¦-ff>^Jo^^4^lU^-hi^^lenf' 'Y^IL]Ee¥MlI¥IEI^SIirYo DEPOSITED BY THE LINONIAN AND BROTHERS LIBRARY s^f _^2r ^CL ' . ~B . Jcl char cLs oti .TribliElLer . o GRAN T HIS CAMPAIGNS A MILITARY BIOGRAPHY. BT HENRY COPPEE, A. M., BDITOB OF THE UNITED BTATEB SERVICE MAGAZIWE. NEW YORK CHARLES B. RICHARDSON, CINCINNATI : C. F. VENT & CO., SPRINGFIELD : W. J. HOLLAND. 1866. z-7»- - tfo Entered according to Act pf Congress, in the year 1866, By CHARLES B. RICHARDSON, tu the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York. Cc?.."* 5 a JOHN G. SHEA, BTBBEOTYPBR AND ELECTROTYPE ft, FBI N TED BY SI, 83, & 85 Centre-utreel. BIO. a. baud to avert. N. Y. PREFACE. The following Military Biography of Lieutenant-General Grant is intended to offer but an outline of the great events in which he has borne the most distinguished part. As he held an independent command of troops in the field, from the beginning of the war — the movement upon Corinth only excepted — I have endeavored to present his plans, their execution, and the results, without entering into the minute details of the battle tactics ; giving only so much of these as is necessary to enable the reader to understand the general's purposes and achievements. In writing the life of a subordinate commander, we should gain in detail, but lose in comprehension, — dwelling more upon what he did, than upon the relations sustained to other men and movements on the field ; but it is different here. Grant's life requires a glance at every part of the field of Pittsburg Landing ; the great outline of the Vicksburg campaign ; a summary of the splendid military successes at Chattanooga. After his appointment as commander-in- dhief, all parts of the vast theatre of operations must be considered ; while, as he made his headquarters with the Army of the Potomac, and personally directed it, more stress must be laid upon the move ments of that army than upon otheys. I have said thus much by way of self-vindication, should any reader — especially some gallant soldier — fail to find as many battle pictures, and as much of the movements of the lesser organizations, as he had expected. I could not neglect the philosophy of Grant's history, and there was not space for both. In describing his earlier campaigns, I have had recourse to much fuller material than in the latter portions. The reports of many subordinate commanders, Union and Confederate, have been pub- 4; PREFACE. lished, and there are even critical commentaries upon these, which guard the historian against error. But in the latter parts, there is yet great dearth of detail. I have been obliged to depend, for the connected outline, upon the masterly — I may say, model — report of General Grant ; and for details to sucn materials as had been re ceived, not even including extended reports of the corps-commanders. It is not improbable, therefore, that, for want of such corrective matter in the details, I may have made occasional mistakes, in spite of my best efforts to avoid doing so. When such errors are pointed out, they shall be corrected. I must express my hearty thanks to General Grant for his kind ness in sanctioning my attempt to.portray his military career, and to Major-General Rawlins for his invaluable assistance in furnish ing materials without which the work could not have been written. Most of this material could not have been otherwise obtained. Por its use, and the form in which it is presented, I alone am re sponsible. To my friend, Captain Thomas Mitchell, of Philadelphia, late a staff-officer in the Army of the Potomac, I am indebted for valuable, assistance in collecting notes, and in transcribing some of the earlier portions of the work. I shall be amply paid for my labors, which have been arduous, if my simple narrative shall prove to the world the truth of the opinion, already very widely entertained, that Grant is the first soldier' of the age, and the most distinguished American of the Regenerated Republic. H. C. Philadelphia, December 1, I860.' CONTENTS. CHAPTEB I. THE GREAT WAR OPENS. Ruffin's oannon. — Fort Sumter. — The effect on the masses. — The Nation .must be saved. — The attitude of the rebels. — Our own duty clear. — The r.ush to arms. — Our ignorance of war. — The want of every thing-. — The education needed and eventually obtained. — Grant an apt sciiolar 13 CHAPTEB H. CHILDHOOD AND CADET LIFE. Grant's lineage. — The new school of biography. — His parentage and birth place. — His name. — Stoeies of his youth. — Limited education. — Appointment TO THE MILITARY ACADEMY. — HlS SOHOLAESHIP. — CLAS9MATES. — RECOLLECTIONS OF HIM WHILE A OADET. — THE GERMS OF CHARACTER. — He GRADUATES 18 CHAPTEB in. ARMY LIFE AND RETIREMENT FROM SERVICE. Brevet second-lieutenant Foueth Infantey. — Goes to Corpus Christi. — At Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma. — At Monterey. — At Vera Cruz. — Regi mental quartermaster. — Fights at' Molino and Chapultepec. — Mentioned in REPORTS AND BREVETTED CAPTAIN. — At CLOSE OF WAR SENT TO THE NoETHEP.N feontier. — Mareies. — Off to Oeegon. — Hard work. — Leather-dealer 24 CHAPTEB IV. BELMONT. Effect of the news on Grant. — A Democrat before the war. — An unqualdjied wae-man how. — Raises a company. — Adjutant-general and mustering officer. — Colonel of the Twenty-first Illinois. — Marches. — Acting brigadier at Cairo. — The value of Cairo. — The rebel steategy. — Expedition to Belmont. — Fre mont's orders. — Polk at Columbus. — The battle. — Success. — Enemy re-en forced. — Grant withdraws. — Comments 28 6 CONTENTS. CHAPTEB V. FORT HENRY. Halleck's Depaetment of Missouri. — Grant's reconnoissance into Kentucky. — Its value. — Map of field of operations. — Columbus, the Gibraltar of America. — Rebel line. — Forts Henry and Donelson. — Foote's flotilla. — G. F. Smith and Phelps reconnoitre Foet Henry. — Grant receives permis sion to attack. — The fort described. — Lloyd Tilghman in command. — Grant's orders of march and battle. — The naval attack. — The surrender. — Comments on rebel defeat. — On to Donelson. — Tribute to Commodore Foote 35 CHAPTEB VI. FORT DONELSON. Reorganization. — Order of march. — McClernand and Smith move. — A glance at the fort. — River-front. — Land approaches. — Garrison and commanders. — Assault upon the trenches. — Unsuccessful. — Storm and cold. — Re-enforoe- ments under l. wallace. — the attack of the gunboats. — terrible cannon ADE. — Foote withdraws. — Value of his attack. — Kebel counter-plans. — Our RIGHT ATTACKED AND ROLLED BACK. — GRANT'S CONSUMMATE PLAN. — L. WALLACE MOVES 48 CHAPTEB VTI. GENERAL SMITH'S ATTACK AND THE SURRENDER. Smith's columns organized. — Lauman the forlorn hope. — Smith leads. — Ad- deesses his men. — the lines move. — smith's splendid valoe decisive. — floyd's NEW COUNCIL. — He TURNS OVER THE COMMAND. — PlLLOW LOOKS AT THE CARDS, AND " passes." — The pusillanimous flight. — Buoknee surrenders. — The corre spondence. — Grand results. — Comments. — Eulogy of General C. F. Smith. 68 CHAPTEB VIII. PREPARATIONS FOR A NEW ADVANCE. Grant's enlarged command, — General Buell co-opeeates with Halleck. Ad ministration.— Discipline, JUSTICE, HUM^TITY. NASHVILLE FALLS. — SURPRISE O.F the people. — A. S. Johnston retires to Murfreesboro'. — The ascent of the Tennessee. — Corinth threatened. — Island No. 10 — Seals tui river. The position described. — Pope takes New Madrid. — General Mackall and the American Thermopyl*. — Schuyler Hamilton's canal. — The capture and ROUT -^ CONTENTS. CHAPTEB IX. GRANT'S NEW CAMPAIQN. PrrrsBUBG Landing. — The landing. — Grant's dispositions. — The rebel advance. — Johnston's proclamation. — The attack on Prentiss- On Sherman, Hurlbut, McClernand, and Wallace. — The situation at ten o'clock. — Rebel losses. — The gunboats.— » Webster's artillery. — Surgeon Coenyn. — The final attack ox Sunday. — Lewis Wallace arrives. — His delay. — Monday morning. — Buell on the field. — Battle on the left — On the right. — Beauregard retires. — Comments 82 CHAPTEB X. THE SIEGE OF CORINTH. Corinth described. — Sherman's eeconnoissance. — The aerival of Halleck. — Pope's army comes up. — Beauregard's order. — His force — Ours. — Pops takes Farmington. — The battle of Farmington. — Elliot's raid. — Corinth evacuated. the occupation and p-uesuit. co-operating movements. — Mitchel's march. — The navy. — Fight at Memphis. — New efforts of the ENEMY 100 CHAPTEB XI. IUKA AND CORINTH. After a bbief halt, forward. — Administration. — Iuka. — Price marches up. — Grant's sagacity. — The battle. — Rosecrans and Ord. — Difficult ground. — Peice reteeats southwaed. — Coelnth. — The fortifications. — Pricl's attack — Van Dorn's. — The bloody repulse. — Ord and Hurlbut in flank and rear. — u How does it all sum up?" — Sketches of commanders 117 CHAPTEB XII.- THE DEPARTMENT OF THE TENNESSEE. The extent of Geant's command. — Districts. — Retrospect. — Williams' canal. — Farragut's fleet. — The Arkansas destroyed. — Grant moves. — Pemberton in COMMAND OF THE REBEL ARMY. — GRANT'S ARMY AND STAFF. — TRADE.— The VALUE OF Vicksburg. — Port Hudson. — The Tallahatchie. — Hovey's movement. — The prospect bright. — Murphy's surrender. — Sherman's expedition to Vicks burg. — Unsuccessful. — Arkansas Post. — Army corps. — Emancipation procla mation, AND COLORED TROOPS 134 CHAPTEB* XIII. i THE NEW MOVEMENT TOWARDS VICKSBURG. Routes proposed. — Williams' canal. — Why it failed. — Milliken's Bend. — Lake Providence. — The Yazoo Pass. — Steele's Bayou. — Porter's ei.-ergy. — Tan gled country. — What next? — To New Carthage, and beyond. — Passing the batteries. — Fiest boats. — Sheets of fire. — Second lot. — Hard Times. — Across to Brutnsburg. — Battle of Port Gibson. — Enemy routed 153 CONTENTS. CHAPTEB XIV. VICKSBURG : THE BATTLES, ASSAULTS, AND SIEGE. Fortune smiles. — Defences of Vicksburg. — Grand Gulf oues. — Sherman's feint on Haines' Bluff. — Grant's grand tactics. — Battle of Raymond, — Battle of Jaokson. — Johnston driven out. — Where is Pemberton? — At Champion's Hill. — Battle there. — Enemy demoralized.. — Battle of the Big Black. — Investment. — Fleet co opeeates. — Two assaults. — Both fail 1 64 CHAPTEB XV. VICKSBURG BESIEGED. Re-enforcements.— The complete investment. — The condition of' Vicksburg. — The first mine. — The explosion. — Effects. — We gain a lodgment. — The cannonade. — The second mine. — Preparations for final assault. — Pemberton's change of opinion. — Further delay useless. — Is ready to sur render 188 CHAPTEB XVI. VICKSBURG FALLS. — " UNVEXED TO THE SEA." Flag of truce. — Pemberton's request. — The interview.— Terms described.— Correspondence. — Terms accepted. — Vicksburg surbenders. — Fourth of July. — Rebellion cut in two. — Only needs shaking, to fall apaet. — Geant's tri umphal entry. — The Mississippi "unvexed to the sea." — Comments 186 CHAPTEB XVII. FINISHING TOUCHES : CLEARING THE WRECK. Effect of the news.— President's letter to Grant.— Port Hudson waits the fall of Vicksburg — Surrenders. — Correspondence and conditions. — Sher man moves against Johnston. — Johnston holds Jackson. — His order.— He DECAMPS , 294 CHAPTEB XVIII. ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION. Expeditions dst all directions. — The haul at Natchez. — Extra military ques tions.— The SUBJECT OF TRADE.— TaUIPF OF PRICES ON THE MISSISSIPPI.— HONORS at Memphis.— Review at New Orleans.— Sad accident, and its results.— Partial recover y. — Boards of honoe. — Comments 202 CONTENTS. 9 CHAPTEB XIX. \ VhE MILITARY DIVISION OF THE MISSISSIPPI — THE DEPARTMENT OF \ THE CUMBERLAND. CllOKAMAUGA. — A GLANCE AT THE TOPOGEAPHY. — THE NEW COMMAND. — THE ARMY CONCENTRATES. At CHATTANOOGA. — A FINE CHANCE OF STARVING. — SMITH' \ratagem. — Hooker advances. — Bragg's fatal error. — Sherman moves. — \connoissan0es and plans , 210 CHAPTEB XX. THE GRAND MOTEMEHT BEGUN. \ Sheeman Varches. — Thomas's advance. — Sherman crosses and takes position. — HookeAco-operates. — At.t. ready along the line. — The Confederates. — Waiting\for Hooker. — Storming of the ridge. — Hooker attacks. — The FIGHT ENI^d AND PUESUIT BEGUN. — PURSUIT DISCONTINUED. — COMMENTS 224 \ CHAPTEB XXI. \ 1 BURNSIDE AT KNOXVILLE. His entrance into\jkoxtili.e — Fortifies the town — Advances to lure Long- street ON. — LoN^jjee-j INVESTS AND ATTACKS — REPULSED. — Re-ENFORCEMENTS from Grant. — Sh^u^ comes up. — Grant's order. — Summary of losses.. 243 \ CHAPTEB XXH. GrVt JOY IN THE LAND. The President's proclamaXq-^ — ppBuc honors. — The gold medal.— A lieu tenant-general proposer Societies. — Namesakes. — New labors. — Visits Cumberland Gap. — At ^Vville. — To Chattanooga. — Visits St. Louis. — The banquet.— Thanks of ^ CITY 248 \ CHA^EB XXIII. ELSEWHERE. IN THE piELD. The Mississippi. — Banks. — Steele. Aecrans. — Our force compared with the rebels.— Sherman's expedition to n:bidian._Thomas moves upon Dalton. —Seymour at Olustee.— One head \jDed._jj0 political aspirations. . 255 \ chaptebVxiv. THE LIEUTENANT-GENERAL — RETWECT ajjtj prospect. Grant Lieutenant-General.— Arrives at W\,tsgTas.—'&EoooiiizED AT Wix- labd's.— Commission presented.— P=sn>*™T%DKE8S._GRAira'B reply.— Re vival of the grade.— Washington, Scott, ^ (jBA:NT-_'rHE ssw LAw.— 10 CONTENTS. Grant's personal appearance.— The hgnoe unsolicited— The country needs him.— What he had done to earn it.— Prospect of responsibility and danger. -Will hb succeed ? — Unrivalled glory . 258 CHAPTEB XXV. THE CONDUCT OF THE WAR. Grant's convictions.— Evils to be remedied. — The new plan. — The geea' the atre — How occupied. — The rebel armies. — Lee and Johnston. — Our opposing armies. — Banks in Virginia. — Directions to General Butler. — Sigji- s in structions • • • • ^6 7 CHAPTEB XXVI. PREPARATIONS FOR THE FINAL CAMPAIGN. Grant's announcement to the armies. — At Washington. — ThfAemy of the Potomac. — Geneeal Meade. — The aemy reorganized. — FiftfCorps — Second — Sixth. — The Ninth Corps. — The character of the army.-Geant'8 staff. — Meade's chief, and adjutant-general 277 CHAPTEB XXVII. THE CROSSING OF THE BURTON. All ready. — Grant makes final preparations. — Thepositi01* °tf the army. — Lee's position.— The roads.— The Wilderness. — Jade's order. — The corps • move. — Plans and oounteeplans. — The rebels cme trp IN column. — Ewell on our right, by the turnpike 285 CHAPTEB XX/in. THE BATTLE OF THFWILDEENESS. Orders to Waeeen and Sedgwick. — The b tle-field. — Hancock to the rescue, — General attack on the 6th. — Han'ok s ewounter. — Second rebel as sault. — Gordon flanks oue right. — G>NT 01f TnE meld. — Comments.— Losses. — Drawn battle 293 CHAPfiR XXIX. 0N T RICHMOND. Suspense at the North.— LeeVStbeat'— Sedqwi0!": killed.— Wright to Sixth Corps.— Attack on SpoTrsY'iI"A-_HANOOOK'8 FEAT or arms.— The after-bat tle.— Our losses up to * 12th.— Who retreats, Grant or Lee «— The LAND AHEAD.-A NEW FL/'™0 MOVEMENT gw CONTENTS. 11 CHAPTEB XXX. CO-OPERATING MOVEMENTS. Sheridan's raid. — The battle of Yellow Tavern. — J. E. B. Stuart killed. — The raiders reach the James.— Fortunes of Sigel. — Defeated by Breckin ridge. — Butler's movements. — His dispatch. — Beauregard's attack. — Her metically sealed. — Kautz's raid. — Stanton's dispatch. — Butler's failure. — How the want of co-opekation affected Grant 8'iO CHAPTEB XXXI. FROM SPOTTSYLVANIA TO THE CHICKAHOMINY. The corps move. — Re-enforcements. — Losses from May 12 to 21. — On the North Anna. — Withdrawn. — Sheridan's return. — Crossing of the Pamunkey. — Change of base. — Sheridan holds i'old Harbor. — Losses from May 21 ti> 31. — W. F. Smith detached from Butler. — The battles of Cold Harbor. — The crossing of the Chickahominy S80 CHAPTEB XXXII. "- SOUTH OF THE JAMES. The crossing of the James. — Petersburg. — Gillmore retires. — Kautz attacks. — Smith's new assault. — The ooeps come up rapidly. — Butler moves Forward. — The new assault on the city — Not successful. — Sheridan's expedition. — New movement of the army. — Against the Weldon road. — -Deep Bottom. — Wilson's raid. — Temporary rest 846 CHAPTEB XXXIII. THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY. Hunter's instructions. — He beats the enemy. — W. E. Jones killed. — Advance to Lynchburg. — Retreats to the Kanawha. — What he accomplished. — In WHAT HE FAILED. — The ROUTE HZ SHOULD' HAVE TAKEN 86 1 CHAPTEB XXXIV. THE MINE AT PETERSBURG. C RANTS DIVERSION. — The STORY OF THE MINE. — ITS POSITION. — LlEUTENANT-CoLONKL I'LEASAXT*.— UeSCEIPTION. — EXCAVATED UNDER DIFFICULTIES. — Meade's ORDER. — The fuse lighted. — Fails. — Gallant men relight it. — The delay. — The STORMERS MOVE. — LEDLIE, WlLLOOX, AND POTTER. — FERRERO. — The CRATER. — The Court of Inquiry 864 CHAPTEB XXXV. THE REBEL ADVANCE ON WASHINGTON. Early moves down the Valley. — Grant sends up the Sixth and Nineteenth- — Wallace moves. — Is defeated, but detains Early. — Destruction. — Wright in command. — Early retreats. — The Shenakdoah Valley. — Grant visits Hunter.— Sheridan — Let loose. — AVinchester 314 12 CONTENTS. CHAPTEB XXXVI. AROUND PETERSBURG. Cedar Creek.— Sheridan rides post from Winchester— To the Weldon road. —The cattle raid.— Movement on both flanks— The westward movement. —Butler moves.— The Army of the Potomac m motion.— The Dutch Gap Canal. — Gregg at Stone y Creek. —Comparative rest CHAPTEB XXXVII. OTHER PARTS OF THE GREAT THEATRE. Sherman. — Hood moves into Tennessee. — General Thomas.— General Hood.— Mobile. — Price invades Missouri.— To Wytheville and Saltville....... 401 CHAPTEE XXXVIII. FORT FISHER. The troops land. — The bombardment and assault. — Comments. — Wilmington*" falls 408 CHAPTEB XXXIX. CONCENTRATION. Plans of Sherman. — March ; the strategic usher. — Foet Steadman. — Sheri dan's GRAND MARCH. — SHERMAN'S VISIT. — THE MOVEMENT TO THE LEFT . . . . ; 418 CHAPTEB XL. THE TRUE "BEGINNING OF THE END." Fight at Dinwiddie Courthouse. — Battle of Five Forks. — Defeat of the reb els. — Consternation in Richmond. — Its evacuation by Lee. — Pursuit of the FLEEING AMY. — SAILOR'S CREEK. — Lee's SURRENDER. — TERMS. SHERMAN. — Stoneman. — Canby at Mobile. — Wilson's command. — Conclusion 433 CHAP'jljuB XLI. THE LIEUTENANT-GENERAL'S MILITARY HOUSEHOLD. General Rawlins, chief of staff. — Colonel Bowers. — General Comstook.- COLONEL BABCO0K. — COLONEL PORTER. — CoLONEL HUDSON. COLONEL BaDEAU.— . Colonel Parker. — Major Leet. — Captain Dunn. — General Williams. — Gen eral Webster. — Colonel Lagow". — Colonel Hillyer. — General McPherson. — - Colonel Rowley. — Colonel Riggln. — Colonel Ihrie. — Major Prime. — Colonel Duff. — General Wilson. — Captain Ross. — General Dent. — General Kent. — General Barnard. — Major Kuykendal. — Colonel Dickey. — Major Auden- eled. — General Smith. — Major ,H. C. Robinette. — Captain D. E. Porter. — Lieutenant H. N. Towner 455 APPENDIX. Official correspondence 473 Report of Lieutenant-General Grant 477 GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. CHAPTEB I. THE GREAT WAR OPENS. Ruffin's cannon. — Fort Sumter. — The effect on the masses. — The Nation must be sated. — The attitude of»the rebels. — Our own duty clear. — The rush to arms. — Our ignorance of war. — The want of every thing. — The education needed and eventually obtained. — grant an apt scholar. From profound peace to civil war ! In an instant, with no premonitions that we could regard, — so often had the threat been made, and the promise not made good, — the poetical toc sin sounded historically for America in the first gun, fired with great joy and gratitude by the venerable Edmund Euffin,* of Virginia, against the devoted band of seventy patriot soldiers, whom, by a providential policy, and in spite of an effete ad ministration, Major Bobert Anderson had placed in Fort Sumter. This was a strong work of the United States, built with government money on government property, in Charles ton harbor, for the occupation of which South Carolina, even after her unlawful secession, had not even the shadow of a State-rights' claim. Foul as was the deed, it was needed to awake the nation to its self-respect and self-preservation. The * " The first shot at Fort Sumter, from Stevens' Battery, was fired by the venerable Edmund puffin, of Virginia." — New York Herald, April 13, 1861. On the 20th of June, 1865, this venerable gentleman, disgusted at the downfall of the cause of which he had fired the signal-gun blew out his brains : he cer tainly made two remarkable Shots. 14 GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. loyal masses rose at the sound. Men of all social grades, all occupations, almost all shades of politics, felt that the crisis, long prophesied, but never fully expected, had indeed come ; and that the nation must now and at once awake, arise, or be forever fallen. Supine before, only anxious to avert the horrid scourge of a desolating civil war, many true patriots would have been held back by sentiments of humanity from proceed ing to extremities with the rebellious States ; and had not the Sumter cowardice been perpetrated, we might still have been ruled by a Southern oligarchy, representing neither the best men nor the masses of the South, and we would have been subjected to the vaporings and hectorings with which South Carolina regaled the country for so many years, until the sub version of our Government, undertaken in some other, more prudent and politic manner, should have occurred. The gage of battle thus thrown down was the best thing for the United States Government. It placed the seceding States, by their own action, out of the pale of the constitution. They had said : " "We ask no rights from you ; we declare the Union dissolved ; the constitution, for us, annulled ; we will maintain our own rights." It put us, too, in our true position, as men contending no longer for a dogma or a whim, but for the sal vation of the country. Every true patriot, even though he had been a pro-slavery democrat, found now no longer South ern friends to aid in what they considered the maintenance of their legal rights ; but Southern traitors and armed rebels to conquer, and either bring back to their allegiance, or de stroy, root and branch, with all the causes and all the institu tions whence the treason and the rebellion had sprung. Their armies were to be beaten, their territory retaken, their prop erty confiscated, and finally, if necessary, their slaves eman cipated. This was, from the first, the true and simple logic of the war ; and to this, as the alternative of victory, the rebels set their seal and subscription when the venerable Edmund Euffin fired the first gun at Fort Sumter. Of' course they ex pected to succeed ; but failing 'of this, they had a right to ex pect nothing less than what has happened. THE GREAT WAR OPENS. 