
Wilson's Wharf, Fitzhugh Lee repulsed by colored
troops at, 582.
Winans, Mr: Eoss, attempt of, to send a steam-gun
to Harper's Ferry, 62.
Winchester, Gen. J. E. Johnston at, 98; battles
of, 267, 646 ; advance of EwelTs corps against,
451.
Winder, Gen. G. H., his infamous treatment of
Union prisoners at Andersonville, 741.
Winslow, Captain, details of his action, with the
Alabama, 623-626; his own account of the action,
625 ; his account of the conduct of the Deer-
hound, 626.
Winthrop, Maior Theodore, biographical sketch of,
93; death, of, at Big Bethel, 93.
Wirz, Capt. Henry, tried for cruelty to Union
prisoners, 741„
Wise, Gen., rapid retreat of, from Gauley Bridge,
before Gen. Cox, 181.
Woodbury, Gen., testimony of, in relation to- the
Fredericksburg failure, 895.

Woodstock, dispatch of Sheridan from, 648.
Wool, Gen. John E., biographical sketch of, 63;
occupation of Norfolk by, 257.
Worden, Capt, his fight with the Merrimac, in
the Monitor, 24S.

Yancey, Mr.rappointed Confederate Commissioner
to Europe, 116, 216.
Vazoo River, expedition, of Col. Ellet up the, 869.
Yellow fever, attempt of Dr. Bltfckmore to intro
duce into, the- United States, 744,
York, Pa., contribution* levied upon by Early, 456.
York Eiver, McClellan abandons his base on the,
287.
Yorktown, description of the defences of, 248;
siege of, 241-245; evacuation of, by the Confed
erate forces, 251.
i Zagonyi, Major, noted charge of, with the body
guard of Gen. Fremont, 159.
Zeigler, Col., part of the town of Guyandotte
burned by, 185.
Zollicoffer, Felix R., appointed brigadier-general
in the Confederate service, 118; occupies Cum
berland Gap, 164 ; camp of, at Mill Spring, 171 ;
defeat and death of, near Mill Spring, 172.
Zouaves, New York Fire, at Alexandria, 90; night
attack on, at Santa Bosa Island, 207.

THE ENT>..

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