15 The reverberation of Buffin's cannon went roiling over the land. It leaped the Blue Bidge, screamed through its wild passes, traversed the valleys of tributary streams, and poured in unabated thunder-tones upon the banks of the Mississippi. Everywhere it roused the patriots to action. The country sprang to its feet. The whole nation, but yesterday a people of compromisers and deprecators of civil war, noAV flew to arms. Volunteering was the order of the day : the enthusiasm was unbounded. Old men, with spectacles, and in unsightly jackets, nearly killed themselves at nightly home-guard drills in academies of music, concert-rooms, and town-halls ; small boys formed Hght-infantry companies ; women made haver sacks and havelocks — the latter of no earthly use except to awaken, or rather keep alive, a spirit of patriotic labor ; and men, in the bloom of youth and prime of manhood, flocked to the rendezvous to take the field. It is true we did not know how to fight : we had no generals to lead us, except some old relics of our former wars. That fine old veteran, General Scott, had passed his seventieth year, and, from the effects of old wounds, was in no condition to take the field. Our army was but " the skeleton of the Forty- eighth," an army only in name ; our volunteers were willing, but entirely ignorant ; our regulars had not been drilled at brigade manoeuvres, and the officers knew little about them. In* most cases, before the war. there were not sufficient troops at the garrison posts to drill at battalion manoeuvres. No one knew how extensive the theatre of war was to be : on what a scale the rebels had been preparing to carry it on .: what we should need in the way of an army, of supplies and munitions of war. We were certain of -one thing ; and that was, that we were deficient in every thing. Even the strategic features of the country — unlike those of Europe, where every httle rivulet and mountain-spur has been fought over, and has its military place in history — had never been studied. Perhaps it was in cident to this state of things that statesmen spoke oracularly of " no war," or " one effective blow," or " sixty days," for which to discount the struggle. But in spite of their predic- 16 GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. tions the storm grew apace, and, in the midst of obscurity, we blundered on "in ignorant and absurd experiments. Speak but of a man who could aid us, suggest a hero, and the people turned to him with the blind worship of helpless fear. Not what he had done, but what he was going to do, made him il- 'lustrious : he was already a new incarnation of the god of war ; a second Napoleon come* to battle. It is both needless and useless now to demonstrate how unjust this was to those thus bepraised, and what sore humiliation it was to bring upon the worshippers. But there was no calm judgment then ; the danger was imminent, the need urgent, the fear great. At last the lightning fell, and Bull Bun was followed by a horror of great darkness over the land, — the darkest hour before the dawn. The truth is, there was no man at that time in America who could grasp the colossal problem ; no man on either side. We were babes in military practice ; our armies and our generals needed education from the very elementary principles, and especially that education of disasters which Marmont declares to be the very best of all. The Grant of Belmont could not have fought the battle of Pittsburg Landing ; and it needed the practice of Vicksburg and Chattanooga to fit him for the terrible struggles of the campaign from the Bapidan. Months and years passed, and we became gradually enlight ened ; our troops became veterans, and our leaders, when the lists were carefully sifted, became generals. None are now invested with honors whp have not fully earned them; and we stand to-day at the open portals of that glorious peace which our defenders have achieved, ready to accord to them intelligent praise in proportion to their real merits. And thus we reach the life of Lieutenant-General Grant, one of the many who rushed to the field when Buffin's cannon sounded the alarm — a graduate of West Point, educated, indeed, as a subordinate officer, but not as a general ; to be educated as a general in and by the war. His career, beginning with the Sumter gun, is in itself an epitome of the war, and marks its grandest epoch, when armed rebellion threw down its weapons, THE GREAT WAR OPENS. 17 and the country, more by his power than by that of any other individual man, stood new-born, with a giant's strength, and, in the often quoted words of Curran, never elsewhere so applicable, " redeemed, * regenerated, and disenthralled, by the irresistible genius of universal emancipation." 18 GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. CHAPTEB II. CHILDHOOD AND CADET LIFE. ¦Grant's lineage. — The new school of biography. — His parentage and birth place. — His name. — Stories of his youth. — Limited education. — Appointment to the Military Academy. — His scholarship.— Classmates. — Recollections of HIM WHILE A CADET. — The GERMS OF CHARACTER. — He GRADUATES. Grant was a true autochthon, a son of the soil, heir to no splendid heritage, but to the nobility of labor. His early his tory needs but little comment. Born of respectable parents to the honorable sturdy life of the West, he needs no exhibi tion of long descent to inaugurate his history. If Napoleon could rebuke the genealogist who was creating for him a ped igree, with the words, " Friend, my patent dates from Monte Notte," Grant may claim his American nobility from Fort Donelson. On the one hand, all efforts to establish an aristocratic de scent and a remarkable childhood for such a man are dis honest and absurd ; and, on the other hand, all attempts to make his antecedents very humble and his childhood very hard, in order to exalt his after-life, are disgusting. The one is absurdly European, and the. other belongs to the " new American school of biography," the tendency of which is to make boys despise their fathers, that they may the more thor oughly respect themselves.* We may, however, place on record what is truthfully known of his family and childhood, being sure that there is noth ¦ • * See an excellent article, by Gail Hamilton, in " Skirmishes and Sketches." in which, with the vindictiveness of Herod, she slaughters the '* Bobbin Boys," " Ferry Boys," " Errand Boys," " Tanner Boys," etc., etc. Let us hope she has killed all the " innocents." CHILDHOOD AND CADET LIFE. 19* ing in Grant's past upon which he does not look *with honest pride. His father was Jesse B. Grant, the descendant of a Scottish family, first represented in this country by two brothers, "who emigrated to what were then the American colonies early in the eighteenth century, of whom one settled in Canada, and the other in New Jersey. Jesse Grant, who comes from the New Jersey branch, was born in Westmoreland County, Penn sylvania, in 1794. In 1805, his father died, and Jesse, then an orphan of eleven years, was apprenticed to a tanner. We need not trace the wanderings of Jesse Grant, with his mother and family, from Pennsylvania to Maysville, in Kentucky, then to Bavenna, thence to Ohio. The country was in a dis ordered state by reason of British intrigue with Indian bar barity ; in many parts the, climate was unhealthy, and so we find him, after many changes to better his lot, residing at Point Pleasant, Clermont County, Ohio. Grant's mother was Hannah Simpson, the daughter of John Simpson. She was born in Montgomery County, Pennsyl vania ; but removed with her father and family to Clermont County, Ohio, in 1818, where, in June, 1821, she married Jesse B. Grant. Ten months after, on the twenty-seventh- of April, 1822, their first child, known to the world as Ulysses Simpson Grant,* was born in a small one-story cottage, still standing on the banks of the Ohio, commanding a view of the river and of the Kentucky shore. From what we know of Grant's parents— the probity, energy, and hard labor of his father ; the consistent Christian charac ter, kind heart, and devotion to her family displayed by his excellent mother — we have another beautiful illustration of the moral heritage of children, and another proof that God shows mercy and gives great reward to them that love Him, to many generations. * His father tells us that his name was Hiram Ulysses, but that his cadet warrant was made out for Ulysses Sidney; that he accepted the name while at West Point, only changing it to Ulysses Simpson; in honor of his mother, when he graduated. 20 GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. Many stories are told, of course, exhibiting the sturdy character of young Grant, and his resources under difficulties, but none betokening, in a remarkable degree, the character of hfs future career. It is said that, upon proper occasion, he could be pugnacious ; that he was not outwitted in a bargain ; and that he contrived means of overcoming difficulties which would have checked other boys. In the same way, the biographers of Napoleon have found the types of his after-life in his lording it over his elder brother Joseph, and in his bravery in attacking snow forts. Grant was sturdy, strong, and cool, as many other boys are ; but up to the time of his first entering into service, no events or actions of his life were the heralds of his present greatness. The qualities undoubtedly were there, but latent ; and of what has evoked them in most men, ambition, he seems to have none. The education of the boy was quite limited, like that of most Western boys in moderate circumstances. There was hard work to do, in which the son must help the father, and so it was only in the midwinter months that he could attend the village school. What he learned, however, he learned well ; and he acquired with the elements of knowledge, not only a basis, but, what is of far more importance, an ardent desire for a full education. By the time Grant was seventeen, West Point had acquired great fame throughout the country ; it was known by its fruits ; its eleves were gentlemen of high education and noble bearing. In civic life they were eagerly sought after to take the lead in railway engineering and industrial pursuits. They were the chief men in all militia organizations ; indeed, the military knowledge of the country was almost as much confined to them as the esoteric meaning of the Egyptian mysteries had forme/ly been to the priests. It was also known that there a boy, with out the necessary means, could obtain the best education which the country could afford, not gratuitously, but more than thai; — he would be paid for learning, trained and main tained as a gentleman, and would receive at the last a high, CHILDHOOD AND CADET LIFE. 21 self-sustaining positi'on — a commission in the army. To such a youth as Grant, it offered a splendid chance ; and so appli cation was made to the Honorable Thomas L. Hamer, of Grant's congressional district, who gave him the appoint ment. Thus, with a good basis of hard, self-reliant, and eager boyhood, he was admitted to the prehminary examination, and entered the Military Academy on the first of July, 1839.* Such are the details, which would have had no importance whatever had it not been for subsequent events. Even a step further we may follow him without any tempta tion to worship the incipient hero. His scholarship at West Point was respectable, and no more. He went through the entire course, like his classmates, no cadet being allowed any option.t From September tc June, the cadets are in barracks, studying, riding, and fencing in the riding-hall, and, in fine weather, drilling in the afternoons at infantry : from June to September, they encamp upon the plain, and their time is entirely employed in drills of every kind, guard duty, pyro- techny, and practical engineering. In his cadet studies, Grant had something to contend with, in the fact of his own lack of early preparation, and the superior preparation of most of his competitors, who had been over a part of the course before they entered. Among these were William B. Franklin, who stood at the head of the class ; Boswell S. Bipley, not famous for his " History of the Mexi can War" (written in the interest of General Pillow, and to injure General Scott), but quite infamous for firing with great rapidity upon the burning Sumter, which the devoted garrison were trying to extinguish ; Bufus Ingalls, the excellent quarter master-general of the Army of the Potomac ; Joseph J. Bey- nolds, late commander in Arkansas ; Christopher C. Augur, long in command at Washington ; the rebel General Franklin Gardner, who surrendered Port Hudson to Banks when Grant * The preliminary examination is extremely simple — reading, spelling, writing, and arithmetic through decimal fractions. f In our day, it was only the first section of each class who learned some thing more than was required of the rest. 22 GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. had taken Vicksburg ; and others, to whom we design no dis credit by not mentioning them. Thirty-nine of the one hun dred and more who had been appointed in 1839, graduated in 1843. Grant was the independent middle-man, twenty-first on the list. The honor of being his comrade for two years at the Academy enables me to speak more intelligently, perhaps, than those of " the new school," who have invented the most absurd storie's to illustrate his cadet-life. I remember#him as a plain, com mon-sense, straight-forward youth; quiet, rather of the old head on young shoulders order; shunning notoriety; quite contented, while others were grumbling ; taking to his military duties in a very business-like manner ; not a prominent man in the corps* but respected by all, and very popular with his friends. His sobriquet of Uncle Sam was given to him there, where every good-felloAV has a nickname, from these very qualities ; indeed, he was a very uncle-like sort of a youth. He was then and always an excellent horseman, and his picture rises before me as I write, in the old torn coat,* obso lescent leather gig-top, loose riding pantaloons, with spurs buckled over them, going with his clanking sabre to the drill- hall. He exhibited but Httle enthusiasm in any thing : his best standing was in the mathematical branches, and their application to tactics and military engineering. If we again dwell upon the fact that no one, even of his most intimate friends, dreamed of a great future for him, it is to add that, looking back now, we must confess that the possession of many excellent quahties, and the entire absence of all low and mean ones, establish a logical sequence from first to last, and illustrate, in a novel manner, the poet's fancy about — " The baby figures of the giant mass Of things to come at large," * Riding-jackets, if we remember rightly, had not then been issued, and the cadets always wore their seediest rig into the sweat and dust of the riding- drill. CHILDHOOD AND CADET LIFE. 23 i the germs of those qualities which are found in beautiful com bination in Wordsworth's " Happy Warrior :" " The generous spirit who, when brought • Among the tasks of real life, hath wrought Upon the plan that pleased his infant thought." And at this point of view, as we find the Western boy, after the compacting, instructing, developing processes of West Point, coming forth a man, ready for the stern realities of American life, we may pause to point him out to our American youth as an example henceforth to be followed ; then, as now, a character which, in the words of a friend, "betrayed no trust, falsified no word, violated no rights, manifested no tyranny, sought no personal aggrandizement, complained of no hardship, displayed no jealousy, oppressed no subordinate ; but, in whatever sphere, protected every interest-, upheld his flag, and was ever known by his humanity, sagacity, courage, and honor." What.more can be claimed for any young man ? What for the greatest of captains ? He left West Point as brevet second-lieutenant in the Fourth Infantry ; and with his army life we begin another chapter in his history. 24 GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS CHAPTEB III. ARMY LIFE AND RETIREMENT FROM SERVICE. Brevet second-lieutenant Fourth Infantry. — Goes to Corpus Christi.— At Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma.— At Monterey.— At Vera Cruz.— Rlgi- mkntal quarteemaster.— Fights at Molino and Chapultepec.— Mentioned in REPORTS AND BREVETTED CAPTAIN.— At CLOSE OF WAR SENT TO THE NORTHERN frontier. — Marries. — Off to Oregon. — Hard work. — Leather-dealer. On the 1st of July, 1843, Grant began his army service as brevet second-lieutenant in the Fourth Infantry. The expla nation of this is, that there being no vacancy in the infantry arm, all graduated cadets are thus attached, in the order of merit, to regiments, as supernumerary officers, each to await a vacancy in his turn. The regiment was then at Jefferson Barracks, near St. Louis, Missouri ; but, in the summer of 1844, it was removed to Natchitoches, Louisiana, and as the Mexican plot thickened, in 1845, it was sent to Corpus Christi, to watch the Mexican army then concentrating upon the frontier. Grant was made a full second-lieutenant in the Seventh Begiment, on the 30th of September, 1845. But he had formed an attachment for the Fourth, and apphed to re main in it : this was granted by the War Department. He was fortunate enough to be at Palo Alto and Eesaca, May 6 and 7, 1846 — the trial fights of the American army against a civilized enemy, after thirty years of peace ; and he participated in the bloody battle of Monterey, September 23, 1846. His regiment was soon after called away from General Taylor's command, to join General Scott in his splendid campaign from Vera Cruz to Mexico, two hundred and seventy-two miles in the heart of the enemy's country. He was at the siege and capture of Vera Cruz, March 29, 1847 ; and on April 1, pre paratory to the advance, he was appointed regimental quarter- ARMY LIFE AND RETIREMENT FROM SERVICE. 25 master, a post which he held during the remainder of the war. It is a position requiring system and patience, and drawing a small additional pay ; it is usually conferred upon some solid, energetic, painstaking officer, not necessarily one remarkable for dash and valor. Being in charge of the regimental equipage and trains, the quartermaster may, without impro priety, remain with these during actual battle, as we have known many to do. It is therefore rec6rded, as greatly to the praise of Grant, that he always joined his regiment in battle, and shared their fighting. At Molino del Bey, Septem ber 8, 1847, he was distinguished, and was brevetted first- lieutenant for his services. This brevet, however, owing to the fact of his becoming a full first-lieutenant by the casualties of that battle, he declined. At Chapultepec, September 13, 1847, Grant joined, with a few of his men, some detachments of the Second Artillery, under Captain Horace Brooks, in an attack on the enemy's breastworks, served a mountain howit zer and hastened the enemy's retreat, and " acquitted himself mostmobly under the ¦observation" of his regimental, brigade, and division commanders.* For this action Grant received the brevet of captain for " gallant and meritorious conduct," awarded in 1849, but not confirmed until 1850. His first-lieutenancy dated from September 16, 184.7. It must not be supposed that these services during the Mexican war are now dressed up to assimilate with his after-career. He was really distinguished in that war above most of those of his own rank.f * See General Worth's, Lieutenant-Colonel Garland's, and Major Francis Lee's reports of that battle. f During our residence at the capital I heard a " horse-story'' about Grant which has not appeared in the books, but which is, at least, true. He was an admirable horseman, and had a very spirited horse. A Mexican gentleman, with whom he was upon friendly terms, asked the loan of his horse. Grant said afterwards, " I was afraid he could not ride him, and yet I knew if I said a word to that effect, the suspicious Spanish nature would think I did not wish to lend him." The result was, that the Mexican mounted him, was thrown before he had gone two blocks, and killed on the spot. 26 GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. Upon the close of the war by the treaty promulgated in April, 1848, the Fourth Infantry was sent first to New York, and then to the Northern frontier, and for some time Grant served in the command of his company, first at Detroit, and then at Sackett's Harbor. In August, 1848, he married Miss Dent, sister of his class mate, Frederick J. Dent, who resided in St. Louis. Incident to the acquisition of California and the wonderful discoveries of gold, troops were more necessary on our West ern coast than elsewhere, to protect the emigrants and the new Pacific settlements from the depredations of the Indians. The Fourth Infantry was therefore ordered to Oregon, in the autumn of 1851, and one battalion, with which brevet- Captain Grant was serving, was ordered to Fort Dallas, where he saw some service against the Indians. After a two, years' absence from his family, and with but little prospect of promotion in those " dull and piping times of peace," Grant having been promoted to a full captaincy in August, 1853, resigned his commission, in July 31, 1854, and set forth to commence life anew as a citizen. % That he tried many shifts does not betoken a fickle or volatile nature, but simply the invention which is born of necessity. As a small farmer, near St. Louis, and a dealer in wood, he made a pre carious living :* as a money collector he did no more, having neither the nature to bully nor the meanness to wheedle the debtors. He could not " Crook the pregnant hinges of the knee, That thrift may follow fawning." * I visited St. Louis at this time, and remember with pleasure, that Grant, in his farmer rig, whip in hand, came to see me at the hotel, where were Joseph J. Reynolds, then professor, now major-general, General (then Major) D. C. Buell, and Major Chapman of the cavalry. If Grant had ever used spirits, as is not unlikely, I distinctly remember that, upon the proposal being made to drink, Grant said, " I will go in and look at you, for I never drink any thing ;" and the other officers who saw him frequently, afterwards told me that he drank nothing but water. ARMY LIFE AND RETIREMENT FROM SERVICE. 27 He is said also to have played the auctioneer ; but in this branch, unless he made- longer speeches than he has since done, he could achieve no success. In 1859 he entered into partnership with his father, who had been prosperous in the tanning business, in a neW leather and saddlery store in Galena, Illinois. Here, in a place which had a growing trade with Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota, the industry, good sense, and honesty of Grant did at length achieve a certain and honorable success, and, had the rebellion not broken out, he would have had a local reputation in the firm of Grant & Son, as an admirable judge of leather, perhaps mayor of Galena, with a thoroughly well-mended sidewalk, visited always with pleasure by his old army friends travelling westward, but never heard of by the public. His greatest success had been achieved in the army ; his Mexican expe rience gave glimpses of a future in that line ; he needed only opportunity, and he was to have it abundantly. Here, then, we mark a new epoch in his life — a sudden plunge, unex pected and unheralded — - "The torrent's smoothness ere it dash below." 23 GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. CHAPTEB IV. BELMONT. Effect of the news on Grant. — A Democrat before the war. — An unqualified war-man now. — Raises a company.— Adjutant-general and mustering officer.— Colonel of the Twenty-first Illinois. — Marches.— Acting brigadier at Cairo. —The value of Cairo. — The rebel strategy. — Expedition to Belmont.— Fre mont's ordees. — Polk at Columbus.— The ¦ battle. — Success. — Enemy re-en forced. — Grant withdraws.. — Comments. It may be easily conceived how the treachery of Southern leaders, the secession of South Carolina, and the bombard ment of Fort Sumter affected Grant. A decided Democrat before the war, he had, in his limited sphere, been in favor of conceding to the South all its rights, perhaps more ; but when the struggle actually began, his patriotism and military ardor were aroused together. As a patriot, he was determined to support his Government and uphold his flag ; and as a soldier, he saw opening before him a career of distinction for which he had been educated, and in which he had already, in some degree, distinguished himself. In May he raised a company in his own neighborhood, and marched with it to Springfield, the place of rendezvous. It was not long before Governor Yates, to whom he had been recommended by a member of Congress from his State, made use of Grant's experience in organizing the State troops. He was appointed adjutant- general of the State, and proceeded to the difficult task of mustering the three-months' men, which, amid much confu sion, he accomplished by his indefatigable energy. While on a brief visit to his father, at Covington, Kentucky, Grant re ceived a commission from the governor as colonel of the Twenty-first Illinois Volunteers, three-months' men. .They subsequently enKsted, owing to their confidence in him, one BELMONT. 29 thousand strong, for three years' service. Grant's first con cern was to drill and discipline his regiment, which soon be came marked for its excellent order. Bemoving them from their place of organization, Matoon, Illinois, to Caseyville, he superintended their drill; and, not long after, he marched them, in default of railroad transportation, one hundred and twenty miles, to Quincy, on the Mississippi, which was sup posed to be in danger. Thence he moved, under orders, to defend the line of the Hannibal and Hudson Bailroad, from Hannibal and Quincy, on the Mississippi, to St. Joseph ; and here coming into contact with other regiments, his military knowledge and experience pointed to him, -although the youngest colonel, as the commander of the combined forces. As acting brigadier-general of thia force, his headquarters, on the 31st of July, 1861, were at Mexico, Missouri. We need not detail the marches of Grant's regiments in the " District of Northern Missouri" — as General Pope's command was called — to Pilot Knob, and Ironton, and Jefferson City, to de fend the river against the projected attacks of Jeff. Thomp son. In August he received his commission as brigadier- general of volunteers, to date from May 17. He was seven teenth in a list of thirty-four original appointments of that date. He was ordered to proceed to Cairo, and there, with two brigades, he took command of the important strategic territory entitled "The District of Southeast Missouri," in cluding both banks of the Mississippi Biver, from Cape Girar deau to New Madrid, and on the Ohio it included the whole of Western Kentucky. A glance at the map discloses the strategic importance of Cairo, as a base of operations for. a southern advance, and of vital importance in the line of de fence for the extensive and rich country lying between the Ohio and the Mississippi. It is especially valuable for river expeditions, the transportation of supplies, and the equipment of a gunboat fleet. The parallel flow of the Tennessee and Cumberland northward into the Ohio also includes a most important portion of West Kentucky, which Grant saw at a glance was to become the scene of immediate hostilities. 30 GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. Grant was now in his element; he not only accomplished with alacrity what he was ordered to do, but'he made work for his troops. He at once displayed that energy which he has never abated for an instant during the war. The attempted and absurd neutrality pf Kentucky was one sided ; it was to keep Union troops away and let rebels attack* The latter were not slow in availing themselves of this privilege. Seizing, first Hickman, and then Columbus and Bowling Green, and fortifying the Tennessee at Fort Henry, and the Cumberland at Fort Donelson, they estab lished a first strong line from the Mississippi to Virginia in the " ne*utral" State of Kentucky .f Grant followed their lead in sending, on the 6th of September, a strong force to Padu cah, where the Tennessee empties into the Ohio, under com mand of General C. F. Smith, much to the chagrin of the secessionists there, who were awaiting a rebel force. In the same manner he occupied Smithland, near the mouth of the Cumberland, and thus made two vital moves in the game in which he was to cry checkmate at Fort Donelson. These points were also valuable to the rebels as gateways of sup plies. From the places now occupied, Grant at once busied himself in making numerous reconnoissances in every direc-' tion, until at length he was ready to try his " 'prentice hand" upon the rebels. When all was ready, he moved down the river to Belmont, opposite Columbus, and there the first battle took place. The origin of that movement may be thus briefly stated. General Fremont, under date November 1, 1861, directed Grant to make demonstrations " along both sides of the river * And yet this neutrality was reproached by the rebels. See Pollard's " First Year of the War," p. 183. f On the 5th of September, Grant informed Fremont by telegram that the rebels had invaded the State, and that he was " nearly ready for Paducah, should not a telegram arrive preventing the movement." Receiving no word from Fremont, he left Cairo on the night of the 5th, and occupied Paducah on the morning of the 6th.* On the same day he published a clear, patriotic, and humane proclamation to the citizens. BELMONT. 31 towards Charleston, Norfolk, and Blandville." On the 2d, he was thus informed by Fremont : " Jeff. Thompson is at In dian's Ford of the St. Francois Biver, twenty-five miles below Greenville, with about three thousand men. Colonel Carlin has started vdth a force from Pilot Knob. Send a force fronl Cape Girardeau and Bird's Point to assist Carlin in driving Thompson into Arkansas." Incident to these instructions, Grant sent Colonel Oglesby, "with the Eighth Illinois, four companies of the Eleventh Illinois, the whole of the Eighteenth and Twenty-ninth, and three companies of cavalry, to go to Commerce, Missouri, thence to Sikeston, and pursue Jeff. Thompson (in conjunction with a force from Ironton). On the 5th he was informed that Polk was re-enforcing Price's army from Columbus. In this complication of circumstances he determined to threaten Columbus and attack Belmont. Oglesby was deflected to New Madrid, and Colonel W. H. L. Wallace sent to re-enforce him. The object of the attack then was to cut off the rebel line in Kentucky from Price's forces in Missouri, and also to keep Polk from interfering with the detachments Grant had sent out in pursuit of Jeff. Thompson. Grant directed General C. F. Smith to make a demonstration upon Columbus from Paducah, and then himself sent down a small force on the Kentucky side to Ellicott's Mills, about twelve miles from Columbus. Having taken these precau tions to deceive the enemy, he embarked his expeditionary force at Cairo on the 6th of November — three thousand one hundred and fourteen* men,* chiefly Illinois volunteers, with the Seventh Iowa, upon four boats, convoyed by the gunboats Lexington, Captain Stembel, and Tyler, Captain Walker, the gunboats in advance. Moving with due caution, they reached Island No. 1, eleven miles above Columbus, that night, and lay against the Kentucky shore. It was then he heard that Polk was crossing troops to Belmont to cut off Oglesby. The * McClernand's brigade (Twenty-seventh, Thirtieth, Thirty-first Illinois) with cavalry. Dougherty's brigade (Twenty-second Illinois, Seventh Iowa). — Grants Revised Report, June 26, 1865. 32 GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. next morning he moved to Hunter's Point, two miles above Belmont, on the Missouri shore, where his troops were landed and formed into column of attack. The rebel forces at Columbus were commanded by Major- General Leonidas Polk, a bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church, the purity of whose lawn is forever stained with blood drawn by carnal weapons;. a weak but brave man, but one whose West Point education was at least worth something to the rebel cause. Polk had posted a small force on the right bank, to keep open his communications ; and, as soon as he had wind of Grant's movement, and Smith's demonstration to Maysfield, he expected an attack on Columbus, or at least in Kentucky. Indeed, until the close of the engagement, he apprehended an attack in his rear. Grant's movement took him somewhat by surprise. From the point of debarkation, one battalion having been left as a reserve near the transports, the troops were marched by flank towards Belmont, and drawn up in line of battle about a mile from Belmont. Skirmishers were then thrown forward, who soon encountered Colonel Tappan's rebel force, consisting of three regiments, re-enforced by Pillow with three more, and the general engagement took place. Deploying his entire force as skirmishers, Grant drove the enemy back, fighting from tree to tree, for about two miles, until he reached the intrenched camp protected by slashed timber as an abatis. In rear of this, opposing our left, were the Thirteenth Arkansas and the Ninth Tennessee ; and on the right was Beltzhoover's battery of seven guns and Colonel Wright's regiment. This did not check our impetuous advance. Charging over the obstacle with great ardor, our men drove the enemy to the river-bank, and many of them into their transports, and we were in posses sion of every thing.* But as Belmont is on low ground, en- * The rebel excuse is, that they were out of ammunition ; good, but not new. Pollard says : " In this movement Pillow's line was more or less broken, and his corps mingled together, so that when they reached the river-bank they had the appearance of a mass of men, rather than an organized corps." — Fi/rst Tear, p. 201. BELMONT. 33 tirely commanded by the guns from Columbus, it was manifest that the ground thus gained could not be held, and therefore Grant fired the encampment, burning tents, blankets,* and stores, and began his return movement with captured artillery, prisoners, and horses. But the end of our success on the field had been attained. Major-General Polk, who was now quite alive to the situation, directed his heaviest guns from Colum bus upon our troops. He had already sent over three* regi ments in one body, under General Pillow ; these were sup ported by three others, under ' General Cheatham, which landed some distance above, between our soldiers and the boats. Further to crush Grant's small force, the bishop, al though sadly afraid of an attack on his rear at Columbus, took over two additional regiments in person to aid Pillow's j.tanic- stricken force. But by this time Grant was in retreat to his boats, and only faced to the right and rear to punish Cheat ham's flankers, and a portion of Pillow's under Colonel Marks, who had marched up the river-bank, and endeavored to prevent his return to the boats. In that retreat we suffered very severely, our troops being hard pressed by overpowering numbers. At five in the afternoon Grant's force had re- embarked, and were on their way to Cairo, while the rebels,. cheeked by the fire of our gunboats, glared like baffled tigers, and went back to their smoking camp. We had left two caissons, but had brought off two guns of Be/ tzhoover's bat tery. We had eighty-five killed, three hundred and one (many slightly) wounded, and about ninety-nine missing.. The gunboats, whose duty was primarily to cover the landing and protect the transports, and also, as far as possible, to engage the Columbus batteries, performed their service to General Grant's entire satisfaction. The Confederate loss was six hundred and thirty-two.f Both parties claimed a. vic tory, but on the recovery of the field and the pursuit of out retiring columns the rebels base their claims to a success, * Pollard says four regiments, but we give the rebels the benefit of clergy,. as the bishop says three. f Pollard, " First Year of the War." 3 34 GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. which we need not dispute. Although, in comparison with subsequent engagements, Belmont seems a small affair, it has an importance peculiarly its own. I. It was a coup d'essai of our new general. While others of his rank were playing quite subordinate parts in large armies, Grant was making an independent expedition in com mand, outwitting the enemy, burning his camp, retreating successfully when overpowered, and effecting his purpose in a most soldierly manner. • H. Again, it was a trial of our new troops in the West, and they acquitted themselves so as to elicit the hearty praise of their commander and the country. They fought well in the attack, from colonels to privates,* in the retreat, and in cutting their way through Cheatham's force", and were never for a moment discouraged. IH. The objects of ibe expedition, — to prevent the enemy from sending a force to Missouri to cut off our detachments which were pressing Thompson, and to prevent his re-enforcing Price, — were fully accomplished. Grant had given him a blow which kept him concentrated, lest another might soon follow. TV. It demonstrated the weakness of the enemy. It led to the victories of FortSj Henry and Donelson, and the piercing of the rebels' line, which threw it back almost upon the Gulf. Of the personal prowess of General Grant, as evinced in "this battle, it is how needless to speak ; it was of the highest -order. He, as well as General McClernand, had a horse shot under him, and amid the crashing projectiles of heavy guns from Columbus and Belmont, and the fatal storm of musketry, " the gallant conduct of- his troops was stimulated by his presence and inspired by his example."t * In a letter to his father (November 8th) Grant says, " I can say with grati- "fication, that every colonel,, without a single exception, set an example to their commands," etc. f General McClernand's " Official Report." McClernand had three horses -shot under him. Note. — June 26, 1865, General Grant submitted to the Secretary of War a .frosh report, to take the place of the old one. FORT HENRY. 35 CHAPTEB V. FORT HENRY. Halleck's Department of' Missouri. — Grant's reconnoissance into Kentucky-. — Its value. — Map of field of operations. — Columbus, the Gibraltar of America. — Rebel line. — Forts Henry and Doneison. — Foote's flotilla. — C. F. Smith and Phelps reconnoitre Fort Heney. — Grant receives permis sion to attack. — The fort described. — Lloyd Tilghman in command.— Grant's orders of march and battle. — The naval attack. — The surrender. —Comments on rebel defeat. — On to Donelson. — Tribute to Commodi re Foote. The " District of Cairo," to the command of which General Grant had been assigned, began now to assume more impor tance, as the immediate field of war in the West blazed from new points almost daily, and the thunder-bursts were answered by echoing guns all over the country. On the 12th of Novem ber, 1861, General Henry Wager Halleck, of the regular army, and second on the list of major-generals, was sent to take command of the " Department of Missouri." He had formerly been an officer of engineers in our army,, but had been for some time out of service, as a successful lawyer in San Fran cisco. He was well known as a diligent military student, and as a writer upon the military art. His department included the States of Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Arkansas, and that portion of Kentucky west of the Cumber land Biver. This territory he at once divided into districts. Of this department, the District of Cairo was the most im portant part; and it was on the 20th oi December enlarged, so as to include all the southern .part of Blinois, all that part of Kentucky west of the Cumberland Biver, and the southern counties of Missouri south of Cape Girardeau. Confirmed in this large command, General Grant at once began to organize, 36 GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. under the direction of General Halleck, for a new movement Cairo was the point of departure, rather than a point d'appui. Grant posted his troops at numerous prominent points for defence, for convenience of supplies, and for facilities of re connoissance, and also to deceive the enemy temporarily, with reference to his strength. On the 10th of January he sent General McClernand, *with an expeditionary force of five thousand Illinois Volunteers, to penetrate into the interior of Kentucky, in the neighborhood of Columbus, and towards Mayfield and Camp Beauregard. This reconnoissance into Kentucky was made by order of Major-General Halleck, and, as it is believed, at the request of General JBuell, with a view to prevent the enemy, who had established his line, from detaching forces from Columbus and the adjacent country to re-enforce the garrisons of Bowling Green, against which General Buell was then preparing to move. To aid McClernand, General Grant sent down detached regiments from time to time to join him ; and, on the 14th, he sent the entire divisions of Generals Payne and C. F. Smith to act in concert with him. General Payne moved from Bird's Point with the column from Cairo, and" then remained in person in command at Fort Jefferson, during the continuance of the reconnoissance. ' General Smith moved from Smithland : Grant himself accom panied the column from Cairo. The weather was cold, the roads slippery and muddy, and the river filled with floating ice. McClernand occupied Fort Jefferson, marched through Blandville, and to within the dis tance of a mile from the defences of Columbus. He was recalled on the 20th, having discovered new roads and obtained much valuable information for a future advance in force. Indeed, the result of this rapid and vigorous movement, especially'so far as the column from Cairo was eoncerned, was a minute acquaintance with the roads, streams, and general topography of the country, which would have been of incalculable value had we been compelled to operate directly against Columbus. Two of our gunboats had gone down the river at the same FORT HENRY. 37 time, and driven three rebel armed vessels back under the shelter of the guns of Columbus. Before attempting to present the succeeding movements, based upon the information obtained from this and other re- connoissances, let us glance for a moment at the rebel position, OPERATIONS IN WESTERN KENTUCKY. Columbus, twenty miles below the mouth of the Ohio, with its bluffs two hundred feet high, was strongly fortified by heavy batteries which swept the Mississippi above and below. The landward defences, at first weak, were being daily strengthened ; and the rebel press, calling it the Gibraltar of America, declared that it would seal the great river, until all nations should acknowledge the independence of the Southern Confederacy. '' To extend their line eastward, covering Nashville in that direction, they had, beginning in August, 1861, fortified Bowling Green, a small place on the Big Barren Biver, but naturally well adapted to defence, and of strategic importance as being on the Louisville and Nashville Eailroad. The Big Barren Biver is at certain seasons navigable for small vessels, by the Ohio and Green rivers, from Louisville. The river is very winding in its vicinity, and in all the bends are steep hills 38 GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. which were crowned with lunettes, redans, and even bastioned works. Important lines in the strategic problem were the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers, flowing in a northerly direction, with nearly parallel currents through Kentucky, into the Ohio. The Tennessee is navigable at high-water for steamboats to Flor ence, at the foot of Muscle Shoals ; and the Cumberland, on the right bank of which Nashville is situated, is navigable during high-water for large steamboats to Nashville, about two hundred miles from its mouth, and for small steamers nearly three hundred miles further. To bar the navigation of these streams against the passage of Union troops, supplies, and gunboats, into the very vitals of the rebellion, thus cutting it in two places, the rebels had erected two strong works, which they boasted to be quite sufficient for this purpose. The one on the eastern bank of the Tennessee was called Fort Henry : it mounted seventeen guns, and had barracks and tents for fifteen thousand men ; and the other, named Fort Donelson, was erected on the western bank of the Cumberland, and mounted about forty guns. These forts also served immediately to guard the railroads from Memphis to Nashville and Bowling Green, and the small branch railroad to Dover. The distance between Forts Henry and Donelson was twelve miles : a good road and telegraph line connected the two. Thus an apparently strong, and a certainly well-chosen line, was formed, extending from the Mississippi at Belmont and Columbue, through Southern Kentucky and Northern Ten nessee to Cumberland' Gap, and thence onward by East Ten nessee and Southwestern Virginia to the rebel positions around and beyond Bichmond ; and to strengthen this line, all troops that could'be spared from Virginia had been sent by the Confederate government to the west. But the old axiom, that "nothing is stronger than its weakest' point," was here verified. To break this vaunted line ; to make stronghold after stronghold crumble or dis solve, and to lay down the grand equations for the solution of FORT HENRY. 39 future problems of a higher degree — the clearing of the Mississippi and the advance from Chattanooga — -these were the plans of our Government ; and among the intelligent and energetic agents in carrying them out, none was more so than General Grant. We cannot read his history from first to last without being struck with the manifest foresight he has dis played. He goes on from action to action — vires acquiril eundo — as though each was only a means to an end, the end becoming a new means, until the final goal should be reached. During the autumn and early winter, numerous gunboats had been built, and many river-boats altered into gunboats, at Cairo, St. Louis, and numerous- river-towns, by citizens and quartermasters, under the general superintendence of Flag- Officer A. H. Foote, of the navy ; and a number of these were now in readiness to co-operate with the army in its advance by the rivers into Southern territory. To man them, volun teers were called for among the river-hands and sea-faring men who had entered the army, and they responded readily : it was, for a time at least, a popular service, and one that the sequel proved to be full of the most romantic adventures. Let us now return for a moment to consider the movements of the reconnoitring column of General Grant's army which moved from Paducah. These were also of the greatest impor tance. Upon his return, in accordance with Grant's orders, General C. F. Smith struck the Tennessee Biver about twenty miles below Fort Henry. There he met Commander Phelps, of the navy, with a gunboat, patroling the river. J^ter a brief con ference with that energetic officer, General Smith decided to get upon the gunboat, and run up for a look at Fort Henry. The boat steamed up sufficiently near to .draw the enemy's fire, and obtain a just idea of the armament of the work. Smith returned at once, and reported to General Grant his conviction that, with three or four of " the turtle iron-clads" and a strong co-operating land force, Fort Henry might be easily captured, if the attack should be made within a short time. It was about the 24th of January that Grant for- 40 GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. warded this report to HaUeck. No action having been at once taken, General Grant and Flag-Officer Foote sent dis patches, on the 28th of January, asking for permission to storm Fort Henry, and hold it as a strong point from which ft> operate in any direction. Time was valuable. General Grant wrote an urgent letter to HaUeck (dated Cairo, January 29th), still further explaining his dispatches, and setting forth the feasibility and the great importance of this movement. At length the desired order came. On the 30th, in the afternoon, Grant received a dispatch from HaUeck directing him to make preparations without delay to take and hold Fort Henry, and promising that full instructions should be sent by messenger. FOBT HENET. Without for an instant proposing to say that HaUeck had not blocked out these movements in his own mind, we do say that the plans «pf General Grant, based upon the energetic action of liis subordinates, and especiaUy of C. F. Smith, were formed and suggested to HaUeck in entire ignorance of the plans of General HaUeck. From the concentration of troops in Grant's command it was evident that HaUeck intended a vigorous move in some direction, but Grant's title to the actual plan of movement is at least as good as that of either General HaUeck or General BueU. AU preparations having been -made, the first point of attack designated was Fort Henry. It was an irregular field-work, FORT HENRY. 41 with five bastions, on the eastern bank of the Tennessee. The embrasures were revetted with sand-bags ; and its arma ment, a large portion of which swept the river below, com prised one sixty-tAvo pounder, one ten-inch columbiad, twelve thirty-twos, two forty-tAvos, and one twelve-pounder. Twelve if the guns bore upon the river. Both above and below the fort ware creeks, defended by rifle-pits and abatis of slashed timber, and around it was swampy land with a sheet of back-water in the rear. The land approaches are difficult, and across the river, which is here about half a mile wide, was an unfinished work, begun too late, and therefore abandoned, but originaUy designed to aid Fort Henry in stopping the passage of the river. Pan ther Creek, a short distance below the fort, faUs into the Ten nessee just abreast of Panther Island. The command of this important work, a link in the great chain, although, as events proved, a very weak one, was con fided to Brigadier-General Lloyd Tilghman, of the Confed erate service, with a force of more than three thousand men, and with a clear exposition — manifest without words — of the importance of his command. TUghman was of the Maryland family of revolutionary repute, a graduate of West Point, and a gaUant volunteer in our army during the Mexican war. On the 6th of May, 1861, as colonel commanding the Westerrr- Division of " Neutral Kentucky," in an interview with Colonel Prentiss at Cairo, he had declared that he had no hostile pur pose against the Government ; but in less than a year he was captured at Fort Henry as a Confederate brigadier, and was afterwards kiUed in the ranks of treason at Baker's Creek, near Vicksburg. On the morning of Monday, February 2, and after a quiet Sunday at Cairo, Flag-Officer Foote having devotedly invoked God's blessing on the expedition, with aU the fervor, but with out the superstition, of a Spanish conquistador, moved up the Ohio to Paducah, and thence up the Tennessee. His fleet con sisted of the iron-clad gunbqats Cincinnati, Essex, Carondelet, and St. Louis, and the wooden boats Lexington, Tyler, and 42 GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. Conestoga : the Cincinnati was his flag-ship. By nightfaU they, were in the Tennessee ; and by easy steaming they were three or four miles below Fort Henry at daylight on Tuesday, February 3. Caution was necessary, on account of the infor mation obtained from people on the river-banks • that the stream was mined with torpedoes. Foote had the river chan nel dragged with grappling-irons, and succeeded in fishing up several, which, however, being imperfectly prepared, would have proved harmless. Steaming up to within a mile of the fort, the commodore fired the first gun from the Cincinnati as she .passed the head of Panther Island, at half-past twelve o'clock, and from that time the bombardment was careful and slow, mostly with cur- vated fire, until the fort surrendered. And where was Grant's army at this time ? He had moved to the combined attack, with the divisions of McClernand and C. F. Smith, thus disposed : McClernand, with the First" Division, landing at Marbury's, three miles below, was to move in rear of the fort, to occupy the road leading to Dover and Fort Donelson, — thus to cut off the retreat of the garrison and prevent re-enforcements from coming in, and also to be "in readiness .to charge and take Fort Henry by storm promptly on receipt of orders." We quote the words of Grant's order of march and battle. Two brigades of Smith's (Second) division, landing on the west bank, were to reconnoitre and occupy the unfinished work, Fort Heiman, and the surrounding eminences, and bring their artiUery to bear on Fort Henry. The third brigade of Smith was to march up the east bank in the track of McClernand, and either to support him or form a special column of attack on the fort, as circumstances might prompt. The orders of General Grant were clear, practicable, and weU timed. It was supposed that if the attack by the fleet in front began at twelve o'clock of the 5th, the army would be in position to co-operate ; and had the fort made any thing like the defence which was anticipated^ this would have been the case. But the roads were very bad, and Grant moved with FORT HENRY. 43 proper caution over ground entirely untried, and in partial ignorance of the disposition of the enemy's forces between Forts Henry and Donelson. ,( But to return to the gunboats. Constantly steaming slowly up towards the fort, and passing Panther Island by the western channel, they came into position just below the fort, and in a line diagonaUy across the river. The order of the iron-clads, from left to. right, was as foUows : the Essex, Carondelet, Cincinnati, and St. Louis. In second line, just above Panther Island, were the wooden boats Lexington, Conestoga, and Tyler. The firing from the boats was at once warmly responded to by the fort, and a terrific cannonade was kept up,; the naval guns, with both direct and curvated fire, raining in upon the terreplein, knocking the sandbag embrasures to pieces, and dismounting several of the guns in the fort. The rifled gun in the fort soon bursts, killing three men and disabling many others ; the flagstaff is shattered and faUs ; seven of the guns are dismantled or useless. The garrison becomes discour aged, and at last panic-stricken. The three thousand men who were encamped outside scarcely wait for Tilghman's orders to save themselves. Some, fearing McClernand's ap proach, make a rapid flight by the upper Dover road, while others, seizing a smaU steamer lying at the mouth of the creek above the fort, steam hastily up the river. And thus Tilghman is left, with eighty or ninety artillerists, to sur render the work. Meanwhile the metal of the gunboats has been fairly put to the test. The Cincinnati, flag-ship, has received thirty-one shots ; the Essex, sixteen ; the St. Louis, seven ; the Carendelet, six. The iron sides of the boats shed most of the baUs, but the Essex receives one of the shots in her bofler, which results in the wounding and scalding of tvrenty-nine, officers and men, among whom is the intrepid commander, W. D. Porter. At length, when he had only four guns bearing on the river stiU fit for service ; when his frightened garrison had deserted him, leaving only " fifty privates and twenty sick ;" and when 44 GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. he had done a private soldier's service at the middle battery, " covered with smoke, and personaUy pointing the guns," Tilghman hauled down his rebel flag, and ran up a white one, at five minutes before two, the action having lasted for only one hour and a quarter. Grant came up about an hour afterwards, pleased of course with the result, but doubtless feeling a soldier's natural dis appointment that the rapidity of the fight had settled the matter before the arrival of his command. Flag-Officer Foote turned over to him the captured work, munitions, and prisoners ; the transports and troops which were coming up the Tennessee were turned back or stopped at the fort ; and the next step in the grand game was immediately con sidered.* * In Grant's brief report to Halleck's staff-officer, written the same day from Fort Henry, he says : " Captain — Inclosed I send you my order for the attack upon Fort Henry. Owing to dispatches received from Major-General Halleck, and corroborating information here, to the effect that the enemy were rapidly re-enforcing, I thought it imperatively necessary that the fort should be carried to-day. My forces were not up at ten o'clock last night, when my order was written, there fore I did not deem it practicable to set au earlier hour than eleven o'clock to day, to commence the investment. The gunboats started up at the same hour to commence the attack, and engaged the enemy at not over six hundred yards. In little over one hour all the batteries were silenced, and the fort surrendered at discretion to Flag-Officer Foote, giving us all their guns, camp and garrison equipage, etc. The prisoners taken are General Tilghman and staff, Captain Taylor and company, and the sick. The garrison, I think, must have com menced their retreat last night, or at an early hour this morning. " Had I not felt it an imperative necessity to attack Fort Henry to-day, I should have made the investment complete, and delayed until to-morrow, so as to secure the garrison. I do not now believe, however, the result would have been any more satisfactory. > ** The gunboats have proven themselves well able to resist a severe can nonading. All the iron-clad boats received more or less shots— the flag-ship some twenty-eight— without any serious damage to any, except the Essex. This vessel received one -shot in her boiler that disabled her, killing and wounding some thirty-two men, Captain Porter among the wounded. " I remain your obedient servant, , " U. S. Grant, Brigadier-General." FORT HENRY. 45 General TUghman acknowledged, in the dispatch which he was permitted to send to General Johnston at Bowling Green, " the courtesies and consideration shown by General Grant and Commodore Foote, and the officers under their command ;" but in his report he was particularly severe upon the Confederate authorities for thus leaving him to be the victim of a bad mUitary judgment in selecting the post, and a want of proper preparations to hold the work. Before giving to this victory its co-ordinate place in the vast strategy of the war, let us indulge in a word of comment upon the rebel defeat. The Confederate reports are unani mous in declaring that the site of Fort Henry was badly chosen ; that it was low, easily surrounded, and commanded by the ground on the opposite side of the river ; and that it was not calculated by its construction to sustain an attack by the fleet. We grant aU this, but whose fault was it ? Can there be a graver fault in war than this ? It is far worse than losing a pitched battle to lose a stronghold, and that strong hold a link of the most vital value in a grand chain. Be sides, it shows the rapidity and vigor of Grant's and Foote's movements, that Fort Herman, on the opposite side of the river, was incomplete and useless. What they thus advance as a bar' in judgment, or rather to explain away their defeat and depreciate the military character of our success, reaUy enhances the credit of Grant and Foote. But worse than aU that can be said about a faulty location of the fort, is the inglorious flight of. three thousand and odd men, without striking a single blow. They should have made reconnoissances from the moment they divined our purpose, ambushed the road, contested the landing of the troops, pre pared torpedoes that would explode, and, at the least, held the fort long enough to give a respectable appearance to the defence. ' Certainly, Fort Henry was not buUt to surrender in an hour and a quarter. It was the briefest action, to pre cede an honest surrender, of which we have any record in the war. The rules of miUtary strategy are simple, few, and immuta- 46 GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. ble ; their applications indefinitely and infinitely varied. By a rapid application of the simplest rule, the first charmed line was cut, and its tension entirely gone. Buckner, who, by command of Albert Sydney Johnston, had occupied Bowling Green as early as September, 1861, with ten thousand men, and who had vaunted its impregnable strength, felt the fall of Fort Henry like an electric shock, paralyzing his grasp. Bowling Green was no longer tenable; there was but one point which was so, and that only for the time, and that was Fort Donelson ; and so, moving the chief part pf his forces thither, he left only a rear-guard, which evacuated Bowling Green on the 15th of February. Bowling Green, that para gon of complex fortifications, was entered by General Mitch ell, of BueU's column, who made a forced march from Ba con's Creek, and, arriving before he was expected, captured a large amount of stores there. Actions are not to be measured by the numbers engaged, or by their duration or carnage, but by their results. By this strategy Fort Donelson was flanked, and the safety of NashviUe imminently endangered. But yet Fort Donelson was exceedingly strong ; its garrison and armament were large, and entirely adapted to its propor tions ; and it was manifest that the rebels would not abandon it without a severe struggle. To this struggle General Grant invited them without a moment's delay. In the mean time, immediately after the surrender of Fort Henry, Flag-Officer Foote dispatched Lieutenant -Command ing Phelps, with the gunboats Conestoga, Tyler, and Lexing ton, up the Tennessee into Northern Alabama. He destroyed the raflroad-bridge twenty-five mUes above Fort Henry, and proceeded up to Florence, at the foot of Muscle Shoals, de stroying several steamers and river-craft, and captured a large quantity of lumber and stores, and developed the loyal senti ments of many of the people. Note. — There can be no place more fitting than the close of the record of Fort Henry's surrender, in which to pay our tribute to the brilliant fighting, personal gallantry, and rare piety of Commodore, afterwards Rear-Admiral FORT HENRY. 47 Foote, and since, greatly to his country's loss, dead, and gone to a good man's rest. A son of Senator Samuel A. Foote, whose resolution on the public lands jccasioned the famous passage at arms between Webster and Hayne, in^ Janu ary, 1830, young Foote entered the navy at the age of sixteen, and was known in all grades as an excellent and energetic officer. As first^lieutenant of the sloop-of-war John Adams, he took a prominent part in the attack on the Su matra pirates in 1838 ; and was noted for the aid and sympathy he extended to the American missionaries at Honolulu, when few of our naval officers felt any interest in them. He was a strong, advocate of total abstinence in the navy. In 1852, after a cruise on the coast of Africa, he published a volumo entitled " Africa, and the Africans," in which he exposed the horrors of the slave-trade, by illustrations of the manner in which the negroes were packed in slave-ships. In 1856, in protecting the property of American citizens at Canton, which suffered during the English war, he breached a fort with his ship, and then, landing, stormed it, with a loss of forty men out of two hun dred and eighty. His record during the war for fhe Union is brilliant in the extreme. He superintended the fitting out of the flotilla on the Mississippi and Ohio in 1861-2 ; took Fort Henry ; was further distinguished at Fort Don elson, where he was wounded ; and in the successful operations at Island No. 10, which he aided in reducing. His life was devoted to the service of his country. In July, 1862, he was created one of the new rear-admirals, on the active list ; and in June, 1863, while preparing to relieve Admiral Dupont-in command of the South Atlantic blockading squadron, he died suddenly, and was buried in New Haven. Although remarkable for his intelligence and tenacity of purpose, he is perhaps more fully characterized as a man of great and consistent piety. It was with him a vital principle, constantly displayed. He let his light shine, praying, exhorting, preaching ; urging all with whom he came in contact, with precept upon precept, and, what is far better, alluring them by his shining example. His loss was severely felt ; but his record was so glorious, and his fitness for departure so manifest, that we can " talk of his fate without a sigh," and thank God for so beautiful an exemplar of the gen tleman, soldier, sailor, commander, and Christian. 48 GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. CHAPTEB VI. • FORT DONELSON. Reorganization. — Order of march. — McClernand and Smith move — A glance at the fort. — River-front.— Land approaches.— Garrison and commanders.— Assault upon the trenches — Unsuccessful. — Storm and cold.— Ke-enforce- ments under l. wallace. — the attack of the gunboats. — teeeible cannon ade. — boote withdraws. — value of his attack. — rebel counter plans. — oub right attacked and rolled back. — grant's consummate plan.— l. wallace MOVES. r As Fort Henry was designed to obstruct the navigation of the Tennessee, so Fort Donelson was the work upon which the rebels depended to seal the Cumberland and to protect NashviUe. No sooner had the former faUen, than Grant made his dispositions to assault the latter. He saw the im portance of taking time by the forelock, and confusing the already dismayed Confederates by the rapidity of his assault. He reorganized his forces, and sent for aU available re-enforce ments that had been coUecting at Cairo. His army was formed for this new service into two divisions: the firsj;, under Brigadier-General J. A. McClernand, containing four brigades, under Colonels Oglesby, W. H. L. WaUace, McAr- thur, and Morrison; the second, under Brigadier-General Charles F. Smith, of three brigades, under Colonels Cook, Lauman, and M. L. Smith : a third wiU appear in our narra tive, under Brigadier-General Lewis WaUace, to be composed in part of forces which had been concentrating at Smithland, and which were now ordered to join him. With McCler- nahd's division were the field-batteries of Schwartz, Taylor, Dresser, and McAllister; and with Smith were the heavy batteries of Eichardson, Stone, and Walker; aU the artiUery FORT DONELSON. 49 being under Major Cavender, as chief of artiUery. Grant's cavalry consisted of the Fourth Illinois cavalry, with several independent companies. The composition of WaUace's pro visional division wiU be given hereafter.* By Grant's general field-orders No. 12, of February 11, 1862, we find the order of march arranged as foUows : One brigade of McClernand's division was to move by the Tele graph road from Fort Henry directly upon Fort Donelson, and to halt within two males of the fort ; the other three bri gades to march by the Dover Bidge road to within the ' same distance, and then to unite with the first in forming the right wing in the complete investment of the fort. Two brigades of Smith's (second) division were to foUow by the Dover road, and these were to be foUowed by the troops who had occupied the unfinished Fort Heiman, as soon as they could be sent forward. As the force of the enemy was vari ously reported, details of the attack could not be given until the ground was reached ; but Smith was directed to occupy Dover, if practicable, and thus to cut off aU retreat by the river. In accordance with these general directions, which were to be much modified when they reached the ground, McCler nand and Smith marched across the country from the Ten nessee Biver to the Cumberland, on the morning of February 12, to attack the works on the land side ; while six regiments, which were to constitute a portion of WaUace's (third) divi sion, were moved by transports, accompanied by the gun boats, from Smithland up the Cumberland, to. join in the movement by an attack on the river-front, or to be disposed of as circumstances should afterwards require: In carder to: gain time, the movement was made after very rapid and un satisfactory preparation. The gunboats had been overhauled in a very hasty manner, to repair the damages received in the * General Lewis Wallace belonged to the division of General C. F. Smith, and when Grant moved against Fort Donelson he was left in command of Forts Henry and Heiman, garrisoned from General Smith's command. 4 50 GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. attack on Fort Henry ; but, impatient of delay, and perhaps determined that they should not again get the start of him, and stiU more cogently, because Grant knew the immense value of every minute of time just at this juncture, he pushed forward with the two divisions mentioned, to the siege and assault. One of Smith's brigades had been left at Fort Hen ry, as a garrison, under Lewis WaUace. AU boats were de flected from the Tennessee to the Cumberland ; many others had joined the great convoy, and the Union army was con verging in aU its strength upon Fort Donelson. Let us look for a moment at the work to be attacked. This stronghold was placed upon a high hiU on the left bank of the river, where it makes an abrupt turn from north to west, flow ing in the latter direction for about a quarter of a mfle, and then turning northward again. By this location a large num ber of guns could be trained directly down the stream, and pour a terrible storm of fire upon the advancing gunboats. At the foot of the hUl, riverward, were two strong water-bat teries, with massive epaulments ; the embrasures revetted with coffee-sacks filled with sand.' The armament of the lower, or main battery, consisted of eight thirty- twos, and one ten-inch columbiad ; that of the other was one heavy rifled gun, carrying a one hundred and twenty-eight pound bolt, and two thirty-two pound carronades. These batteries were sunken or excavated in the hnl-side. The fort itself was of irregular formats trace foUowing the inequaUties of the hiU, and inclosing nearly one hundred acres. It was flanked by a creek or back-water below, which is not generaUy fordable ; and just above, a smaU creek separates it from the town of Dover, which is one mile above the fo*rt, on the river-bank. It needs but one glance at the map to show that the works were exceedingly strong on the river-front. We turn to the land approaches. Taking advantage of the topography of the field, which presents a conglomerate of hiUs and vaUeys, knolls and ravines, the rebels had cleared away all the timber, which could mask an enemy's advance, and erected field-works defended by artiUery and infantry, from FORT DONELSON. 51 the extieme western angle of the fort, foUowing the southern direction of a ridge, and thus presenting a natural flanking arrangement of aU the parts. StiU in front of this extended line, encircling the fort and the intrenchment, and the town of Dover, was a line of detached rifle-trenches, constructed of logs, forming a sUght parapet ; and in front of the whole was slashed timber, as an abatis. It seemed quite as strong on the land ward side as on the river-front, and the work before Grant appeared stiU more difficult, when we consider the strength of the rebel garrison. It consisted of thirteen regiments of Tennessee troops, two of Kentucky, six of Mississippi, one of Texas, two of Ala bama, four of Virginia, two independent battalions of Ten nessee infantry, and Forrest's brigade of cavalry ; and, besides the armament of the fort and water-batteries, six batteries of Ught artiUery and seventeen heavy guns. The force, number ing at least twenty-three thousand men, was skilfully dis posed ; but the Confederate authorities had erred fatally in their choice of commander^. General Floyd, whom the rebels should have been more sagacious than to have preferred to any office of responsibility and trust, however proper he might have been as an aspirant for a post of profit, had been ordered by General A. S. Johnston to the command of Fort Donelson, and had assumed it, without delay, on the 13th, the day after Grant's movement had begun. Here at once were fatal ele ments ; he was not only a traitor, but he was beheved to be a dishonest man, and circumstances were to prove him a coward. Notwithstanding his preferment to the United States secre- . taryship of war, under Buchanan, it was patent that he knew Little of mUitary matters; and it was certain that he knew nothing whatever of the fort, its topography, or its garrison. The next in rank was General Gideon" J. Pillow, whom Floyd had assigned to the official command of the rebel left wing, in and around Dover. He too had only arrived there on the 10th, and being by nature as obtuse, and, in spite of some Mexi can practice, or rather mal-practice, as ignorant as Floyd, he was of smaU value as a leader in the defence. The other 52 GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. prominent commanders were Buckner and B. B. Johnson, both graduates of West Point, and highly esteemed for intel ligence and bravery, when subordinates in our army. Buck ner had command of the fort, and the ground in its immediate vicinity, whfle Johnson had a command on the left under Pil low. Such briefly was the work, and such the force, moral and physical, which General Grant rushed to attack with two divisions, not more in all than fifteen thousand men, and with a greater proportional weakness in artUlery. This was sub- Ume hardihood ; but it was something more ; it was at once the impulsion and the intuition of military genius. He knew httle of the difficult topography, which maps never can ad equately tell; but he meant to fight, and to continue fighting, and to force the rebels to fight. , Time was of priceless value, and " confusion magnifying the foe," the rebels were deceived, as he meant them to be, by his boldness and temerity. And now let us 'return to McClernand and Smith, who, pre ceded by the cavalry to clear the front, began their march on the morning of the 12th, from the neighborhood of Fort Henry. They came within view of the fort by early afternoon, without having encountered the enemy, who was stupidly caging himself in the intrenchment, instead of coming out Uke a man to beat, or at least retard, Giant's advancing columns. Our generals took up, that night, the positipns as signed. On the morning of Thursday, the 13th, the fighting began with the dawn, the rebels opening their batteries upon our troops, whose positions were disclosed by the advance of Birge's sharp-shooters upon the enemy's picket line. Under this as yet desultory fire, Grant rapidly posted his divisions thus : General C. F. Smith on the left, opposite the northwest of the fort ; and McClernand on the right, Ogles- by's brigade holding the extreme right. The Ught artiUery was placed with proper supports upon the various roads, while most of the heavy guns, under Major Cavender, were directed against the armament of the fort. General Grant's headquarters were at a farm-house, on the Dover road. . FORT DONELSON. 53 THE ASSAULT UPON THE TRENCHES. The first grand act was a furious cannonade on both sides, in which the rebel practice was exceUent, and our own not inferior. ThiS was the herald of our infantry assault. To make a lodgment upon their intrenchment, and particularly upon an epaulment covering a strong battery in his front, General McClernand formed the Forty- eighth Illinois, of Wal lace's brigade, and Morrison's brigade (consisting of the Seventeenth and Forty-ninth Illinois), into a storming column, under the command of Colonel Hayne of the Forty-eighth, with McAllister's Battery to cover the assault. The move ment was under the superintendence of Col. W. H. WaUace, of the Second brigade. They formed at the foot of the hill, where they were in some measure protected from the direct fire ; and at the word, moved forward, firing as they advanced. The attack was not successful ; and although they were re- enforced by the Forty-fifth Illinois, of Wallace's brigade, and other troops, the enemy's fire was so vigorous-, and the abatis and paUsading presented so strong an obstacle, that they were compeUed to retire. The position assaulted was defended by Colonel Herman's rebel brigade, and two other regiments, with one or more batteries of field artiUery,* In this, and several other desultory engagements, our losses were severe. We were at least in contact with the enemy, and had felt his strength ; but there was some danger that he might also learn ours. The gunboats and re-enforcements by the river were anxiously expected. Without* them; we were weaker than the enemy ; and our very proximity, whUe it gave prestige, increased our danger. We were also in want of rations, and, to cap the cHmax of untoward circumstances, the elements conspired. The un usual and deceitful mildness of the morning, like many a false harbinger of spring, had suddenly changed to biting cold ; a * Pillow's report. 54 GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. rain-storm from the northeast set in, which turned, first to haU, and then to sleet. The cold became more intense, the thermometer rapidly falling to only ten degrees above zero. The like, it is said, had never been known there. Our troops had no shelter whatever, and were without rations ; few had blankets and overcoats ; some, with the characteristic improv idence of new troops, beguUed by the mUd weather, and thoughtless of future need, had thrown them away. At length hail and sleet were foUowed by a driving snow ; and, but that the rebels', who were in the trenches, suffered equaUy, it would have seemed that Boreas had become a rebel sympathizer, and was emulating the celestial anger of Juno, against our heroes of the new American Iliad. It would be difficult for a warm, sheltered, and weU-fed pen, or rather the hand that holds and the brain that impels such, to depict the sufferings of that night ; the wounded freezing to death, and the weary soldiers benumbed by the cold, which even vigorous vitaUty could not dispel. They were seejng war for the first time, and they had bitter experience of its heat and cold at the same moment. The morning of Friday dawned sadly upon these war-worn, hungry, freezing men, and brought with it only a new sum mons to battle. Still anxiously expecting the gunboats and the bulk of Lewis WaUace's new division by the Cumberland, and aUve to the immediate hazard of his position, General Grant dispatched a courier to General Lewis WaUace himself, at Fort Henry, with orders to bring across the garrison which had been left there. But no sooner had the messenger been sent, than a scout, who had been posted to watch the river below, came gaUoping up to headquarters with the welcome intelligence that a boat was just arriving, and a thick cloud of smoke announced that the rest of the fleet was below. The first boat, the Carondelet, was the herald of the fleet ; and as soon as she came within long-range, on that terrible stretch of the river swept by the concentrated rebel fire, she opened upon the water-batteries1; and thus began that des perate and unequal battle, in which Flag-Officer Foote was' to FORT DONELSON. 55 engage with only partial success, but with increase of honor to himself and trle.havy. Three mUes below the fort the troops and the artiUery of the Third Division were sodn landed, with provisions and suppUes for the whole army ; they had come in the very nick of time. Bapidly clearing a road through the woods, they were soon placed in line with the First and Second divisions. WaUace, being the only general officer without the command of a division, was put in command of this Third Division, or ganized after the arrival of the re-enforcements. These troops, just arrived, together with the garrison left at Fort Henry, constituted the Third Division ; it was composed of-the brigades of Graft and Thayer, — the former of four, and the latter — two brigades united — of seven regiments. Wal lace was at once posted in the centre, between Smith and McClernand, and thus the line was completed. Not much time was spent in issuing rations — which. gladdened the hearts of our men — and ammunition, of which they were in great need, and in making proper arrangements for the wounded, who had suffered horrible tortures, when the second act in the drama was begun. This was the ATTACK OF THE GUNBOATS ON THE RIVER-ERONT. The Carondelet opened the unequal fight : she was not long unaided. As at Fort Henry, the flag-officer steamed up with his iron-clads — the Pittsburg, St. Louis, LouisviUe, and Ca rondelet in the first line, foUowed by the wooden boats Cones- toga, Tyler, and Lexington. The water-batteries first engaged his attention : if he could sUence and pass them, he could take a position in the bend, and would be able to enfilade the faces of the fort with broadsides. UntU he could do this, however, his vessels were exposed to the concentrated fire of both batteries, and of the fort, the latter having a most de structive plunging; as weU as raking, fire upon his decks and armor. Under a, feu oVenfer, such as few naval armaments have 56 GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. ever experienced, Foote moved nearer and nearer in a deadly struggle. But his guns did exceUent service ; the upper bat tery, of four guns was already sUenced ; the shot and sheU from the heavy guns on the boats had rained upon them for two hours, and the boats were lying within four hundred yards, perhaps even nearer. Notwithstanding that they had not been put in a proper condition for the fight, owing to the pressure of time, and that they had suffered very greatly from the guns of the work, a few minutes more would have enabled them to run by into a position from which they could have paralyzed the water-front, when suddenly Foote was forced to fall back. The rebel cross and plunging fire had at length done its work effectuaUy : the LouisviUe was rendered unmanage able by a shot which cut away her rudder-chains, and she drifted down the narrow and rapid stream, helples*s and use less. The flag-ship, the St. Louis, had her wheel shot away ; the pUot, by whose side the Flag-Officer was standing, was kiUed, and Foote himself wounded in the foot by falling timber. Bushing to an additional steering apparatus, upon which he had depended in such an emergency to keep her up, he found that too shot away, and the St. Louis was thus compeUed to drift down in an equaUy helpless condition. Fifty-nine shots had struck the flag-ship, some of them raking her from stem to stern. The LouisviUe had received thirty-five ; the Caron delet, twenty-six ; and her rifled gun had burst during the action. The Pittsburg had been struck twenty-one times. The fire of at least twenty guns had been concentrated upon the boats, and could only be returned by twelve boat-guns. To sum up, two of the iron-clads were unmanageable, the other two greatly damaged between wind and water; and thus, when on the very verge of victory, the gaUant commo dore, himself drifting powerless, was obHged to make signal for aU to withdraw, having lost fifty-four killed and wounded. After consultation with Grant, Foote returned with his fleet to Cairo to repair, after which he was to bring down a com petent naval force for a new attack, if the siege should last FORT DONELSON. 57 long enough to require it : but it did not ; the end was already at hand. We need hardly enforce upon our readers the fact that the withdrawal of Flag-Officer Foote was an absolute necessity ; he could not continue the action. But the services of the navy on that day must not be by any means undervalued. They were of the greatest utiHty : they reUeved General Grant from aU danger of attack, whue yet too weak to complete the invest ment ; they made a grand diversion in his favor, whUe he was posting his new troops and maturing his plans ; and they gave a brighter lustre to the gaUantry, skill, and endurance of the American saUor, of whom the country has always been proud. The withdrawal of the fleet after the action on Friday checked for a moment, however, the prosecution of the original plans of the general. The proper course now seemed to be to wait for large re-enforcements, which he knew might be had from St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Cairo ; to strengthen and perfect the investment ; and, perhaps, by marching up the river, to isolate the work, and starve it into surrender. In the mean whUe, the gunboats could be thoroughly repaired, and return to try another attack. Had the rebels now strengthened their intrenchments and awaited Grant's attack, such might have been the modus operandi. But the rebel counter-plans, formed in a councU of war, held on Friday night at Floyd's headquarters, in Dover, de termined Grant's battle tactics in a different manner, and hurried their own ruin. The councU was composed of the division and brigade commanders, and they unanimously as sented to the plan proposed by General Floyd, which was to throw an overwhelming force — half his army, with Forrest's cavalry, aU under PiUow and Johnson — upon our right wing, under McClernand; to drive it from the heights overlooking the Cumberland, from which there was danger that our bat teries would soon sweep and close the river above ; to throw it back upon WaUace, whUe Buckner with the remaining force, less the necessary garrison of the fort, should march directly upon our encampment in the centre, on the Wynn's Ferry 58 GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. road, and attack WaUace in front. If these flank and centre attacks should be successful, Grant's army would thus be thrown back around Smith as a pivot, and then it. might be easUy routed and destroyed. It was a good plan, and par- tiaUy successful, and yet it was the prelude to then* imme diate and overwhelming defeat. La case, however, they could only partiaUy succeed, the least Floyd expected was to open a pathway by which he might evacuate the fort — now very Uke a trap — withdraw his army, and save his precious per son ; which, in any event, he meant to do, whatever should happen to his troops. Such were Floyd's plans ; they were to be tried with the early morning of Saturday, the 15th. Accordingly, at five A. M., the rebel column, under Pillow and Johnson, moved out from Dover, the advance being taken * by Colonel Baldwin's brigade, composed of the First and Fourteenth Mississippi and the Twenty-sixth Tennessee. These were foUowed by Wharton's brigade, of two regiments ; McCousland's, of two ; Davidson's, of three ; Drake's, of five ; and other troops, amounting in aU to ten thousand men, with thirty guns, which' were to crush McClernand, and clear a pathway through our right. McClernand's troops were thus disposed of : McArthur on the right ; and then, in order, Oglesby and W. H. L. WaUace. McClernand's left was near the Fort Henry road, on the left of which was Cruft's brigade, of Lewis WaUace's division. Our Unes corresponded to the contour of the rebel intrench ment, and Avith each brigade was a field-battery. It was well posted, and, if on the alert, could certainly repel any rebel attack. But, unfortunately, the first attack of the rebels was of the nature of a surprise. BeveiUe was just sounding, the troops were not under arms, and seemed to be in utter igno rance of the rebel designs ; but it at once became evident that our right flank was seriously menaced. The brigade and regimental commanders soon got their men into line, and, guided by the crack of the rebel rifles and the flashes of their guns, executed a partial change of front to meet them. It was not a moment too soon, for Pillow had sent his cavalry FORT DONELSON. 59 to try and strike McArthur's rear, whUe he was pounding away at his exposed right flank. SiLOrt Gm.Cvanti ^u^? M.cSiwx3' INVESTMENT OF FOBT DONELSON. Oglesby and McArthur, with too scant a supply of ammu nition for this unexpected battle, stood firm for a whUe ; but fresh rebel troops constantly arrived, and had it not been for the coolness of the brigade commanders and the inspiring valor of Colonel John A. Logan, who commanded the Thirty- first Illinois, of Oglesby's brigade, the attack might have re sulted in a panic to our troops. As it was, McArthur and Oglesby were obliged to faU back rapidly to avoid being taken in rear, and to form a new line facing south. But the rebels did not advance with impunity. Our Ught batteries, admira bly handled by McAllister, Taylor, and Dresser, shifting their position from time to time, pour in a withering fire of grape and canister, and cause the enemy's front line to recoU again and again, until pus 'led forward, or replaced by the overwhelm ing masses in rear. Iwo regiments of W. H. L. WaUace's bri gade fly to the rescue, whUe he arranges the others en potence on his left, to check Pillow, and yet defend the road. Again the rebels move towards the right flank of our new 60 GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. Une, and again the battle rages. Craft's brigade, of Lewis WaUace's division, is ordered down upon this flanking column at a run. Thus checked, the enemy might have been driven back and pursued, had it not been for a new and unexpected foe, or rather the fear of one, swarming from their intrench ments, and passing the rifle-pits Uke a surge of the sea. Buckner's force came out to attack the left flank and crotchet of our new Une. As soon as they were discovered, WaUace strengthened the flank thus threatened, and two of Taylor's guns, coming rapidly into action, dealt grape and canister on his advance. Buckner was easUy repulsed, for his attack was very feebly deUvered, and his troops behaved in the most cowardly manner. When at eleven o'clock Pillow rode over to Buckner's position, he found them huddled under cover * ' from which it was only after a good deal of artiUery firing that their general could persuade them to emerge. In speaking of the repulse, Buckner says his attacking regiments " withdrew without panic, but in some confusion, to the trenches." But the moral effect of Buckner's attack was not without its value. Beset on aU sides, PiUow thundering upon our new front, the cavalry threatening our rear, Johnson weU ex tended upon our right, checked .but not driven off by Cruft, our men were somewhat demoraUzed by. Buckner's demon stration : many became disheartened ; the fugitives from the front became a crowd. A mounted officer galloped down the road, shouting, " We are cut to pieces."f The ammunition had given out. Our line, including Cruft, who had borne the brunt of the battle for some time, was again forced back. Logan, Lawler, and Eansom were wounded; many field-officers and large numbers of subalterns killed. The crisis of the battle had, indeed, arrived, when General Wallace posted Colonel Thayer's (Third) brigade across the road, formed a reserve of three regiments, placed Wood'* Battery in position, and awaited the attack. The retiring regiments formed again in rear, and were suppUed with ammunition. The rebel * Colonel Gilmer's Report. ¦*¦ General L. Wallace's Report. FORT DONELSON. 61 attack upon this new Une was extremely vigorous ; they had delayed for awhUe to plunder the dead, and pick up what they could find in McClernand's camp ; and Pillow had sent back an aid to telegraph to NashviUe that, " on the honor of a soldier," the day was theirs. The new attack which he was about to make was only the finishing stroke. Again he moved upon Thayer's brigade; but, by their unflinching stand and deUberate fire, and especiaUy by the firmness of the First Nebraska and the exceUent handling of the artiUery, he was now repulsed. Whatever the apparent success of the rebels thus far, in driving our right wing, Grant, thoughtful and imperturbable, had not been for a moment dismayed. He saw from the very desperate nature of the rebel attack that when it culminated, they would give way, if he showed a bold front, and ad vanced at all points. Biding to the front at three o'clock, he ordered Lewis WaUace, who had first checked the enemy, to advance upon PiUow, and recover the ground lost in. the morning, whUe General C. F. Smith should storm the works on the enemy's right. His new plans were rapidly formed, and wiU bear the test of mUitary criticism. The column of attack, for the desperate work now under taken by General WaUace, was formed of Colonel M. L. Smith's and Colonel Craft's brigades, supported by two Ohio regiments. Over the rough, rolling, and in parts thickly wooded ground, these troops moved, driving the unwilling enemy before them, and only halting when within one hun dred and fifty yards of the rebel intrenchments. This was at five o'clock! We remained in the position thus gained during the intensely cold night, ministering to the wounded of the morning's battle, with whom the field was thickly streAvn, and anxious for the morning. At dayUght the next morning, Thayer's brigade was brought up, and preparations were made to storm the intrenchments, when the display of a white flag from the fort, foUowed by others from different parts of the works, made them pause. Before going to another part of the field, where great deeds were done, Ave 62 GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. pause for a moment to say, this movement of WaUace must be regarded as having a decided bearing upon the result. And now let us return to the left wing. Smith had received orders to attack the intrenchments directly in front of the fort. His plan was to carry their outer works at the point of the bayonet, then to bring up his batteries, and sweep the in terior crest, and then to assault and carry the fort. This was the grand stroke of the battle ; it would reUeve our right, and, if successful, would insure the capture. We cannot forbear pausing for a moment to express our unqualified admiration of General Grant's orders, just at this juncture. It was the sublimity of that boldness which Napo leon, and, perhaps, some one before him, had declared to be the aes triplex of a commanding general ;* to snatch victory out of apparent disaster, by assuming the boldest offensive. It amazed and paralyzed the rebels, and it inspired our troops, most of them new and ignorant,1 with courage and enthusiasm. * L'audace, l'audace, et encore l'audace. SMITH'S ATTACK AND THE SURRENDER. 63 CHAPTEB VU. GENERAL SMITH'S ATTACK AND THE SURRENDER. Smith's columns organized. — Lauman the forlorn hope. — Smith leads. — Ad dresses his men. — The lines move. — Smith's splendid valor decisive. — Floyd's new council. — He turns over the command. — Pillow looks at the cards, and "passes." — The pusillanimous flight. — Ruoknee suerenders. — The corre spondence. — Grand results. — Comments. — Eulogy of General C. F. Smith. Wallace was already on his war-path, as we have just de scribed, when General Smith organized his column of attack. Cook's brigade is posted on his left, and is designed to make a feint upon the work. Cavender's heavy guns are posted in rear to the right and left, having a cross-fire upon the in trenchments, and also playing upon the fort ; but the attack ing force — the forlorn hope — is Lauman's brigade, formed in close column of regiments, and composed of the Second Iowa, the Fifty-second Indiana (temporarily attached), the Twenty- fifth Indiana, Seventh Iowa, and Fourteenth Iowa. Cook's feigned attack is already begun; Cavender's guns are thundering away. It is nearly sunset, when Smith, hear ing WaUace's guns far to the right, puts himself at the head of Lauman's brigade, and cUmbing the steep hiU-side, bursts upon the ridge on which the enemy has constructed his outer works. Before advancing, and when the force was just in read iness to move, Smith had ridden along the line, and in few but emphatic words had told them the duty they were to per form. He said that he would lead them, and that the pits must be taken by the bayonet alone. Perhaps during the whole war, fuU as it is of briUiant actions, there is none more striking than this charge. At the given signal, the lines are put in motion, Smith rid- (54 GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. ing in advance, with the color-bearer alongside of him ; hia commanding figure, gray hair, and haughty contempt of dan ger, acting upon his men Uke the white plume of Navarre at Ivry. Not far has he moved before his front Une is swept by the enemy's artiUery with murderous effect. His men waver for a moment, but their general, subUme in his valor, reminds them, in caustic words, that whUe he, as an old regular, is in the Une of his professional duty, this is what they have volunteered to do. With oaths and urgency, his hat waving upon the point of his sword, by the splendor of his example he leads them on through this vaUey of death, up the slope, through the abatis, up to the intrenchment — and over. With a thousand shouts, they plant their standards on the captured works, and pour in voUey after voUey, before which the rebels fly in precipitate terror. Battery after battery is brought forward, Stone's ar riving first, and then a direct and enfilading fire is poured, upon the flanks and faces of the work. Four hundred of Smith's gaUant column have faUen, but the charge is decisive. Grant's tactics and Smith's splendid valor have won the day. For thus the matter stands : WaUace has held his advanced ground, and is now informed of Smith's success. At aU points the rebels are driven back, and at two, their advanced in trenchments are occupied or commanded. How different from the aspect of things in the morning, when PiUow had telegraphed to Nashville that he had won the day ! And yet there was a logical connection between the morning and the evening. They formed but parts of a concerted whole, of a plan not inteUigible to the division commanders; who had not been able, Uke General Grant, to appreciate the whole field, and to sum the varied issues of the battle. To most "of the subordinate commanders, and certainly to the greater number of the men, up to the decisive moment, the enemy seemed to have a great and growing advantage ; but to Grant it was not so. The very vigor of the enemy's attack, was a surge which he was sure would soon find its renuence ; and, by their massing of troops on our right and centre, Grant's i SMITH'S ATTACK AND THE SURRENDER. 65 counter movement, conducted by Smith, was rendered feasible, and the result sure. Thus when night feU, on the 14th, the victory was certain. Holding the advanced points thus se cured, and re-enforcing them strongly, Grant only awaited the morning to storm the work. During that cold night, for the most part without food, and entirely without fire, our devoted men awaited the dawn with unabated ardor. Success had inspired enthusiasm ; and the promise of complete victory in the morning compensated for their physical sufferings. They would have fought the next day with irresistible ardor. But if our men were now exultant, the tables were com pletely turned ; the rebels were completely disheartened ; the officers more so than the men, and the generals more so than their subordinates. It is a sorry chapter in the history of war. They no longer thought of fighting, but of escape or surrender. Again a councU of war was caUed that night at General Floyd's headquarters, and in it was displayed a scene which no soldier likes to portray, even if his enemy be the dramatis personce — a scene in which imbecility, ignorance, and cowardice played the prominent parts. Amid much crimina tion and recrimination, one opinion seemed to have a large majority in its favor : the army must escape, or the place and its garrison be surrendered. Floyd, in great terror, lest after his treason and embezzlements whUe United States secretary of war, he should come into our hands and meet with sum mary retribution, in the clutches of a furious soldiery, declared that he would not faU into our power ; that he would sooner die than surrender. He seems to have had Uttle concern for the army, but partly perhaps from qualms of conscience, and partly that he wanted a large escort, he proposed to cut his way out with his own brigade of Virginia troops — a nice^ illustration of the State-rights' principle, which even the Confederates did not appreciate. PUlow, par nobUefratrum, second in command, emulated the virtues of his chief. Vain, fooUsh, ignorant, during the Mexi can War, this was his Confederate coup d'essai, and he did not 5 66 GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. disappoint his old acquaintances. He displayed a similar want of moral and physical courage. It is true, as might be expected, that there is some casuistry in his report, to show that he wanted to fight longer ; and it is equally true, that after he had written his report, lest the world should not beUeve him, he did a thing unheard of be fore, he got the affidavits of his aids, and other officers, that what he had said was true— sharp practice, which he brought with him from his lawyer's desk. It is also true, that when the noble pair had completed their arrangements for flight, Pillow told Floyd, not without some chuckling, that there were no two men in the Confederacy the Federals would rather get into their hands ; whereas, in real ity, he was too much despised to be great game for us. All this is very sickening ; it savors of low comedy of the lowest type. We now turn to Buckner, the third in rank, and the only one of the three having any pretensions to soldier ship. He at least was a soldier ; and because of this, he was to be made the scapegoat, and to suffer, in part at least, a vicarious confinement at Fort Warren. His West Point ante cedents compeUed him to remain and surrender the now thor oughly demoraUzed forces ; and if he could not avert, at least to share their fate. In the entire record of the war there is no meaner page than this. Floyd made over the command to Pillow ; who, like a player at cards, " promptly passed it" to Buckner ; and then these two men, who had before disgraced the name of American, now disgraced the name of soldier, by deserting their post and their soldiers, and sneaking away un der cover of night. In order to join and aid Floyd, as Buck ner thought, ColonelForrest was ordered to cut his way out with the cavalry ; but Floyd, embarking such portion of the Virginia .brigade as he could hastily coUect, upon two small steamers, at the Dover landing, under cover of a guard, to ¦check the frantic attempts of- others to get on board, and amid the execrations and hisses of thousands collected on the wharf, pushed off and fled to NashviUe ! No wonder they were isusrjended from command, and called to account by Jefferson SMITH'S ATTACK AND THE SURRENDER. 67 Davis ; but we do wonder greatly that a man of the soldierly character of Albert Sidney Johnston should have stooped to whitewash them, by declaring that, although " the command was irregularly transferred," it was " not apparently to avoid any just responsibUity, or from any personal or moral intre pidity." That not mu*st have given him some trouble to write. Buckner's course was soon taken ; indeed his troops were in such confusion that no other was left him. At the earUest dawn he sent a bugler to sound a parley, and with him an of ficer bearing a white flag. Dimly discerned in the twiUght, and chaUenged by the picket, the officer announced himself as the bearer of a letter from Buckner to General Grant. The letter was at once taken to the headquarters. A white flag displayed upon the fort at the same time, informed the army that a capitulation was proposed. Buckner's letter* asked for the appointment of commissioners to settle upon terms of ca pitulation, to which end he requested an armistice tiU noon. Grant read the letter, and without a moment's hesitation penned a reply which has become historic.t " No terms," he wrote, " other than an unconditional and immediate surren der can be accepted. I propose to move immediately upon your works." * Headquarters, Fort Donelson, February 16, 1862. » Sir — In consideration of all the circumstances governing the present situa tion of affairs at this station, I propose to the commanding officer of the Fed eral forces the appointment of commissioners to agree upon terms of capitula tion of the forces and fort under my command, and in that view suggest an armistice until twelve o'clock to-day. I am sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, S. B. Buckner, Brigadier-General C S. A. t Headquarters Aemy in the Field, Camp near Donelson, Feb. 16, 1862. To General S. B. Buckner, Confederate Army : Tours of this date, proposing an armistice and appointment of commissioners to settle terms oi* capitulation, is just received. No terms other than, an uncon ditional and immediate surrender can be accepted. 1 propose to move immedi ately upon your works. I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, U. S. Grant, Brigadier-General U. S. A., commanding. 68 GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. If we do make some aUowance for Buckner's chagrin, it would be hard to palliate the unmiUtary character of his re ply to Grant's note* Why should " the briUiant success of the Confederate arms yesterday" affect Grant, except to make him the more strenuous to give them no further chance ? In what respect were his terms " ungenerous and unchivalrous ?" They were rebels in arms ; -he had come there to destroy them, and to occupy their works ; and, besides,/Buckner's immediate acceptance of the terms proposed was strangely inconsistent with the charge against Grant. The surrender was immediate and unconditional. The work: was given up, with thirteen thousand five hundred men as prisoners of war, three thour sand horses, forty-eight field-pieces, seventeen heavy guns, twenty thousand muskets, and an immense quantity of stores, t Two regiments of Tennessee troops, numbering fourteen hun dred and seventy-five, came up to re-enforce Donelson on the day after the capitulation, and were taken prisoners, greatly to their surprise. This is in itself a comment upon the dis graceful character of the capitulation. It took the Confed eracy by surprise. Thus the rupture of the rebel strategic line was completed, and the Cumberland and Tennessee opened to our armies. Thus, moreover, in the midst of our disasters, delays, incerti tude, and imbecUity, we had at length a bright prospect of a * February, 16, 1862. To Brigadier-General U. S. Grant, U. S. A. : Sir — The distribution of the forces under my command, incident to an unex pected change of commanders, and the overwhelming force under your com mand, compel me, notwithstanding the brilliant success of the Confederate arms yesterday, to accept the ungenerous and unchivalrous terms which .you propose. I am, sir, your very obedient servant, S. B. Buckner, Brigadier-General C. S. A f We quote the number from Pollard, who seems, however, to have forgot ten that he had said before in his narrative that they had only thirteen thou sand troops in all. What account does he make of the losses in battle, and of those who fled with Floyd and Forrest ? SMITH'S ATTACK AND THE SURRENDER. 69 commander, only as yet a subordinate, indeed, but one who could both plan and fight ; and who,, when others should fail, might be reUed on, as he has since proved himself, the hope of the army, and the prop of the country. It was proved, also, that our troops were possessed of valor, dash, and forti tude. "For four successive nights, Avithout shelter, during 4he most inclement weather known in that latitude, they had faced an enemy in large force, in a position chosen by him self," and had " secured the greatest number of prisoners of war (up to that time) ever taken in battle on this continent." These are the words of General Grant's order announcing the victory. The confession of the rebels is no less strong. " The display of courage," says PoUard, " on the part of the Federal troops was unquestionable, . . . and many of our officers ¦did not hesitate to express the opinion that the Western troops, particularly from Southern Illinois, Minnesota, and Iowa, were as good fighting material as there was to be found on the continent."* We are content, although he vents his spleen in the same paragraph against the Eastern troops. We regret, even in an abstract mUitary point of view, not to be able to return his compliment. The comments of mUi tary criticism must be entirely unfavorable to the Confederate army in this series of actions. When Grant first accosted the work, he was in weaker force than they absolutely, and emi nently so" when we consider the proportion estabUshed by mUitary science between an army holding strong works and a force of besiegers. It is no after-thought, based upon later knowledge, which leads us to say that they should have gone forth to meet his advancing column from Fort Henry, and deUvered a fierce battle, so as, at least, to cripple him, and keep him for a time from coming to the siege. Secondly : when he had come up, with Smith and McClernand alone, they should have saUied from the entire line of their intrenchments, and driven him * Pollard, First Toar 246. 70 GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. back ; not waiting for WaUace to come up and re-enforce him. And finaUy, even after, the defection of Floyd and Pillow, Buckner should have fought to the last. His thirteen thou sand men, with the re-enforcements that were coming, should surely have held that army at bay, or, at least, have made a more vaUant fight before surrender. But the morale in war, Uke the imagination of man, scorns aU rules ; and Buckner's conduct, which he defends on the score of humanity, — declar ing that three-fourths of his army would be cut to pieces if he should attempt to evacuate, — is only reaUy expUcable if we beUeve that his men, deserted by their commanders, would not fight, and that numbers, had they been doubled, were utterly valueless in such a case. We have a better opinion of Buckner than to be content with his own excuse ; if his men would have fought, Buckner would have led them : there was no more fight in them. The news of the Fort Donelson victory- — anxiously hoped for, though but tremblingly expected — flashed in telegraphic Ughtrrings over the land,* and intoxicated the loyal but almost despairing people with joy. The great cities were Uluminated, in pubUc buUdings and private residences alike ; and waving flags from every house attested the almost universal senti ment. National salutes echoed to each other from cities, and forts, and armies ; Grant's name was on every Up ; and the least the Government could do it did, by making him a Major- General of Volunteers, to date from the day of the surrender. * Cairo, February 17, 1862. To Major-General McClellan : Tlie Union flag floats | over Fort Donelson. The Carondelet, Captain Walke, brings the glorious intelligence. The fort surrendered at nine o'clock yesterday (Sunday) morning. General Buckner and about fifteen thousand prisoners, and a large amount of material of war, are the trophies of the victory. Loss heavy on both sides. Floyd, the thief, stole away during the night previous with five thousand men, and is denounced by the rebels as a traitor. I am happy to inform you that Flag-officer Foote, though suffering with his foot, with the noble charac teristic of our navy, notwithstanding his disability, will take up immediately two gunboata, and with tho eight mortar-boats, which he will overtake, will SMITH'S ATTACK AND THE SURRENDER. 71 His order teUs the story remarkably weU.* He was to move forward without delay to stiU greater triumphs. Without the sUghtest disparagement to any of the brave commanders in that siege, it is our duty and our pleasure to make especial mention of him who, next to General Grant, was the hero of Fort Donelson — General Charles Ferguson Smith, the leader of the assault on the rebel right, which decided the fortune of the day. It is the more his due, because this gaUant, veteran soldier died soon after, at the opening of a new and what promised to be a most brilliant chapter in his life ; and, in watching the progress of our Uving heroes, it is the tendency of human nature to forget the honor due the dead. The more perfect make an immediate attack on Clarksville, if the state of the weather will per mit. We are now firing a national salute from Fort Cairo, General Grant's late post, in honor of the glorious achievement. [Signed] Geo. W. Ctjllum, Brig^Gen. Vols, and U. S. A., and Chief of Staff and Engineers. * General Orders, No. 2. Headquarters District of West Tennessee, Fort Donelson, February 17, 1862. The general commanding takes great pleasure in congratulating the troops of this command for the triumph over rebellion, gained by their valor, on the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth instant. For four successive nights, without shelter, during the most inclement weather known in this latitude, they faced an enemy in large force, in a posi tion chosen by himself. Though strongly fortified by nature, all the additional safeguards suggested by science were added. Without a murmur this was borne, prepared at all times to receive an attack, and, with continuous skir mishing by day, resulting ultimately in forcing the enemy to surrender with out conditions. ' The victory achieved is not only great in the effect it will have in breaking down rebellion, but has secured the greatest number of prisoners of war ever taken in any battle on this continent. Fort Donelson will hereafter be marked in capitals on the map of our united country, and the men who fought the battle will live in the memory of a grateful people. By order, - U. S. Grant, Brig.-Gen. commanding. 72 GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. beau ideal of a soldier never existed in any army than was General Smith. We do not design to give a record of his Ufe, nor to pen an adequate eulogium. The son of a surgeon in the army, he was early imbued with the mUitary spirit. He graduated at the MUitary Academy in 1825 ; and from 1829 to 1842 he was on duty there as assistant instructor of tactics, adjutant, and finaUy as com mandant of cadets. The author's recoUection of him as com mandant is of a model soldier — a daUy example to the cadets of splendid dignity, great manliness, and magnificent personal appearance. We aU feared him, but thoroughly respected him ; and we beUeve no commandant ever accompUshed as much for the discipline of the corps as he did. He was one of the marked men in the army. No one was astonished at his splendid conduct in Mexico. In the battles of the vaUey, he commanded a Ught battaUon of picked men ; and he was so distinguished that he received three brevets — as major, Ueutenant-colonel, and colonel. At the outbreak of the rebellion he feU, for a short time, under the displeasure of the Government, for reasons never divulged, and was not made a brigadier-general until August, 1861 ; but, opportunity once offered him, the beauty and valor of his charge at Donelson, under the (liscriminating eye of Grant, who had formerly been his pupU, won for him imme diately an appointment as major-general. Pending the battle of Pittsburg Landing, he was lying sick at Savannah, Tennessee, where he died on the 25th of April. An accompUshed general ; a superb soldier ; a dignified and punctUiously honorable gentleman ; a splendid specimen of a man ; — such is an epitome of his record, made with melan choly but grateful pleasure by one of his admiring pupUs, who owes to his instruction far more than such a sUght acknow ledgment can repay. Note.— Notwithstanding the bitter rebel spirit which pervades Pollard's work, I desire to say that it is, in many cases, very fair and just. He certainly is not afraid to criticise his own people ; and in his " Chronology of the War," SMITH'S ATTACK AND THE SURRENDER. 73 lie always calls a Confederate defeat by its right name— seldom inadvertently naming it a victory. I have waded with patience and weariness through the shallow and turbid waters of the official Confederate reports, finding little that is worth reprodu cing in the narrative. Those of Floyd and Pillow are examples of special plead ing to cover their base desertion. That of Buckner is a succinct account of his straits ; not without sneers, both designed and unconscious, at his superiors, who, when they had surrendered the command, asked to be permitted to with draw their troops. The most useful is that of Lieutenant-Colonel Gilmer, late an officer of our engineers, and chief-engineer of Johnston's rebel army, — from which I have taken some details as authentic. The report of Major William Brown, of the Twentieth Mississippi, is the boldest in the denunciation of '* seniors, who endeavor to escape by throwing the responsibility upon juniors." 74 GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. CHAPTEB VIII. PREPARATIONS FOR A NEW ADVANCE. Grant's enlarged command.— General Buell co-operates with Halleck.— Ad ministration-Discipline, justice, humanity.— Nashville falls.— Surprise of the people.— A. S. Johnston retires to Murfreesboro'.— The ascent of the Tennessee.^-Corinth threatened.— Island No. 10— Seals the rivee.-Thb position described.— Pope takes New Madrid.— General Maokall and the American Thermopylae.— Schuyler Hamilton's canal.— The capture and ROUT. Grant's, sphere of action was at once enlarged. By an order of General HaUeck, bearing date of February 14, 1862, he had been assigned to the new district of West Tennessee, embracing the territory from Cairo, between 'the Mississippi and Cumberland rivers, to the Mississippi border, with his headquarters in the field. Moving his army by the west bank of the Cumberland, he co-operated with the gunboats in their ascent of the river, under Commodore Foote. When General HaUeck had been assigned, in the November preceding, to the Department of the Missouri, the Department of the Ohio had been confided to Brigadier-General Don Carlos BueU. His command comprised the States of Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, that portion of Kentucky east of the Cumberland, and the State of Tennessee. Portions of these two armies, thus divided by the Cumberland, were soon to come together, and form a combination against the enemy. In the mean time, however, ClarksvUle, on the east bank of the Cumberland, was evacuated by the enemy, and occupied by our forces on the 20th of February, — large quantities of stores being found there. The gunboats were then pushed on towards NashviUe. The rebels were, in great haste, seeking a PREPARATIONS FOR A NEW ADVANCE. 75 new Une ; and it was of vast importance so to hurry them, that they should find this a difficult or troublesome task. Grant's administration of his new district was energetic, and his preparations for a new advance were rapidly made. He estabUshed martial law over West Tennessee ; and ordered that " Tennessee, by her rebellion, having ignored aU laws of the United States, no courts wiU be aUowed to act under State authority ; but aU cases coming within reach of the mU itary arm wUl be adjudicated by the authorities the Govern ment has estabUshed within the State." To guard against aU Ucense in the conduct of his troops, he repubhshed General HaUeck's order, that they should "let no excesses on their part tarnish the glory of their army." The course of justice was tempered with humanity ; and when it was necessary to take suppUes and subsistence for his troops from citizens, he ordered that the demands should be as Ught as possible, — so distributed as to produce no distress, and in every case re ceipted for. Justice and consideration to citizens not in arms, and succor to the poor, when oppressed by Union men or rebels, has always been his rule, — a course of action prompted by principle, and never intermitted on account of pubUc opinion or poUtical pressure. NashviUe, where Johnston had only remained to await the issue of the fighting at Donelson, was abandoned as soon as that fortress feU, and was occupied on Sunday evening, Feb ruary 23d, by Colonel Kennet, of the Fourth Ohio cavalry, of General O. M. MitcheU's division* On the 3d of March, Co lumbus, the second Gibraltar of the West (Bowling Green was the first, and Vicksburg was to be the third), feU before the strategy of HaUeck and BueU, and the splendid battle tactics of Grant. Fort Henry was the first act in the process of destruction : Fort Donelson dealt an additional blow to the tottering ruin. The faU of Nashville was a terrible blow. The rebel his- * The surrender is publicly believed to have been made to General Nelson, but that officer did not arrive with his division until three days after. 76 'GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. torian compares the effect to the shock of an . earthquake, when the congregations in the churches heard that the Fed erals were coming* The people had been entirely deceived, or lulled into security. No one anticipated such a fate. Johnston moved with his main body to Murfreesboro', leav ing to Floyd and Forrest (who had just "retreated" from Donelson) the duty of removing or destroying the supplies; whUe a mob, ravenous for spoils, " secured and secreted gov ernment stores enough to open respectable groceries." The evacuation of Columbus, also, was a great blow to them, and a great acquisition to us ; but it was a mUitary necessity— a sequence in the inexorable logic of the war. The works were of immense strength, consisting of tier on tier of bat teries on the river-front, and a strong parapet and ditch, crossed by a thick abatis, on the land side,t and a vast chain, to stop the passage of the Mississippi. The fleet was now withdrawn down the Cumberland, and a portion of it sent up the Tennessee, over the ground aheady so adventurously reconnoitred by the expedition of Lieutenant- Commander Phelps. That river General HaUeck designed to be a most important Une of operations for Grant's army ; and Grant was putting out his antennas to feel his way to the ter rible battle-field of Pittsburg Landing. Making his temporary headquarters at Fort Henry, — where, indeed, he was detained by department orders, for causes not pubUcly divulged^-he began a new organization of his forces, for this stUl more difficult campaign. The troops, as they came up from every direction, were pushed forward as rapidly as possible, under General C. F. Smith, to .Savannah, about twenty miles frcm the Mississippi line, and to other adjacent points ; and as they moved forward, it was evident to the Confederates that their great -route of communication from east to west, by the Mem phis and Charleston Bailroad, was threatened. This road crosses the MobUe and Ohio Bailroad at the Uttle vUlage of Corinth ; and the junction there was seen at a glance, by the * Pollard, First Tear of the War, p. 246. f General Cullum's dispatch. X See note at end of the chapter. PREPARATIONS FOR A NEW ADVANCE. 77 generals of both armies, to be a point of great strategic importance. Grant was marching down to attack or flank it, and cut the raUroad ; and the rebels, with wise foresight, and praiseworthy valor, — a different spirit from that displayed at Fort Henry and Fort Donelson, — determined to hazard a battle, and strike a stunning blow in its defence, at some dis tance north of it, on the Tennessee. For once they had good generals — " foemen worthy the steel" of Grant — men who, in a just cause, would have gained immortal renown. , ISLAND no. 10. Before, however, attempting a delineation of the great battle of Pittsburg Landing, we must return for a brief space to the Mississippi Biver, which, having been for a time effect ually barred by the fortifications of Columbus, needed a new seal and barrier, when, on the 3d of March, those works were dismantled and abandoned by General Polk. That fiery pre late" had been directed to " select a defensive position below ;" and, moving his forces to the river, had, by the aid, of his en gineers, arranged strong defences at Island No. 10, the main land in Madrid bend, and at the town of New Madrid* This was part of a concerted plan ; Johnston was moving southward by the left bank of the Tennessee to defend Mem phis, where strong works were erected. Vicksburg, with its river-knot in front, was strong by nature, and also fortified by the engineer's art. New Orleans was, to aU seeming, in rebel possession until " the crack of doom," and the forts below it seemed, to preclude approach from the Gulf. Among the most loyal men there were many who doubted the practicabUity of clearing the Mississippi ; and until that should be done, aU doubted the downfaU of the rebeUion. The Father of Waters had submitted to the rebel chain, and there was no patriot sword or battle-axe which could strike off * The principal islands in the Mississippi, beginning just below the mouth of the Ohio, are numbered down the river. Island No. 1 lies just below Cairo. 78 GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. the accursed links. It was a gigantic, task, for which neither workman nor implements seemed to have been yet found. Island No. 10 is about forty-five mUes beloAV Columbus. It Ues nearly in mid-channel, and is about a mUe long and a half mile in breadth at its widest part. Its armament consisted principaUy of four heavy batteries on the island, sweeping the main channel, and seven on the Kentucky and Tennessee shores, most of the guns having been brought from Colum bus. To define its situation a Uttle more clearly, the river, which above it flows westward, makes a bend to the south ; then to the west and north, in which is the island,; and again, eight mUes below, a turn to the south, oh which, upon the right bank, is New Madrid. Point Pleasant is a vUlage on the right bank, about ten mUes below New Madrid ; while Tip- tonvUle is on the opposite bank, a short distance below Point Pleasant. The double bend, in the form of an irregular and inverted S, with the island and the town at the extreme points, with peninsulas thus formed, cutting off in the one case nine mUes, and in the other twenty, seems exactly formed to take the eye of the strategist and engineer. The works on the island, and the supporting batteries on the left bank, having been completed, the old PeUcan dock oi New Orleans was brought up, armored, and converted into a floating battery ; the rebel gunboats nestled under the bat teries ; forts were erected at New Madrid, and the entire de fences of Island No. 10 were declared to be very strong — at least, a sort of semi-Gibraltar. It mattered Uttle to the Confederacy that General John Pope was dispatched against them ; and, even when he had captured Point Pleasant, they felt Uttle concern. ' They were still more exultant when the nine hours' bombardment by Flag- Officer Foote faUed of results. He had, in order to test the strength of the works, moved down with a fleet, consisting of five gunboats and four mortar-boats, from Hickman, twenty mUes above, and his bombardment had seemed to produce no effect. Pope's first essay was to take New Madrid ; and this he sue- PREPARATIONS FOR A NEW ADVANCE. 7 ' by Van Dorn, while Price had been ordered early in the day to make a detour around our extreme left, and get into the rear of these isolated troops. Either he was too late, or Van Dorn too early. The combination was a faUure ; they did not capture any portion of Pope's army, although they occu pied Farmington, and found a smaU quantity of baggage there. • By a little foresight, and valor, they need never have lost it ; with a- stronger advanced force, Pope might have held it against these last attacks. We need not stop to detaUthe extremely slow approaches THE SIEGE OF CORINTH. 107 to Corinth. The digging was continual. A sUght advance of four nules brought a new parallel. In later days, when flank ing movements were better understood — the days of Chatta nooga, and of the WUderness and Sj»ottsylvania' — the evacua tion of Corinth would have been greatly expedited. Without . designing to be critical, we can only now beUeve that, in the process of education which our generals were receiving, the no-mtrenchments at Pittsburg led to the excess at Corinth : safe practice certainly, but rather expensive, and utterly unneces sary. The happy medium was fuUy developed in our later campaigns ; but they had aU this experience to act upon. On the 17th, the army, eager for action, was enUvened by a gaUant battle on a smaU scale — that projected by Sherman for the capture of Bussel's house. This was an important eminence, commanding the junction of the roads three hun dred yards, beyond, and only a mUe and a quarter from the enemy's outer intrenchments. General Hurlbut sent two re giments and a battery on the road leading from his front to Bussel's house. The attacking force consisted of General Denver, with two regiments and a battery, moving by the right, and General M. L. Smith in front. The attack was successful : the position, found to be of great natural strength, was at once fortified and occupied by a large force. At length, on the 21st of May, we were fairly in Une, three mUes from Corinth, with detached works in our front corre sponding with the general direction of those of the enemy. A desperate struggle was at last to be expected, when the spade should give way to the bayonet. Would the enemy stand up for the fight? No one doubted that he would. Corinth would faU, but not before, at least, one desperate - struggle had been made in its defence. Such was the general beUef. elliot's said. Tho position of Beauregard was now becoming critical : his railroad communications were cut at Purdy and Glendale ; the 108 GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. bridges had been destroyed beyond Iuka. To isolate him completely, making either a vigorous attack or an evacuation the only alternatives, HaUeck now ordered his southern com munications to be interrupted. This was done by Colonel EUiot, of the Second Michigan cavalry (a captain in the United States cavalry), who, with his regiment and the Second Iowa cavalry, marched on the night of the 27th. His route was from Farmington, across the raUroad east of Iuka ; then along the Tuscumbia road to CartersvUle and Boones- viUe, twenty-five mUes distant. The expedition was weU con ducted, and entirely successful : the surprise of the people along the route was very great ; and there was no Uttle con sternation in the army of Beauregard. EUiot destroyed at BoonesvUle five cars loaded with arms, five containing loose ammunition, six fiUed with officers' baggage, and five with subsistence stores. He paroled the prisoners and the sick whom he found in his route, burnt trains and depots, and de stroyed many locomotives. His work was done in the most admirable manner, and he set out upon his perilous return. He had been directed, in the event of finding his pathway blocked in returning, to strike off, and join General Mitchel's column at the east. But, by taking the Tuscumbia road;; he eluded pursuit, and joined General Pope's army on the 31st. For this service he was afterwards made, as he fuUy deserved to be, a brigadier-general of volunteers. THE EVACUATION OF COBKTH. And now, by slow movements, our combined forces have closely embraced the Confederate lines. On the 28th, Halleck advances three strong reconnoitring columns, one from each army : on the 28th, also, Sherman attacks a strong position in his front, commanded by a house which had been arranged for defence, Uke a blockhouse, and takes it, estabUshing his Unes within a thousand yards of the enemy : on the 30th, Pope's bakeries are opened. But they wUl not be needed. THE SIEGE OP CORINTH. 109 The rebels are evacuating Corinth. The fierce display is but a mask. They had begun their preparations for retreat on the 26th. The musketry ceases on Friday. Soon clouds of smoke and sheets of flame announce that Beauregard is firing the town; and as he moves out, filling the southern and western roads, our forces move in. He has destroyed aU that he can, and is off. The " sol diers of ShUoh and Elkhorn" may now put " Cormth" on their colors ! With an immense army, after loud boasts and protestations, in a position and with works of amazing strength, why has he fled without a blow ? His own statements are such as would indeed make De- mocritus laugh, K he stiU Uved. In his report, written at Tu pelo, on the 13th of June, he declares that he had " accom pUshed his purposes and ends." He denies Elliot's capture of cars, etc., and charges him with inhumanities in burning his sick soldiers, — criminations ably and boldly answered in a letter by Gordon Granger, to which Beauregard has not vouchsafed a reply. He says he twice offered battle, which we declined ; and the appearance he would put upon matters is, simply, that the occupation of Corinth was merely a tempo rary shift, and that it was to be abandoned when weightier matters, then in train, should have made sufficient progress. How does this agree with his former declarations, that Corinth was "the strategic point of that campaign," and that "he could hold it ?" The facts in the case are few and simple. His strategy was entirely at fault. He must either drive back HaUeck's army, or abandon Corinth ; he could not stay there. When he fought the battle at the landing, he expected to overpower Grant. That was his first faUure. He considered the Mississippi secure, both above and be low ; whereas New Orleans and Island No. 10 feU, Vicksburg was not yet strong, and Memphis was shaking to its centre. Farragut had attacked Forts St. Philip and Jackson on the 18th of April; had destroyed the rebel fleet of thirteen gunboats and three rams ; and had so isolated the forts that they sur- HO GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. rendered on the 28th. On the same day LoveU retired, and New Orleans was ours. By its capture, the heaviest blow of the war, up to that time, had faUen upon them. Unprepared for such crushing disasters, the entire people of rebeldom be gan to exhibit signs of distrust, and even the "soldiers of ShUoh and Elkhorn" were in no condition to bear our attack Under the influence of these moral and strategical causes, Uke the massive portal of that Corinth of which Byron de scribes the faU, "It bends — it falls— and all is o'er; Lost Corinth may resist no more." Virginia was in a blaze of lurid fires, Avith the advance of McCleUan. Torktown was evacuated on the 3d and 4th of May ; Norfolk on the 10th. Pensacola and Natchez came into Federal possession on the 12th. The second great rebel line in the West had dissolved like the fabric of a dream, and the enemy must faU back on the third and last — that upon which the strategic points were Vicksburg, Jackson, Meridian, and Selma. Unfortunately, notwithstanding the clear intelligence and dashing valor of General O. M. Mitchel, they were still to hold Chattanooga, which was long to be to them a tower of strength, and to us a cause of great trouble, carnage, and de lay. But, to an unprejudiced eye, it was evident that the de cree had gone forth. Line after Une had been cut. Boasting of victory, they had retreated from every field ; but ever hope ful, ever deluded by siren voices, the rebels prolonged the war, when, by a simple appUcation of mUitary principleSj it became daily more mamfest that success was impossible. The occupation of Corinth by our forces was both pictur esque and mspiring. From the highest points of the rebel intrenchments it was a magnificent sight, on that briUiant. May morning. The eye ranged over a horizon five mUes dis tant, and the intervening space was gUstening with bayonets; fluttering with banners, battle-torn, andginscribed with the ru bricated glories of former fields ; and busy with martial life. THE SIEGE OP CORINTH. HI They entered Corinth in triumph and joy; but, except the garrison hastily designated, not to stay there. THE ADVANCE. The pursuit was immediately begun. On the 30th, at seven in the morning, Pope's advance drove the smaU rear-guard of rebel cavalry through the town, only stopped for a brief time by the burning of a bridge. Gordon Granger, brave and ar dent, set out with a brigade and a battery on the BoonevUle road, from Farmington, at noon, and pushed the flying foe through BoonevUle. The next day he had crossed Twenty- mUe Creek, the main army foUowing close at his heels. On the 10th, our advance was at Baldwin and Guntown, stUl on the raUroad ; and at the latter point the pursuit ended. Beau regard had taken a strong position at Tupelo, a few mUes be low, where the railroad is crossed by Old-town Creek, an affluent of the Tombigbee, and HaUeck bethought himseK of the safety of his communications and the strengthening of his base. And thus the brief campaign of Corinth was brought to an end. Although General Grant was not in command, as second in rank he was exceedingly active and eager, always. on the field, constantly making valuable suggestions, and lending import ant aid in achieving the final result. His position was a sin gular, and in some respects a painful one ; but he was assured by HaUeck that no censure was intended, but that his position was that due to his rank. We have no comments to make. We have dwelt upon the siege and capture of Corinth as a necessary Unk in the story of Grant's Ufe. It was in pursu ance of the plan formed before the battle of Pittsburg Land ing was fought. It opened the way to the next and immortal campaign of Vicksburg, of which he was the projector, and in which he was to be the chief actor. To this, after a few de tails of organization and preparation, we shaU come. The Union army returned to Corinth, and remained there in busy labors, making ready for a new movement, until the 112 GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 10th of June. The Tennessee Biver was already low, and the summer heats would make it lower ; so, in order to secure the communications when the river should faU, the raUroad was put in good order to Columbus. BueU, with the Army of the Ohio, was detached, and sent towards Chattanooga, while Grant's army occupied the new strategic Une of railroad which the rebels had lost, from Memphis to Iuka, and which they were never to regain. CO-OPEBAUNG MOVEMENTS. Pending the operations which we have been describing, two grand co-operating movements were in progress, which mate- riaUy aided the advance on Corinth, and had such important direct results that we must briefly aUude to them. Indeed, so thoroughly are the parts of the great war in relation with each other, that no campaign can be properly described with out a reference to the co-ordinate movements. The first was General Mitchel's rapid march and captures in Northern Alabama ; and the second, the successful advance of our naval armament on the Mississippi. Let us take them in order. mitchel's mabch. General Ormsby McKnight Mitchel, a graduate of West Point, the founder of the astronomical observatory at Cincin nati, and the director of that at Albany, had brought to the service of the country, energy, inteUigence, patriotism, and a genius for war. His career in this war was brief but brilliant, and his exploits at the Southwest excited the admiration of the whole country. OriginaUy commanding a division in BueU's army, he had been detached to act, to some degree, independently, when that army marched to join Grant at Pittsburg. Early in March he was at Murfreesboro'. On the 6th of AprU he marched to ShelbyviUe ; on the 10th he was at Fayettevfflei and on the 11th he reached HuntsvUle, in Alabama. There, THE SIEGE OF CORINTH. H3 seizing the rolling-stock, he immediately sent out two raUway expeditions, east and west, to Decatur and Stevenson, con ducting the latter in person. He thus threw the whole of the adjacent country into a panic. Taking advantage of this, he marched towards Chattanooga, which he saw at once to be a most important strategic point. He caUed for re-enforce ments, but they could not be had ; and he was fain, therefore, to draw back, not having accompUshed aU he desired, but Avriting, however, to the Secretary of War, under date of May 1 : " The campaign is ended, and I- now occupy HuntsviUe in perfect security ; whUe aU of Alabama, north of the Tennessee Biver, floats no flag but that of the Union." In that day of experiments and caution, Mitchel's fault was seeing too far and daring too much. THE NAVY ON THE MISSISSIPPI. Let us now look at the state of affairs on the Mississippi. On the 12th of AprU, Flag-Officer Foote, with his fleet of gun boats and mortar-boats, had steamed down the river from New Madrid on a new voyage of discovery, with the divisions of Stanley, HamUton, and Palmer on transports. The first fortified point where they expected a check was Fort PiUow, a strong work on the Tennessee shore, about forty miles above Memphis, which was afterwards to have such atrocious noto riety for the massacre of our prisoners by Forrest. It stands upon the first Chickasaw Bluff, near Islands Nos. 33 and 34, and sixty-five mUes above Memphis. As our fleet ap proached, the rebel gunboats and rams kept retreating down at a respectful distance, turning back occasionaUy to try our strength. But when Pope's army was withdrawn to join the advance on Corinth, the expedition of Foote came to an end, or rather awaited the faU of Corinth. The effect of that faU was Uke magic. After Beauregard had retreated, Fort Pillow was evacuated, on the 4th of June. Fort BandaU, some mUes below, was abandoned by the enemy soon after, and the great river was open to Memphis. 114 GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. THE EIGHT AT MEMPHIS. The. people of Memphis, emboldened by the presence of a formidable rebel fleet, and encouraged by the confident pre dictions ot its commander, Commodore Montgomery, that he would " soon send Lincoln's gunboats to the bottom," had col lected upon the banks of the river, and at aU points of ob servation in the city, to see this great sight, not at all doubt ful of the result. Flag-Officer Foote had, at his own request, on the score of his health, which had greatly suffered, been relieved from duty, and our fleet was now in charge of Commodore Charles Henry Davis, an officer weU known for his scientific attainr ments, and who was now determined to lose no time in wh> ning honors Uke those which a grateful country had awarded to the gaUant Foote. Memphis gave him a splendid opportu nity, and he made the most of it. On the 5th of June he left Fort PUlow, with a fleet of nine boats— five gunboats, two tugs, and Colonel EUet's two rams, the Queen City and Mon arch. To oppose this force Montgomery had eight boats, mounting twenty-four guns, most of them rifled and pivoted. Want of space, and direct relevancy to the subject, forbids our describing the famous battle. It should be read in its ter ribly picturesque detaUs. The city on the hUl-side, like the tiers in an amphitheatre ; the crowding inhabitants, eager, bitter, hopeful and breathless ; the hostile Unes of armed ves sels ; the roar of their artUlery ; the Queen City, under Colo nel EUet, crushing in the sides of the Price like pasteboard; the Monarch, under Captain EUet,' drenching the Beauregard with boiling water ; the burning of the boats ; the humanity of Davis and his men, as they pick up the drowning rebels.; the explosion of the Jeff. Thompson, which shakes Memphis to its foundations ; such are some of the elements of this grand pictorial display. We can only state the results. The rebel flotilla, rammed by EUet's boats, and torn to pieces, by our shot, was put entirely hors de combat. Three of the largest vessels, the Price, Beauregard, and LoveU, were sunk; one, THE SIEGE OF CORINTH. H5 the Jeff. Thompson, was burned; and the three others, the Bragg, Sumter, and Little Bebel, were captured'. It was a clean sweep, and with no loss to ourselves. Colonel EUet was the only man wounded, and his ram, the Queen City, the only boat disabled, and that but temporarUy. It was a gaUant ac tion, and wUl rank high among the most memorable achieve ments of the navy. Memphis, a hot-bed of treason, was thus brought into our possession, on the 6th of June. The river was open to Vicks burg, above and below, and the new element, waited and longed for by Grant, had at length fairly come into his calcu lation. " On to Vicksburg" was now his cry, not to be abated until Vicksburg should fall, and the great river, upon which the last chances of rebel success depended, flow, with Union boats, barges, and commerce, " unvexed to the sea." NEW EPPOBTS OP THE ENEMY. But the rebels were now fairly awake to their condition. If the people were alarmed and distrustful, and ready, upon Federal occupancy, to " come back to their old aUegiance," the responsible leaders, selfish, clever, and determined, made good use of the lessons of disaster. The war was inaugurated for them and by them, and the people must be made to carry it on for their behoof. If they could not, as at first, " fire the Southern heart," they could at least press the Southern body into service ; and this they did in a most unscrupulous and ty rannical, but effective manner. A sweeping conscription act was passed by the Confederate Congress, giving virtual power to the President to caU out and place in the mUitary service aU white men between the ages of eighteen and forty-five, for three years or the war. No mUitary despotism was ever so severe and so uncompromising. A Uttle later, camps of instruction were estabUshed in each State : the levies were distributed according to a proportional system among the States ; Ueutenant-generals were appoint ed, to command corps "and departments ; and troops from the 116 GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. same State were brigaded together, — this latter being an infini- tessimal concession to the Grand Lama of States-rights. In a word, every nerve was strained by the Confederate authori ties to regain lost ground, repair their broken fortunes, and achieve, at least, a partial success. • , The results were striking. The disasters of the spring of 1862 were foUowed by the successes of the Peninsula, the vic tories of the second BuU Bun, and the advance into Mary land. Bebel troops gathered in large numbers in the West, and Grant was to have no easy task in his advance upon Vicksburg. The first step towards Vicksburg was the capture and occu pation of HoUy Springs, by Sherman, on the 30th of June. Note. — Beauregard left the army at Tupelo on the 15th of June, relieving himself from duty, on account of ill-health, which he certified by the opinion of two surgeons. For two months he was in retirement with his family at Mobile and Bladon Springs ; and turned up again at Charleston, in an unimportant command. He had evidently fallen under the displeasure of the Davis admin istration* * The rationale of this is thus presented by the Confederate General Jordan, in an excellent article on Jefferson Davis, in Harper's Monthly Magazine for October, 1865 : "General Beauregard, for some time in bad health, thought it best for the service to take advantage of the lull la operations, incident to the position of his army at Tupelo, after the suc cessful evacuation of Corinth, and by a short respite from duty, seek to recuperate. He therefore retired to Bladon Springs, some twelve hours distant by railroad, turning over the command to General Bragg, -with instructions looking to the preparation of the army for'the field at once on his return, which he anticipated would be in three weeks. But no sooner had Mr. Davis beard of this step than he telegraphed General Bragg to assume permanent command. General Beaure gard was thus laid on the shelf— not to be reinstated, as Mr. Davis -passionately declared, though the whole world should urge him to the measure." The last sentence he substantiates by referring to " Notes of interview of Congressional Com mittee with Mr. Davis, to request restoration of General Beauregard to his command." IUKA AND CORINTH. H7 CHAPTEB XL IUKA AND CORINTH. Aster a brief halt, forward. — Administration. — Iuka. — Price marches up. — Grant's sagacity. — The battle. — Kosecbans and Ord. — Difficult ground. — Price retreats southward. — Corinth. — The fortifications. — Price's attack — Van Horn's. — The bloody repulse. — Ord and Hurlbut in flank and '\Rear. — "How does it all sum up?" — Sketches of commanders. On the 11th of August, by general orders from the War Department, General HaUeck was assigned to the command of " the whole land forces of the Utiited States, as general-in- chief." This caused a new arrangement to be made at the West ; and for the time, until that could be made, it gave Gen eral Grant an extended mUitary jurisdiction, great labors of administration, and— one good thing at leasts — " ample room and verge enough" for his new schemes. In the mean time, from June tiU September, there was but Uttle fighting in his department. He bent his energy to a thorough reorganiza tion, and sent some of his troops, by orders from Washington, to re-enforce BueU's army, seriously threatened by Bragg's advance through East Tennessee and Kentucky towards the Ohio Biver. He also kept his cavalry in constant reconnois- sances, to ascertain the' position of the enemy, and to guard aU parts of hia command against secret movements and sur prises. With his weakened force he could not do more. His orders with regard to passes and paroles — carefuUy distinguishing between innocent, suffering citizens and the friends and sympathizers of the rebeUion — are clear and statesmanlike. His treatment of guerriUas, who were batten ing, Uke birds of prey, upon friends and foes aUke, was sharp 118 GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. and relentless* Bebel sympathizers were to pay, by sudden seizure of their property, for such depredations. " The Mem phis Avalanche," a newspaper echoing the secret thoughts of the citizens, in an overbold manner, was suddenly suspended for uttering treasonable sentiments, and only permitted to renew its issue upon the withdrawal of its seditious editor. The disposition made of fugitive negroes was practical :f they * General Orders, No, 60. Headquarters District of West Tennessee, Memphis, Tenn., July 8, 1862. The system of guerilla warfare now being prosecuted by some troops organ ized under authority of the so-called Southern Confederacy, and others without such authority, being so pernicious to the welfare of the community where it is carried on, and it being within the power of the community to- suppress this system, it is ordered, that wherever loss is sustained by the Government, collec tions shall be made, by seizure of a sufficient amount pf personal property, from persons in the immediate neighborhood sympathizing with the rebellion, to remunerate the Government for all loss and expense of the same. Persons acting as guerrillas, without organization, and without uniform to distinguish them from private citizens, are not entitled to the treatment of prisoners of war when caught, and will not receive such treatment. By order of Major-General U. S. Grant. John A. Rawlins, A. A. G. f We give the following order in full, as indicating the true military course, in pursuance of the Act of Congress : General Orders, No. 72. Headquarters Department of West Tennessee, Corinth, Miss., August 11, 18C2. The recent act of Congress prohibits the army from returning fugitives from labor to their claimants, and authorizes the employment pf such persons in the service of the Government. The following orders are therefore published for the guidance of the army in this matter : 1. All fugitives thus employed must be registered ; the names of 'the fugi tive and claimant given ; and must be borne upon the morning report of the command in which they are kept, showing how they are employed. 2. Fugitives maybe employed as laborers in the Quartermaster's, Subsistence, and Engineer department ; and whenever by such employment a soldier may be saved to the ranks, they may be employed as teamsters and as company cooks, not exceeding four to a company, or as hospital attendants and nurses. Officers may employ them as private servants ; in which latter case the fugi tives will not be paid or rationed by the Government. Negroes thus employed must be secured as authorized persons, and will be excluded from the camps. IUKA AND CORINTH. Hy were put to useful employment, and kindly treated, whUe awaiting the further action of the Government concerning them. In a professedly military work, we have not deemed it necessary to dweU upon these detaUs of departmental organi zation ; but when aU his orders and dispatches are pubUshed in a body, as they wUl be hereafter, they wUl show that such duties form by no means the Ughtest and easiest labors of a general charged with an extensive department. To a mUitary man, fighting battles is truly an easier task ; and besides, it is not often the case that the commander, who marshals men slrilfuUy upon the field, is equal to this more judicial and dip lomatic task. The converse is also true. It adds greatly, therefore, to the reputation of General Grant, that he could do both in so admirable a manner. Sound judgment, clear good sense, and pithy expression, characterize aU these exec utive papers. But the wUd fire of battle was Sbon to sweep over his com mand, and give him the more technical duties of a general to perform. 3. Officers and soldiers are positively prohibited from enticing slaves to leave their masters. When it becomes necessary to employ this kind of labor, the commanding officer of the post or troop must send details, all under the charge of a suitable commissioned officer, to press into service the slaves of persons to the number required. 4. Citizens within reach of any military station, known to be disloyal and dangerous, may be ordered away or arrested, and their crops and stock taken for the benefit of the Government or the use of the army. 5. All property taken from rebel owners must be duly reported, and used for the benefit of the Government, and be issued to the troops through the proper department ; and when practicable, the act of taking should be accom panied by the written certificate of the officer so taking, to the owner or agent of such property. It is enjoined on all commanders to see that this order is executed strictly under their own direction. The demoralization of troops, subsequent upon being left to execute laws in their own way, without a proper head, must be avoided. By command of Major-General Grant. John A. Rawlins, A. A. G. 12() GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. General Pope, who had commanded the Army of the Mis sissippi, in the advance upon Corinth, had been caUed away to the far more difficult task of commanding the Army of Virginia. A personal friend of Mr. Lincoln, and a regular officer of Topographical Engineers, his labors in Missouri, his success at NW Madrid, and his activity at Corinth, had preferred him to this dangerous honor. Eosecrans, of West Virginia repute, replaced him in command of the Army of the Mississippi. Our gunboats were still busy on the Mis sissippi. On the 26th of June, the mortar-boats had gone down to Vicksburg, and engaged the batteries, now maimed by a portion of the rebel army which had retreated from Cormth. The importance of Vicksburg being now manifest to the Confederate authorities, every nerve was strained to make it strong against the day of Grant's attack: On the 5th of August, General Breckinridge attacked Baton Bouge, but was repulsed, after a terrible struggle, in which the Union commander, General Tom Williams, was killed. Such are some of the coUateral events which bore, more or less directly, upon the welfare of Grant's department. And now, Grant's careful reconnoissances disclosed the rebel designs upon his own department, and enabled him to make skilful combinations to defeat them. THE BATTLE OP IUKA. General SterUng Price, with a force of twelve thousand men, marched boldly up from the south, to cross the Mem phis and Charleston Bailroad at some point between Corinth and Tuscumbia, probably at Iuka. As he advanced, on the 10th of September, to Jacinto, the smaU Union garrison at that place retired to Corinth. Tuscumbia was also evacuated by Colonel Murphy, of General Stanley's division, who fell back in haste to Iuka. The Uttle garrison of Iuka was, in pursuance of the same general orders, withdrawn to Corinth, and Murphy was left behind it, to destroy the stores coUected IUKA AND CORINTH. 121 there, and faU back also upon Corinth. But Price was too quick, or Murphy was too slow in destroying the stores, and too quick in leaving them, for the latter was driven out by Price's advance, leaving a quantity of suppUes undestroyed. "V'4w IUKA "%y !»i *"JArfwTS >m, '""fli -7*25: »nV'0,n\-s. "I , eomn ¦fiiltat* ,*R*-' A \ % a. Powell's Battery. 6. 6Sd Ohio. o. 43d Ohio. d. 27th Ohio. 6. 89th Ohio. f. 8th Wisconsin. g. 2Ctb Illinois. A. 47th Illinois. i. 10th Iowa. h. 48th Indiana, I. 10th Iowa. m. 5th Iowa. OPERATIONS AT IUKA. n. 25th Missouri. o. 17th Iowa. p. 4th Minnesota q. 11th Ohio Battery. r. Spoor's Battery. s. 11th Missouri. The game, the opening of which Grant had been expecting, was now becoming interesting. Price occupied Iuka and the raUroad; but it was manifestly Grant's intention to permit this temporary possession, in order that he might fuUy discern the enemy's plans, and form his own intelligently. The re ports with regard to Price's designs were numerous, confused, and deceptive. Grant's caution was eminently proper, and 122 GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. was abundantly repaid ; for it became evident that Price was making a feint to cross the Tennessee, as if to foUow Buell, who was then retreating upon Nashville, in order to draw Grant's forces away from Corinth, upon which stronghold the foolhardy, brave, but unskilful Van Dorn was marching with aU speed. But the rebel government was most unfortunate in the choice of its generals sent tb confront Grant. Van Dorn and Price were no match for Grant, Bosecrans, and Ord, either in planning or fighting. Their every movement was promptly met, their wUdest attacks repulsed, and their armies scattered: The reader cannot help pitying such mUitary imbecility. Grant's course was now taken. He knew, from his scouts, that Van Dorn's army could not reach Corinth for four days. This would give him time to punish Price's temerity at Iuka, and then return to receive Van Dorn's visit with a warm wel come at Corinth. But every hour was of incalculable import ance, and there was not a moment's delay. He directed General Ord, with a force of three thousand men, having left garrisons at Corinth and other points, to move on the left of the raUroad, through BurnsviUe, to Iuka. Colonel Boss was telegraphed to come at fuU speed from BoUvar, on the same route, and, leaving a smaU rear-guard at BurnsviUe, to join Ord, Avith three thousand four hundred men. This force, six thousand five hundred in aU, was to at tack Price from the north, wherever he should offer or receive battle. To complete this programme, Bosecrans was ordered to send one division of Stanley's, 'with Mizner's cavalry, by way of Ja cinto, to strike the enemy's flank, whUe Hamilton moved round by the Fulton road, to cut off his southward retreat, or turn it into a rout. The force thus commanded by Bosecrans was nine thousand men, making the entire Union force in the field something more than that of Price ; the disparity, however, being more than neutraUzed by the rebel choice of position. The combined movement of Grant's troops began at four o'clock in the morning of September 18. That night -the IUKA AND CORINTH. 123 weary troops of Bosecrans, after marching through a drench ing rain-storm, bivouacked at Jacinto. Advancing e*a,rly on the 19th, after a sharp fight, they drove the rebels in from Barnett's Corners, and at once pushed on to Iuka. There, on an exterior ridge, Bosecrans found Price, and there was heavy fighting tiU night, principaUy by the Eleventh Missouri, Fifth Iowa, and Eleventh Ohio Battery, of HamU- ton's division, which were so admirably handled by that officer, that he received the special encomiums of Grant and Bose crans. The ground was exceedingly broken, and tangled with thickets, and interlaced by smaU creeks and ravines. It was very difficult to bring the troops into action in considerable bodies. Most of the fighting was done by congeries of troops, where the ground would permit them to be formed. Superior numbers gave smaU advantage, and yet the action was of the severest character. Three or four times the guns of the Elev enth Ohio were taken and retaken. But when nightfaU closed the action, they were in the hands of the enemy. The slaughter was great. WhUe we behold Bosecrans thus fighting the battle, the question arises, Where was Ord ? Grant had started with the column of Ord on the morning of the 18th ; and expected, upon reaching the neighborhood of Iuka, to be in constant communication with Bosecrans, so that Ord's troops might make a combined and simultaneous movement. Arrived upon the ground, the tangled nature of the country made it necessary for both commanders to send dispatches a long way round. These dispatches arrived too late for con cert of action, gave rise to misunderstandings, and prevented the timely co-operation of Ord's force. To iUustrate the difficulties of the situation : On the 19th, at half-past ten o'clock p. M., General Bosecrans, resting upon his arms, only two miles southwest of Iuka, sent a dispatch to General Grant, stating that he had been heavUy engaged for several hours, and had lost three pieces of artUlery, and ask ing for the assistance and co-operation of the troops under Ord. This dispatch, which should have been in Grant's hands 124 GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. in two hours, did not reach him untU thirty-five minutes past eight the next morning. Grant, stung by the delay, wrote to Ord, in urgent language : " Bosecrans may find his hands full, Hurry up your troops— aU possible." Ord, a dashing soldier, always ready for a fight, rushed in ; but too late for blows. Indeed, he had pushed on with the morning Ught, without waiting for orders. To give some idea of the character of the country between the two attacking forces, Colonels Dickey and Logan, of. Grant's staff, who had gone to General Bosecrans in the afternoon, became lost and entangled in the woods* on their return, were out aU night, and did not reach head quarters until nine in the morning. But the presence of Grant and Ord, if not so briUiant a service as the hard fight ing of Bosecrans, had greatly conduced to the result. Price made double-quick time to Bay Springs, twenty-seven miles south, on the Fulton road. One of his best generals, Little, was HUed. He had lost upwards of a thousand prisoners, left his dead unburied, and his wounded to our care. From rebel sources, we learn that, on their retreat, his troops committed thefts, burglaries, and every kind of outrage, upon their own people, exhibiting a barbarous spirit, which their officers could not restrain. Iuka was a success ; but it was niore as one part of General Grant's complex plan, and in the fact that the rebels retreated during the foUowing night, than in the fight- ing of the 19th, as valorous and terrific as it was.* , * The following is Grant's telegraphic dispatch : Iuka,- Miss., September 20, 1862. To Major-General H. W. Halleck, General-in-Chief: General Rosecrans, with Stanley's and Hamilton's divisions, and Mizner's cavalry, attacked Price south of this Aollage about two hours before dark yes terday, and had a, sharp fight until night closed in. General Ord was to the north, with an armed force of about five thousand men, and had some skir mishing with the rebel pickets. This morning, the fight was renewed by Gen eral Rosecrans, who was nearest to the town ; but it was found that the enemy had been evacuating during the night, going south. Generals Hamilton and Stanley, with cavalry, are in full pursuit. This will, no doubt, break up the enemy, and possibly force them to abandon much of their artillery. The loss on either side, ic killed and wounded, is from IUKA AND CORINTH. 125 i If General, Grant had not accompUshed every thing he had hoped — and the capture of Price's army was one of his hopes — he had done much. Price's plans and his army were totaUy defeated and scattered within the time Grant had pro posed to himself. On the 22d, he withdrew his forces, and returned to Corinth, to greet Van Dorn. If Price had ever meant to move northward, upon BueU's track, he was making good time now in the opposite direction. And now having disposed of Price, let us look after Van Dorn, in whose behalf the grand diversion of Iuka had been made. THE BATTLE OF COEINTH. ^ Although Van Dorn was approaching from the West, it was stitt uncertain where he would attack. Grant, therefore, pro vided for the safety of aU the posts within the theatr^ of his operations. Bosecrans was marched back through Jacinto to Corinth, which he reached on the 26th. Ord went to BoUvar, *which might be the point of attack, and from which, in any event, he could easUy move* a succoring force ; and Grant re turned to his headquarters at Jackson. General Hurlbut was thrown out, with his division, towards Pocahontas. The rebel generals now combined the^ir forces. Price, by a decided cir- cumflexion of about one hundred and eighty degrees, as a glance at the map wiU show, joined Van Dorn at Dumas. four hundred to five hundred. The enemy's loss, in arms, tents, etc., will be large. We have about two hundred and fifty prisoners. I have reliable intelligence that it was Price's intention to move over east of the Tennessee. In this, he has been thwarted. Among the enemy's loss are General Little, killed ; and General Whitefield, wounded. I cannot speak too highly of the energy and skill displayed by General Rose crans in the attack, and of the endurance of the troops. General Ord's com mand showed untiring zeal ; but the direction taken by the enemy prevented them from taking the active part they desired. Price's force was about eighteen thousand. , / U. S. Grant, Major-General. 126 GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. ^ The force thus united proceeded northward to Pocahontas, on the State Une, where they met the troops of Mansfield LoveU. Thus strengthened, Van Dorn moved by the raUroad though ChewaUa upon Corinth, once more to become a field of carnage, and a scene of rebel discomfiture. The rebel defences of Corinth, to which we formerly al luded, had been so extended — fifteen mUes of fortification requiring a great many men to man them — that when Gen eral HaUeck occupied the post, he had constructed an inner line, more easUy defensible by a smaUer force. But Grant was not satisfied with these. Major F. E. Prime, the chief engineer of General Grant, under his direction, threw up a Une of batteries on the north front, far inside of HaUeck's Une, and close to the town of Corinth, having an enfilading fire upon the BoUvar and ChewaUa roads, and ,a sweeping cross-fire upon aU assaUable parts of the entire front. 0n_ the extreme right were the old works of Beauregard ; and from that point the chain of forts reached to the extreme left. When General Grant had been appointed, in July, 1862, to the command of *aU the forces in the District of West Tennes see and Northern Mississippi, he had examined the defences of Corinth, which were then being constructed under the su perintendence of General CuUum, and expressed the opinion to General HaUeck that- they would be appropriate if we had an army of one hundred thousand men to defend them, but that they were of too great extent for the force we then1 had. Immediately upon General HaUeck's departure , for Washington, these Works were pushed forward with energy, and by the 25th of September, when Bosecrans took com'- mand, they were nearly completed. To Major Prime, under' General Grant's orders, belongs the credit of laying out and constructing the fortifications against which the enemy was now about to hurl his masses, with impetuous but unavaiEng, valor. To a laj;e moment doubtful of the rebel plans, and judging that, cognizant as they were of the strength"*- of the works at Corinth, the enemy would try a weaker point — unprovided, IUKA AND CORINTH. 127 too, *with a proper map of the country north and west of him — General Bosecrans made ready, Uke a prudent mariner in thick weather, for whatever might befaU. He caUed in his outposts from the south and east ; sent a reconnoissance, under Oglesby, on the ChewaUa road, and posted his small force well in front to receive him. Stanley was stationed beyond Bridge Creek ; Oliver, with a brigade and a battery, on the left, in advance ; Davies in the centre, and HamUton on the right. Mizner's cavalry was disposed in every direction around the to*wn, watching the roads at BurnsviUe, Boneyard, Kossuth, and also in the front. At length they came, announcing their plans in person ; it is on the ChewaUa road. OUveVs brigade is soon hard pressed, and is supported by McArthur's. The fighting, which begins with skirmishing, assumes the proportions of a battle. The rebel numbers constantly increase. McArthur is pressed back in turn, when Davies, next on his left, becomes engaged. An interval appears between McArthur and Davies, in which the rebels push so vigorously that Davies , rapidly faUs back a thousand yards to save his left flank, and in so doing he loses two heavy guns. The rebel advance has been bold and im petuous. New dispositions were now made, bringing our forces nearer the town, when night ended the conflict, which was but the herald of a greater. Deceived, however, by the comparative ease of his advance, General Van Dorn sent a telegraph to Bichmond, announcing a great victory ! The morning of October 4 ushered in the great battle. The Confederate Une was weU closed up to within a thousand yards of our works, and during the night they had thrown up some batteries in our front. Besides Van Dorn, Price, and LoveU, they had among their generals VUlepigue, Bust, Mau ry, and L. Hebert, — aU determined men of our old army, but gifted, except Hebert, with Uttle military talent. Their troops were exceUent stuff, and deserved better commanders. The ground in front of our position, over which they were to come, was of varied character. On the north and east it 228 GRANT AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. alternated in hUl and swampy land, both covered by forest- trees and undergrowth. On the north and west there were fields interspersing,